I'm currently thinking about taking the plunge and buying an e-reader, along the lines of the nook or ipad. Getting very wary of having too many books. But! Big but here, I would also like it to serve as something I could type on.

I like the flat easy, to carry idea behind an ereader, like the nook and its kin, but I can't type on them. I have no problem toting around a full-size keyboard to plug into a device(or bluetooth), but I'd rather not get a netbook because they are not easily read on.

The only one I am currently looking at is the ipad since I can haul around a keyboard for it and read with it. I can also download apps for typing on it that save .docx so I can transfer my chapters from my PC to it with no problems.

The only hitch is the price....a lot of money that, and I wouldn't use any of its other functions, really. The price is something I can get around with a few weeks extra hours, so I am willing to put out for such a device.

I'm wondering if anyone knows of any devices I could use besides the iPad for this? Any in the pipeline maybe?

 

If you are looking at tablets your only viable choice really is the iPad and the upcoming HP slate (Really slick, flash support etc). All the other tablets on the market seem like crap, most of them android based.

The iPad and HP Slate has bluetooth support and the apple OS has numerous writer apps but HP Slate is currently going to go with a windows 7 OS optimized for tablets, therefore Office will be available.

Personally i would get an iPhone 4 since the screen is damn good for reading and it will serve as a much better portable alternative. The only drawback is how retarded you would look carrying a bluetooth keyboard for your iPhone ;P.

 

I can't lean back in a chair and read a netbook. You can't simulate reading a book with a netbook. You can with a tablet comp.

 

I will laugh at u if u get a slate!
Everyone may call me a Fanboi but EVERY one of microshit tables or touch screen projects has flopped.

WM - Flop (not counting unreleased versions Ill reserve judgement)
Windows tablet - Flop
windows- embedded - flop
MS Surface - flop (because its prohibitively expensive 10,000 for one device. It's a great piece of work but since it cant go mainstream its flopping.

The reason behind the flops are simple and U cant just cram windows into a tablet. Windows from a developers stand point was made for the desktop not for touch devices.
Just play with a windows tablet for a few hours and feel the frustration. (little pointer big finger!)

And same goes for java and flash. Portale devices need lots of performance tuning to optimize the resources that it has available. Flash and java have the code necessary to be run on any platform ie bloated. all that extra code does have performance problems which is why I hate java and why I try not to use much flash. I have a mac and a flash applet will bring a 2000 less than 6 months old MBP to its knees. Thats an unnecessary problem that cannot be.

Imagine trying to have flash-shit on your iPhone and U need to call the police or EMT guess what ur flash applet crashed your phone and U cant make any calls till the cpu gets out of its jet lag!

Doubt me? Load flash on an iphone or ipad and see what I mean. It HAS been ported to the iPhone by the hacker Comdex. Flash will eat you alive.


LONG STORY SHORT. JUST GET AN iPAD.

 

Maybe. That is why I am wondering if there is anything else in the pipeline. What about the Android operating system?

 

Jesus fuck go die in a fire you retard.

Don't listen to this idiot.

I have a Lenovo X201t and it fucking blows the iPad out of the water. Only downside is that it is more expensive yet you get way more than double the performance and a real computer.

I would maybe look for a X200 Tablet or a new HP TM2, both models fit your requirements.

The iPad is a multimedia device, not a word processing device. It's designed for casual use, to take a note here and there. Not to take notes in a lecture. Not to write books. Not to write articles. Most of the reviews of the iPad typed out the first paragraph of the review on the iPad and then changed to a real computer.

Also, Java doesn't require any extra code to be multiplatform, it's run in a VM, which is the reason it's multiplatform. It's this reason only that it doesn't have as much performance as other programming languages such as C++ which require you to work for the specific platform you are developing for.

If the device had enough power to actually run Java and Flash you'd have no problems. Since Apple has this fasination of being the thinest devices around, they nerf the shit out of them in regards to performance to save on save, weight and heat and suffer from performance issues.

It's the problem faced with mobile computing.

TL;DR Lenovo X200/201t or HP TM2.

 

The iPad well serves it's role as an entertainment device. It has fun games, it's nice to read on (it doesn't fucking FLICKER black and white EVERY fucking time you flip a page), and it's a pleasure to use. Is it something a professional will use in the field? Probably not. It's a bitch to type on, even more annoying that the iPhone in that regard.
I am ashamed to admit I don't know if the iPad can use Microsoft Word documents and download and upload them, but I doubt it. If you want an e-reader, the iPad is, IMHO, way better than the Nook or the Kindle.

If you want something to type a novel on, forget it.

 

Hm. It can use docx if you download apps for it. Why is it so bad to type on?

 

Having just bought a Kindle, a Sony Reader and an iPad I will inform you of the following.

iPad is useless, trying to type anything longer than about four sentences on it is a pain in the ass. I have a TV for TV + Film and a computer to browse the internet with. It's also horrible to read on for any length of time and this is coming from someone who read an entire book on an HTC Wildfire. This is functionless in my hands.
Kindle is nice to read, but fucking huge and ugly as shit.
Sony Reader is amazing. (This is the new touch version, the old one had a horrible ) Best e-book reader on the market hands down.

However, what you have described wanting is a netbook. Get a really light one, rotate the screen ninety degrees and hold it just like a real book. Then rotate the screen back and write one.

Alternatively, get an Android phone with a huge fuck off screen (HTC HD2 PRO or whatever) and install swype and write a thousand words a minute or whatever they claim you can do. Because having read an entire e-book with laputa (android ebook reader) on a tiny screen and not going blind is about the best review of a mobile e-book reader ever.

