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

I have room in my life for something small on which I can write notes, read, do some basic internet stuff. I had a Fujitsu P1620, much heavier, basically small and light enough so that I was careless enough to leave it hastily perched on places off which the cats could knock it. Several times. I have learned my lesson.

I fell in love with the concept of the Pocked Edge instantly, but I do take notes in meetings and I read a lot of pdfs. Actually, I take lots of notes all over the place (at traffic lights, before falling asleep, while waiting at the doctor's office, you get the picture), which is why I need something small I can take with me. I use One Note, which is why I am delighted to see that several people have already worked out programs to make notes on the Edge available for One Note.

I know pdfs are a problem on both Edges, but reading through lots of reviews and forums posts, I am not sure how much. All of them? Or some?

I also want to listen to more podcasts when I'm in the car or on public transportation, and probably take notes while listening. I think I can do that with the PE but would like to be sure.

It seems that this is actually not carried in any stores, so it has to be ordered, and once I order it I am stuck with at least a hefty restocking fee. Does anyone know of stores that actually carry it? Walmart says I can have it shipped to the store, but I hate to use Walmart where no one knows anything. I don't know if they will even let me take it out of the box before I pay for it.

My earlier experience was with a Fujitsu P1620, much heavier, but basically small and light enough so that I was careless enough to leave it hastily perched on places off of which the cats could knock it. Several times. I still have it and it is now useful as a doorstop I have learned my lesson and would treat my Edge better, I promise.

So - do you think I might be happy with this device? I really, really have fallen in love with the idea, which makes me mistrust my own judgement.

Thanks.

The Pocket eDGe is small and convenient, about the size of a diary/journal, probably fitting into whatever purse/case (or large coat pocket) you have with you all the time now. It's great for jotting short notes, shopping lists, etc. Podcasts, streaming music/radio, and MP3s are quite a delight on the eDGe. For this, I'm sure you'll be thrilled with the Pocket eDGe.

However, for even things like meeting notes, the large eDGe is better. PDFs formatted as 8.5x11" pages are unuseable on the Pocket eDGe unless they "reflow", which rules out multi-column PDFs and PDFs with diagrams, figures, equations. The zoom & pan functions are effectively unuseable, and landscape eInk is yet to be delivered. The large eDGe is more like carrying around a full size textbook - it's heavier, and not something you can "casually" pull out and use. You'll likely need a separate case for it, or a backpack. However, PDFs work much better on the larger eDGe, and you can take endless notes very easily on it without having to flip to a new page every minute.

So, if you can perhaps describe the nature and source of your PDFs, we might be able to chime in with more detailed opinions.

Thanks, Boris. There's no question of the larger Edge. To close in size to my notebook and not enough functionality, except for the digitizer. I had not picked up that the eInk side hasn't got landscape capability (you can't read or take notes in landscape?).

When you're taking notes, once you've filled the screen, what happens? On the Fujitsu, you just scroll down and keep going - it's still one document (at least in OneNote, and I've never used anything else). Do you have to save screen by screen? Sorry to be so ignorant. I don't sit in meetings and take copious notes, but I do take enough notes to remind myself of what happened.

As to pdfs, most of what I read isn't very technical. Here are a couple recent examples:
The EDUCAUSE Horizon Report on educational technology http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/HR2011.pdf (I see there are 2 columns)
Articles at McKinsey Quarterly - example - Three steps to building a better top team https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Th..._top_team_2743

I discovered the PE when I started looking at eReaders last week. I really have never considered them - I don't want something else to carry that just does one thing. But I became aware that a few of them are starting to do more - and then I saw the Pocket Edge and fell in love.

Originally Posted by melusina

When you're taking notes, once you've filled the screen, what happens?

Hi Melusina,
You can take notes in landscape, but, currently, you cannot read articles in landscape mode on the eInk side. When you've filled a screen with notes, you just click the next page button, and a brand-spankin' new page appears for you to take more notes on.

Hope that helps!

Originally Posted by melusina

There's no question of the larger Edge. To close in size to my notebook and not enough functionality, except for the digitizer.

