Edge and potential

walt526, you can buy iRex (wacom enabled 10inch e-ink with wi-fi for $300), and any android phone or 9inch chinese ipad clone ($150)... you'll have the same functionality but much more mobility
And f...k iRex have web browser, which is my number 1 wish for EE. (yes, when I get web browser on e-ink side, i will say that EE is rulez.., but for now.. )

For someone who includes "English is not my native language" in the footer of every post, you have a very precise and rigid definition of the word "integration."

BTW, on the subject of proper English, I think you mean to use "still" rather than "steel" in the first paragraph of #19.

Anyway, I'm not an IT professional/developer, but I have a more expansive/inclusive definition of "integration" and "interoperability." But a debate on semantics isn't really something that interests me.

Originally Posted by robot

walt526, you can buy iRex (wacom enabled 10inch e-ink with wi-fi for $300), and any android phone or 9inch chinese ipad clone ($150)... you'll have the same functionality but much more mobility
And f...k iRex have web browser, which is my number 1 wish for EE. (yes, when I get web browser on e-ink side, i will say that EE is rulez.., but for now.. )

An Android phone won't have anything close to a 10.1" LCD and I'm not aware of the cheap Chinese iPad clone being available for sale anywhere in the US yet (just seen it featured on a few tech blogs--which haven't been very postive, BTW).

All of these devices have pros and cons. For me, the particular combination that the eDGe offers yields maximum utility at $500--but for others, another device (or combination of devices) may be more appropriate. As I said in my earlier post, the eDGe is very much a niche device. But for people in that particular niche, it's a tremendously useful device at an affordable price.

Yes, but in modern time "good niche device for affordable price" is not enough for startup company to succeed. You need to be "mass popular" or "really cheap" or "f#king amazing and useful". Or all of this at one time.

p.s. as I said chinese ipad clones (10inch wi-fi android or windows7) cost only 150USD (ok, 200 USD with shipping included). As for e-ink readers, most cheaped in india only about 50usd (only for internal market). And next cheapest one is B&N nook2 -- which only 150USD and have wi-fi module and (attention here!!) two displays (lcd+eink) with full interaction between them (thanks to FULL android support for both displays).

Power computing on the eDGe...Coming soon...I hope. Have been using the 'free' version of remote Pc controller program for years. -Able to USE full capability of '0utlook', 'Office', etc.., none of which are on Portables. Just got off the phone with them. "Android version out of Beta. will be finalized and released to Android Market soon. ~$29.95". (iphone has its version already).
Am on mailing list, will post updates.

In 'my world' the eDGe is fantastic. i.e. Onsite: "The Blankety blank thing is broken. What's the part number. Cost? Where and how fast can I get it?" Answ: "Let's get that from the PDF Operations/maintenance manual. We can call the 0ffice to order. ...and I'll make a note in the 'Project' journal.". ..."Oh, What the h--- is that thing?"

Potential-HA!

Well it remains to be seen whether or not the eDGe can survive in a very competitive market. The key to their long-term success (whether as an independent company or one that's ultimately bought by a larger, established company) is focusing on the needs of their customers in their niche, developing brand loyalty, and establishing mutually profitable strategic partnerships with established content providers. As far as I can tell, they are doing an excellent job on all three fronts--although it is still a work in progress.

As for the Chinese iPad clone, unless it is available through a normal, legit distribution channel, then I'm not interested. Particularly when every review of it says that it's a piece of crap and customer support is non-existent.

Finally, the Nook's eInk is only 6" and the LCD is only 3.5", so that's not a fair comparison to the eDGe. For me, both screens on the Nook are far too small to be useful. Also, my understanding is that the consensus is that Nook is still an inferior eReader compared to the Kindle 2.

Originally Posted by robot

p.s. as I said chinese ipad clones (10inch wi-fi android or windows7) cost only 150USD (ok, 200 USD with shipping included). As for e-ink readers, most cheaped in india only about 50usd (only for internal market). And next cheapest one is B&N nook2 -- which only 150USD and have wi-fi module and (attention here!!) two displays (lcd+eink) with full interaction between them (thanks to FULL android support for both displays).

