could somebody help me with my questions?

[DigiDirk]

With a video equipped overhead it should be used like any piece of paper !

Dirk

[yingwu]

Originally Posted by Jill75

Is this included in the manual? I am a student and teacher at the same time and this would be handy to me if it would have this feature. Is it just like a laptop to use with the video overhead projector?

O, I didn't notice this. Is that possible? How? It should be very useful.

[yingwu]

Also, I am thinking of a good cover to protect my further 1000s and there are two options. could anyone tell me which one is better?

[Grimulkan]

Originally Posted by yingwu

O, I didn't notice this. Is that possible? How? It should be very useful.

I think the poster meant that you could use the DR as you would regular paper, if your school has one of those paper projecting thingies where you write on a piece of paper and a camera above it projects it on a screen.

Originally Posted by yingwu

Also, I am thinking of a good cover to protect my further 1000s and there are two options. could anyone tell me which one is better?

The simple cover is thin but sufficiently protective, IMHO. A good balance between size and protection. The professional leather cover is MUCH more bulky, and I don't know how much extra protection it offers. Search, you'll find other threads discussing this.

[Grimulkan]

Here is my review on the DR for academic use. It is based on 2-3 months of use. Rather than focus on a list of features, I thought I'd post about how I actually use it, what I like, what I'd like to see and what I find annoying.


****Warning: Wall of text imminent****


For research:
The good:
1. You can organize reference papers (and textbooks, if you have them on PDF) as you please using folder organization. Pretty neat, if you're disorganized in real life (like me). You can also use a bunch of .desktop shortcut files to make "playlists" collecting documents pertaining to a certain topic, or organize based on multiple criteria like author, date, topic etc. Creating these playlists would be cumbersome, until someone writes a software that does that.
2. You can make your collection as big as 32 GB depending on your SD card, or carry multiple cards with you.
3. You can open multiple documents at once and switch between them.
4. The large screen size really helps when you're skimming through a document looking for a certain page that has a particular equation, diagram or graph.
5. You can scribble all over your books/papers or on a separate notepad document. You'll never have to delete your old notes, its there on the DR (or on your computer) forever The DR has an active touchscreen, meaning your palm or wrist won't distract the touch sensor while writing on the screen, if that is usually a problem for you.
6. File system organization with notes makes things really convenient. You can access what you jotted down on so-and-so day or so-and-so topic, merge them, and print them out or email them off.
7. You aren't constrained to work in your lab/office/library and won't be encumbered by a clunky laptop or a 3 hour battery when working elsewhere.
8. The eink screen makes long hours of reading simply great
9. An A4 or letter sized document looks great on the DR. The font size should be fine as it is (see pictures below), but you can zoom until the margins are cut out (or even the header, footer, page number etc.) and hide the task bar to maximize the viewing area.
10. Equations, graphs etc. look just like on paper, and if they're vector based (.eps figures, for instance, or just regular text), you can zoom in to tiny crevices and they will be re-rendered. This is pretty cool for graphs, when you want to zoom in to see what the value at a point looks like, or to differentiate between two lines that are really close together. You can then pan up/down/side-to-side. Now thats something you can't do with real paper
11. You can do a text search within your document, or use your own dictionaries to look up a word. If you can get your hands on a technical dictionary for your field, this can be pretty useful.
The bad:
1. Opening files could be faster. If you're trying to switch with more than 4 documents open, opening/closing old documents becomes a pain. Switching between less than 4 documents is also not as fast as I would like.
2. Page flips can be slow, especially when flipping fast while skimming or flipping in a random order. Work around: Convert documents into a bunch of images, which is MUCH faster, but you'll sacrifice full text search.
3. There is full text search within documents, but not across documents, or even a file name search. If we had a terminal app, we could use grep (for some text based formats) or ls. For now, organize well.
4. There is no "2 page viewing" mode. This would make skimming through large documents quicker. There is, however, an awesome thumbnail mode. Wish you could make the thumbnail size a tad bit bigger. Work around: you can also pre-process your documents to have 2 pages on 1 page, and then zoom and pan when you only want to view 1 page.
5. The combined effect of all this is that I still prefer having a bunch of textbooks open in front of me, for now. I use the DR when away from my books, or if I don't have (or can't afford) paper copies of my material. If you were stinking rich, you could buy several DRs (like the multiple data pads on Star Trek, but even they didn't have eink ).
6. If any textbooks you have *ahem* obtained are in .djvu, you'll have to convert them to PDF (the horror).
7. If you ever happen to delete metadata.db before you "merge" your notes, they're gone for ever! Merge regularly.
That said, I'd like better scribble merging features, and maybe a way to merge directly on the DR (instead of the PC).
8. While viewing pages in landscape mode in firmware 1.6, you may end up with an unrendered patch on the screen, necessitating a screen refresh. Hope iRex fixes this.
9. Added 05/29/2009: There is currently no suspend-to-flash feature on the DR, so you will need to shut it down when not using it for a long time. This means that you will need to find your old documents and re-open them after the longish bootup time. There is no recently used list as of 1.6.
10. Added 05/30/2009: I don't really consider the lag time of eink a problem while taking notes, but I've added a video of this so you can judge for yourself.

