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Posted by quant
Jan 22, 2011 at 11:22 PM
x70 starts at ?430, so reasonable price and can offer much more than ipad can. The only problem might be that you won’t be “in” :)
I don’t know much about this one, might be worth checking, offers dual boot with Win 7, and it’s reasonably priced as well
http://uk.dynamism.com/notebooks/viewsonic-viewpad-10.shtml
Windows Hits the Road
The ViewPad 10 offers full productivity with Windows OS based upon the Intel Pine Trail N455 1.66Ghz CPU, mobile MN10 express chipset, integrated Gfx/Dx9 and DDR3 1GB SDRAM. The SSD 16GB provides ample storage capacity and is super lightweight. Windows 7 Home Premium OS (Upgrade model with Windows 7 Professional) supports multi-touch on the 1024x600 LCD screen with high contrast ratio of 700:1 along with application software of Adobe reader, Adobe Flash Player and WinRAR.
Posted by WSP
Jan 23, 2011 at 02:01 AM
Dr Andus wrote:
>I was advised that Penultimate with a
>stylus is pretty good for note-taking apparently.
I appreciate the suggestion, but I want to be able to type. I gave up handwritten notes when I acquired my first computer in the eighties.
There are other possible note-taking solutions on the iPad, by the way, but none of them meets my needs. The Evernote app is powerful and handles syncing smoothly, but I don’t find Evernote very useful for actually organizing notes. (It’s great for just storing them.) I’ve also played around the Simplenote app: like Evernote, it syncs nicely, and you can then edit the notes on your computer with ReosophNotes, but the latter program does not display the folders you created in Simplenote. In other words, even the simple structure possible in Simplenote disappears when you look at the notes on your computer.
Posted by Dr Andus
Jan 23, 2011 at 02:38 AM
quant wrote:
>x70 starts at ?430, so reasonable price and can offer much more than ipad can. The only problem might be that you won?t be ?in? :)
I’m no Apple fan boy and I don’t need to impress anyone. But I’ve researched the tablet and e-book situation quite thoroughly in recent weeks, and what I hear is that Windows 7 tablets that are currently around tend to struggle with the OS, are sluggish, with loud fans kicking in etc. Also, it seems that Win 7 was not designed for tablets, as the iPad’s OS was, thus making navigation or certain functions awkward. As for the Android machines, I hear that many of them have all kinds of limitations depending on how the OS was configured and which version it is, with people having problem accessing Android Market etc. (plus there is a lack of a dedicated PDF annotation software).
So I’m drawn to the iPad, as I’m very happy with the way my iPod Touch can handle PDFs with GoodReader. Also, for an e-reader, screen size matters, the bigger the better. iPad has almost 10’‘, while viliv x70 is only 7”. But thanks for the suggestion anyway. I know this is supposed to be the year of the tablet, so I might terribly regret if I jump into the iPad 1 bandwagon too soon. But it is emerging for me as the top candidate for a PDF e-book reader at the moment…
Posted by Dr Andus
Jan 28, 2011 at 01:41 AM
I’m still looking for my ideal PDF reading and annotating device. I need it to be reasonably light, so I can use it in comfortable sitting positions in an armchair or sofa for long hours. But I also need it to be reasonably sophisticated, so I can annotate the PDFs, possibly capture quotes (copy and paste), and synchronise with my other computers.
One option is iPad 16GB wifi + PDF Export (or GoodReader), which would cost me about GBP400. I hear there is now multitasking on the iPad, so I could possibly copy and paste quotes to some other app (the standard Notes would be fine).
The other option I just found is Zoostorm SL8 (http://amzn.to/fyyOzE). Apparently this is only available in the UK for now. It costs GBP500. However, it runs Win7 Pro, and got an 11.6” screen (compared to iPad’s 9.7”). Resolution is also slightly higher on the SL8. Another upside is that I could use my desktop workflow (locate article in EndNote, read and annotate in PDF XChange Viewer, automatically capture and organise quotes with Whizfolders, while developing an outline in Natara Bonsai). I could even try Citavi on it. The downside is that it is a bit heavier (990g vs. Ipad’s 680g). Plus battery life is only 3hrs vs. 10 hrs on iPad. There is also very little user feedback so far. The following is the only decent one I found and it highlights some problems with Windows 7: http://bit.ly/eNsUD1 So iPad scores higher on general usability.
I’m still playing the waiting game, waiting for prices to come down, more products to come on the market and more user feedback becoming available. But I thought others with similar needs might find this reflection useful in the meantime or may have some other advice.
Actually I also came across the (apparently Canadian) ExoPC Slate which seems to get some good reviews (some say it’s a year ahead of Zoostorm SL8), but it’s way overpriced in Europe. Toshiba Libretto W100 7” is another option, but I’m not willing to pay GBP900 for that.
It’s interesting actually how there are these UK and Canada-based tablet manufacturers suddenly. I thought we don’t do this sort of manufacturing in the West anymore :)
Posted by Dr Andus
Feb 2, 2011 at 09:58 PM
I have now trialled Zoostorm SL8 (http://amzn.to/fyyOzE) with Windows 7 as a possible e-reader for reading and annotating PDF articles and books. The hardware itself is very impressive and in theory it should be able to do everything that a desktop PC can. Unfortunately, I could not replicate my desktop workflow because it turned out that many of my key software were not specifically configured to work in the tablet mode and Windows 7 doesn’t offer workarounds.
E.g. I couldn’t view a PDF in full screen view in PDF XChange Viewer and then with a flick of the finger move to the next page (as you would do on an iPod Touch for instance). I had to call up the onscreen keyboard and use an arrow or the page down key to move, which of course covered up half of the screen and disrupted the reading experience. Similarly, copying, highlighting and adding notes turned out to be an ordeal. A whole lot of extra steps had to be taken to do what I can do in an instant on my desktop PC. Now, in Adobe PDF Reader I could turn the pages with the finger, however that doesn’t have the annotation features and I’m not willing to have to buy a whole lot of new software just so I can use a Windows tablet. The whole attraction of it was that I thought I’d be able to use my existing Windows-based software.
I would rather read and annotate a PDF on my iPod than on this 11.6” screen, and that says everything. I’ve returned it now to the shop. My next try is going to be the iPad. I love Windows 7 on my PC but I found it frustratingly inadequate as a tablet OS.