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Originally Posted by Taylor514ce
Dennis,
I work in IT/Software, and everything I need to do professionally I can do with a combination of a laptop and a Blackberry. When I read for pleasure, I definitely don't want to do it on a computer or a blackberry (though I'm trying out MobiPocket on the blackberry).
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I had laptop and Blackberry. The Blackbarry I had was one of the slim-line units intended to be combo cell-phone and push email device. Mobi probably would have run on it, but there's that too small screen size again, as well as the issue of getting ebooks onto it. With the PDA, I use a card reader to drop ebook files directly on an SD card in the appropriate directory, and off I go.
I certainly am not interested in reading on the laptop. Too big and too heavy to just carry around with me when I'm out and about.
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That's why I'm interested in an eInk reader. My laptop is one of those huge, workstation-class 17" monsters, and the blackberry is just a bit too tiny. When I'm in a plane, hotel room, or airport lounge, I want a book-sized device to read a book, that's it.
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I have similar feelings, but I also include the cases where I don't have the laptop along. If I'm traveling, I probably do, but I'm unlikely to pull it out in an airport lounge, or on a plane or train, unless I am doing something that can only be done on it.
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I see two clear camps: those who want a dedicated reader, and those who want a multi-function device. I just can't see a multi-function device ever having a form factor that would make it attractive as a reader. I don't want to hold a book-sized thing up to the side of my head to make a phone call.
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Depends on what the multiple functions are.
What do I do? Let's see:
Place/receive phone calls. I have a tiny low-end Nokia cell phone I use for that. That's all it does, and all I want it to do. It lives clipped to my belt.
Everything else in on the PDA, which lives in a shoulder bag or briefcase, depending, not a pocket. Having PDAs fail the Drop Test(tm) cured me of pockets as places to keep them.
PIM functions -- Address book, calendar, reminders, to-dos. Well, that's what a Palm device was designed to do.
Read ebooks and refer to electronic references. Easily doable with the appropriate software, though not as easy due to incompatible formats and the need to maintain multiple viewers as it ought to be. I have a library in my pocket.
Watch videos. Doable with the appropriate software, which is this case is a free, open source product called TCPMP. I know people ripping full length movies from DVDs for playback on their handheld with TCPMP, though I haven't bothered.
View photos. Doable with software. JPGs in my case, but other image formats are possible.
Listen to MP3s. Doable with software, as well as Ogg Vorbis files in addition to MP3s.
Play games. Lots of them out there, including arcade style, puzzle games and any other variety. I have an SDL port of Nethack on the PDA.
Surf the web. Doable in a pinch with a wifi card, but I vastly prefer laptop or desktop. Too many sites don't have mobile friendly faces, and Palm browsers lag what's available elsewhere.
Read/reply to email. I can but don't. It can damn well wait till I'm on desktop or laptop.
Read/edit Word documents and Excel spreadsheets. Doable with the appropriate software. (Mostly Excel, here.)
Write documents. Doable with the appropriate software and a folding keyboard.
Write code. Doable with the appropriate editor and a folding keyboard. Depending upon the code, some of it I can even build and run on the handheld, though in practice, I don't.
Which of the above can I do on a dedicated reader? The third.
If I could get a device in a reader form factor, that supported color, and did all the things I do with my PDA, I'd probably switch to it. There isn't one at this point, though if ASUS actually makes the reported future eee model with a 9" screen, I'll be looking real close.
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Dennis