Cryptic is having a free-play weekend for Star Trek Online. I get it, lots of changes to the game and they want former subscribers to check it out. In fact it is something I ranted years ago that MMO companies should do often. However 3-4 days is horrible. Simple reason. 1-1.5 days wasted finding out about the free weekend and downloading the client. Leaves 1-1.5 days for play. *sigh* At least this time I have my 10Mbit broadband connection. Previously my 350Kbit connection ensured almost 2 days were gone before I could give it a whirl.
Daily Archives: 2010/08/06
To Kindle My Nook…
My wife loves her Kindle. So much so that she’s giving it the heave-ho and getting a trophy-Kindle. In a fun twist we are going through role reversal on the tech hand-me-downs. Normally she gets the tech toys of which I have tired but this time it is she that is asking if I want dibs on her old Kindle 2.
Thus far I have gotten by with Kindle on other platforms. First by wrangling Kindle for PC to work under Linux on my Dell Mini. More recently it has been with the Kindle app for Android. So, strictly speaking, I really don’t need a Kindle. It would be nice.
On the other hand I haven’t given up on my plans for a Nook. I still order all my tree-killing books via B&N. So it naturally follows that I would prefer to obtain my electron-killing books via the same source. My wife, naturally, disagrees.
But in this internal debate I have been giving consideration to a third option. The Kindle 2 & Nook represent a lightweight device w/6″ screen upon which I could read books in electronic format. Both cost around $150-$170 for the Wifi only version. Both are locked in the format they can read. Meanwhile I have a device which can read both, right now. My Droid. Why not look for a 6″-7″ variation thereof? The first person to mention the iPad gets slapped. Seriously.
A few minutes of searching yielded two possible results. First up is the Gentouch, an Android 2.1 device with a 7″ screen for $150. Only problem is they are sold only at K-Mart and are currently sold out until late August. Then there is the Archos 7 based on Android 1.5 and coming in at $200. By the end of the year there are supposed to be several tablets available under the $200 price point, most running Android 2.1 or higher.
The more I think about it the more appealing it becomes. My main gripe about reading on my Mini is that it isn’t as portable and easy to handle as a book. Meanwhile my Droid, awesome as it is, is too small for long-term reading. My wife raves about the eInk display on her Kindle and daylight reading. I work nights and am an indoor geek. I rarely read out-of-doors, let alone during the day. So while I normally think specialized devices are better for the tasks for which they are designed I am finding it hard to want any eReader for $150 when I could spend the same on a Gentouch and get the functionality of 2 eReaders along with all of the other apps written for Android.
Given that the Gentouch is out-of-stock, and not without some problems detailed in different reviews, I think right now I might take up my wife’s offer of the use of her Kindle 2. Use it for a few months until a decent Android based tablet comes out. 