The only nook for sale at Barnes & Noble for $150 is the wifi nook , not nook 2. It has a tiny little lcd screen used for displaying book covers and some navigation. In my opinion it is cheesy and not comparable to the edge. From what I see searching Google the nook 2 specs are a matter of speculation, since it is not for sale yet.

Yes. It's a little cheesy and nook is smaller, but it use same android OS, the same double eink+lcd displays, but has far better integration beetween them! The same for Alex-reader.

p.s. I don't know why EE developers decide to run separated proccess for e-ink and lcd displays whithout creating an interaction API beetween.., 'cos now, in order to create SDK they will must to rewrite the code. For sure it will be fixed sometimes, but probably at this time there will be another more interesting devices.

I have to agree with robot on the last point as i have both a Alex Reader, An edge and just ordered a Nook. the integration between the screens is poor compared with the Alex, and i made this point hundred of times. If I would be edge I will check my competition first and improve on their achievement before I come out with a device that has poor software.

For my needs - Alex and Nook with their tiny LCD screens still don't provide what I'm looking for. When I read a physical book I like to have a PC on the Internet sitting next to me so I can actively research new ideas and take notes. Sure the Nook, Kindle, Alex and other eReaders can cram huge libraries in a small package. But I still need a laptop with Internet access and basic word processing sitting next to me. I want a dictionary, Wikipedia and Google and a place to put my thoughts.

The Android OS is not a 20-year, billion dollar re-engineered Windows product. But it is much nicer than Windows 286 or 3.1! Nor does Android have the Apple marketing team's efforts to sell anti-establishment, anti-Big Brother, used by the glitterati and chic, will you believe us if we tell you we invented water? Android is a little young and clunky. But Android accomplishes some things very admirably:
= Android is very light;
= Android has an incredibly small footprint;
= Android is very close to being an OS that can be freshly downloaded on each boot-up
(Google's market play - and they do have an enviable financial war chest)

Anyone who has upgraded from Badger to Coyote with their eDGe - how long did it take to wirelessly download the new OS and upgrade? The most powerful PC can't replace Windows XP with Windows Vista or 7 in 5 minutes.

I concede there are some bumps. Not physical ruts like the first car owners found when driving unpaved roads but impediments to full speed just the same. For a six month old product I find the level of reliability and usability in the eDGe significantly exceeding my expectations. I am also very encouraged at how an OS upgrade can so incredibly change the experience with the device as when I went from Badger to Coyote.

The frontier can be a little rough. Enjoy it or not. :-)

Originally Posted by mdion

For my needs - Alex and Nook with their tiny LCD screens still don't provide what I'm looking for. When I read a physical book I like to have a PC on the Internet sitting next to me so I can actively research new ideas and take notes. Sure the Nook, Kindle, Alex and other eReaders can cram huge libraries in a small package. But I still need a laptop with Internet access and basic word processing sitting next to me. I want a dictionary, Wikipedia and Google and a place to put my thoughts...

These are exactly the reasons I bought eDGe ...

mdion, it's not right to talk about one product, but compare different OS. But anyway you didn't get the point.
1. all devices we talked about use the same android OS. Android 1.5 on Nook and AlexReader vs 1.6 on eDGe. So used the same (and improoved) OS eDGe still has poorest interconnection between displays.
2. The Badger and Coyote is still the same Android 1.6 version. But with some bugfixed from EE development.
3. The current version of Android released by google is 2.2! It feature full flash support, improoved power management, improoved battery life, tethering, improoved touchscreen response (include our ghosting problem), improoved overall speed, live wallpapers and other new apps features (as far as I understand even automatic full screen convertation of old apps).
4 So android 2.2 allready incude many features which EE development spend many time to implement in old 1.6 version.


p.s. yes, the only reason why I ordered EE was 10inch e-ink screen+wifi.... There's only 2 devices whith 10inch eink screens known. KindleDX and iRex. Kindle Dx doesn't have wi-fi. As for iRex it has everything i want (include web browser and wacom input), but it's very fraggly and ugly. So as I said before in this and other threads, EE has the best hardware, but (as I found out after received it) worst software. And I really hope that EE team will fix it very soon, before there will be something more interesting on the market (like upcoming pixelq Adam)

top score for robots points. I feel the same.