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Posted by quant
Feb 3, 2011 at 10:12 AM
Dr Andus wrote:
>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.
Hmmm, strange. I have absolutelly no issue using ibm x61 tablet in a tablet mode with my pen in XP (12’’ screen), and similarly small viliv s5 (5’’ screen).
Pdf xchange is obviously not in full-screen mode, but “almost full screen mode”, with few toolbars visible.
Even if I didn’t use pen, there are dozens of buttons that I could configure to say “page down”, etc ...
Obviously, it’s not as cool as using 2 fingers on the screen and zooming in out all the time, looooooool
Posted by Dr Andus
Feb 4, 2011 at 12:31 AM
quant wrote:
>Hmmm, strange. I have absolutelly no issue using ibm x61 tablet in a
>tablet mode with my pen in XP (12’’ screen), and similarly small viliv s5 (5’’
>screen).
>Pdf xchange is obviously not in full-screen mode, but “almost full screen
>mode”, with few toolbars visible.
>Even if I didn’t use pen, there are dozens of
>buttons that I could configure to say “page down”, etc ...
>
>Obviously, it’s not as
>cool as using 2 fingers on the screen and zooming in out all the time, looooooool
You might be right. I could have tried to poke around and drill down further into the software, to try to make the whole user experience more seamless. I’m a reasonably sophisticated user but I’m not a techie, and so perhaps that’s why it didn’t occur to me. But that might be just the point: I wanted a device that withdraws, so I can read, rather than one that draws me in and makes me want to fiddle with it.
I suppose this might also be true for outlining software in general. Some of us just want a two-pane outliner that allows us to focus on the writing, while others may want hugely customisable information management systems (I belong to the former).
But I admit, I’ve been seduced by my iPod Touch (even though I was a resistant Palm fanboy) and it shaped my expectations now when I lay my hands on a tablet touchscreen.
Posted by Ken
Feb 8, 2011 at 10:33 PM
The March 2011 issue of MacWorld has a focus on using the iPad as a work/productivity tool. While I have not yet read the articles, it also compares the iPad to the new 11-inch MacBook Air. You may want to read the articles.
—Ken
Posted by Dr Andus
Feb 9, 2011 at 05:01 PM
Ken wrote:
>The March 2011 issue of MacWorld has a focus on using the iPad as a work/productivity
>tool. While I have not yet read the articles, it also compares the iPad to the new
>11-inch MacBook Air. You may want to read the articles.
Thanks for the heads up.