New ASUS reader

CazMar · 11-24-2010, 12:25 AM

This seems to be a new device just announced by ASUS:
http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=IrZFXz2AcdRvL7L6
It looks interesting and could be very useful for students as it combines notes and a variety of ebook formats. Don't know when it is due for release but I will be interested to see the reviews when it comes out as I am more than happy with my ASUS netbook.

Luke King · 11-24-2010, 01:03 AM

If it's anything like most ASUS products, it should be excellent.

tubemonkey · 11-24-2010, 06:03 AM

Price???

Sweetpea · 11-24-2010, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Price???

Availability?

DannyElfman · 11-24-2010, 10:12 AM

Let's hope they start wih this one and launch soon the DR-900 (or DR-950), a dedicated 9."7 eBook reader !

Latinandgreek · 11-24-2010, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DannyElfman

Let's hope they start wih this one and launch soon the DR-900 (or DR-950), a dedicated 9."7 eBook reader !

This looks neat, I have to say. I can't wait to see the 9.7" reader from Asus that I've been hearing about, hopefully it will be released next.

Lady Fitzgerald · 11-24-2010, 10:58 AM

Even though the quality will probably be good, I'm not impressed with the specs. It's too large to be easily portable (as in it won't fit in my purse) and the battery life is too short for a device that has an internal battery.

Dulin's Books · 11-24-2010, 11:35 AM

its not "new" as they first announced it in May

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...highlight=Asus

there have been pics and video from computex

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...highlight=Asus

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...highlight=Asus

some confusion as Asus talked about 3 or so different models and the naming was confusing to "journalists"

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...highlight=Asus
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...highlight=Asus

and finally the latest( and the reason its getting press the last day or so)

is that they have changed its name for marketing clarity and they will start selling them Real.Soon.Now.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/23/a...e-for-the-eee/

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...highlight=Asus

dioib · 11-24-2010, 10:44 PM

I was about to wait for iPad 2 (since they announced Ipad) few more months but I may go for this one if DJVU is (well-)supported. Thank you Dulin's Books for clarification!

JSWolf · 11-24-2010, 10:52 PM

One potential problem we have with new readers. The hardware may be good. But if the software isn't good, it makes things a bit of a mess.

CazMar · 11-25-2010, 02:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Availability?

And also re price - I can't find any hard facts about either of these. If it's on their website I would imagine it must be close to roll-out. Most of their products are very competitively priced so I can't see it being overly expensive.

Dulin's Books · 11-25-2010, 09:02 AM

they will have ti at CES so they will probably wait until then or shortly before to announce price. CES starts on Jan 6

snipenekkid · 11-25-2010, 09:48 AM

Very interesting reader and note taking device. Funny how NOBODY picked up on the fact this is one of the first devices to include Evernote (similar to MS OneNote but quite different in many ways). All of you monolithic reading only people need to pull your collective heads out, or stop commenting on devices before you actually read anything about them. This is NOT designed for exclusive book reading but as a tool to aid in other work or research related needs.

The tablet is Linux based so FBReader should be portable to the device and maybe a couple others though it would be really nice if the failure to indicate ebook format compatibility is still not firmed up at this time. ADE would be good for Epub but all they mention is ePub and PDF nothing about DRMed content.

Since it does support DJVU then a lot of academic materials will be accessible which is nice. Here is a summary of the DJVU format for those who never heard of it before:
http://djvu.org/resources/whatisdjvu.php

One of it's strengths is the ability to compress files a great deal.

Also based on battery life alone it is NOT an epaper display such as eink. Also given the greyscale level of 64-greyscale is a clue it's not EPD epaper such as eink brand displays.

Great feature for the device is it does have a Wacom digitizer which is HUGE for the intended uses of this device. This could be a very nice device for people who do research, attend meetings or orther placed where note taking is important. Unfortunately for me Evernote has moved to an online application as well as bifurcated into two quite distinct versions. Here are the limits, or features however you choose to call them:

http://www.evernote.com/about/premium/

At $45/yr or just $5/mo it is not a bad price but it is subscription based. I also have long preferred MS OneNote over Evernote and I was one of the very early users of Evernote and used it a lot prior to moving to the one time cost of OneNote. Evernote is not a bad program at all but I don't like having to keep my data on their servers or cloud. I understand the purpose but many of my notes fall under NDA's and, thus, I would be exposing myself to liability using Evernote to save and manage my information. So to use Evernote and protect myself from liability problems I would need to not use some of the major features of Evernote. Though it seems that saving to an SD card is an option, however unless you have a laptop handy getting at all your notes or other info gathered using Evernote will require being able to access the web.

