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muranternet · 07-09-2011, 01:30 AM

kennyminot, I'm willing to give it some time. I've applied some more build.prop tweaks to make it perform better. The reason I compare it to a Kindle is because that's the standard for eInk readers. Now, the screen is probably on par with the Kindle 2, but even so I don't like reading on it as much, probably due to a combination of the type characteristics (I've played with them a little with limited success) and the huge silver bezel. I've never liked silver bezels, as for me they draw attention away from the content display on whatever I'm using, whether it's an e-reader or a television.

Now, the other thing about needing a tablet to do more than read I disagree with. Tablets have become something of a craze with the iPad and now Android (at least from FroYo onward), but to me they're still second fiddle to any laptop or netbook. For writing, Windows/iOS/Linux have it all over Android, mostly because of available applications. Documents to Go is the closest thing to a workhorse word processor on Android, and it's still annoying: lack of type formatting shortcuts, some inconsistenciens in available keystrokes, and most of all big problems (or complete inability) to save in different formats. When I tried to send a document to the eInk side from Docs to Go, the best thing I could come up with was to do a PDF convert and open from library, and the results were not pretty. (I may try to hunt up a direct EPUB or filtered HTML utility, but that brings its own set of problems.)

Hand-annotating the PDF was also a pain. While annotating on a Kindle is also strange with the chiclet keyboard, at least I can read what I've written afterwards, and it won't get mysteriously lost when I turn a page.

For $120 though I think this is a good combination device if one doesn't already have a dedicated reader and a laptop, but certainly not at $200 and up. It may have been even better had enTourage done the right thing by developers (to address the buggy software and add much-needed features), but they didn't.

So yes, it's a decent device for people getting into e-readers and tablets at the same time. It just doesn't meet my needs out of the box, and it's not moddable enough to get there without a significant amount of pain. It might get there, though.

07-09-2011, 01:30 AM	#35
muranternet Connoisseur Posts: 75 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2011 Device: Kindle 3/Sony PRS-300/Nook Color running CM7/P eDGe	kennyminot, I'm willing to give it some time. I've applied some more build.prop tweaks to make it perform better. The reason I compare it to a Kindle is because that's the standard for eInk readers. Now, the screen is probably on par with the Kindle 2, but even so I don't like reading on it as much, probably due to a combination of the type characteristics (I've played with them a little with limited success) and the huge silver bezel. I've never liked silver bezels, as for me they draw attention away from the content display on whatever I'm using, whether it's an e-reader or a television. Now, the other thing about needing a tablet to do more than read I disagree with. Tablets have become something of a craze with the iPad and now Android (at least from FroYo onward), but to me they're still second fiddle to any laptop or netbook. For writing, Windows/iOS/Linux have it all over Android, mostly because of available applications. Documents to Go is the closest thing to a workhorse word processor on Android, and it's still annoying: lack of type formatting shortcuts, some inconsistenciens in available keystrokes, and most of all big problems (or complete inability) to save in different formats. When I tried to send a document to the eInk side from Docs to Go, the best thing I could come up with was to do a PDF convert and open from library, and the results were not pretty. (I may try to hunt up a direct EPUB or filtered HTML utility, but that brings its own set of problems.) Hand-annotating the PDF was also a pain. While annotating on a Kindle is also strange with the chiclet keyboard, at least I can read what I've written afterwards, and it won't get mysteriously lost when I turn a page. For $120 though I think this is a good combination device if one doesn't already have a dedicated reader and a laptop, but certainly not at $200 and up. It may have been even better had enTourage done the right thing by developers (to address the buggy software and add much-needed features), but they didn't. So yes, it's a decent device for people getting into e-readers and tablets at the same time. It just doesn't meet my needs out of the box, and it's not moddable enough to get there without a significant amount of pain. It might get there, though.