compact tablet PC or an ebook reader?

tr_tr · 09-23-2009, 04:44 PM

I am still looking for the perfect ebook reader, unfortunately they all seem to have issues or a lack of features so I'm leaning towards buying a tablet PC.

The most feature rich ebook reader is probably the Irex dr1000s. I like its size, pdf reading capabilities, note taking. It costs in the Netherlands 699.00 Euro

Then there are the compact tablet PC's like

Asus EEE PC T91 price 459 Euro
Gigabyte Netbook T1028 599 Euro

or the less compact

HP TouchSmart TX2-1050ED 919 Euro

They all have their pros and cons. I am in doubt, and although money is not my biggest concern I might buy the T91 for its price and hope it will do what I want.

Not interested in handwriting recognition, but I do want to anotate pdf's (and preferably other formats as well)
It needs to be as compatible and fast enough for all pdf's (also bigger PDF's based on scans). The less I need to scroll through PDF's the better, so the bigger screen of the HP TX2 and Irex could be very useful.

Still in doubt, so if anyone has suggestions that might help me decide please let me know.

Loose_Appeal · 09-23-2009, 04:50 PM

The ebook readers are just that, ebook readers. If you're gonna need a lot more function besides comfortable reading, even the most feature rich ebook readers will be overshadowed by a tablet pc.

Buut if money is not your concern I guess I'm preaching to the wrong crowd.

Can you specify a little bit more as to why you're in a dilemma between a tablet pc and an ebook reader besides reading and taking notes?

mgmueller · 09-23-2009, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tr_tr

I am still looking for the perfect ebook reader, unfortunately they all seem to have issues or a lack of features so I'm leaning towards buying a tablet PC.

The most feature rich ebook reader is probably the Irex dr1000s. I like its size, pdf reading capabilities, note taking. It costs in the Netherlands 699.00 Euro

Then there are the compact tablet PC's like

Asus EEE PC T91 price 459 Euro
Gigabyte Netbook T1028 599 Euro

or the less compact

HP TouchSmart TX2-1050ED 919 Euro

They all have their pros and cons. I am in doubt, and although money is not my biggest concern I might buy the T91 for its price and hope it will do what I want.

Not interested in handwriting recognition, but I do want to anotate pdf's (and preferably other formats as well)
It needs to be as compatible and fast enough for all pdf's (also bigger PDF's based on scans). The less I need to scroll through PDF's the better, so the bigger screen of the HP TX2 and Irex could be very useful.

Still in doubt, so if anyone has suggestions that might help me decide please let me know.

I'm an iRex fan and I LOVE eINK.
But I wouldn't use iRex 1000S for extensive scribbling.
It's relatively slow, lags about 0.5 seconds behind and simply isn't very precise.
Any Tablet PC in that instance will be far superior.
But the reading experience will be totally different.

I've had a Tablet PC from Fujitsu Siemens Computers with outdoor display a few years ago for some days to test.
I've installed MS reader and absolutely was fine with it. Have been reading on Pocket PCs for years as well.

But check out Sony 505 and you'll never go back.
Contrast, clarity, mobility, battery duration, ... are phantastic.
And you can have great readers for € 250, way below competitive Tablet PCs.
In my opinion, it depends on your personal preference: Reading, mobility or scribbling?
If scribbling is a "must", I'd be careful about iRex 1000S or Sony 600. You should check them out before buying.
If reading is your main concern and some scribbling would be nice, each of them is great.
I'd check out iRex iLiad, iRex 1000S, Sony 600 and the announced new iRex unit, as you obviously would like to have a touchscreen unit.

tr_tr · 09-23-2009, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I'm an iRex fan and I LOVE eINK.
But I wouldn't use iRex 1000S for extensive scribbling.
It's relatively slow, lags about 0.5 seconds behind and simply isn't very precise.
Any Tablet PC in that instance will be far superior.
But the reading experience will be totally different.

I've had a Tablet PC from Fujitsu Siemens Computers with outdoor display a few years ago for some days to test.
I've installed MS reader and absolutely was fine with it. Have been reading on Pocket PCs for years as well.

