Family Christian Stores Launches 'Edifi' E-Reader

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by MidnightBlue

What I am not clear on is the difference between capacitive and resistive touch screens. It seems to be implied that this eReader is of less value as it doesn't have a capacitive screen. I have an iPad and a Kindle Touch, I believe, but am not sure, that they are both capacitive. The only thing I have had that came with a stylus was my Palm Tungsten back when I first started High School. It had a much less sensitive screen. Was that resistive or capacitive?

Resistive touch is hard to do with your fingers, hence the inclusion of a stylus. This is from one of the reviews in the link:

The touchscreen isn't really for touching. It will work as a touchscreen, but it's not as silky smooth as say my touchscreen phone. However, the edifi comes with a stylus and that works well.

This tablet isn't worth $150. I certainly wouldn't recommend it. The Nexus 7 at $199 has specs and quality that blow this tablet out of the water.

[teh603]

Originally Posted by MidnightBlue

What I am not clear on is the difference between capacitive and resistive touch screens. It seems to be implied that this eReader is of less value as it doesn't have a capacitive screen. I have an iPad and a Kindle Touch, I believe, but am not sure, that they are both capacitive. The only thing I have had that came with a stylus was my Palm Tungsten back when I first started High School. It had a much less sensitive screen. Was that resistive or capacitive?

Resistive touchscreens require a stylus, but they have much higher precision than a capacitive touchscreen. As a general rule, going capacitive limits you to about a half-inch circle, which makes them useless for even basic graphic design. They're easy to clean, though, which is probably why Apple chose them.

[ucfgrad93]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

This tablet isn't worth $150. I certainly wouldn't recommend it. The Nexus 7 at $199 has specs and quality that blow this tablet out of the water.

I agree, the Nexus 7 is a WAY better tablet and value for the money.

[BWinmill]

Originally Posted by ucfgrad93

I agree, the Nexus 7 is a WAY better tablet and value for the money.

The real question is: how much are people willing to pay for a tablet. If they are only willing to pay $150, then a Nexus 7 is not on the list. That is particularly true if the Edifi does what the person needs it to. Some people may also add value to the Edifi because of the "family-friendly" bit. Different people look at the value of a product in a different way. Just because you personally don't see the value, doesn't mean that everyone else agrees with you.

[fjtorres]

The basic difference between resistive and capacitance is cost and responsiveness. Especially for gestures, such as scrolling swipes.
Capacitance is more responsive and better suited for multitouch applications.
High quality resistive exists that can do multitouch and be very responsive as well as accurate but you don't see it in low cost devices.

The value of this reader clearly isn't the hardware but rather that it comes pre-configured for their target audience; you could easily tweak any other Android device for filtered browsing and their ebook reader app, but you would have to know how to do it and where to find the apps.
They are, in effect, bundling a service.
For people needing or wanting that kind of filtering the price is not execessive.
Not my cup off tea but I do understand where they're coming from: they know *their* market and what *their* customers prefer.

[Hellmark]

Resistive touch displays are single touch only, and usually have some thin flexible layer over the screen that have to be pressed down. When the layer makes contact, a circuit is completed and the resistance value of the current in the circuit is measured and used to calculate position. Capacitive displays have an invisible layer that small amount of electrical charge is stored on. When you touch, the charge is transfered to you, and the loss of charge is measured. The positive part of capacitive displays, is that there are no moving parts, and you can have it done in a way to allow for multiple touch points (not possible on resistive).

[5thWiggle]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

Resistive touch displays are single touch only

Actually, Multi touch resistive sensors have been around since (IIRC) 2009. But they are still prone to wear and are only about 80% transparent.

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by 5thWiggle

Actually, Multi touch resistive sensors have been around since (IIRC) 2009. But they are still prone to wear and are only about 80% transparent.

They're highly hackish though, and you're very limited on the number of touch points. I mean, when you're having to flex a membrane, it can only go in so many directions at once.

[5thWiggle]

I wouldn't say they are any more hackish than trying to extrapolate a single pixel line through a path of sensors that only respond to conductive elements that are about .2" diameter .

The ones I've tried were quite good and allowed 5 touch points at a time, gesture use and stylus. They were retrofitted into industrial HMIs, meant for use where the operators wore gloves, so yes, the multi-touch gestures had to be a little more pronouced than with a capacitive touch screen. I was very impressed with them.

[CommonReader]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

I wonder whether it can be rooted.

Aren't you afraid that something or other is going to smite you if you attempt to do such an evil thing?

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

Resistive touch displays are single touch only

I am sure I'm going to have a "duh" moment with the answer, but I can't think of any time I use two fingers at a time on my smartphone. What's the benefit of "multi" touch?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

I am sure I'm going to have a "duh" moment with the answer, but I can't think of any time I use two fingers at a time on my smartphone. What's the benefit of "multi" touch?

Pinch to zoom for one.

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

I am sure I'm going to have a "duh" moment with the answer, but I can't think of any time I use two fingers at a time on my smartphone. What's the benefit of "multi" touch?

In addition to the mentioned pinch to zoom, there is the two finger twist (or dragging one finger while another remains stationary, as a pivot point) to rotate stuff (which is handy for maps). Plus there are different gestures, like swiping with 4 or 5 fingers on iOS5 will let you jump between frequently used apps, or a multifinger pinch to close an app and go back to the home screen.

Plus, the biggest use is in games. Tablets generally don't really have any buttons, many games are implementing a pseudo controller set up, with an on screen direction pad, and buttons. If multi touch wasn't a possibility, they would have to have some sort of hardware controller to even play the simplest of traditional style video games (even Space Invaders, or Galaxian, both available for tablets and phones would not be playable).

[H.P. Lovesauce]

Speaking of maps, will it point you to the nearest Chik-fil-A?

[Hellmark]

Probably not. No GPS, and no Google Maps, so you'd have to get your own mapping software. I also don't think it has bluetooth, so you can't use an external GPS sensor.