Plastic Logic QUE event (Thu 7:30 am PT)

[ziegl027]

Count me as another "too rich for my blood" person. I can't say I'm surprised, of course. Anything that is marketed to business clientelle is automatically spendy. Not nearly as much so as things marketed as medical devices (I can buy a "radiolucent compression paddle" for fifty bucks, or run to the grocery and get a wooden spoon for fifty cents), but the principle holds.

Otherwise looks like it would be just about perfect for me. Maybe after a while of using a different device (still planning on the Sony 900 unless some miracle arises out of the rest of the CES) me and hubby will be hooked enough on the concept and/or prices will have come down enough that we are willing to shell out that amount.

[badbob001]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I don't think I said that... did I?

I was thinking that the Edge's extra weight and higher battery usage comes from having two screens over the Que's one.

[oncdoc]

Originally Posted by ziegl027

Count me as another "too rich for my blood" person. I can't say I'm surprised, of course. Anything that is marketed to business clientelle is automatically spendy. Not nearly as much so as things marketed as medical devices (I can buy a "radiolucent compression paddle" for fifty bucks, or run to the grocery and get a wooden spoon for fifty cents), but the principle holds.

Otherwise looks like it would be just about perfect for me. Maybe after a while of using a different device (still planning on the Sony 900 unless some miracle arises out of the rest of the CES) me and hubby will be hooked enough on the concept and/or prices will have come down enough that we are willing to shell out that amount.

i agree, how much is the skiff?

[ziegl027]

Originally Posted by oncdoc

i agree, how much is the skiff?

That's the miracle I'm hoping will arise . Not holding my breath, though.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by badbob001

I was thinking that the Edge's extra weight and higher battery usage comes from having two screens over the Que's one.

Yes, of course it does. But I didn't say that was worse or better. Actually, I think you get more for your money with the Edge and was wondering what the Que's USP was against the Edge.

BOb

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

this is, i think, the Que in a nutshell

"What we are driving on is the paperless briefcase,” said Richard Archuleta

Madam-Perhaps having them think of it as more of a wireless printer will allow you to use it. If you can print from your system and stuff it in your briefcase then "printing" to the Que is essentially the same. It would be a wireless one way transfer so there wouldn't be the issue of viruses uploading as there is for USB keys etc.

I understand your observation here. But I would add that this ability to "print to the Que" is in no way unique to the Que. I can "print to" any device that reads PDF files, or any other file format that one can either save a file to or can grab a printer driver for...it can be directly to the device if it appears either as network resource or to a directory/network location that the device monitors then grabs any new content or notifies me or I can visit manually.

I would add I also get what the Que is trying to push as something special. but I would also add that it is nothing new nor special. Hell, I made stuff like this work for mobile sales rps and even setup data deliverables of our analytical lab for out clients if they would call our dial-up server to grab the results...this was in the early 90s under DOS/Netware and eventually Windows 3.x. The marketing staff used Goldmine and we had rudimentary ability to sync info either via dial-up or when they landed back at their home network...and all of the documents were their for anyone who had the right access permissions from any of our branch offices...seems to me PL is proud of re-inventing the wheel so there has to have been something special in the presentation we aren't seeing.

I am not trying to sound like this product is bad, nope it's not...but at the same time it is absolutely nothing new beyond the hardware being large format.

OK, so they are promising some sort of email client, and a couple other clients for some data like a calendar or what have you...can't we already do all of that with the simple port of a couple Linux email clients, there are apps which sync with Outlook and/or Gmail and all it's various bits and pieces.... The digitizer is nice, but not a huge deal as they have gotten cheaper as more companies are using them in devices...

My only guess is people are being charged for the 2ish years of promotion of the Que. I guess I just need to see more as this thing could be only a small portion of some rather spiffy backend.

Last I cannot believe that after all their R&D they came to the conclusion that a glossy bezel for a business grade device is what business users want. Nothing will show scratches and look shabby faster...glossy is for those who are drawn to "shiny" and will write all their checks when they see "shiny".

