To buy or not to buy?


M

Marco

Guest
Hi guys,

while I was looking for a "smart" tablet running linux, I stumbled upon Open Pandora. The best thing after sliced bread!

Now my life is changed forever. However, I am a bit undecided if I have to buy it or not.

First, I think it is a great device, but I am unsure if it can fit my needs better than a tablet.

I would like to use it mainly as a PDA (Calendar, time tracking, invoices, email...).

And I think it is the best tool for these activities.

My doubts are about reading ebooks and scientific papers (pdf).

I have seen some youtube videos where a guy adds notes to pdf file and it is great, but I wonder how book/paper browsing is.

I do not read ebooks and papers in a linear way. I need to stop, go back, put a bookmark, juxtapose two different paragraphs, switch from a book to another. At the moment, only paper-based low technology allows me to do these things.

What do you think about?

Then people use Pandora for little programming. Has anyone got experience in LaTex editing on Pandora?

Finally, a big plus would be if I could write notes by hand (I do not care about handwriting recognition). I know that it is possible, but I do not know how much writing is comfortable. For example, the screen is small and the keyboard could be cumbersome for handwriting.

That's all (for now).

I am looking forward to hearing your opinions.

Thanks in advance!

Marco
 
There is this application that lets you OCR text, but you need to learn to write each letter seperately. The OCR is very good if you spend some time training the software.

http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=cellwriter-cellwriter-12437

For just stylus writing, xournal works great

http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=xournal-xournal-5695

It looks a bit like this:

http://picpaste.com/xournal_hello-2ibz4Jnk.png

Coolreader allows for multiple bookmarks and remembers where you were in a document, but does not do pdf

http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=coolreader-ptitseb

This one does pdf, but lacks those options that makes coolreader great:

http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=qpdfview

Not sure about the invoice, but for planner

http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=qorganizer-qOrganizer

Unfortunately the Pandora display is too small to display it well and have a full day on a page. (buttons are too big)

http://sourceforge.net/projects/qorganizer/

As for LaTex, how about Lyx? (not sure about the rest, Latex->ps->pdf)

http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=markw20

Still, although capable of doing all that you want, the screen is too small if you want to read complex papers and switch, put the side by side, etc. (if it contains lots of formulas you need to zoom, then scroll also horizontally; ebooks wrap around, those read fantastic once you make the font a little bigger). However, a tablet will not do either, because of lack of a good keyboard. You fit more the profile of a HP Touchsmart TM2 or Asus Transformer, look those up first.. Those fit in your backpack, but are still heavy to carry around every day. I carry my Pandora with me every day. And take notes on it during meetings (saves retyping). The calendar I do not use so much (no synch with Lotus Domino), instead, I just print out the activities for that day and carry that paper around.

I do invite you though, because that is only part of the Pandora machine, it can do so much more... be a music player (one of the best audio quality), calculator (from pocket to complex algebra), portable movie player, game device, formatting external drives, navigational system (with a usb gps), offline wiki, bible, dictionary, compiler, stellarium, etc.

It is possible, for example, with a little scripting, to, when you get home and connect your Pandora to your network, to automount, and auto synchronize all data. And send/receive your email.

Do you have a paper for me somewhere on the internet? I can take a picture (with snapshot software) of it on the Pandora so you can see the resolution.
 
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Hi guys,


while I was looking for a "smart" tablet running linux, I stumbled upon Open Pandora. The best thing after sliced bread!


Now my life is changed forever. However, I am a bit undecided if I have to buy it or not.


First, I think it is a great device, but I am unsure if it can fit my needs better than a tablet.


I would like to use it mainly as a PDA (Calendar, time tracking, invoices, email...).


And I think it is the best tool for these activities.


My doubts are about reading ebooks and scientific papers (pdf).


I have seen some youtube videos where a guy adds notes to pdf file and it is great, but I wonder how book/paper browsing is.


I do not read ebooks and papers in a linear way. I need to stop, go back, put a bookmark, juxtapose two different paragraphs, switch from a book to another. At the moment, only paper-based low technology allows me to do these things.


What do you think about?


Then people use Pandora for little programming. Has anyone got experience in LaTex editing on Pandora?


Finally, a big plus would be if I could write notes by hand (I do not care about handwriting recognition). I know that it is possible, but I do not know how much writing is comfortable. For example, the screen is small and the keyboard could be cumbersome for handwriting.


That's all (for now).


I am looking forward to hearing your opinions.


Thanks in advance!


Marco
Dude, 800x480 is not good for reading books. Even 1024x768 (iPad 2 and iPad Mini) is pushing it. If you want to read stuff, get a Nexus 7 2012 edition off ebay for $150. Unless you plan on doing programming or classic console emulation, I dont really think the OP is right for you
 
^ I've read 6 novels on the Pandora just this year, my smart phone before getting my current one has the same resolution screen as the Pandora and I've read a ton more on that.

Sure the screen is small, but has little to do with the resolution as text can be scaled to a readable size. But personally I don't find the screen size limiting, sure could a tablet do a better job at displaying text at a book size yes, but can a tablet do what the Pandora could without additional accessories to carry around? no..

The Pandora does have it's downsides for some people.. for one it's a Linux environment and it comes with all the pros and cons of it and on top of that the Pandora OS does somethings slightly differently since it has a limited size NAND for the OS and uses SD cards for application storage.. the PND system is totally unique system to the Pandora. The keyboard is designed for thumb typing and screen hinge is designed to be operated at a full 180 degrees although it can be positioned at lesser angles like a laptop.. but it locks at 180.

But that said, I still find it is my jack of all trades device. I always have one by my side or my cargo pants pocket as it where.
 
