Still on the Fence

walt526 · 04-05-2010, 11:57 AM

I've been really excited about the Entourage Edge for several months now and have been following the blog very closely. I'm currently finishing up a MA in Economics and will be starting a PhD Economics in the Fall. Having a device with the ability to both clearly read and markup both textbooks and journal articles seems like it would be a perfect for a graduate student.

So my question is are their any faculty or grad students (or serious undergrads) here? If so, have you encountered any issues accessing an online database like JSTOR via off-campus access? Have you found the Edge to be as useful (and fun) in practice as you expected?

In addition to the functionality as it relates to academics, I'm also concerned by two things:
(a) That Flash has still not been enabled yet. Being able to watch Hulu and such on the device is a feature that I'd like (not for academic purposes, but just to have for entertainment);
(b) That a newer, possibly more refined device will be released later this year. Experience has taught my that when devices as revolutionary as the Edge come out, the first generation is okay, but there are improvements in the second and third generations that come out at the same price points and simply offer a superior user experience.

dcubed2 · 04-05-2010, 01:40 PM

I think your second point about a Version 2.0 is very likely. I ended up getting the 1.0 anyhow, because most of the changes seem to be software related (meaning that 1.0 can get to 2.0), except for 3G. And, I wouldn't use the 3G anyhow, since I'm not interested in paying a heavy monthly fee (and most here already have smartphones to do those things anyway).

As for student/prof reviews, there are a couple on http://groups.google.com/group/entourage-edge-fan-forum. One is from Lisa, a professor and the other is from Cheyenne, a student. There's also an audio interview with a prof on enTourage's community page. The interview is rather rambling, but you can glean several points about the eDGe if you do listen to it.

kenjennings · 04-05-2010, 01:59 PM

You have 1.0? The tag on the spine of my edge says "Model: eDGe 2.0" ;-)

So far, I don't see a lot of deficiencies in the hardware. All the "problems" are gaps in the software. Entourage has already shown the software can be updated and has promised more updates. This, I think, is much better than other electronics manufacturers with devices that are totally closed and incapable of being upgraded. Many companies expect their products to be disposable and customer "upgrades" mean we all have to buy a bigger model.

dcubed2 · 04-05-2010, 02:09 PM

Yeah, it says 2.0 - but what was 1.0? ;-)

The devices shipping in the summer will have (hopefully) several software updates, making it easier to use out of the box. We'll have those, too - along with some growing pains and bugs. But, it is a nice device and works pretty darn well for a start-up company with their very first device, IMO. I'm on the list waiting for some bugs/problems to be worked out - but I expected to be.

rakista · 04-05-2010, 07:07 PM

Grad Student here in Mech Engineering, waiting for mine to arrive. Even if it is not all that and a bag of chips at first, it is still a better device than the Kindle 2 or the Ipad for research, imho.

cheyennedonna · 04-05-2010, 08:47 PM

I thought about my purchase, long and hard, before I clicked buy. I am a student, and tired of carrying 4 textbooks, a novel, a voice recorder, a net-book, a paper notebook and multiple pens, pencils and erasers. My back! I can read all my books in one place and it's lighter than most of my textbooks. I can take notes on this, record my lecture, link my notes with appropriate pages in the textbook or add a web link (and actually just click it and go). I can copy relevant info from my text and paste into my notes at the appropriate spot, or I can link my notes to the text book at the place I will need them. I'm sure the next year or so will bring a better model, and at that point I may upgrade, but for now there is nothing like this on the market. As far as I can see, nothing even close to launching will do all this does in one package. Yes, it has it's issues, but tech support rocks! They are very responsive, and if the whole company is like that we are sure to see many software advances and system updates in short order.

guyjack · 04-14-2010, 11:12 PM

1.0 was a rather large, boxy and unfinished version. You can see it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV2MCBlcowg

lisa031825 · 04-15-2010, 09:29 AM

I just returned from an academic conference over the weekend. I took my presentation and paper with me and used a jump drive to share it with people. I was also able to take 25 student papers with me to grade on the plane, all on my edge. I'm always taking work with me when I travel and the edge made that so easy. No stacks of papers to keep track of and squeeze in my bag, it's all on the edge.

Walt, I just recently finished my PhD in economics and I guarantee that you will love the edge. I'm sure the next version will be even better but this version is so far better than anything else out there, you won't be disappointed.