But check out Sony 505 and you'll never go back.
Contrast, clarity, mobility, battery duration, ... are phantastic.
And you can have great readers for € 250, way below competitive Tablet PCs.
In my opinion, it depends on your personal preference: Reading, mobility or scribbling?
If scribbling is a "must", I'd be careful about iRex 1000S or Sony 600. You should check them out before buying.
If reading is your main concern and some scribbling would be nice, each of them is great.
I'd check out iRex iLiad, iRex 1000S, Sony 600 and the announced new iRex unit, as you obviously would like to have a touchscreen unit.

Thanks, you really summarized it well. Scribbling is more than a nice thing to have, it is probably the most important feature I am searching for. I'm not planning on reading in the usual way that much, but use the ebook reader/tablet for study and note taking. Most of my ebooks are scanned material right now. To be able to add some comments on pages would be great.

I am not convinced the tablets are any better in scribbling than the ebook readers. In most reviews of tablet pcs this is not discussed.

WillAdams · 09-23-2009, 05:25 PM

Well, I tried scribbling on a demo unit PRS-600 at the local Borders and any curves were rendered as jagged approximations made up of straight line segments --- not something I'd be able to tolerate --- perhaps that's specific to a demo unit, but I doubt it.

On the other hand, I've actually written notes w/ a pen into a .pdf (and my handwriting leans to the small side) and sent them off and the recipients have found them perfectly readable.

Drawing &c. work fine as well.

Until the annotations for stylus-equipped ebooks are as effortless and smooth as painting in programs like ArtRage and Sketchbook, or there're notetaking capabilities like to EverNote or PhatPad, Tablet PCs are much better at scribbling.

William

mgmueller · 09-23-2009, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tr_tr

Thanks, you really summarized it well. Scribbling is more than a nice thing to have, it is probably the most important feature I am searching for. I'm not planning on reading in the usual way that much, but use the ebook reader/tablet for study and note taking. Most of my ebooks are scanned material right now. To be able to add some comments on pages would be great.

I am not convinced the tablets are any better in scribbling than the ebook readers. In most reviews of tablet pcs this is not discussed.

You'll probably use a Notebook for studies anyway. I'd buy a convertible then.

mgmueller · 09-23-2009, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillAdams

Well, I tried scribbling on a demo unit PRS-600 at the local Borders and any curves were rendered as jagged approximations made up of straight line segments --- not something I'd be able to tolerate --- perhaps that's specific to a demo unit, but I doubt it.

On the other hand, I've actually written notes w/ a pen into a .pdf (and my handwriting leans to the small side) and sent them off and the recipients have found them perfectly readable.

Drawing &c. work fine as well.

Until the annotations for stylus-equipped ebooks are as effortless and smooth as painting in programs like ArtRage and Sketchbook, or there're notetaking capabilities like to EverNote or PhatPad, Tablet PCs are much better at scribbling.

William

That's no problem of "demo unit".
They present the original Sony 600 "as is".
iRex (although being Sony fan as well) in my opinion is superior to Sony concerning touchscreen.
iRex has a WACOM tablet, whereas Sony is touch sensitive.
Meaning: You can rest your hand on iRex' display (which is the "natural" writing position) but not on Sony.

mgmueller · 09-23-2009, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tr_tr

Thanks, you really summarized it well. Scribbling is more than a nice thing to have, it is probably the most important feature I am searching for. I'm not planning on reading in the usual way that much, but use the ebook reader/tablet for study and note taking. Most of my ebooks are scanned material right now. To be able to add some comments on pages would be great.

I am not convinced the tablets are any better in scribbling than the ebook readers. In most reviews of tablet pcs this is not discussed.

When using for studies, you probably should check for a "search function" as well. Will be a showstoper for many units (iRex for example).

schmolch · 09-23-2009, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tr_tr

I am not convinced the tablets are any better in scribbling than the ebook readers. In most reviews of tablet pcs this is not discussed.

Scribbling is great on Tablet-PCs.
Check out gottabemobile.com there are a'lot of detailed video-reviews (click on "inkshows") that show exactly that and everything else you can do.

