iRex iLiad/Digital Reader viable as PC alternative?

[softsantear]

Here is some background: I have an eye condition that prevents me from using computer displays for too long, as it gets quite painful (this is true of everyone, but my tolerance threshold is much lower). I've been waiting and waiting for a full-fledged e-ink device to offer a viable alternative to using a laptop or desktop LCD. I'd like to do more reading of articles and web sites, but I have to intentionally curtail my use because it's hard on the eyes.

I run Linux and primarily do things out of the terminal; this includes a lot of web browsing in elinks, etc., composing text, modifying files in terminal, SSH sessions, etc. I don't do anything very hardware-intensive or graphically-intensive.

I was delighted to find that the iRex devices are relatively open in terms of hackability, and that you can get shell access, and that people have elinks and other core tools ported to the device.

I would have very little intention of reading e-books per se on this. I want a lo-fi "computer" with an e-ink display, essentially. I'd like to do text-based browsing of e-mail and wikipedia, text articles, etc., compose simple text files... generally most things one would do using text in a terminal. I'm also interested in reading RSS through the Feedbooks iNewsstand app.

My questions are -
1. Threads about the iLiad circa 2006 seem to suggest that the device was prone to bricking, third-party development was not well-supported, and that, generally, the device was in an unfinished state. What has changed since then? I know that a second revision of the device and firmware came out, but are the iLiad and/or Digital Reader still too experimental? My intended use is hardly mainstream, but I don't want to plunk down money on completely volatile hardware, either.

2. Is the elinks port stable and functional? Obviously there is going to be the issue of refresh rate, but is the redraw time comparable to when reading an e-book? I can deal with a few seconds' time. I would assume that elinks browsing, being all text, would be fairly quick.

3. The monospace font shown in the screenshots of elinks in the above link looks kind of awful. What kind of freedom does one have to change things like terminal font, shell settings, etc.? From what I can deduce it sounds like you have access to a stripped down Linux install, with all of its attendant freedoms.

4. I see that there is an onscreen keyboard you can pull up in some third-party apps. If I were to use an external usb keyboard, is text input direct, or does that visual keyboard still come up? Furthermore, what exactly is typing like -- does the screen redraw with every input?

5. Are there some caveats I need to know about WiFi use? I would probably use this at home on the LAN a lot, but what is mobile connectivity like? I understand there is some sort of connection manager applet.

6. Would the iLiad or the Digital Reader be more suitable for these purposes? Excepting the fact that the DR is a bit larger and has some ergonomics bells and whistles, is there anything that strongly differentiates one from the other (for my purposes)? I'd much rather spend less $ on the iLiad if the firmware/refresh rate/interface are basically the same.

7. Finally, if anyone has some links to videos showing off elinks web browsing / shell use / 3rd-party apps in motion, that would be immensely helpful. The only videos of these devices that tend to show up are of reading e-books.

As a disclaimer, I obviously don't intend to use this as a full PC replacement; there are some things I will have to do on a real PC. But my primary use for the computer these days is for reading text and little else. I'd be more than willing to live with the negligible page refresh issue of e-ink if it means getting away from the LCD screen and having a more eye-friendly experience, being able to browse wikipedia while I read outside, and so on.

[emellaich]

In general you aren't going to be very happy with eink and interactive features. Most touch screen discussions talk about lag. These units may not have the processor power to handle real-time interaction, but I believe the biggest culprit is the e-ink screen.

E-ink is fine when you want to refresh the entire screen at once and display a static page of text. Menus, typing, touch-screen inking, and other interactive things seem to be less satisfactory.

It does appear that the newer screen controllers that let you refresh just part of the screen at once help with the ability to do more interactive work. But I really don't feel its ready for primetime as a full featured PC. My Kindle2 is an ebook reader, and I love the way that I can also use it to browse the web in emergency. However, if I purchased it for its web capabilities I would be disappointed. Its only because I view them as a bonus, that I consider these capabilities a plus.

A lot of folks looking for more full featured book reading and web/pc functionality are waiting to see what PixelQi delivers. They are promising a screen that has a highly readable Book mode and that can change to a color mode that can refresh easily to handle interactivity. However, this PixelQi screen is basically a modified LCD. If you have problems with laptop screens or LCD desktips then I'm not sure if it will fix your issues. It really depends on what your problems are, and on how the screen adapts for its high contrast ebook mode. If the issue is the backlight, then you might be in luck. If it is the constant refresh versus the static display of eink then you might have issues.

[Gem]

Might want to wait a year or two.

Reflective LCD's are hitting the market fast with higher contrast ratios than E-ink AND promise 20 ms refresh rates (compared to the 0.5 - 2 second E-ink ones).

On top of that, a ton of companies are racing to show off their new E-paper products in E-book form. Fujitsu just released a color E-book reader (although slow, its already twice the speed of the demo models). Phillips and Bridgestone are just two big companies that also both have similar producs with their own E-paper technologies they will be demoing soon.

Im sure E-ink itself will also take some major leaps and bounds over the next few years to boot.