Edge Alternatives

[kennyminot]

You can check out my Boogie Board review here.

[sarah11918]

Nice review, kenny. The one thing I do have to take issue with in using a whiteboard as a comparison is that the whiteboard is messy. (As a leftie, that's a huge deal for me. I can only use pens with a low smudge factor, and whiteboard tech is way worse on that front.) So the fact that it doesn't smudge after writing, doesn't use any inky implements, and can be put in a sleeve and taken out in a bag (ie shopping list) unlike a whiteboard does perhaps count for more props than you've given the BB. But, I love how you finish your review by saying ppl with it on their fridge get geek cred.

I'd never given the BB a second thought until they recently announced they were implementing save technology. Now I'm curious.

[CheyenneDonna]

Originally Posted by sarah11918

I'd never given the BB a second thought until they recently announced they were implementing save technology. Now I'm curious.

Me too. It doesn't look quite as exciting as the EeeNote or NoteSlate, but it does look like it may actually be for sale.

[sarah11918]

And it's especially still on the radar since I missed out on a Canadian eBay auction today - eee Note for $159!! I was emailing the seller back and forth b/c he wanted $50 for shipping (within Canada, regular mail?!) and in the midst of doing that, someone else bought it.

[sarah11918]

Has anybody seen or heard about the Onyx Boox M90 that's apparently shipping this week?

http://www.onyx-boox.com/onyx-boox-m90

http://www.onyxboox.com/product_info...products_id=30

video: http://www.facebook.com/video/video....20258&comments

[Filark]

I've been reading about the Onyx Boox M90 (and its siblings) mostly here on MobileRead. Dulin's Books is going to carry it. Not sure if he's put the info up yet or not. Just checked -- he hasn't. There are some long threads here about the Onyx Boox M90, and somewhere I saw some Chinese demonstration videos. Couldn't find them again in a brief search. Sorry.

I will be very interested to read the reviews when people start receiving the real thing.

[sarah11918]

Thanks, Filark. I found the threads here, and a bunch of stuff online. Apparently one who has an early unit says there are problems with the IR sensor (that can be used for navigation instead of the physical buttons or stylus) and sunlight/daylight is setting it off, making errant page turns etc.

I'm also interested to see reviews. Apparently it starts shipping in the US June 15 and will be priced at $399. The screen looks beautiful, though, eh?

[geneven1]

I'm tempted by the boogie board even without the save feature but I'll probably wait for it.

[pyxiwulf]

I kinda like this idea of the boogie board, but what's the point without a save feature? Doesn't that mean it's just an electronic chalkboard/one "paper" at a time use? Like the slates of historic days gone by?

Also, I was poking around and saw that there is color eink tech out there, though I've never seen a product IRL with it myself. Anyone use it? I think a color eink with internet capability would be the closest replacement to the Edge for me out of current products.

[emusan]

Yes there are color e-ink screens, but I think the price is way to high for most people to want to buy them right now...

[geckoFeet]

Hm .... the touchscreen Onyxes (Onyces?) use a Wacom stylus and mention the possibility of taking notes. I wonder if they can scribble on PDFs, or can be made to do so.

The list of languages they support is amusing:
English
Dutch
German
French
Spanish
Italian
Polish
Danish
Portuguese
Norwegian
Hebrew
Simplified Chinese
Svenska
Japanese
Korean
Greek

Apparently, they believe that Swedes are too stupid to recognize the name of their language in English (which, in fact, has not been my experience).

[sarah11918]

Originally Posted by pyxiwulf

I kinda like this idea of the boogie board, but what's the point without a save feature? Doesn't that mean it's just an electronic chalkboard/one "paper" at a time use? Like the slates of historic days gone by?

Yes. You can hang it like a whiteboard as a communal message board, on the fridge as a grocery list, or give it to kids to doodle on so they don't waste paper. I would use it for all the notes I jot down as I'm comparing flight options, or working through a math problem. As it stands now, it's simply to replace scratch paper, and at $40, I could see myself using it for only that purpose if I didn't have more sophisticated tablet devices.

But since I do, of course, there's not much need for the version that won't save.

[sarah11918]

Originally Posted by geckoFeet

I wonder if they can scribble on PDFs, or can be made to do so.

Yes, they do annotate PDFs. (And scribble on ebooks etc.) What I don't yet know is how exporting is handled.

[CheyenneDonna]

It looks like the Eee Note won't be released in the US based on this Facebook post http://www.facebook.com/asus.n.ameri...50331478897178
Although, the wording of the post leaves the idea of a different generation or model hanging.

[kennyminot]

I got my eye on the Viewsonic Viewbook 730 (although, admittedly, this won't be a good solution for people who like e-ink): http://www.viewsonic.com/products/vb730.htm. Also, the HTC Flyer seems pretty awesome.