PDA Update

As many of you might recall I got a PDA for an ereader. I’ve had it
for a bit over a month now and thought I’d update you on what I think
of it since I was so vocal on this whole ereader thing. Now all these
comments are specific to the type I got - a MyPal A626

• Compatibility — Great — It is as I wanted and works well with all the different ways of reading the ebooks.

• It is easy to read, make notations if I want, bookmarks, you name
  it. Saves where you were, in any book… the list goes on as to what you
  can do with the books. Like that.

• Easy to read in the dark. Very. I love that. I have finally
  discovered what all the fuss is though about glare. Was in McD’s with
  the youngest and trying to read—almost impossible! So on this one, the
  new screen ink would definitely be a plus. On the same token, I’ve
  heard others say its hard to read the eink in the dark - you need a
  light on. Soooo its one of those you can’t win situations at this point
  until they figure out how to add backlight to the eink.

• Screen can tilt from landscape to vertical. — I love this. Most of
  the time I find I like to read in landscape. I do have an issue with
  this — I use both hands to do many things, from writing to eating to
  well, you name it. The landscape function is only available in one
  direction, meaning the controls are set up for a right handed person. I
  want it to be able to flip it either way so that I can decide which
  hand to change pages with. Holding the pda in the left hand in
  landscape mode… well changing the pages is nigh on impossible without
  putting it down. Which means interrupted reading, shifting… ect. Don’t
  like that. And while I personally eat many times say with my left hand,
  freeing up my right to flip pages… many people do not. This would cut
  out reading while eating, a past time many people enjoy. I have no idea
  if other pda’s out there can do what I want.

• Can read it in public. This has got to be one of the biggest
  bonuses I didn’t truly comprehend until I got to use it several times.
  How freeing! I can read it anywhere! And I am not getting looks of any
  kind. I mean from, ‘I can’t believe you’re reading that!’, to ‘How
  could you be so rude as to read a book here?’ Its just more acceptable
  to read from the this than a book. I love it!

• Storage — HUGE! I am still trying to get used to the idea that I
  have probably 50 books all on a little itty bitty storage card. I love
  it. No two ways about that. I’m buying almost all of my books this way
  because of this alone! This was one of the reasons I got the pda, but
  even so I did not truly realize how big of an impact this concept would
  have on my future purchase. HUGE. I do however still buy paper–some
  books that I KNOW I want in paper, partly because I have the rest of
  the series in paper and I want the complete collection that way, well,
  I chose to buy it that way. This is really nice though because I now
  overall that visual pile isn’t going to be so big. Obviously I have
  keepers on my card as well.

• Size — There are no two ways around it, I was sold on the larger
  size of the Sony or Kindle and still am. The truth is, no, reading on
  the pda is not hard, no, I don’t notice the size as an issue, its just
  that I was and am simply sold on the idea of having that screen bigger.
  I would simply like it to be bigger just because.

• Battery — I have mixed reviews on this. Its not a long battery
  life. Much longer if you just read on it. If you turn on the Wifi for
  internet usage… eats that battery up FAST. And its not real long to
  begin with. For me over all and the way I’m using it, this is fine. But
  I honestly wonder about those using it in every day business life. I
  mean I don’t use the pda as a email source, mobile word program, point
  program, ect… I can’t imagine tying to. The battery would be dead in no
  time unless you were plugged in to a wall or computer. Which in my
  opinion kind of defeats the whole purpose of how I imagine one would
  use a pda in everyday business life. But who knows.

Well that about covers my impressions of it. I’m happy with my purchase. I’m using it all the time.

I am however watching the industry with an eagle eye. I’ve found a really cool site that is on top of the gadgets out there– Engadget–
and its been neat to see all of the competition and how their working
to top the Kindle with the things I want exactly. (Check out the
site–they post something like 20-30 things a day on anything to do with
tech stuff–totally fascinating!) There is actually a product out there
the iRex iLiad E-Reader
that does all that I want, well, I’m not positive it has backlight… but
anyhow the point here is, it costs a lot. And I do mean a LOT. I’m NOT
spending that just for a reader. As soon as the price comes down to
about half that though… I will. And it looks like other companies are
trying just for this, to create a more cost appealing, more visually
appealing(than the Kindle), wifi capable, eink ereader. I like hearing
this. I can’t wait.

Cole

Nicole Reising
www.nicolereising.com
www.nicolereising.com/blog

Imagination... the magical whispers from within.