[sarah11918]

The fact that Engadget's final suggestion was to buy a Kindle DX *or* a netbook, not this thing (which they said tried to do both) was very telling IMO. And, on which of those two devices am I supposed to make handwritten notes?

EDITED: Oops, that was the Wired article that suggested that, not Engadget.

To me, the eDGe is the e-reader/netbook of choice for those of us (admittedly small niche market) who are are the tablet PC junkies -- another product that Engadget and other tech sites don't exactly "get" either. I bought the eDGe 100% because of the journal application, stylus annotation and dual screen (so I can do other stuff without sending my main window to the background).

I write my shopping list on a Nokia N810 internet tablet that fits in my purse. I have a tablet PC (and none of them are particularly light!) for heavy-lifting in the handwriting arena (handwriting recognition, colour etc.) and I have a Wacom external graphics tablet for working on the Mac. What I don't have is a design particularly great for just reading (which I do in a chair or at a table anyway) and taking notes. I'm sick of carting around a book, pen, notepad and laptop around for my "casual reading." Now, the eDGe is the only thing I have to take out to the pool or courtyard. This is the first device that actually fixes a problem I had and not just a cool toy that I rationalized a use for.

Just because this device might not appeal to the masses doesn't mean it's not well-suited to those who use it for its intended purposes. It does have its flaws, like every piece of technology. But, it can be frustrating to see it labeled as flawed in general by people who don't have a real use for it.