BeBook Neo vs Samsung E60

[ddriver]

I don't own an ereader. I'm looking at the BeBook Neo but I'm curious about the yet-to-be-released Samsung E60, and curious if anyone here has any insight to share.

My interest in the Neo is currently mostly as a travel companion. Wifi-enabled web browsing for email is very important to me with this device, especially for international travel. I'm looking to buy before a late-May trip so my window for waiting is closing.

The Samsung appears to have some nice features:

Samsung Press Release

YouTube video

Its unclear to me what the web browsing capabilities of the Samsung will be.

I am intrigued, however, by features such as external speakers, bluetooth capability, and built-in text to speech. I wonder if at some point you would be able to use this device for language tapes or foreign-language dictionaries in a speaker mode.

This device will also have a journal function, allow audio recording, sync with outlook, and supposedly read word and excel files as pdfs.

Book reading functionality appears very similar to the Neo.

One shortcoming appears to be only 3,000 page turns.

Any input appreciated.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by ddriver

I don't own an ereader. I'm looking at the BeBook Neo but I'm curious about the yet-to-be-released Samsung E60, and curious if anyone here has any insight to share.

My interest in the Neo is currently mostly as a travel companion. Wifi-enabled web browsing for email is very important to me with this device, especially for international travel. I'm looking to buy before a late-May trip so my window for waiting is closing.

The Samsung appears to have some nice features:

Samsung Press Release

YouTube video

Its unclear to me what the web browsing capabilities of the Samsung will be.

I am intrigued, however, by features such as external speakers, bluetooth capability, and built-in text to speech. I wonder if at some point you would be able to use this device for language tapes or foreign-language dictionaries in a speaker mode.

This device will also have a journal function, allow audio recording, sync with outlook, and supposedly read word and excel files as pdfs.

Book reading functionality appears very similar to the Neo.

One shortcoming appears to be only 3,000 page turns.

Any input appreciated.

Quite frankly, browsing the web on any eBoo reader I've tried is quite frustrating. Be it BeBook Neo or nook. It's acceptable for briefly checking Wikipedia or something like that. But I'd never actually browse the web.
Slow page refresh, limited zooming capabilities, no flash and other gimmicks, ...

[Zerotown]

I've been asking myself the same question: which device is (or will) be better? I've been trying to unearth the technical specs for the Samsung E60, but haven't been entirely succesfull. Here's a quick list of items though:

Pros of the Samsung E60

• It looks pretty slick, with that slide-mechanism-thingy
• The video's show a good responsetime when navigating through pages and drawing with the stylus.
• (Potential: the 'Emo-link'-functionality, whatever it may be )

Cons of the Samsung E60, compared to the BeBook Neo/Onyx Boox

• PDF-wise, it only supports the PDF/A-subset of that filetype. (A PDF format mainly used for long-term archival of documents, in wich fonts are already embedded).
• It doesn't support MS-Word files. (I understand the Boox will, using the to be released 1.5-version of it's firmware. I guess the Neo will integrate this functionalty as well).
• It supports 8 levels of gray-scale, whereas the Neo/Boox can use 16.
• It has a relatively short battery life. (Neo/Boox have a 8000-page load).

[Magnesus]

Originally Posted by Zerotown

[*]It doesn't support MS-Word files. (I understand the Boox will, using the to be released 1.5-version of it's firmware. I guess the Neo will integrate this functionalty as well).

Will or will not. Who knows?

[*]It supports 8 levels of gray-scale, whereas the Neo/Boox can use 16.

Still only 8 levels on Neo/Boox in firmware 1.3. Probably the E60 will be able to get 16 with an update just like Neo/Boox.

[*]It has a relatively short battery life. (Neo/Boox have a 8000-page load).[/LIST]

No. Neo/Boox have 4000 pages. But in reality it's 2000-4000 pages depending on many factors. Some users report more, some less.

What kind of touch screen does E60 have? Because the one in Boox (Wacom) is under the screen - so there is no contrast loss and no bad reflections like in Sony PRS600 for example. It requires dedicated stylus though.

[Zerotown]

Will or will not. Who knows?

Indeed. Still, I understand that the BeBook Neo is an Onyx machine, and that up until thusfar the firmware releases have been essentially the same. I rather hope the BeBook-owners will get this upgrade as well. (Besides being nice for them, it'll make good business-sense for BeBook to implement this: no use losing customers over it by doing not).

Probably the E60 will be able to get 16 with an update just like Neo/Boox

That would certainly be nice. I haven't read any announcements by Samsung stating this intention (or the possibility), however.

No. Neo/Boox have 4000 pages. [snip] Some users report more, some less.

That's good to know. One Dutch review led me to believe it could last even 10.000 pages, so I figured 8000 was with the WIFI on. I'll try this myself over the next week(s), since my Boox will hopefully arrive this weekend.

What kind of touch screen does E60 have?

I haven't been able to figure this out yet. The Samsung indeed requires a 'electromagnetic resonance stylus' pen for writing, and the video's lead me to believe the screen is far less reflective as the Sony PRS-600. Regardless of the technology used, it'll be nice to be able to compare both the Boox and the E60 in this aspect. (So launch the thing already, Samsung! )

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Zerotown

Indeed. Still, I understand that the BeBook Neo is an Onyx machine, and that up until thusfar the firmware releases have been essentially the same. I rather hope the BeBook-owners will get this upgrade as well. (Besides being nice for them, it'll make good business-sense for BeBook to implement this: no use losing customers over it by doing not).

Yes, the Neo will get this feature too. Not that it particularly matters, given that Onyx firmware can be installed on the Neo, and vice versa.

That's good to know. One Dutch review led me to believe it could last even 10.000 pages, so I figured 8000 was with the WIFI on. I'll try this myself over the next week(s), since my Boox will hopefully arrive this weekend.

Using WiFi, as with any portable device, will drain the battery in hours. WiFi is power-hungry.

[Magnesus]

Originally Posted by Zerotown

requires a 'electromagnetic resonance stylus'

Sounds like Wacom screen like in Boox.