Que or Skiff?

Mastiff · 01-16-2010, 11:38 AM

OK, here's my deal: I print and read around 20-30 A4 pages every day. That's a lot of trees. I guess I have the responsibility for around 3 % of the deforestation in the world...

So I want something that I can use instead of the paper. Formatting and other details means that I have to use something that can show a full A4 page at the same time. Besides I like large gadgets. My phone is a HTC HD! So any smaller readers aren't really an option. Not to mention that the price isn't that important, I run my own company and will get a good tax deduction for this thing. Anything up to $1000 is all right by me.

I would like to be able to buy and read books as well, but I must say that the work stuff is a lot more important. So being able to read the files (they are Word documents, but I can convert them to PDF with a "print to PDF" driver I have) is essential. 3G is of no interest, I won't be using that anyway. I will use WiFi to connect it to the Net, at home or anywhere else, where I bring my 3G router. But being able to use this to read webpages (like web newspapers) would be a big plus for me. I use the phone for that now, but I'm really much more at home with something that I won't have to move down the page every ten seconds...

I thougth the Que was perfect for me, but then I stumbled over the specs for the Skiff. I like the navigation wheel, and the design. Not to mention the material. It looks like it can take some punishment. But so can probably the Que. I know that the Que won't have a we browser I can use (if it's not hacked, that is). But does anybody know if the Skiff will have that?

Finally, anybody know when there's going to be more news about the Skiff? The Que is arriving in April, and I won't be waiting until the fall to get a reader. But if the Skiff is arriving this side of the summer, and has a web browser I can use over WiFi that will be my choice. Should I wait for now, or should I guess that the Skiff won't be there in time and get the Que when that's out?

Any tips would be appreciated!

gwynevans · 01-16-2010, 04:12 PM

They're being very careful not to release any info about the Skiff's expected price or release date yet, so there's no way of knowing just how 'true' a comparison is...

HansTWN · 01-16-2010, 06:56 PM

And don't just compare the reader, compare the companies. What if it closes down a year from now? With these startups you never know.

zetareticuli · 01-16-2010, 07:49 PM

I agree. It is the same thing with the Entourage eDGe. The nice thing about the eDGe is that it runs Android. If predictions are accurate, there will be literally thousands of Android applications by the end of the year. It should be easy to develop using the SDK. If the same is true for the other two companies, then there is nothing to worry about. Adapting non-native ebook formats should not be very difficult.

Mastiff · 01-22-2010, 02:46 AM

Thanks for answering! But I have to disagree. Like I say my main use is work related documents. As long as the reader works I don't care if the company doesn't. Not to mention that I will never run anything else than reading applications and mostly pure text websurfing if possible, so those fancy app stores means absolutely nothing. I've got a 14" laptop computer and a computer in my home office with a 24" monitor for other websurfing, I would only like to be able to read the mobile versions of some web newspapers. And as long as it can do PDF with DRM (which I believe they both can), I can get books for it. Worst case scenario: I buy the books in another format and download them in a format I can read. Technically that may be illegal in some countries, but I believe it's perfectly legal here in Norway.

As for the Entourage eDGe that's not even in the running here. That's a plaything for leisure, not even trying to be an e-Reader for pro use... Too small screen, too much other multimedia bull, too thick.

Edit: Sorry, I have to revise that. The eDGe doesn't have a much smaller screen than the Que (9.7 inches versus 10.5 for the Que), and since large size reader screen is the main thing for me I may consider the eDGe anyway even if it uses Android (an OS I tried on a HTC phone and couldn't get rid of fast enough...). I have to read up on that. Thanks for the tip!

But I guess I'll just have to wait until Skiff releases any info at all. Or if they haven't by mid April I'll just buy the Que since I won't wait any longer in case the Skiff is just vaporware. I've got "Duke Nukem Forever" for that...

Btw I didn't know there were any answers to the thread that's why I haven't been back before this. I now discovered that the default action is "Weekly E-mail", not instant. That's fixed now.

Mastiff · 01-28-2010, 05:08 AM

Nope, the eDGe isn't going to be in the running. To heavy and to thick. A shame, because the functionality would be nice. And now they've postphoned the Que to May 17th (which coincidentally is the national day of my native Norway!). Looks like I have to be more patient than I really am...

johndoesecond · 01-28-2010, 05:18 AM

How about Kindle DX?

Does the PDF job for me.

Mastiff · 01-29-2010, 02:25 AM

Well, the display is around the size I want, but they waste space on it with a keyboard I don't need at all. A bigger problem is that it doesn't support Microsoft Office documents, which is what I'm going to use it for 95 % of the time. Yes, I can convert to PDF, like I said earlier, but I rather not. Still I will do some reading and see. I believe I decided against it when it first arrived but I can't remember why at the moment. I'll be back with a follow up on that.

Ah! Got it now. I want one with WiFi. The Kindle doesn't have that.

