Is there any knock on 2D quality in builds like this?

I know what that means. I also know that unless you read about 400+ pages a week, it makes absolutely no sense to drop $259 on a device that pretty much ANY bibliophile will tell you can't compare to a physical book, as far as annotation capability, value, the ability to resell/lend, and all that other stuff.

This is a new era we're embarking upon. Print media is MOST CERTAINLY becoming extinct, but certainly not when e-book readers cost $259.

You guys are also missing the point that the VAST majorty of text in this world is displayed alongside color photos/videos/charts/etc. Novels would be a huge exception here, admittedly, but for this vast majority of text, and the accompanying supplementary media it comes with, a grayscale display with a long refresh rate is absolutely not optimal.

E-book readers are good for on-the-go novel junkies, and not very many other people. Academics will tell you they HATE studying from a Kindle, etc. This type of device will not reach mainstream at a $259 price point. A theoretical "do everything" device with full touchscreen OLED HD display/output, wi-fi/3G radio, and a fast processor inherrantly has about 10,000 times the utility, and the general public (not bookworms, not gadget freaks) would be much more willing to pay hundreds of dollars for it.

So what type of devices will ultimately be responsible for the death of nearly all print media? Unless these grayscale readers come down in price by 90%, I'm betting that it's gonna be something with an HD LCD/OLED, wi-fi, etc. We'll just have to wait and see.

I understand what you guys are saying, but I'm talking about a device/ecosystem that does for books what the iPod did for music. I'm talking about a device that's solely responsible for more e-book versions of a best-selling novel to be sold, versus its print version.

This will NEVER occur, so long as ebook readers are as expensive as they are now. To achieve e-market dominance, these devices need to either:
1) Drop in price to about $49, or
2) Do A LOT MORE - email, web surfing, HD Video, full color magazines with embedded video/audio, seamless communicating/sending of media to/from your other devices, etc.

I'll admit that I could be wrong, but I think the type 2) device is going to be responsible for bringing the e-book market out of its current niche position.

The game's just about to get interesting.

you know, I want to love this thing, but they seriously failed when they limited teh color screen's functionality to browsing within the marketplace. You should be able to watch videos, play games, use an on-screen keyboard, etc. Instead, it's incredibly laggy, and crippled. No thanks.

I'll wait for the apple tablet. Why is it that it always takes Apple to make things mainstream? iPods, smartphones, and e-books... they all need to be blessed by Jobs before the masses will adopt. You know I speak the truth, but go ahead and downrank, anyway :-)

Chad's sexy

You're right, but it's still $79.99 + the price of the cradle, which is still undisclosed. Bottom line is that it's a little cheaper, but still wayyyyyy overpriced, seeing as how Google now does the damn thing for $free.99

lol @ your typo!


My question is: DOES ANYONE KNOW if the HD2 is upgradable to WM7? Has MS even published a minimum set of specs necessary to run WM7?

LOVE the headline, Darren!

Even with the most awesome graphics, touchscreen gaming is still touchscreen gaming. Using up screen real estate for places to put your fingers, no analog input, etc.

MAKE A CONTROLLER ACCESSORY FOR THE ZUNE HD, MICROSOFT!

A sorry state of affairs, indeed.

Both Sony and Nintendo have dropped the ball, as far as developing a compelling next-gen handheld.

MS could slap together a $40 Zune HD controller add-on/dock and I would be all over it. It would be a game changer. Xbox Live Mobile, yummmm. This surely isn't happening anytime soon though. blah.