DDHarriman · 09-23-2009, 06:00 PM

Hi

I second schmolch here.
Go for the tabletpc, it’s what you will be needing and note that besides what you explaining you are getting a full, and my advice, your day to day computer for the future.
One more hint, if you go with a tabletpc wait until they ship with windows 7, you will get amazing performance and outstanding inking results with it.

Best regards,

tr_tr · 09-23-2009, 06:24 PM

Thanks all! You've convinced me I need a tablet PC and not an ebook reader.
Just searched for the word scribbling in google (tried annotating before and didn't result in something useful) and found this cool video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM34QVH_jRY
screen seems to be pretty responsive

Any comments on these tablets?

Asus EEE PC T91 price 459 Euro
Gigabyte Netbook T1028 599 Euro
HP TouchSmart TX2-1050ED 919 Euro

My choice would be T91 if I needed to pick one now. It is relatively small and lightweight. Screen could be too small for convenient PDF reading though so I can use some user experience. T91 has most users of the three, and I have seen reports of Linux/Ubuntu running pretty well on it. Linux is my favorite OS DDHarriman, so I would rather avoid any Windows version

schmolch · 09-23-2009, 06:37 PM

Im not sure but the netbook-tablets will probably only have a touchscreen and not a wacom-digitizer. This reduces the quality of your handwriting/scribbling greatly, however it might also have reached a good quality meanwhile. I think gottabemobile has a inkshow about the eee.
The TX2 has a pretty bad reputation regarding quality/battery-life/heat but check out gbm's forums to be sure.
I also use Linux, it will not be a problem. Xournal meanwhile annotates pdfs alot better (using poppler) so you will not need any powerfull hardware to do this.

edit: the scribbling on the eee looks actually pretty good on that video
edit: not sure about the size though. i use 2 12" Tablets but they have cost me 2800 €.

tr_tr · 09-24-2009, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schmolch

Im not sure but the netbook-tablets will probably only have a touchscreen and not a wacom-digitizer. This reduces the quality of your handwriting/scribbling greatly, however it might also have reached a good quality meanwhile. I think gottabemobile has a inkshow about the eee.
The TX2 has a pretty bad reputation regarding quality/battery-life/heat but check out gbm's forums to be sure.
I also use Linux, it will not be a problem. Xournal meanwhile annotates pdfs alot better (using poppler) so you will not need any powerfull hardware to do this.

edit: the scribbling on the eee looks actually pretty good on that video
edit: not sure about the size though. i use 2 12" Tablets but they have cost me 2800 €.

I guess your avatar already gave you away

Thanks for the info, I have searched for xournal and that seems to be a great scribble tool.
Probably have to go to another forum for a good comparison of the three tables.
Might try gottabemobile..

tr_tr · 09-26-2009, 09:10 AM

I have just bought the Gigabyte Netbook T1028X, I hope it is a wise decision

Biggest reason for choosing this instead of the asus t91 is its screen and keyboard.
Screen is bigger, I hope that will help with reading high resolution pdfs. Keyboard is better/bigger, so I can use it as a standard laptop as well.

2 youtube links convinced me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh1GgWNXMko
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKIhj7jI8zQ

I will update this post when I received it.

09-23-2009, 04:44 PM	#1
tr_tr Member Posts: 19 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: none	compact tablet PC or an ebook reader? I am still looking for the perfect ebook reader, unfortunately they all seem to have issues or a lack of features so I'm leaning towards buying a tablet PC. The most feature rich ebook reader is probably the Irex dr1000s. I like its size, pdf reading capabilities, note taking. It costs in the Netherlands 699.00 Euro Then there are the compact tablet PC's like Asus EEE PC T91 price 459 Euro Gigabyte Netbook T1028 599 Euro or the less compact HP TouchSmart TX2-1050ED 919 Euro They all have their pros and cons. I am in doubt, and although money is not my biggest concern I might buy the T91 for its price and hope it will do what I want. Not interested in handwriting recognition, but I do want to anotate pdf's (and preferably other formats as well) It needs to be as compatible and fast enough for all pdf's (also bigger PDF's based on scans). The less I need to scroll through PDF's the better, so the bigger screen of the HP TX2 and Irex could be very useful. Still in doubt, so if anyone has suggestions that might help me decide please let me know.