Dulin's Books · 01-29-2010, 11:53 AM

you may want to take a look at the DittoBook D9 http://www.dittobook.com/d9.html. It will have wifi, wacom stylus input (for note taking in texts as well as standalone "journals/notepads", support for Office documents and pdfs and it'll be cheaper than the Que and Skiff. The "10 hours" for battery is supposed to be 10 days(with wifi off)

We haven't decided yet if we will carry it but we are leaning towards yes. We'll have a sample in a few weeks and then we'll make the final decision once we get to use it. It'll be 400-450 . It won't be as durable or as thin and light as the Que but it'll be about as well as you can do outside of their tech.

Mastiff · 02-05-2010, 05:50 AM

Interesting! It's not that much thicker, but the weight isn't mentioned there. Do you know how much it will weigh? Also will it be possible to surf the web with it? Like I said the money doesn't really matter, the functions are more important.

thinkpad · 02-05-2010, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

you may want to take a look at the DittoBook D9 http://www.dittobook.com/d9.html. It will have wifi, wacom stylus input (for note taking in texts as well as standalone "journals/notepads", support for Office documents and pdfs and it'll be cheaper than the Que and Skiff. The "10 hours" for battery is supposed to be 10 days(with wifi off)

We haven't decided yet if we will carry it but we are leaning towards yes. We'll have a sample in a few weeks and then we'll make the final decision once we get to use it. It'll be 400-450 . It won't be as durable or as thin and light as the Que but it'll be about as well as you can do outside of their tech.

This looks interesting. Looking forward to your review/comment about the reader.

Dulin's Books · 02-05-2010, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mastiff

Interesting! It's not that much thicker, but the weight isn't mentioned there. Do you know how much it will weigh? Also will it be possible to surf the web with it? Like I said the money doesn't really matter, the functions are more important.

I just checked and I never asked the weight

But they have joined up at MR today as user "Dbooks" https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72762 so it should be easy to find out

Jumpn Jack Flash · 02-05-2010, 06:05 PM

any real pics of it (not the rendered stuff) or do we have to wait for your review. Any idea if it is an Adobe RM device?

Dulin's Books · 02-05-2010, 06:23 PM

yes it is adobe drm. I don't have actual pics yet.

Mastiff · 02-12-2010, 03:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

I just checked and I never asked the weight

But they have joined up at MR today as user "Dbooks" https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72762 so it should be easy to find out

Thanks, I have asked in a thread now.

01-16-2010, 11:38 AM	#1
Mastiff Viking proof reader Posts: 168 Karma: 139212 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Norway - land of the trolls! Device: Onyx Boox Max 3	Que or Skiff? OK, here's my deal: I print and read around 20-30 A4 pages every day. That's a lot of trees. I guess I have the responsibility for around 3 % of the deforestation in the world... So I want something that I can use instead of the paper. Formatting and other details means that I have to use something that can show a full A4 page at the same time. Besides I like large gadgets. My phone is a HTC HD! So any smaller readers aren't really an option. Not to mention that the price isn't that important, I run my own company and will get a good tax deduction for this thing. Anything up to $1000 is all right by me. I would like to be able to buy and read books as well, but I must say that the work stuff is a lot more important. So being able to read the files (they are Word documents, but I can convert them to PDF with a "print to PDF" driver I have) is essential. 3G is of no interest, I won't be using that anyway. I will use WiFi to connect it to the Net, at home or anywhere else, where I bring my 3G router. But being able to use this to read webpages (like web newspapers) would be a big plus for me. I use the phone for that now, but I'm really much more at home with something that I won't have to move down the page every ten seconds... I thougth the Que was perfect for me, but then I stumbled over the specs for the Skiff. I like the navigation wheel, and the design. Not to mention the material. It looks like it can take some punishment. But so can probably the Que. I know that the Que won't have a we browser I can use (if it's not hacked, that is). But does anybody know if the Skiff will have that? Finally, anybody know when there's going to be more news about the Skiff? The Que is arriving in April, and I won't be waiting until the fall to get a reader. But if the Skiff is arriving this side of the summer, and has a web browser I can use over WiFi that will be my choice. Should I wait for now, or should I guess that the Skiff won't be there in time and get the Que when that's out? Any tips would be appreciated!