So maybe someone can explain why this thing is so great? I really do not see anything worth a $400 premium over some other large format options, even over the Kindle we are only talking about less than a 0.8" difference in scree size...and the PPI is lower than the Skiff by over 20-pixels and half the greyscale range. And the Skiff is 1" larger at 11.5".

BTW, I am also not sold on the Skiff since we don't know much about it either...but based on specs, it's better all around.

[HansTWN]

I love what I am seeing, but I won't be the first to buy. Let me have some real world evaluations first.

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

I love what I am seeing, but I won't be the first to buy. Let me have some real world evaluations first.

Can you put a finger on why ya like this one? I really am not feeling it so far...but that could be from the overload after all the devices so far. If not, I get that as well. I know the feeling when you "get" the sense of a device and just know it's right, yet cannot verbalize why.

[elewton]

What a massive disappointment. Neither as cheap nor as good as we all hoped.

Guess I'll transfer all my dreams into the Skiff or Edge.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

Can you put a finger on why ya like this one? I really am not feeling it so far...but that could be from the overload after all the devices so far. If not, I get that as well. I know the feeling when you "get" the sense of a device and just know it's right, yet cannot verbalize why.

Well, it fits most of my criteria:

1.)Screen size
2.)Touch screen that doesn't affect clarity
3.)Fast operation
4.)WiFi
5.)Epub support

Unexpected positives are full file support and E-Mail.

The unknowns are battery life, how easy it is to hold, ease of operation, actual screen contrast and fonts used (or easy replaceability). Since I am outside the US I don't need the 3G anyway, Wifi is widely available. The price falls into the acceptable range. But I won't say "I have to have this" yet, besides there are also a number of alternatives with 9.7" screens coming up.

[random50]

breklundin, whilst I agree there's nothing that revolutionary seeming about it (though the tech behind it is pretty intriguing...I'd not be at all surprised if that becomes a big deal whilst the reader loses out to the competition), what are the other products out there *right now* that do the same job?

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Well, it fits most of my criteria:

1.)Screen size
2.)Touch screen that doesn't affect clarity
3.)Fast operation
4.)WiFi
5.)Epub support

Unexpected positives are full file support and E-Mail.

The unknowns are battery life, how easy it is to hold, ease of operation, actual screen contrast and fonts used (or easy replaceability). Since I am outside the US I don't need the 3G anyway, Wifi is widely available. The price falls into the acceptable range. But I won't say "I have to have this" yet, besides there are also a number of alternatives with 9.7" screens coming up.

Thanks....and those features make sense for sure. My reasoning when evaluating the same features, since I think we are all looking for pretty much the same features so I'll offer why I am not "sold" on the Que as many others seem to be:

1. The screen size is not bad at all, but the Skiff (granted this is a totally unknown quantity as well) is 1" larger at 11.5" vs. 10.5" plus the Que has a pixel density of just 150 ppi compared to the 174ppi for the Skiff (probably works out to the same overall look though).

2. It uses Wacom...OK, big plus here for sure. Over the past few days I got a sense many devices are moving in the same direction and away from resistive touch (a very good idea for sure). The Que does seem to be the largest device using Wacom. Otherwise the upper limit are 9.7"/10" devices or should I say they promise to use a Wacom touch layer.

3. dunno about speed. Looks on par with other devices.

4. Wifi - a positive but if you want 3G that comes with a $150 premium.
Plus there is the whole Wifi Tx range issue, Rx is usually never an issue, but wifi Tx is often very disappointing on mobile devices. For example my N800 has horrible Tx range compared to my laptop. I would have more trust in the 3G model for wireless connections. Time will tell though. I would prefer a device with both at the same time but optional with the ability to be added at anytime in the future. I can see for your needs and living where there are a lot of open wifi hotspots it would be attractive at the $650 price...for me if that version was, say $450 and the 3G $549 I would bet the Que could win in the short term for sure. Maybe it is the cost of entry per device that has me leery...I still cannot put a finger on why I am not sold as I was before hand.

5. Epub - remains to be seen how well they implement Epub support as many devices have some pretty marginal epub support. I take this support as a Mendoza Line given in any new device today. And that includes DRM epub.