09-23-2009, 04:50 PM	#2
Loose_Appeal Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish? Posts: 65 Karma: 136 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: Current: PRS-300, Previous: Books	The ebook readers are just that, ebook readers. If you're gonna need a lot more function besides comfortable reading, even the most feature rich ebook readers will be overshadowed by a tablet pc. Buut if money is not your concern I guess I'm preaching to the wrong crowd. Can you specify a little bit more as to why you're in a dilemma between a tablet pc and an ebook reader besides reading and taking notes? Last edited by Loose_Appeal; 09-23-2009 at 04:56 PM.

09-23-2009, 06:37 PM	#12
schmolch Connoisseur Posts: 64 Karma: 142 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Germany Device: Tablet-PC (x60t sxga+)	Im not sure but the netbook-tablets will probably only have a touchscreen and not a wacom-digitizer. This reduces the quality of your handwriting/scribbling greatly, however it might also have reached a good quality meanwhile. I think gottabemobile has a inkshow about the eee. The TX2 has a pretty bad reputation regarding quality/battery-life/heat but check out gbm's forums to be sure. I also use Linux, it will not be a problem. Xournal meanwhile annotates pdfs alot better (using poppler) so you will not need any powerfull hardware to do this. edit: the scribbling on the eee looks actually pretty good on that video edit: not sure about the size though. i use 2 12" Tablets but they have cost me 2800 €. Last edited by schmolch; 09-23-2009 at 06:41 PM.

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09-23-2009, 05:25 PM	#5
WillAdams Addict Posts: 284 Karma: 336 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Sony PRS-505, Fujitsu Stylistic	Well, I tried scribbling on a demo unit PRS-600 at the local Borders and any curves were rendered as jagged approximations made up of straight line segments --- not something I'd be able to tolerate --- perhaps that's specific to a demo unit, but I doubt it. On the other hand, I've actually written notes w/ a pen into a .pdf (and my handwriting leans to the small side) and sent them off and the recipients have found them perfectly readable. Drawing &c. work fine as well. Until the annotations for stylus-equipped ebooks are as effortless and smooth as painting in programs like ArtRage and Sketchbook, or there're notetaking capabilities like to EverNote or PhatPad, Tablet PCs are much better at scribbling. William

09-23-2009, 06:00 PM	#10
DDHarriman Guru Posts: 727 Karma: 1118 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Almada, Portugal Device: Cybook Gen3 and Sony PRS 505	Hi I second schmolch here. Go for the tabletpc, it’s what you will be needing and note that besides what you explaining you are getting a full, and my advice, your day to day computer for the future. One more hint, if you go with a tabletpc wait until they ship with windows 7, you will get amazing performance and outstanding inking results with it. Best regards,

09-23-2009, 06:24 PM	#11
tr_tr Member Posts: 19 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: none	Thanks all! You've convinced me I need a tablet PC and not an ebook reader. Just searched for the word scribbling in google (tried annotating before and didn't result in something useful) and found this cool video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM34QVH_jRY screen seems to be pretty responsive Any comments on these tablets? Asus EEE PC T91 price 459 Euro Gigabyte Netbook T1028 599 Euro HP TouchSmart TX2-1050ED 919 Euro My choice would be T91 if I needed to pick one now. It is relatively small and lightweight. Screen could be too small for convenient PDF reading though so I can use some user experience. T91 has most users of the three, and I have seen reports of Linux/Ubuntu running pretty well on it. Linux is my favorite OS DDHarriman, so I would rather avoid any Windows version

09-26-2009, 09:10 AM	#14
tr_tr Member Posts: 19 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: none	I have just bought the Gigabyte Netbook T1028X, I hope it is a wise decision Biggest reason for choosing this instead of the asus t91 is its screen and keyboard. Screen is bigger, I hope that will help with reading high resolution pdfs. Keyboard is better/bigger, so I can use it as a standard laptop as well. 2 youtube links convinced me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh1GgWNXMko http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKIhj7jI8zQ I will update this post when I received it.