Note that ALL of these things can be fixed by software

For reviewing:
I'll cover things that I have not already covered above.
The good:
1. When reviewing theses, papers for journals, etc., the Wacom pen is invaluable. You can merge your notes to create an annotated PDF.
2. You'll never have to delete your reviews (I throw them away in real life), just in case you need them later.
3. You can open cited papers on the DR (provided you already have them on the SD card).
4. Even if your documents are not in PDF, you can print to PDF using one of many freeware PDF printers and save directly on the DR.
The bad:
Nada.

For note-taking in a classroom:
No need to worry about papers/pens (only battery life!), losing your notes or creating copies of them (for life!). Again, the small size gives you an advantage over laptops. Most people in the class will probably not even notice that you're not writing on paper.

I would like to see a better note-taking app out there (we're working on getting Xournal better right now). I miss the graph axes drawing and shape drawing functions from Microsoft OneNote.

For teaching/grading:
I've covered most things already. If you get assignments from students on PDF (otherwise you'll have to scan them), you can grade them on the DR, then merge them and email them back (or print them out, but thats the old-fashioned way). This is nice because it can drastically reduce the end-to-end delay on your [collect assignment]->[grade]->[return with comments] workflow, especially if your class only meets once or twice a week.

I'd still maintain test and assignment grades in Excel or some similar software because of the ease of data entry and the automatic formulas to generate statistics and graphs. Would be nice to have that on the DR.

Some people mentioned using the DR in class for lecturing. I think that other than the fact that you may already have your notes on the DR, the laptop with a Wacom pen is a neater option because it can directly plug into a digital projector and can take advantage of all the awesome PC software out there.

Notice that I have not said anything about the battery life, because though it *could* be a LOT better for the price and when compared to other eink devices, it doesn't really affect my usual pattern of work and lasts long enough for a working day. You can connect to your computer for an hour during lunch or carry a battery pack if you see yourself running out during the day. Some people might find that annoying though, so I'm pointing it out.



I can see some other ways to use the DR, if the software for it got better. For example, text editors with syntax highlighting, context sensitive search options, ways to jump to function declarations/definition and ways to link to API reference manuals can be used to browse through large code samples, with the luxury of an eink screen. If you don't mind using the stylus for text entry, you can even type on the DR, although a laptop or computer is probably a better bet for that. A calculator app (maybe porting a TI-89 emulator) on the DR might be handy Might even be faster than a regular TI. Perhaps ports of Octave or Scilab for some limited math and symbolic manipulation, GnuPlot for graphs, a LaTeX compilation tool, etc. Just thoughts.

At this point, people might wonder "why not just get a $250 laptop?", at which point I'd say "becaue of the 10'' eink, the incredibly small size, battery life (yes) and possibly the Wacom pen". Now if only Asus would get its act together and make an EeePC with a 10'' screen that twisted around like a tablet and had 9+ hours of battery. Darn.

