|
The essentials are:
-Highlighting and annotating .rtf or .doc files (I'm a law student and I read a lot of documents in these formats that I need to refer back to in the future)
-Dictionaries. I'd settle for a solid English dictionary, but I'd also love a bevy of Foreign-English dictionaries (or access to Google Translate) to translate the random passages in foreign languages that force me to stop, get up and go to the computer to translate.
-wifi/3G-if-it-were-free. I predominately use my computer for e-mail and news; if I could accomplish these things effectively on an e-book, I'd probably stop carrying a laptop around everywhere.
-non-proprietary. I have nothing against DRM, but it seems like a lot of readers (especially the Kindle and the Nook) have gone out of their way to make it difficult to use their device with anything you didn't buy from the dedicated store. If a reader's going to have internet access, why can't I use it to download books straight from my library?
-Battery life. At least a week of normal use without charging.
- It works. Not just manages to accomplish tasks, but is designed to be intuitive and easy to use (not to sound like a fanboy, but I'm never going back to PCs).
There is a longer list of things I'd love (magical screen technology that could play video, yet was as easy on the eye as paper; built-in book light; touch-screen or hand-writing recognition[that works], NYTimes Crossword application, etc...), but these are the features I'm waiting for before I buy an e-reader.
I had (and still have) a lot of hopes for the Nook, the Alex or the Pocketbook 302, but it looks like the Nook prevent one from actually using it to its full potential. As for the others, there just isn't any real information on them yet. I'm also cheap, so I'd like it for under $200, but I'll just keep waiting until the day the e-reader I want actually comes out, and I'll hopefully have enough saved up for it by then.
|