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Dude, 800x480 is not good for reading books. Even 1024x768 (iPad 2 and iPad Mini) is pushing it.
What are you talking about ? Stop trolling.

You don't need retina screens to read. I was reading ebooks on a PocketPC when they only had 320*200 resolution and it was already fine then. 800*480 is more than enough and I have read several books from start to end on the Pandora like that.  

FYI even the Kindle does not have a great resolution either. Seen people complain about it ? No. That's what I thought.
 
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My doubts are about reading ebooks and scientific papers (pdf).
I have seen some youtube videos where a guy adds notes to pdf file and it is great, but I wonder how book/paper browsing is.

I do not read ebooks and papers in a linear way. I need to stop, go back, put a bookmark, juxtapose two different paragraphs, switch from a book to another. At the moment, only paper-based low technology allows me to do these things.

What do you think about?
I don't think that the Pandora fits your needs in that regard, the screen is quite small, and the form factor of the Pandora isn't exactly suitable for the tasks you have in mind. I would rather look for a Tablet, a TabletPC in a slate design or an e-Paper device with a bigger display.
 
Dude, 800x480 is not good for reading books. Even 1024x768 (iPad 2 and iPad Mini) is pushing it.
 What are you talking about ? Stop trolling.

You don't need retina screens to read. I was reading ebooks on a PocketPC when they only had 320*200 resolution and it was already fine then. 800*480 is more than enough and I have read several books from start to end on the Pandora like that.  

FYI even the Kindle does not have a great resolution either. Seen people complain about it ? No. That's what I thought.
Maybe he's talking about reading comic books/manga/... ?
For standard e-books, lower resolution is good enough, although I prefer E-ink displays.
 
I still prefer actual paper to read. But I've read a couple of books on my Pandora, too. It works well enough, a larger screen wouldn't hurt but being able to scroll without having to touch the screen all the time is nice.

The Pandora keyboard takes a while to get used to, but once you are used to it, it works pretty well for coding. I coded a few things entirely on the Pandora keyboard, a.o. two games. There is an article on PandoraLive about how I use my Pandora, if you're interested.
 
I still prefer actual paper to read
After several months reading tons of stuff electronically AND on paper, I think the killer feature for ebooks is that you don't have to turn pages. Yeah, it sounds stupid like that, but when you are in a large book the pages with many pages behind feel comfortable, but the next page is difficult to keep opened and uncomfortable to hold still. 
 
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I still prefer actual paper to read
After several months reading tons of stuff electronically AND on paper, I think the killer feature for ebooks is that you don't have to turn pages. Yeah, it sounds stupid like that, but when you are in a large book the pages with many pages behind feel comfortable, but the next page is difficult to keep opened and uncomfortable to hold still. 
Same here. Reading on an even eInk display (please do never compare them to normal flatscreens) is not only more comfortable for the eyes, especcially with background light if you are in a darker room,

but you also save lots of time, because you do not have to care about the position of the other pages and turning of the pages.

I've never read through so many fat books that fast before. Would buy a Kobo instead of a Kindle now though.
 
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I still prefer actual paper to read
After several months reading tons of stuff electronically AND on paper, I think the killer feature for ebooks is that you don't have to turn pages. Yeah, it sounds stupid like that, but when you are in a large book the pages with many pages behind feel comfortable, but the next page is difficult to keep opened and uncomfortable to hold still. 
Same here. Reading on an even eInk display (please do never compare them to normal flatscreens) is not only more comfortable for the eyes, especcially with background light if you are in a darker room,

but you also save lots of time, because you do not have to care about the position of the other pages and turning of the pages.

I've never read through so many fat books that fast before. Would buy a Kobo instead of a Kindle now though.
This discussion is excellent (and sorry for hi-jacking).  I am planning on buying my wife a Kindle type device (purely for reading books etc.) for Christmas. She obviously will want to buy and download books from the internet, but she won't use it for browsing or watching vids or playing games etc. so Wi-Fi is enough. She likes to read books in bed, via a lamp rather than the main light, so something with some illumination would be beneficial. It doesn't have to be top of the line, but light, smooth and have enough memory to hold a good number of books.

So, doe anyone have a preference/opinion/idea as to which device would be the best option for her?
 
Kobo Glo (more open)

Kindle Paperwhite (fast, but less open - can only read the Amazon-DRM-format and .mobi, .epubs have to be converted via Calibre)
 
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Yep, I got the same combination (Pandora + Paperwhite) and Pandora is better for pdf.

Regarding eBooks we have to mention the "Project Gutenberg".

www.gutenberg.org

Most of the old classics for free and much more, other languages than english are also available.

I've got "Bram Stoker's Dracula", "Alice 1+2", "Robinson Crusoe", "The Time Machine", "War of the Worlds", "Count of Monte Christo",

lots of Kafka, Leo Tolstoi, Schiller, Goethe, etc... from it.
 
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My wife doesn't really like the idea of any eReader devices (but she's not really had a try of any), so whatever I get has to convince her of their worth - I used a work-mate's Kindle Fire (IIRC) and it seemed pretty good, but it offers more than my wife will really need and I don't want to buy something she may not use.

I've just done some quick research on the Kobo Glo (not had time for the Kindle yet) and that certainly seems like it'll cover all the important bases. But I'll try to get a proper hands on of both devices (and any others that users may recommend) before I buy anything.

BTW She would NEVER use the Pandora for anything. She pretty much hates using my laptop and has never touched my TouchPad, which just gathers dust in a drawer. Whatever I get has to be simple, obvious and comfortable under all conditions.
 
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