01-22-2010, 02:46 AM	#5
Mastiff Viking proof reader Posts: 168 Karma: 139212 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Norway - land of the trolls! Device: Onyx Boox Max 3	Thanks for answering! But I have to disagree. Like I say my main use is work related documents. As long as the reader works I don't care if the company doesn't. Not to mention that I will never run anything else than reading applications and mostly pure text websurfing if possible, so those fancy app stores means absolutely nothing. I've got a 14" laptop computer and a computer in my home office with a 24" monitor for other websurfing, I would only like to be able to read the mobile versions of some web newspapers. And as long as it can do PDF with DRM (which I believe they both can), I can get books for it. Worst case scenario: I buy the books in another format and download them in a format I can read. Technically that may be illegal in some countries, but I believe it's perfectly legal here in Norway. As for the Entourage eDGe that's not even in the running here. That's a plaything for leisure, not even trying to be an e-Reader for pro use... Too small screen, too much other multimedia bull, too thick. Edit: Sorry, I have to revise that. The eDGe doesn't have a much smaller screen than the Que (9.7 inches versus 10.5 for the Que), and since large size reader screen is the main thing for me I may consider the eDGe anyway even if it uses Android (an OS I tried on a HTC phone and couldn't get rid of fast enough...). I have to read up on that. Thanks for the tip! But I guess I'll just have to wait until Skiff releases any info at all. Or if they haven't by mid April I'll just buy the Que since I won't wait any longer in case the Skiff is just vaporware. I've got "Duke Nukem Forever" for that... Btw I didn't know there were any answers to the thread that's why I haven't been back before this. I now discovered that the default action is "Weekly E-mail", not instant. That's fixed now. Last edited by Mastiff; 01-22-2010 at 03:05 AM.

01-29-2010, 02:25 AM	#8
Mastiff Viking proof reader Posts: 168 Karma: 139212 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Norway - land of the trolls! Device: Onyx Boox Max 3	Well, the display is around the size I want, but they waste space on it with a keyboard I don't need at all. A bigger problem is that it doesn't support Microsoft Office documents, which is what I'm going to use it for 95 % of the time. Yes, I can convert to PDF, like I said earlier, but I rather not. Still I will do some reading and see. I believe I decided against it when it first arrived but I can't remember why at the moment. I'll be back with a follow up on that. Ah! Got it now. I want one with WiFi. The Kindle doesn't have that. Last edited by Mastiff; 01-29-2010 at 02:27 AM.

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01-16-2010, 04:12 PM	#2
gwynevans Wizzard Posts: 1,402 Karma: 2000000 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: UK Device: iPad 2, iPhone 6s, Kindle Voyage & Kindle PaperWhite	They're being very careful not to release any info about the Skiff's expected price or release date yet, so there's no way of knowing just how 'true' a comparison is...

01-16-2010, 06:56 PM	#3
HansTWN Wizard Posts: 4,538 Karma: 264065402 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Taiwan Device: HP Touchpad, Sony Duo 13, Lumia 920, Kobo Aura HD	And don't just compare the reader, compare the companies. What if it closes down a year from now? With these startups you never know.

01-16-2010, 07:49 PM	#4
zetareticuli Addict Posts: 367 Karma: 228 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Aztak Mentor	I agree. It is the same thing with the Entourage eDGe. The nice thing about the eDGe is that it runs Android. If predictions are accurate, there will be literally thousands of Android applications by the end of the year. It should be easy to develop using the SDK. If the same is true for the other two companies, then there is nothing to worry about. Adapting non-native ebook formats should not be very difficult.

01-28-2010, 05:08 AM	#6
Mastiff Viking proof reader Posts: 168 Karma: 139212 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Norway - land of the trolls! Device: Onyx Boox Max 3	Nope, the eDGe isn't going to be in the running. To heavy and to thick. A shame, because the functionality would be nice. And now they've postphoned the Que to May 17th (which coincidentally is the national day of my native Norway!). Looks like I have to be more patient than I really am...

01-28-2010, 05:18 AM	#7
johndoesecond Connoisseur Posts: 55 Karma: 2000 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Kindle DX, Kindle 4, Kindle PW2	How about Kindle DX? Does the PDF job for me.

01-29-2010, 11:53 AM	#9
Dulin's Books Wizard Posts: 2,806 Karma: 13500000 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Portland, OR Device: Boox PB360 etc etc etc	you may want to take a look at the DittoBook D9 http://www.dittobook.com/d9.html. It will have wifi, wacom stylus input (for note taking in texts as well as standalone "journals/notepads", support for Office documents and pdfs and it'll be cheaper than the Que and Skiff. The "10 hours" for battery is supposed to be 10 days(with wifi off) We haven't decided yet if we will carry it but we are leaning towards yes. We'll have a sample in a few weeks and then we'll make the final decision once we get to use it. It'll be 400-450 . It won't be as durable or as thin and light as the Que but it'll be about as well as you can do outside of their tech.

02-05-2010, 05:50 AM	#10
Mastiff Viking proof reader Posts: 168 Karma: 139212 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Norway - land of the trolls! Device: Onyx Boox Max 3	Interesting! It's not that much thicker, but the weight isn't mentioned there. Do you know how much it will weigh? Also will it be possible to surf the web with it? Like I said the money doesn't really matter, the functions are more important.

02-05-2010, 06:05 PM	#13
Jumpn Jack Flash Lazy Git Posts: 124 Karma: 1266 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: The soggy Emerald Isle Device: iRex DR800S	any real pics of it (not the rendered stuff) or do we have to wait for your review. Any idea if it is an Adobe RM device?

02-05-2010, 06:23 PM	#14
Dulin's Books Wizard Posts: 2,806 Karma: 13500000 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Portland, OR Device: Boox PB360 etc etc etc	yes it is adobe drm. I don't have actual pics yet.

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