James calls his home Mobile Tech Manor (pictured). He has a weekly series called This Week in Mobile Tech Manor. This week’s is #66. As usual, he has some interesting observations, this time on touchscreen notebooks, the Motorola Droid, and eReaders. I’d like to discuss them with you, my readers.

Touchscreen Notebooks

There’s a growing trend for notebooks – such as the Lenovo ThinkPad T400s – to have a touchscreen. We’re not talking about Tablet PCs. Instead, traditional notebooks, whose screen, unlike one on a convertible Tablet PC, won’t swivel into slate mode. James’ comment:

“The T400s proved something to me that I’ve long believed, that using a multitouch screen on a standard laptop is uncomfortable and doesn’t provide much benefit. Reaching to touch the screen on a laptop is unnatural. While Windows 7 has nice touch features incorporated into the OS, and I really like them, I didn’t like using them on a standard notebook…I do find that Windows 7’s multitouch features are outstanding on a convertible notebook, but only when the notebook is in slate mode.”

My take: I agree, at least for larger screens, such as the T400s’ 14”. For a smaller screen – say 5” or 7” – a touchscreen may be useful even if the screen won’t swivel into slate mode.

Motorola Droid

We’ve talked a lot about this phone. James had a chance to try it out (lucky dog). Here’s his thoughts:

“Today the Motorola Droid goes back to Verizon, and I will definitely miss it. It’s not without its quirks, but it’s a good smartphone with a lot going for it…While using the Droid I found myself depending quite heavily on Google Maps Navigation, it became my primary navigation tool. The ability to have the satellite view overlaid on the map was a powerful aid to turn-by-turn navigation.”

My take: I agree that the Motorola Droid is a promising phone and Google Maps Navigation is a big plus. Nevertheless, as you know from reading this blog, I’m still going to wait to see how the HTC Dragon/Passion pans out.

EReaders

Unless you’ve been camping out with the Taliban, you couldn’t have missed that new eReaders seem to be announced almost weekly. James’ thoughts:

“I’m not a big fan of e-Ink screens, I have the original Kindle but I rarely use it. I don’t like the grayness of the page background, and the slow, flickering page turns detract from the joy of reading books. I find standard LCD screens give me a more pleasurable reading experience, as I can control the brightness, color of the page background and the font. I do a lot of reading in low lighting conditions, and LCDs do a better job.”

My take: I agree. Of course, LCD screens do come at a price of lesser battery life. But it’s a much better reading experience. And you don’t have to clip on a light as with the Kindle.

I’ve been experimenting with different types of devices as eReaders. One device type is phones. James says:

“I have used a couple of phones with their small screens: the Droid and the iPhone 3G. I used eReader Pro on both phones and found both of them to work as expected. I preferred the iPhone with eReader, mainly because the Android version on the Droid doesn’t display pages with full justification. I found uneven lines to be a bit distracting on the Droid.”

My take: eReader software is more mature on the iPhone than for the Android OS, so this may change.

I’ve also been experimenting with MIDs as eReaders. James’ observation:

“I also tried reading with several UMPCs, and even a larger Tablet PC. The Viliv S5 was a good reader due to the 5-inch screen, and it was small and light enough to be comfortable to hold for extended periods. I tried two 7-inch devices, the Viliv X70 and the S7. These two UMPCs are the same size, although one has a keyboard and the other none. The 7-inch screen was just about the perfect size to duplicate the reading experience I would get from a paperback book. I was a bit surprised to find that overall, I preferred the S7 over the X70. The X70 is a pure slate device, so I thought it would be more comfortable to hold for longer periods. What I found was that the S7 in slate mode, even though it is a full convertible UMPC, was more comfortable to hold. The plastic case of the S7 was lighter than that of the X70, and the edges smoother on the S7. The S7 became my favorite device to serve as an e-book reader.”

My take: I agree 7” seems optimal. I find the X70 easy to hold and not too heavy. Maybe the S7 is even better. I don’t know because I haven’t handled one.

I’ve also tried Tablet PC’s, like my 12” Dell Latitude XT2. James has made a similar attempt:

“I also tried the ThinkPad x200 Tablet PC in slate mode, and while the 12-inch screen approximated the page size of a hardcover book, I found it too heavy to use for long sessions. I did like the big screen and the touch controls, but not for those long reading periods.”

My take: I agree. It’s a great reading experience. But not for too long. My arms get tired. I guess I need to pump more iron.

Until next week.

Her one frustration is that the Kindle does a poor job of displaying screenshots and programming code (she’s a professor of computer science at a community college). She asked told me to find a solution since I supposedly know so much about gadgets. And while I was at it, she’d also like touch and color.

Barnes & Noble recently announced their e-reader, the Nook. The Nook does support touch, and has a color sub-display. I don’t know how well the Nook will display code and screenshots. We will be able to test the Nook in a Barnes & Noble store when it becomes available around Turkey Day. But even if the Nook does the job, she’d have two e-readers, connected to different systems that don’t talk to each other.

We have a lot of Tablet PCs lying around. I thought one of them would be a great solution. They have touch and color, and should have no problem displaying programming code and screenshots.

One problem. While there’s an app enabling you to read Kindle books on the iPhone, there was no corresponding application to display Kindle books on PCs. Until a few days ago … when Amazon announced a new app: Kindle for PC. So that problem’s solved!