If you do use the Evernote cloud storage or need to access past research, given the lack of 3G on the device, you must be near a wifi network in order to access your notes saved to the Evernote servers/cloud. Just an observation not a knock against the product.

It also includes crippled versions of Word & Excel which apparently can be upgraded to full or more complete versions. Given the inclusion of Word & Excel it's a shame they were not able to shoehorn OneNote onto the device over Evernote. But Evernote does have that cloud/server based storage which, can also be significant just not as significant without a 3G option.

But this is a nice device and definitely a move in the directions where I felt ereader devices were heading from day one. iRex had the right idea, just under capitalized. I could see this as a wonderful student device. It is the sort of device I have been after for a long time now. It will be interesting to see where this heads. I know I would not mind carrying this and a laptop at the same time. Then again there is also the new Pocket Edge even if it has a smaller eink screen (only 6" vs. 8" on the new Eee device).

LDBoblo · 11-25-2010, 12:14 PM

Most of the specs on this device were described and discussed months ago.

When it was shown at Computex in June, it was a nifty idea but was really slow and laggy, and in my opinion, the stylus demos were pretty pathetic--not much better than what you'd get out of any other tablet that lets you write a sloppy-looking "cool" across the screen. If it were actually capable of high-speed notetaking at smaller sizes, I'd be pretty excited about it, but it looked pretty much like some unbranded junk tablet when it was first demonstrated.

MikeFromHC · 11-25-2010, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

Real.Soon.Now.

"The View From Chaos Manor"

11-24-2010, 12:25 AM	#1
CazMar Book Geek Posts: 596 Karma: 1499085 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Adelaide, Australia Device: Kobo Touch, Asus MemPad 7" tablet, Nexus 5, Asus 10" tablet	New ASUS reader This seems to be a new device just announced by ASUS: http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=IrZFXz2AcdRvL7L6 It looks interesting and could be very useful for students as it combines notes and a variety of ebook formats. Don't know when it is due for release but I will be interested to see the reviews when it comes out as I am more than happy with my ASUS netbook.

11-24-2010, 10:44 PM	#9
dioib ∂₪≈☼ Posts: 113 Karma: 550104 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: ιη.σιγ.ηιφι.κα	Gradient Operator I was about to wait for iPad 2 (since they announced Ipad) few more months but I may go for this one if DJVU is (well-)supported. Thank you Dulin's Books for clarification! Last edited by dioib; 11-24-2010 at 11:12 PM.

