We just got to hold the new crazy-thin
QUE proReader, and it's pretty much all that and a bag of chips. The touchscreen seems resistive, but it's plenty sensitive, and the 1 second-ish page refresh rate makes it pretty usable. They weren't lying about the device feeling and looking like plastic, but we really do mean that in the nicest way possible. There's USB and a power button on the bottom, but looking at it straight on the device is about as minimal as could be. We'll have to really play with one before we can comment on usability, but from first glance the interface looks intuitive, well laid-out and surprisingly packed with functionality.
Update: We've got video up now as well. Look at all that sexy!
posted January 7th 2010 11:48AM
nice, though i'd prefer a folding e-reader to a thin one.
Hope it has some sort of a browser -- I get most of my news off of Google Reader.
I can haz video?
@credo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTU6y_USSIQ
"bag of chips", eh?
hmm - that's cool and all, but wake me up when the "and a"
is followed by "bucket of chiken"
I by "bucket of chicken" I mean price < $300
and by "price < $300" I mean price < $275ish
I want something like this as a replacement for my printed documents. With something like the Fujitsu ScanSnap to easily scan every piece of paper that comes my way to pdf, then put them all on a reader like this or on removable media (USB stick, SD card...)
Add pdf converted email attachments, downloaded files and manuals of all sorts and it becomes a green, portable, filing cabinet.
Even better would be if the scanner could WiFi direct to the Que to avoid the need for a PC/Mac to do the processing - doubt that's going to happen, though high end scanners have the ability to create pdfs directly so maybe someday the scanner can handle it itself.
Not a glitzy toy - a tool
anything else it could do would be a convergence bonus.
Looks HAAWT....
Waiting for the Apple Table though...sorry but that's probably going to be a GAME CHANGER...
Does anyone else feel bad for people who got an ebook recently?
I can't believe how many of them are coming out now..
@tylersmyler - ya, like me!! granted I like my Kindle 2, but seriously, this is crazy.
@tylersmyler
I don't look so foolish now suggesting people should wait till the first half of 2010.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/04/nook-early-adopters-promised-a-december-9th-shipment-10-online/comments/23693652/
I was really looking forward to this ereader and one of the bigger reasons why I was holding off on the nook, but at this price I"ll pass.
Yay, yet another ridiculously over priced e-reader. Now catering to the un-hip business professional. In 20 days all these companies with there over-priced products are going to have to re-think their pricing. That's my bet anyway.
I like the look of this reader and it appears to be an actual eReader vs. mini PC however I have to wonder about using touch screens for eReaders. As someone who does use an ereader on a daily basis I'm not sure how much I would enjoy having finger prints all over the 'page'. I already find myself wiping anything off my Kindle screen as it will distract me while I'm reading. Maybe I'm a little OCD though :)
I love seeing the ereader market taking off like this though.
Can I touch it? lolz. ..Not sure if I'm happy w/ the glossy border though, haven't companies learned that fingerprints are ugly and annoying? Still great refresh (espc if they can "bring it down a bit".)
I've been waiting for this eReader to come out for awhile now. Can't say that I'm too happy with the price. I thought one of the advantages to their plastic screen was a lower price? Didn't they also say it would be "competitive" with the Kindle? Also, wasn't this supposed to hook into the B&N bookstore also? And be able to take SD cards or something to add memory? I'm exactly who they are targeting with this thing and I think it's over-priced.
I hope some company develops an e-reader with a backlight.
I think there a many people that would like to have an e-reader
that they could use in bed at night.
@bagelverse : A backlight for e-Ink is pointless because e-Ink is OPAQUE.
(I'm getting really tired of having to add this same fact to so many articles about ereaders.
I love the large size and all but I am very concerned that this device and the one from Hearst/sprint all have a very reflective surface. This is decidedly *not* easy on the eyes as lamps, etc will be distracting reflections unlike, for example, on Sony reader which uses matte glass.
@beezle The display does have a matte finish similar to other e ink based products. The rest of the product is glossy though.
I recently had a bit of an "epiphany" that I'd really find one of these larger-format readers useful professionally---something that will serve up standard USLetter sized PDF's readably. The QUE is the one I've been waiting to see for some time now, and I'm glad it seems nice at first glance. But wow, the Skiff reader is looking really nice too.
And this ain't it! It is only a 10" diagonal screen, same as the Kindle's larger brother. The skill at least is a 11.5 inch..
can I annotate?
@insectezoid yup!
@willstar - I'll take your word on it but did look somewhat reflective from that video, hands on will be the true test of course. thanks for the reply
@beezle no worries! I guess everything is reflective even though it's got a matte screen... Perhaps the real question is how much is "specular" reflection and how much is "haze"?
So how big is it exactly?
And the touchscreen. We all know how Sony shit the bed with their touchscreen reader. Does this one have the same problem?
And how much?
And when?
I still can't overlook the refresh delay.
I need smooth and instant responses in a device.
Finally a full A4 8 1/2 by 11 screen sized reader! Same as magazines and textbooks. This is the EXACT reader that I have been waiting for. I will finally be able to read things on the go that I have scanned without trying to fit onto a small e reader screen or stuff it into a notebook. Just the right size! Price is immaterial as the amount of documents and books I have far outprice the reader.
@johnpombrio
johnpombrio
johnpombrio Posted Jan 7th 2010 2:14PM
Neutral
Oh freaking hell. the SCREEN is only a 10 inch display:
From the web site:
It’s large 8-1/2" x 11" shatterproof display looks and reads like paper
AND
Display (viewable area): 10.5-inch diagonal, 944 x 1264 pixels at 150ppi, 8 gray levels
All this time they have been saying a 8 1/2 by 11 display but that is pure BS!
Sons of bitches!
Plastic Logic, you lose! 10 inch display? $800 with 3G? Join the crowd. You think you will be able to compete with the iSlate? KEEP DREAMING! I WANT A FULL 8 1/2 by 11 DISPLAY!
For the price, my money would still go to the Kindle DX (and this is coming from a non-Kindle, nook user).
I'm just more interested in reading books instead of newspapers/magazines on an eReader. Hence, I'm more in the market for a smaller form factor, like the Nook. That being said, my Nook is "out for deliver" today in my UPS tracker.
They were saying:
"QUE reader will have comparable price to Amazon Kindle"
My ass! $799 compared to $489 (Kindle DX) !!!!
And of course the usual BS attempts while trying to skim the cat:
4GB version vs 8GB version for $100 more....
Like it's hard to throw in a SD slot....
Sorry Plastic Logic. $799 is a deal-breaker for me
@hyperspaced Yeah the base price is $649.00 for the 4gb, honestly all of these eReaders are over priced. Even the Kindle DX is priced around the same as a netbook. I have a dream for a low priced eReader. One where we can judge the content of our eBooks. Not judged by their high price, but by their low cost.
I have lusted after this QUE hard - it was love at first sight.
This is priced too high - while it's great that the QUE has blackberry and Outlook support - some of us just want a sexy, sleek device that can do everything. I could do w/o the blackberry bells and whistles as I am an iphone owner, but this would be a great feature for those in meetings who want to discreetly read email on their QUE rather than rudely trackballing their way through their crackberry.