The only conclusion I can come to as to why this device, which is still unfinished after all this time, is they presented it from a business perspective to business USERS not the tech people so much. I am not, however, sold it is any better than other slightly smaller devices...but, we haven't seen it in action and at it's best. I do not for a second think this is vaporware or even a bad device, I just still don't see it as a winner. Maybe it's because it is the only device in it's class and I expected more options of this sort to be announced as ready, willing and able from other companies.

random50: I am not being argumentative here but the Que does not do any of those thing "right now" either. In fact they mention all the advanced features will not be ready until late in Q3 or sometime in Q4 of this year...that makes any assumption it will work worth a darn kinda scary if you are an IT director, or in any way involved with IT recommendations or decision making for your company and are asked if the company should invest in this device on a corporate level.

I just have my business hat on here and in all candor, all I see are some promises, some nice hardware, many things I don't like much yet at the same time some things which could be really nice...if they work and are ever delivered and delivered on time fully functioning.

I would add that the presentation of the Que was done smartly in pointing it toward the business users, but I wonder how many IT folks are just rolling their eyes when considering how and if it will work and how many weekends they will lose so one of the execs who buys one device then expects it to be a plug-n-play setup where it instantly works over their network, at home and in every toilet in the building as well as the taco stand across the street.

Last, while I like the Skiff, it appears to be more of a consumer targeted device with a resistive panel, yet the MgAlloy case which is, well odd for a consumer device...why skimp on the touch layer if they went to the expense of an Mg case? I also expect the Skiff will more than likely have some format limitations as well, as they try and lock the user into content from their providers...it sounds suspiciously like a device based on subscriptions...kinda suspected Hearst would demand this from consumers who like the Skiff. So that makes it sort of a negative for what, with a couple design changes, could be at the head of the class since the demo apparently showed full motion video.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/s...dle-watch-out/

But only a select few have actually been allowed to see the Skiff prototype in action.

Something also about the Que which I have not read is how does it handle, or can it even handle, multiple open documents along with an open notepad like app in order to keep notes and link in sections from each open document or other previously open docs from earlier sessions?

Anyway, I do see the point made from your observations and thanks for the feedback but I am still not sold, especially at the price point of $800 for what will be the most desirable version in the 3G version.

Thanks for the feedback as to why you like the device...I am done after rading about these things all week...I hate to imagine what Nate feels like at this point...though more than a few of us did the whole WEEK in LV when COMDEX was still happening...by the 2nd day they could hand out gold bars and I would not have been impressed, thinking only of how heavy it would be to carry around for 12hrs...hehehehe...nite guys!!

[Mr. Goodbar]

Engadget has a more exhaustive hands on article and video now posted.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/p...ideo-hands-on/

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

2. It uses Wacom...OK, big plus here for sure. Over the past few days I got a sense many devices are moving in the same direction and away from resistive touch (a very good idea for sure). The Que does seem to be the largest device using Wacom. Otherwise the upper limit are 9.7"/10" devices or should I say they promise to use a Wacom touch layer.

doesn't a wacom need a special stylus? If so, then the Que doesn't use one. The que works with finger touching as well as the stylus. I think this is a big plus cause you don't need to put out the stylus to do simple navigation with the "touch" controls like you do on say the iRex DR800 which does use a wacam and require a stylus.

BOb

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by Mr. Goodbar

Engadget has a more exhaustive hands on article and video now posted.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/p...ideo-hands-on/

thanks a bunch for posting that...I see how it works pretty well. it's slow to access documents and features, but most other devices are as well. It seems to work for what it says very well other than the speed.

something I see as missing...web browser. I know that can be problematic on a reader like this one, still it would make sense given all the connectivity options to let users connect via wifi, at least, to the web via some sort of web kit browser. Otherwise I see it as a nice device, though not in what I would want...and also there is not a lot to make it better than the other options. I sense I will pretty much for sure end up with a tablet using the PixelQi, Liquavista (this on is gonna be a while), Mirasol panel...probably a PixelQi based tablet it seems. I mean given the cost of even the wifi only model, the same money investing in a tablet computer will give me a better value for my cash.

Nice video...thanks it answered a lot of questions.