Next issue: Which Tablet PC (or MID or UMPC)? I guess great minds think alike. One of my favorite bloggers, Steve “Chippy” Paine, just posted What’s the best PC for the Amazon Kindle PC software? He lists the specs for the ideal Tablet PC (or UMPC or MID), including the obvious (and key) ones of size and weight. He also assesses some existing devices, including two I own, the Viliv S5 and X70.

My current thinking is that I will try the Kindle for PC app on the S5 and see how my wife likes it. Though I wonder if I can convert that red Dustbuster into an e-reader?

The Kindle DX is being released on June 10 and can be pre-ordered. The Kindle 2 was released just a short time ago, February 24, 2009, so the June 10 release date is earlier than thought.

I think of the DX has extending the 2’s screen and thereby squishing down the 2’s keyboard. That’s fine with me. For an e-reader, a larger screen (9.7” vs. 6”) seems more important than a larger keyboard. The screen also auto-rotates from portrait to landscape. This is convenient since sometimes graphical elements or web pages are better viewed in landscape.

The DX also can read PDF files natively. By contrast, the 2 required PDFs to be converted. This native PDF support would enable me to take my documents with me electronically. Indeed, while the DX’s primary target market is readers of newspapers and magazines, a secondary target argument is academia, where students (and teachers like me) can read textbooks. (But see Will the new Kindle DX complicate plagiarism prevention?). Actually, the DX also would be good for me wearing my lawyer’s hat in that document-intensive profession.

The DX isn’t cheap at $489. Then again, the 2 isn’t cheap either at $359.

The DX is a better choice for me than the 2. Still, I haven’t yet decided to buy it. Like the 2, the DX lacks a backlight. While this increases battery life, it makes reading problematic in low light environments. With computer programming books, the 2 did a poor job displaying the code which was in a different font than the text. I want to confirm the DX doesn’t have the same problem. While the DX’s support of PDFs is a plus, I wonder if it will also display other file formats like text, Word, and so forth.

I’m thinking that a MID like the Viliv S5 or S7 might be a better choice for me as an e-reader. A MID would only be slightly more expensive than $489. However, a MID would have a backlight, support different file formats, and have a color rather than grayscale display. More important, a MID would be a full-fledged computer, not just a single-purpose device. But then again, I may change my mind, as my readers know I have done many times before when a new sexy gadget beckons.

2 Kindle 2 told you about our family’s purchase of the just-released Kindle 2. But at least two more soon-to-be-released e-readers are being displayed at CeBIT 2009. Like the Kindle 2, both will have some form of wireless connectivity. But unlike the Kindle 2, both are touchscreens,support commonly used formats (e.g, PDF, DOC) and have external SDHC storage.

Engadget’s BeBook 2 e-reader revealed and in the wild at CeBIT 2009! provides the first picture (the one on the left) of the upcoming (Summer maybe?) second version of the BeBook. Unclear if the wireless connectivity is WiFi, 3G or both. This touchscreen apparently also supports ink input. Also

Engadget’s Video: Hands-on with Onyx International’s Boox e-reader is naturally, an article and video on the Boox. Wireless connectivity is described at “Wi-Fi/CDMA 1XRTT/GPRS/3G (option).” Ink input may be supported: “Touch panel with full screen scribble.”

At first blush, the BeBook 2 seems the more impressive of these two devices. However, to be fair, there really isn’t a lot of information yet on either device as they are just being unveiled. I do like the touchscreen + inking, support of commonly used formats and external SDHC storage. I’ll be keeping an eye on these devices in the months to come.

Valentine’s Day was earlier this month. My wife Devvie subtly hinted that she wanted a Kindle 2. Devvie not so subtly reminded me not to repeat my red Dustbuster gift of a few Valentine’s Days ago. (If you don’t know, the Kindle 2 is pictured on the left and the Dustbuster on the right. Then again, if you don’t know that, this article probably won’t help you). So I ordered it (it being the Kindle 2, not the Dustbuster; I do learn from my mistakes). Actually, I ordered 2. I am a gadget guy, and wanted to see for myself what all the fuss is about.

Both Kindle 2’s arrived last Tuesday. I had a really busy week so I haven’t had time yet to play much with mine. However, Devvie loves hers! While Devvie is a professor of computer science, she’s really not that interested in gadgets, her focus being programming, not hardware. However, Devvie loves to read.

The Kindle 2 does not have a backlit screen. Since Devvie likes to read in bed and I have trouble falling to sleep if she leaves the bedside lamp on, I bought her the Mighty Bright XtraFlex2 Clip-On Light pictured on the left. It’s only $12.95, and it’s quite good. I recommend it.

I’d also recommend a cover to protect your expensive Kindle 2 (which does not come with a case). I bought Devvie the Amazon Kindle 2 Leather Cover. Just to be different, I bought the Patagonia Book Case for Kindle 2 to protect my Kindle 2. I like both covers.

I’ll write more about the Kindle 2 when I’ve had the time to play more with it. However, I’ve already used the Kindle 2 to rehearse an oral argument that I gave in a case before the California Second District Court of Appeal during the week (I said it was a busy week). In that vein, I plan to write about using the Kindle 2 to store and read work papers (letters, legal briefs, etc.), especially those not already in a Kindle readable format. Until then …