Originally Posted by melusina

The EDUCAUSE Horizon Report on educational technology http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/HR2011.pdf (I see there are 2 columns)

The larger eDGe is the size of a netbook, not a notebook, and has all the same functionality of the Pocket eDGe, just with much larger screens. The type of PDFs you hope to read will not be legible on the Pocket eDGe until enTourage rolls out landscape reading. Even then, reading AND writing notes on an article on the little 6" screen is not going to work well...

Thanks, Dr T. Boris, you've shown me I need to think more about what I need most, a netbook to replace the Fujitsu, or an ebook reader+. What would I really expect to use a small mobile device for? I have a pretty dumb phone, and don't really want a smarter one. With the PE, I would expect to do a lot of that stuff with the PE instead, without a phone data plan. That is, if I can store and update calendar offline, for example, and sync when I am at a hotspot. I will have to think about what I want to read. I assume it will accommodate headphones?

I need to see if I can get the Fujitsu repaired - it's a tad smaller and a pound lighter than the EE, and it's a Windows computer running Vista.

I got excited and wanted to order right away, but I should go back and read what everyone is (or was) doing with their PE). Actually, I'm interested in what people are still doing with the Pocket Edges 2 or 3 months later - maybe I'll start a thread on that.

The first pdf with 2 columns would be a problem if you try to read/annotate on the eink size. But if you just want to read it you can use the tablet (LCD) and the should work fine. While currently I don't know of any pdf editor for the LCD that allows handwritten notes I know that once we get the Froyo update there will be some available like Repligo. Alternatively you can use something like Briss to convert the 2 column document to 1 column.

Originally Posted by melusina

Thanks, Boris. There's no question of the larger Edge. To close in size to my notebook and not enough functionality, except for the digitizer. I had not picked up that the eInk side hasn't got landscape capability (you can't read or take notes in landscape?).

When you're taking notes, once you've filled the screen, what happens? On the Fujitsu, you just scroll down and keep going - it's still one document (at least in OneNote, and I've never used anything else). Do you have to save screen by screen? Sorry to be so ignorant. I don't sit in meetings and take copious notes, but I do take enough notes to remind myself of what happened.

As to pdfs, most of what I read isn't very technical. Here are a couple recent examples:
The EDUCAUSE Horizon Report on educational technology http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/HR2011.pdf (I see there are 2 columns)
Articles at McKinsey Quarterly - example - Three steps to building a better top team https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Th..._top_team_2743

I discovered the PE when I started looking at eReaders last week. I really have never considered them - I don't want something else to carry that just does one thing. But I became aware that a few of them are starting to do more - and then I saw the Pocket Edge and fell in love.

Originally Posted by melusina

With the PE, I would expect to do a lot of that stuff with the PE instead, without a phone data plan. That is, if I can store and update calendar offline, for example, and sync when I am at a hotspot. I will have to think about what I want to read. I assume it will accommodate headphones?

If you get a "mifi" device from your cell phone company, you can have data access on your PE (and netbooks/notebooks) on the go. Calengoo seems to be the app to get for syncing calendars. The PE has pretty good built-in speakers, and does accommodate both headphones and bluetooth headphones.

As fgruber points out, reading PDFs on the LCD side is a much better experience (on the PE) because you can zoom more easily, and pan around the page with a finger, plus you can rotate the LCD 90 degrees for landscape reading. You just don't get to annotate, although you can use the Journal on the eInk side to write down notes about what you're reading on the LCD side.

The PE is overall a versatile device. Here's what I do on it: read novels, maintain various lists (to-do, grocery, thoughts), listen to podcasts/streaming radio/MP3s, watch video podcasts, browse the web, light email, check the weather, read RSS feeds, IM (as a backup to my laptop), etc. One thing I don't do is sync calendar and contacts as I use my laptop exclusively for this (Outlook).

Why is there a special email app on here? Won't I be able to use my normal web-based email accounts (gmail and yahoo - even web Outlook much as I hate it and only if I have to)?

I am leaning more and more toward the Pocket Edge, with a clear understanding of what I can do. A netbook with no OneNote doesn't make sense for me.

