[NTLK] eNtourage Pocket eDGe = possible Newton replacement?

[Aaron Brigati]

I have one of these. Let me address your points.

> 1.)  It has dual screens, one, a 6",  for reading ebooks (ePub and .pdf formats) and writing with a stylus and one function ing as a 7" Android tablet.

The e-ink screen is perfectly usable for books. It also has a stylus for taking notes. It is a special stylus; you cannot use any old pointy thing. Specifically, it uses Wacom PenAbled styluses, with no button support.

> 2.) It has HWR and can convert notes to .pdf (but not, so far as I know, to text).

It does not have HWR at all as far as I can tell? You can write on the e-ink screen and save it, but it's not converted to text.

> 3.)  The reader/writer screen is low-gloss like the Newt's

It's also not as responsive as the Newt's. The color/LCD side requires more pressure to activate. It's also not multi-touch, which causes a problem with a lot of Android apps.

> 4.)  It has decent wifi capability, e-mail, and a browser

This is true. But be sure to download the 2.2 update for it; the 1.x ROM is pretty abysmal.

> 5.)  Just like the Newt, it's out of production.  They go for about $100-125 on eBay, unless you're like me and will take one with blemishes for less.

There's also a larger version, if you like bigger screens; the eNtourage eDGe. They go for $300 or so.

The Pocket eDGe *will* run Einstein, and the resistive-based touchscreen is accurate enough for the Newton HWR, but it's completely unusably slow.

As a whole, it makes a dandy e-book reader (though kind of bulky) and I've used it for general tablet things. As long as your expectations aren't too high, it works just fine.  I really suggest installing the Amazon Appstore for Android to it.

But after using it for a month or two, I switched to an Asus Transformer Prime. It's a lot more expensive, and bigger (though no heavier), but it's a much more usable gizmo.

My eDGe a gift, but I think it was $150-ish on woot.com.

It's certainly not a bad doodad for the price, but I'd generally suggest spending a bit more and getting a more capable tablet.