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wallcraft · 07-10-2008, 12:10 PM

The iLiad certainly works automatically with 220 and 110 volts, and comes with a few plugs in its travel adapter kit. Its primary downsides are 10-15 hours per charge and "only" an 8.1" screen. There probably will be an "iLiad killer" from someone (perhaps iRex) using a 9.7" screen, but I would not be surprised if the majority of devices with this screen are delayed until next year. There is also the issue of robustness. I'm not sure E-Ink is much less fragile than LCD screens, but the E-Ink readers are very lightweight and don't provide a lot of support for the large screens. The iLiad is well made, but if you twist the screen or press a hard object into it the screen is dead (and costly and time consuming to replace). The 9.7" screens may be more fragile and will require well engineered casings for the readers. So, in the end we may find that 8" is a sweetspot of size vs robustness anyway.

You don't need WiFi, the only routine use for it is to get newspapers or other daily feeds but even this isn't as well developed as it could be. WiFi is off by default (because it takes a lot of power). Overall, you can buy the iLiad Book Edition (without WiFi) without loosing much.

07-10-2008, 12:10 PM	#4
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,977 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	The iLiad certainly works automatically with 220 and 110 volts, and comes with a few plugs in its travel adapter kit. Its primary downsides are 10-15 hours per charge and "only" an 8.1" screen. There probably will be an "iLiad killer" from someone (perhaps iRex) using a 9.7" screen, but I would not be surprised if the majority of devices with this screen are delayed until next year. There is also the issue of robustness. I'm not sure E-Ink is much less fragile than LCD screens, but the E-Ink readers are very lightweight and don't provide a lot of support for the large screens. The iLiad is well made, but if you twist the screen or press a hard object into it the screen is dead (and costly and time consuming to replace). The 9.7" screens may be more fragile and will require well engineered casings for the readers. So, in the end we may find that 8" is a sweetspot of size vs robustness anyway. You don't need WiFi, the only routine use for it is to get newspapers or other daily feeds but even this isn't as well developed as it could be. WiFi is off by default (because it takes a lot of power). Overall, you can buy the iLiad Book Edition (without WiFi) without loosing much.