If you actually read all this, I'm amazed.

[keng2000]

From my experience,
I spent one semester using DR1000S and iLiad 2nd for teaching. Nov 2008-Mar-2009.
All Power point , Handouts and Text books were in DR1000S and stay on overhead light for 3 hrs
The iLiad was for my short note that replace paper. It work great and No need to carry textbooks around,
I do also collect only PDF Homwork and report, write it down, merge and sent back, less paper around me, Fix wth 3 or 4 eReaders on my bag,

for Grimulkan, EEE PC T101H is coming 8.9" tablet twist screen, in CEBIS. (unknown price)
Actually, I just order Q7 to try also, 7" Linux Tablet ($189)

[Grimulkan]

Originally Posted by keng2000

[...] for Grimulkan, EEE PC T101H is coming 8.9" tablet twist screen, in CEBIS. (unknown price)
Actually, I just order Q7 to try also, 7" Linux Tablet ($189)

Thanks keng2000, but 8.9'' != 10.1'' (replace != with ~=, <> or whatever you are familiar with), although its close enough to give it a shot 10.1'' is just the right size for 2 column A4 PDFs, anything smaller is getting into small territory. I can live with the 9.7'' readers that are coming out, but I don't know if something smaller will do. If Asus comes out with a 10.1'', it still won't replace my DR because its not eink, but it'll be a really cool way to read stuff in color for short durations. Also, without an active touchscreen, its going to be an issue for note-taking, unless you're one of those who write with your palm and wrist floating in the air

[Grimulkan]

Originally Posted by yingwu

[...] Thus could someone kindly kindly try my papers uploaded and give me a feedback? Thank you very very much.

Here are some shots. The lighting is kind of weird, so don't expect it to be a perfect reproduction. I've left an inch tape (couldn't find a cm tape, sorry) on the side, so zoom in/out on your monitor until you get a 1:1 match with a real measuring tape or ruler (to see how big the text is).

You may need to click once or twice (thrice, if Firefox/IE resizes again) on the image to open it in a separate window/tab and get it to display without resizing.

Cheers

Edit: A quick pixel count says that there are 163 pixels per inch, in case you want to print them out 1:1 or something.

[pthwaite]

I would love some form of spreadsheet app that could include graphing. That would be an extremly useful bit of kit for the DR. Even if it only had relatively basic functionality.

[yingwu]

Hi Grimulkan, thanks so much for your so helpful reviews on DR and the shots for my attachment. Thanks very much.

2. You can make your collection as big as 32 GB depending on your SD card, or carry multiple cards with you.

Are you sure DR can support 32GB SD? If so, that is too great.

1. You can organize reference papers (and textbooks, if you have them on PDF) as you please using folder organization.

I just use the paper name as the file name and then for those papers important, I put !, 0-9 to rank them. Just so, because I know I am not the person who can organize everything in order. But buying DR means I can read all my papers downloaded anytime, anywhere, which is extremely exciting thing for me.

5. The combined effect of all this is that I still prefer having a bunch of textbooks open in front of me, for now.

Although I have got a 1000s now, I am buying it. I guess it is true for what you said. At least for me, I even think 10.2'' is still not satisfied. However, Could I ask when i see your shots, why my feeling is that the screen is just a laptop screen, but it should look like a piece of paper? Is it because of the lights? Or Is it like a piece of paper when I read on DR? The main reason I spend 800EU, instead of buying a UMPC, is that I feel very tired to see a LCD screen when reading papers. How is the DR' screen?

Thanks keng2000, but 8.9'' != 10.1'' (replace != with ~=, <> or whatever you are familiar with), although its close enough to give it a shot 10.1'' is just the right size for 2 column A4 PDFs, anything smaller is getting into small territory.

Yes, if you read papers even every moment in a day and night, you will find 8.9'', 9.7'' screen is still a tiring job. I heard plastic logic has 10.7'' screen, which i guess, is better, but I can not make notes on it.


By the way,

Grimulkan, you should put your reviews in a separated thread, because it may be useful for academic researcher who has interests in DR.