04-05-2010, 11:57 AM	#1
walt526 Edge User	Still on the Fence I've been really excited about the Entourage Edge for several months now and have been following the blog very closely. I'm currently finishing up a MA in Economics and will be starting a PhD Economics in the Fall. Having a device with the ability to both clearly read and markup both textbooks and journal articles seems like it would be a perfect for a graduate student. So my question is are their any faculty or grad students (or serious undergrads) here? If so, have you encountered any issues accessing an online database like JSTOR via off-campus access? Have you found the Edge to be as useful (and fun) in practice as you expected? In addition to the functionality as it relates to academics, I'm also concerned by two things: (a) That Flash has still not been enabled yet. Being able to watch Hulu and such on the device is a feature that I'd like (not for academic purposes, but just to have for entertainment); (b) That a newer, possibly more refined device will be released later this year. Experience has taught my that when devices as revolutionary as the Edge come out, the first generation is okay, but there are improvements in the second and third generations that come out at the same price points and simply offer a superior user experience.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
PRS-600 on the fence - suggestions?	WmGoat	Sony Reader	8	01-26-2011 03:15 PM
If you were on the Fence before well The Nooks gone Wild	boswd	Which one should I buy?	23	06-23-2010 03:03 PM
Another fence sitter (non-Kindle)	Dru	Which one should I buy?	25	08-05-2008 02:03 PM
Another fence-sitter jumps...	petermillard	Bookeen	10	06-09-2008 01:43 PM
For us on the fence over a Kindle...what would it take...	brecklundin	Amazon Kindle	15	12-11-2007 04:11 PM

04-05-2010, 01:40 PM	#2
dcubed2 Edge User	I think your second point about a Version 2.0 is very likely. I ended up getting the 1.0 anyhow, because most of the changes seem to be software related (meaning that 1.0 can get to 2.0), except for 3G. And, I wouldn't use the 3G anyhow, since I'm not interested in paying a heavy monthly fee (and most here already have smartphones to do those things anyway). As for student/prof reviews, there are a couple on http://groups.google.com/group/entourage-edge-fan-forum. One is from Lisa, a professor and the other is from Cheyenne, a student. There's also an audio interview with a prof on enTourage's community page. The interview is rather rambling, but you can glean several points about the eDGe if you do listen to it.

04-05-2010, 01:59 PM	#3
kenjennings Edge User	You have 1.0? The tag on the spine of my edge says "Model: eDGe 2.0" ;-) So far, I don't see a lot of deficiencies in the hardware. All the "problems" are gaps in the software. Entourage has already shown the software can be updated and has promised more updates. This, I think, is much better than other electronics manufacturers with devices that are totally closed and incapable of being upgraded. Many companies expect their products to be disposable and customer "upgrades" mean we all have to buy a bigger model.

04-05-2010, 02:09 PM	#4
dcubed2 Edge User	Yeah, it says 2.0 - but what was 1.0? ;-) The devices shipping in the summer will have (hopefully) several software updates, making it easier to use out of the box. We'll have those, too - along with some growing pains and bugs. But, it is a nice device and works pretty darn well for a start-up company with their very first device, IMO. I'm on the list waiting for some bugs/problems to be worked out - but I expected to be.

04-05-2010, 07:07 PM	#5
rakista Edge User	Grad Student here in Mech Engineering, waiting for mine to arrive. Even if it is not all that and a bag of chips at first, it is still a better device than the Kindle 2 or the Ipad for research, imho.

04-05-2010, 08:47 PM	#6
cheyennedonna Edge User	I thought about my purchase, long and hard, before I clicked buy. I am a student, and tired of carrying 4 textbooks, a novel, a voice recorder, a net-book, a paper notebook and multiple pens, pencils and erasers. My back! I can read all my books in one place and it's lighter than most of my textbooks. I can take notes on this, record my lecture, link my notes with appropriate pages in the textbook or add a web link (and actually just click it and go). I can copy relevant info from my text and paste into my notes at the appropriate spot, or I can link my notes to the text book at the place I will need them. I'm sure the next year or so will bring a better model, and at that point I may upgrade, but for now there is nothing like this on the market. As far as I can see, nothing even close to launching will do all this does in one package. Yes, it has it's issues, but tech support rocks! They are very responsive, and if the whole company is like that we are sure to see many software advances and system updates in short order.

04-14-2010, 11:12 PM	#7
guyjack Edge User	1.0 was a rather large, boxy and unfinished version. You can see it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV2MCBlcowg

04-15-2010, 09:29 AM	#8
lisa031825 Edge User	I just returned from an academic conference over the weekend. I took my presentation and paper with me and used a jump drive to share it with people. I was also able to take 25 student papers with me to grade on the plane, all on my edge. I'm always taking work with me when I travel and the edge made that so easy. No stacks of papers to keep track of and squeeze in my bag, it's all on the edge. Walt, I just recently finished my PhD in economics and I guarantee that you will love the edge. I'm sure the next version will be even better but this version is so far better than anything else out there, you won't be disappointed.