Thanks so much to everyone who has helped me sort this out - and keep the advice coming if you think of anything else!

You're free to use email web apps, although these require you to be online to read your email or create messages.

The email app downloads your email, so if you're not on the 'net, you can still review and create email.

Most web sites for email should work, but some don't (annoyingly, one I need to use). I have a domain for email at gate.com and their email web client doesn't work right on the edge. (The lists won't scroll.) Bellsouth/ATT/yahoo do work.

Remember to try different browsers.... (Dolphin, Opera, etc.)

I also owned the Fujitsu lifebook you have, and just to let you know the full-sized Edge is practically the same dimensions as the Fujitsu (only very slightly larger). I've used the same travel bag that I bought specifically for the Fujitsu tablet PC (just fit in the main section) to carry my edge, which just barely fits. So it's the difference between just fits and just barely fits ... not that much of a difference.

So if you were happy carrying around the P1620, then the larger edge is practically the same size and a little heavier... personally, I would say those are reasonable tradeoffs if you want to read pdfs and write more that short little notes (ie do a lot of handwriting on one journal page), but only you can judge. And, I'm pretty sure I paid well over $3000 for that tablet PC when it was new and very difficult to get in Canada. The edge is a steal by comparison.

If when you say you like to jot things down on the go you mean things like 5 items to pick up at the store, then the pocket edge probably makes more sense. If you want to brainstorm, write poetry or get a good page-sized worth of info visible at once, I'm not sure you'd be happy with the PE. If you were looking for something smaller and more portable than the Fujitsu, the edge will seem a little big and clunky. If you were happy with the Fujitsu, then you may or may not notice the slight extra dimensions/weight of the edge.

Just a comment from someone who is familiar with both machines.

Thanks, Sarah. Good to hear from someone who also had the Lifebook (would love to know why you no longer have it). Thanks to all your responses, I think that I will go with the PE. I loved the Windows functionality of the Lifebook, especially OneNote. If I can't get it fixed, I can replace it, used, for about $500. Much as I love the dual screen and I'd like to be able to comment on pdfs, OneNote and Windows is my real need for a netbook. One the other hand, with a really dumb phone, the PE would fill a mobile niche and fit into what I already carry daily. The price also just dropped to $299 (Newegg picked it up, and Amazon's price followed). That ay have turned it for me.

Sounds like the PE does fit your needs better melusina.

Since you asked, I had been using Tablet PCs for a few years in my math tutoring business. When I closed up shop to move to the middle of nowhere, one of my then staff tutors who was continuing to tutor offered to take over the lease. I couldn't really justify the expense of keeping it since I wasn't going to be working anymore, and he was happy to have a tablet PC, so it worked out. I'd originally had a Mac laptop (way back in 97, before they were cool) and I'd already gone back to a mac for my primary machine.

That's one thing I love about my full-sized edge: I get most of what I used my tablet PC for at a netbook price (instead of paying the premium for a tablet PC). I have two main uses for the edge. The first is reading pdfs I've printed from web pages, so the ability to convert a web page to something readable on the epub side on the fly is awesome. The second is the journal program for a paper notebook replacement. Even on my tablet PCs, I never really got into anything like EverNote or OneNote. I just want the raw journal. So for reading pdf articles and having a relatively large "piece of paper" for writing, the bigger edge is much more suited to my needs.

When I was tabletPC-less, I picked up a Nokia N810 internet tablet (4" screen) that has the same journal type program as the edge with the same features. So for grocery lists or quick jotting down, that's my go-to machine. As much fun as it would be to convince myself I could use a PE too, the N810 is even more pocketable and is a better risk management strategy. We travel pretty extensively around the world, and there have been times when the N810 would connect to the weird wifi connection but my Macbook and my edge would not. To have completely different systems gives me better odds that wherever I am, at least one of my devices will do what I need. The N810 is no longer supported and it can't do everything I need it to do anymore since developers aren't maintaining the apps (to say, update to the latest Twitter API), but it still does some things quite well. If I didn't have it, a pocket edge would be a better future-proof device (which tells you how out of date the N810 is!) but the PE doesn't give me anything I don't already have since I own the larger edge.