Tech From an E-booker’s Viewpoint

8 Responses to “My 2007 best and worse tech purchases”

1. Cw Posted: Jan 8th, 2008 at 6:25 pm

   1 I have to admit it was fun watching you work all these machines. I am not surprised about the N800 though. I know I am very satisfied with my N770. It has games that work out of the box. Very good sound while watching a good quality video. The email capabilities were very nice and I could surf my web pages much faster than my iPhone. It does turn on slow which I guess I can live with but not everything can be at light speed. Since I mentioned iPhone I am quite surprised that this did not get a mention. I was one of the early adoptors(aka fools) that purchased a phone that had, in its design, limited capabilites. I appreciate technology as it unfolds but I do not like purchasing state of the art instruments that limit me in function. This is what has happened with the iPhone and I will not forget about it the next time I purchsae anything technological from the makers of the iPhone. For my money it is without a doubt my worst purchase of 2007. Reply to this comment.

2. Lorenz Gude Posted: Jan 15th, 2008 at 11:01 am

   2 Well the good things you have said about the Ausus eee helped me make the decision to buy one today - US$450 here is Australia. I noticed reading the manual on FEBeader that the type was easy on my old eyes. Using Gmail the type was harder to see and the keyboard will take some practice. I haven’t tried reading a PDF yet. I’m going to try to team it up with a Fujitsu Scansnap S510 which comes with Adobe 8 Standard. I plan to use the scanner to convert paper books I am studying intensively to ebooks I can search, annotate and quote electronically. Most of the material I am studying is not available in ebook format so I am rolling my own. If the eee will process the files I wont have to buy a regular notebook for my upcoming trip to the US. But I will have to put XP on it which shouldn’t be difficult. I’ll up the RAM to 2 gig and put in a fast 8 gig SD card for my applications and ebooks. It does get hotish, but not enough to be a problem using it in my easy chair. This isn’t a notebook - you can get more power and storage in that form factor for the same money. I think what we are paying for is the form factor and it is one half to one quarter the cost of competing devices. I’ll try doing a preliminary review using the eee exclusively. Reply to this comment.

3. Lorenz Gude Posted: Jan 15th, 2008 at 11:20 am

   3 Just found your answer to my earlier comment to Windows on the eee. Thanks - that confirms a lot. I’ll definitely tell you what I find in Hong Kong. Reply to this comment.

4. Ellen Hage Posted: Jan 19th, 2008 at 12:20 am

   4 Author Comment Lorenz, I hope you have a great and safe trip! Can’t wait to hear from you. Ellen Reply to this comment.

5. E Hage Posted: Jan 19th, 2008 at 12:51 am

   5 I have to admit it was fun watching you work all these machines. I am not surprised about the N800 though. I know I am very satisfied with my N770. It has games that work out of the box. Very good sound while watching a good quality video. The email capabilities were very nice and I could surf my web pages much faster than my iPhone. It does turn on slow which I guess I can live with but not everything can be at light speed. Since I mentioned iPhone I am quite surprised that this did not get a mention. I was one of the early adoptors(aka fools) that purchased a phone that had, in its design, limited capabilites. I appreciate technology as it unfolds but I do not like purchasing state of the art instruments that limit me in function. This is what has happened with the iPhone and I will not forget about it the next time I purchsae anything technological from the makers of the iPhone. For my money it is without a doubt my worst purchase of 2007. CW, Glad yo had so much fun. I did too although there were some hair pulling moments. Ellen Reply to this comment.

6. Don Brubaker Posted: Apr 22nd, 2008 at 11:34 pm

   6 Ellen, I was disappointed to find the iliad on your list of worse purchases for the year, as I have been thinking about purchasing one. Actually, I have been thinking about getting the Cybook or the Kindle… but have occasionally found a good deal on the iliad on ebay… so I was considering it. If you’ll remember I have a Samsung Q1 UMPC that I have used for hundreds of books… and still like quite well. But battery life is sometimes an issue… and it can be heavy to hold when reading for several hours at a stretch. It’s more of a stay at home reader. The cybook type reader seems like it would be easily portable and battery life would be outstanding. I was wondering if you’d recommend the Kindle, Cybook, or Iliad. The good thing about the Q1 is that I can read at night when my wife and baby are sleeping… and since many of my books are mobipocket, I could read on the cybook or iliad during the day and then pick up where I have left off with the Q1 at night. Anyway, I’d really like your input regarding these three readers. And thank you in advance! Reply to this comment.

7. Ellen Hage Posted: May 1st, 2008 at 8:18 am

   7 Author Comment Don, I will certainly get back to you and let you know. I have been ill these past few months and haven’t been active here on the blog or anything else for that matter. I have a Q1B and I think my only gripe is that the one I got doesn’t have a SD slot. I have a Kindle, but I don’t have a Cybook. I will try to post my thoughts soon and I can tell you I am begining to change my mind about the iLiad. Ellen Ellen, I was disappointed to find the iliad on your list of worse purchases for the year, as I have been thinking about purchasing one. Actually, I have been thinking about getting the Cybook or the Kindle… but have occasionally found a good deal on the iliad on ebay… so I was considering it. If you’ll remember I have a Samsung Q1 UMPC that I have used for hundreds of books… and still like quite well. But battery life is sometimes an issue… and it can be heavy to hold when reading for several hours at a stretch. It’s more of a stay at home reader. The cybook type reader seems like it would be easily portable and battery life would be outstanding. I was wondering if you’d recommend the Kindle, Cybook, or Iliad. The good thing about the Q1 is that I can read at night when my wife and baby are sleeping… and since many of my books are mobipocket, I could read on the cybook or iliad during the day and then pick up where I have left off with the Q1 at night. Anyway, I’d really like your input regarding these three readers. And thank you in advance! Reply to this comment.