To buy or not to buy, help me answer the question (Pocket Edge)

Melusina, I hope you bought your PE, because Newegg raised their price back up to $349. And I was just about to pull the trigger myself . . .

Hello- This is my first post in this forum. I also need to read PDFs with diagrams in them. I already got the PE a couple of weeks ago and I like it very much. Like the form factor and the tablet and epub reading.

However I also am reading PDF books with diagrams and graphic images (mostly about poker) and am not satisfied. I have used suggestions I found in this forum and have used Briss to make 2 column PDFs into 2 separate pages. I have also used PDF-Viewer Pro to crop away margins and used ABBY PDF Converter to OCR PDFs for re-flow capability. All of these things help but not enough. The image of the original page is too small to read or see comfortably and the suit symbols get mangled in the reflow process. I think I would be much happier if I could just read PDFs in a landscape mode scrolling through them on the e-ink screen. I have read them this way on the Tablet screen and it works pretty well bu I dislike reading on an LCD screen.t I want to read and lightly annotate them on the e-ink screen.

I bought my PE from J&R in part because the price was ~$327 and they allow 45 days for returns. If I cannot get better performance from the E-reader screen om PDFs I am thinking of returning it and getting a Sony PRS950. But I really like the PE and I hope someone can tell me with assurance that a scrolling landscape mode of reading PDFs is on the way.

Jazzmind:

I think I can understand what you are saying very clearly. When you say "I hope someone can tell me with assurance that a scrolling landscape mode of reading PDFs is on the way", I am concerned, though. The feature you describe is highly desired as evidenced by Forum comments. But I can tell you, that if you are imagining that someone will give any kind of assurance that this feature will be forthcoming, then you are only setting yourself up for great disappointment. I say that, not specifically about Entourage, but about tech devices and companies in general. In my opinion, if you dont like the device you now hold in your hands, then I recommend you returning it immediately and get a device that does what you want it to do. Do not pin your use of the device on any feature that may be forthcoming. You will be overall much happier and less frustrated.

Originally Posted by JazzMind

However I also am reading PDF books with diagrams and graphic images (mostly about poker) and am not satisfied. I have used suggestions I found in this forum and have used Briss to make 2 column PDFs into 2 separate pages. I have also used PDF-Viewer Pro to crop away margins and used ABBY PDF Converter to OCR PDFs for re-flow capability. All of these things help but not enough.

It has always been the recommendation in these forums that the larger enTourage eDGe ("EE") be used for PDFs. Perhaps return the PE and get the EE instead, and you'll be much better off. We're all hoping that landscape eInk will show up in the next few months.

Originally Posted by borisb

.....We're all hoping that landscape eInk will show up in the next few months.

Surely you mean "the next few weeks" or is the glass half empty now?

Half empty Maybe it'll be part of the Froyo update, maybe it'll come out before, maybe it'll come out after. In any case, enTourage hasn't released any Release Notes for an upcoming release that mentions landscape eInk, which means it's not ready yet.

Originally Posted by borisb

.....the larger enTourage eDGe ("EE") be used for PDFs. Perhaps return the PE and get the EE instead, and you'll be much better off.....

I agree fully. When I said "...I recommend you returning it immediately and get a device that does what you want it to do...", indeed the EE (full-size eDGe) may fit the bill. I own both the EE and the PE, and I find the PE almost useless for most of the pdf's I read. But in any case, I would re-emphasize that pinning hopes for any device on features that are expected in the future will only lead to disappointment and frustration.

Originally Posted by alefor

I would re-emphasize that pinning hopes for any device on features that are expected in the future will only lead to disappointment and frustration.

Alefor makes a good point. To date, enTourage has not committed publically to shipping landscape eInk. Tech support has only said "we're working on it" to individuals who asked them. It's been a good year now since it was originally "promised", so clearly there are greater issues involved than we're able to guess at, and this also means they may not be able to deliver this feature in this device's lifetime.

Didn't get it at the lower price - both price and supply are volatile from some of these sites! I decided that it was really important to get it from someone who allowed at least 30 days for return. I put it in the shopping cart at Buy.com, and in the time it took to call with a question about shipping method and Pay at Paypal, Buy.com was out. I ended up buying directly from one of their vendors, Electronica Direct. 30 days return, and I got the red for $20 more. Sarah says she can live with the fingerprints on the red, and the extra $20 cancels the cost of the skin and the frustration of trying to put it on, which for me would be major since I am terrible at this stuff.

I noticed that some of these retailer have only 3-4 in stock. In fact, the PE became available again from Buy.com later in the day. I wonder how all this is managed, and what it means. I wonder why Newegg dropped the price briefly and then raised it again - are they becoming hard to get hold of?

I hope it will be here by Thursday. I know I will continue to call on the experts on this forum - beaming warm thoughts to all of you who have helped me make up my mind!
Melusina

Congratulations, Melusina!

I ordered a black PE from B&H Photo. (They don't carry the red.) I will probably skin mine, but my first concern is finding screen protectors that will work. I don't want to use it (much ) until I have those screens covered. It's optional, I know, but if scratches occur, I want them on a replaceable piece of plastic, not on my beautiful new Pocket eDGe!

We should get our devices at about the same time, so cheers!!

Filark