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

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.

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

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.