11-25-2010, 09:48 AM	#13
snipenekkid Banned Posts: 760 Karma: 51034 Join Date: Feb 2009	Very interesting reader and note taking device. Funny how NOBODY picked up on the fact this is one of the first devices to include Evernote (similar to MS OneNote but quite different in many ways). All of you monolithic reading only people need to pull your collective heads out, or stop commenting on devices before you actually read anything about them. This is NOT designed for exclusive book reading but as a tool to aid in other work or research related needs. The tablet is Linux based so FBReader should be portable to the device and maybe a couple others though it would be really nice if the failure to indicate ebook format compatibility is still not firmed up at this time. ADE would be good for Epub but all they mention is ePub and PDF nothing about DRMed content. Since it does support DJVU then a lot of academic materials will be accessible which is nice. Here is a summary of the DJVU format for those who never heard of it before: http://djvu.org/resources/whatisdjvu.php One of it's strengths is the ability to compress files a great deal. Also based on battery life alone it is NOT an epaper display such as eink. Also given the greyscale level of 64-greyscale is a clue it's not EPD epaper such as eink brand displays. Great feature for the device is it does have a Wacom digitizer which is HUGE for the intended uses of this device. This could be a very nice device for people who do research, attend meetings or orther placed where note taking is important. Unfortunately for me Evernote has moved to an online application as well as bifurcated into two quite distinct versions. Here are the limits, or features however you choose to call them: http://www.evernote.com/about/premium/ At $45/yr or just $5/mo it is not a bad price but it is subscription based. I also have long preferred MS OneNote over Evernote and I was one of the very early users of Evernote and used it a lot prior to moving to the one time cost of OneNote. Evernote is not a bad program at all but I don't like having to keep my data on their servers or cloud. I understand the purpose but many of my notes fall under NDA's and, thus, I would be exposing myself to liability using Evernote to save and manage my information. So to use Evernote and protect myself from liability problems I would need to not use some of the major features of Evernote. Though it seems that saving to an SD card is an option, however unless you have a laptop handy getting at all your notes or other info gathered using Evernote will require being able to access the web. If you do use the Evernote cloud storage or need to access past research, given the lack of 3G on the device, you must be near a wifi network in order to access your notes saved to the Evernote servers/cloud. Just an observation not a knock against the product. It also includes crippled versions of Word & Excel which apparently can be upgraded to full or more complete versions. Given the inclusion of Word & Excel it's a shame they were not able to shoehorn OneNote onto the device over Evernote. But Evernote does have that cloud/server based storage which, can also be significant just not as significant without a 3G option. But this is a nice device and definitely a move in the directions where I felt ereader devices were heading from day one. iRex had the right idea, just under capitalized. I could see this as a wonderful student device. It is the sort of device I have been after for a long time now. It will be interesting to see where this heads. I know I would not mind carrying this and a laptop at the same time. Then again there is also the new Pocket Edge even if it has a smaller eink screen (only 6" vs. 8" on the new Eee device). Last edited by snipenekkid; 11-25-2010 at 09:50 AM.

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11-24-2010, 01:03 AM	#2
Luke King Member Retired Posts: 173 Karma: 200000 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle 2	If it's anything like most ASUS products, it should be excellent.

11-24-2010, 06:03 AM	#3
tubemonkey monkey on the fringe Posts: 45,762 Karma: 158733736 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Seattle Metro Device: Moto E6, Echo Show	Price???

11-24-2010, 10:12 AM	#5
DannyElfman Groupie Posts: 192 Karma: 522 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Hérault Device: Samsung E60	Let's hope they start wih this one and launch soon the DR-900 (or DR-950), a dedicated 9."7 eBook reader !

11-24-2010, 10:58 AM	#7
Lady Fitzgerald Wizard Posts: 2,013 Karma: 251649 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Tempe, AZ, USA, Earth Device: JetBook Lite (away from home) + 1 spare, 32" TV (at home)	Even though the quality will probably be good, I'm not impressed with the specs. It's too large to be easily portable (as in it won't fit in my purse) and the battery life is too short for a device that has an internal battery.

11-24-2010, 11:35 AM	#8
Dulin's Books Wizard Posts: 2,806 Karma: 13500000 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Portland, OR Device: Boox PB360 etc etc etc	its not "new" as they first announced it in May https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...highlight=Asus there have been pics and video from computex https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...highlight=Asus https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...highlight=Asus some confusion as Asus talked about 3 or so different models and the naming was confusing to "journalists" https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...highlight=Asus https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...highlight=Asus and finally the latest( and the reason its getting press the last day or so) is that they have changed its name for marketing clarity and they will start selling them Real.Soon.Now. http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/23/a...e-for-the-eee/ https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...highlight=Asus

11-24-2010, 10:52 PM	#10
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,745 Karma: 145864619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	One potential problem we have with new readers. The hardware may be good. But if the software isn't good, it makes things a bit of a mess.

11-25-2010, 09:02 AM	#12
Dulin's Books Wizard Posts: 2,806 Karma: 13500000 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Portland, OR Device: Boox PB360 etc etc etc	they will have ti at CES so they will probably wait until then or shortly before to announce price. CES starts on Jan 6

11-25-2010, 12:14 PM	#14
LDBoblo Wizard Posts: 1,385 Karma: 16056 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Asia Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Sony PRS-505	Most of the specs on this device were described and discussed months ago. When it was shown at Computex in June, it was a nifty idea but was really slow and laggy, and in my opinion, the stylus demos were pretty pathetic--not much better than what you'd get out of any other tablet that lets you write a sloppy-looking "cool" across the screen. If it were actually capable of high-speed notetaking at smaller sizes, I'd be pretty excited about it, but it looked pretty much like some unbranded junk tablet when it was first demonstrated.

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