TLDR? Buy an eee701 for $90 off ebay and a 16gb SD card for about $30 and you've got all the ebook and novel you could ever want.

Enjoy!

 

Hes talking about the touch keyboard, and it is completely horrid. Could always carry one of those mini bluetooth keyboards though.

 

@ForsakenOne. That was what I was talking about. I've typed on one once at Best Buy and it seemed serviceable.

@enb. Really? I'll look into the netbooks you can do that with. The android phones I didn't know could be used as word processors. Will look into them.

Thx all for the recc's.

 

Touchscreen typing is terrible.

I'm personally both an Apple and an iPad fan, so my rec goes for the iPad. I also want to say, ignore Araevin's (sp?) post, it's pretty painful to read.

But yeah, my experience is, if you're looking for something to type on, use a computer, or alternatively carry a keyboard around. I know there are a few keyboards around for the iPad, but ideally you'd probably want a bluetooth one, which I am almost completely sure they support.

I know the iPad has Apple's version of Word out on the ipad, "pages" and it goes for $10 on the app store. I haven't used it personally, but if it's the same as the Mac version, it's compatible with all types of word processing files. docx etc.

I have an iPhone 3GS, and reading on it's pretty much fine. I'd always use my computer over the phone though, so I only read on my phone if im either traveling or bored in class.

 

Also the new touch Eee PC is an option.

Any ~12'' convertible laptop/netbook would do it really.

 

Actually I purchased something you might be interested in a while ago. It's a Chinese tablet (SmartQ V7) that runs basic word processing fairly well, triple boots a Ubuntu derivative, Android, and Windows CE.

I use mine primarily as an E-reader, with a preinstalled application that will open & display almost any file type perfectly. It's amazing just how well this thing can format files for viewing. Not only that, but the way it's shaped, as well as the different ways it can display text really does make it ideal for reading.

Battery lasts about 8 hours or so on a standard charge. No flash support (obviously). Wifi reception is fairly good, about what you'd expect out of a ipod touch. You can use 3G on it with a external 3G USB plug. It supports external keyboards with USB interface.

You absolutely will need a keyboard, as it's touchscreen is not the best in the world. It's usable, but you would not enjoy typing anything of length on it. Anyway, at about $220, I've found mine to be a very good purchase. It's not a media machine, don't make the mistake. It can run videos and the like, but if you really need multimedia abilities, just get a netbook.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.31523

 

iPad + bluetooth keyboard + some simple note-taking app. S'what I use now*.

I was holding out for the Courier (still do, tbh), but since that died, I've lost pretty much all hope for a truly portable Windows 7 slate device happening anytime soon. HP Slate was cancelled then reborn....they'd be dumb as hell to make a Windows 7-based tablet, considering that they own the (Palm) Web0S platform - but that's still a way's off. Same for the NotionInk, which has been pushed back I dunno how many times....



*Disclaimer: my job paid for mine

 

Just reread this thread and saw your post. Wanted to comment that I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds reading on an E-ink device to be annoying. I've played with a kindle before, but that black-flash-white shit always grabbed me right out of whatever book I was reading at the time.

 

At the risk of further derailing this thread from its intended topic of tablet PCs, what-have-you, I wanted to say that I bought the first-gen Kindle back when it first came out. My wife had seen it and was interested, and there was a $50 discount going on, so we went ahead. I've read probably 10 books on it, and probably the same number of fanfics loaded onto the SD card as Mobipocket ebooks in the couple years we've had it.

Not what I'd call a stellar investment, although it has its niche.

To be honest, I don't mind the electronic ink so much as the fact the Kindle has no backlight option, such that if you want to read in bed before going to sleep, you still have to have a lamp on. Am I being stupid to think that hey, I'm already holding a very advanced piece of equipment to show me the book, why can't it light the fuck up as well?

And yes, the black-and-white-only interface is annoying, but only when trying to browse the Kindle store for new titles. I know the Kindle has been touted as a gateway to electronic magazines and newspapers, but come on, who's gonna want to read a magazine in black-and-white, or the majority of a newspaper for that matter? Not me.

The two good things about Kindle have nothing to do with the actual hardware, and those are the Kindle for PC software, and the Kindle iPhone app. I have much preferred reading Summer Knight on my iPhone and PC or laptop as opposed to on the actual Kindle device, and to use these, you don't need to buy a Kindle, at least as far as I know. I've linked both with my Amazon account so I can get the Kindle books I've already purchased through the Kindle itself, but I don't think having an actual physical device is required, though I might be wrong.

Your mileage may vary, as they say, and I'd personally like to try out the iPad, but for now I'll stick with reading on my laptop and iPhone. For the record, I use a Dell Inspiron 1545 laptop that has been nothing short of awesome for the last couple years of use (knock on wood). In my experience, you can't go wrong with a Dell laptop.

 

If e-ink were at "normal" (i.e. television-like) speeds in terms of refresh, this wouldn't even be a discussion: e-ink > all in terms of extended reading of digital content. The fact that the iPad isn't nearly as harsh on my eyes as a television or computer monitor was a pleasant bonus, but for my needs, there's no other electronic note-taking device that rivals it.

 

Completely agree with your statement that E-ink is great to read with in terms of eye strain. Doubtless there will be some innovation that increases the refresh rate, but until that point I can't use E-ink devices.

Also, I came upon this today and thought you might be interested 7ate9. If what the website claims is true, it's exactly what you need.

http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/home/

Long battery life, you can carry around the keyboard attached to the tablet for even longer battery life (and note taking), as well as detach for reading. It also seems to support flash (though that's most likely going to depend on what OS you would choose to use).

I'm thinking of buying one if I can get my hands on a tech demo to try out.