Also thanks everyone above for your information.

[yingwu]

By by the way, I decide to buy the thicker cover as I don't what such an expensive device is broken by my self

[yingwu]

Third by the way, what is the size of the screen in cm or inch? I can only find the size of the device, which is meaningfulness.

[Grimulkan]

Originally Posted by yingwu

[...] Are you sure DR can support 32GB SD? If so, that is too great.

Sure it can, just make sure you buy one of the cards that people have reported as working. Search the forums. I use a Kingston 32GB.

Edit: This link is relevant.

Originally Posted by yingwu

[...] I just use the paper name as the file name ...

Yep, I was comparing the DR to other devices like the DX that don't allow for SD expansions and don't let you organize folders the way you want.

Originally Posted by yingwu

[...] Could I ask when i see your shots, why my feeling is that the screen is just a laptop screen, but it should look like a piece of paper? Is it because of the lights? Or Is it like a piece of paper when I read on DR? The main reason I spend 800EU, instead of buying a UMPC, is that I feel very tired to see a LCD screen when reading papers. How is the DR' screen?

I don't think any of my pictures can do justice to the real thing. Why don't you get your hands on a Kindle or Sony PRS and take a look? The DR screen would be similar. These pictures look a little strange because of the lighting, but some of my other pictures (in other threads) should be more "true".

I've tried to do all those things I described on my UMPC too, and ended up doing none of it mainly because of the screen size, slight clunkiness (even for a UMPC) and the LCD screen, in that order (screen size being the most severe problem). True, I could have used a larger laptop, but that makes it FAR more bulky. Not cool. So first of all, the size/weight/power tradeoff is at a nice point with an eink display. On top of that, eink *is* like paper in that it is fully reflective, and so does not tire your eyes out like LCD. The contrast is not yet up to clean white paper, but its better than, say, a newspaper print.

Originally Posted by yingwu

[...] Yes, if you read papers even every moment in a day and night, you will find 8.9'', 9.7'' screen is still a tiring job. I heard plastic logic has 10.7'' screen, which i guess, is better, but I can not make notes on it.

Amen! BTW, I've never heard of a Plastic Logic 10.7'', where did you hear that? AFAIK, they're using the same eink retailer as Amazon (and all the others, except iRex which gets it custom made), so it will also be a 9.7''. Also, Plastic Logic *will* feature a touch screen (especially because it has NO buttons, eeeeewwwwww), so it *might* let you write on it. But it won't be an active touchscreen like the DR, and it may be just for point and select rather than writing. Maybe the other companies just haven't worked out how to update the eink screen fast enough to allow writing the way iRex has.

Originally Posted by yingwu

[...] Grimulkan, you should put your reviews in a separated thread, because it may be useful for academic researcher who has interests in DR.

I'm not sure, but is it possible to edit the title of your thread (so it shows up on the main forum list) to reflect the content, i.e., using the DR for academic research? If not, maybe you could suggest a title here and ask a mod to do it for you. Thats probably a better approach than duplicating the entire post.

Originally Posted by yingwu

By by the way, I decide to buy the thicker cover as I don't what such an expensive device is broken by my self

Like I said, I don't know how much extra protection the thicker cover offers. Neither offers shock protection, but both have stiff pads over the screen to protect from things that scratch and poke. Search older posts, I think there were many discussions about this.

Originally Posted by yingwu

Third by the way, what is the size of the screen in cm or inch? I can only find the size of the device, which is meaningfulness.

Lol, its in my pictures if you want a real life measurement Anyway, the screen is 10.1'' along the diagonal, and about 6.5''x7.9'' in size.

[hanche]

Originally Posted by yingwu

Third by the way, what is the size of the screen in cm or inch? I can only find the size of the device, which is meaningfulness.

162mm × 202mm.

[tjdean256]

Originally Posted by DigiDirk

With a video equipped overhead it should be used like any piece of paper !

Dirk

Yes, that is what I meant. We have device in our classrooms where you can display an object on a table. Lights illuminate the object and a video camera serves as a source to the digital projector.