I've been tracking the progress of E-Readers for a number of years. I have read books on one of the original B&W Handspring Treos, an original Palm Pilot 5000, notebooks, desktops, and most recently, a Cingular 8525. The one thing these all had in common... Mind-numbing, skull-cracking, eye-ripping STRAIN! I crave the portability and capacity of an electronic reader, but inevitably, I relaps to just reading paper books.
Such is it that I have been following e-ink with great hope, and limitless expectation. I've been lurking in the forums, reading the gadget blogs, and doing the research. Here's what I have decided are my deal breakers:
1)
Lack of word search. One of the benifits of such a device would be the ability to tote around about 80 pounds worth of reference material, and that just isn't usefull unless I have word search capability. Never mind that most of the references I refere to are in PDF format. I can work around that. But it does raise an interesting question: Will any of these readers output from their USB ports to a printer?
2)
Lack of Vizplex. Not generally being an early adapter, and being prone to researching the crap out of any purchase greater than $200, I have concluded that the latest standard in e-ink screen will negate one of my earlier concerns: Screen refresh/flip speed. I think, considering my experience with the current model Sony, that the new screens will give it just enough kick to make it worthshile.
So, it comes to the Bookeen and the NUUT. Even with the new screen, the Sony is a NOGO 'cause of the lack of word search. I hope the NUUT comes to the U.S. soon. If not, the 'Bookeen' looks pretty 'keen'. Perhaps I will hide and watch a few months more
