Plastic Logic to Launch Que E-Reader in January

[MentholMoose]

This thing looks pretty sweet, especially the large screen and (apparently) good format support. I had a Sony Reader but the screen was just too small for my taste, and there's no way I will buy something locked down like the Kindle.



Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/17388...n_january.html

Plastic Logic appears ready to deliver on its promise to ship its anticipated Que e-reader the firm announced nearly one year ago. A shipping model of the Que, Plastic Logic says, will be shown off on January 7 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company says the Que is the first "proReader" designed with business professionals in mind, but it's going up to have some stiff competition against a full roster of e-readers including what may be the first Google Android-based e-reader.

While it will be interesting to see the finished model, it's not like we don't know what the Que is all about. Plastic Logic first showed off its gadget in September 2008 at DEMO in San Diego, then the company took its device to CES in January and to top it all off the e-reader made another demo at D7 last May.

After three different debuts, we know the Que will be the size of an 8.5-by-11-inch piece of paper, and has a touchscreen interface with iPhone-like swipe gestures instead of button controls. The device has Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, and is less than one-third-of-an-inch thick. The Que's plastic makes the device supposedly shatter proof (I feel a PC World stress test coming on), and it uses plastic instead of silicon transistors, making the device super thin. We also know the Que supports PDF and Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel formats, in addition to e-book content. Finally, we know the device has 3G connectivity to be supported by AT&T, and Barnes & Noble will power the Que's e-book store.

In short, we know almost everything. What we don't know is how much it will cost, when it will be available and what the exact specs are for memory, storage, Wi-Fi standard (b,g or n) and so on. It's a pretty safe bet the Que will be expensive since Plastic Logic CEO Richard Archuleta has always stressed the Que is focused on the business consumer, and that the market will set the price.

[punkrockpolak]

Looks kind of like the screen from a macbook air in regards to thickness. They didn't list how much it's supposed to weigh?

[zalbard]

Looks good, gotta be expensive though.

[Jamesrt2004]

looks epic

[Manicdan]

they really should have done everything possible to get this to market by november, and advertise the crap out of it
my mom wants a kindle for xmas, but she would love to use this over a laptop if she could. too bad she wont have any gifts to open this 25th

[nn_step]

if not an open standard, not interested.

[MentholMoose]

if not an open standard, not interested.

The Que will support PDF, among other formats.

[Serra]

Always happy to see some movement in this field; the more we bring in the further the price will go down.

I have a Sony reader myself which I bought when I was moving (I only took down 2 suitcases for the first few months, no room for books) and have been using it endlessly since. They are lighter than books, you can carry around a number of e-books with you so you can flip as your mood changes, the definition is very nice and the batteries last forever.

@Menthol: To give you an idea about the Sony lineup, consider that the size of their viewable screen is about the same size as a paperback book. If that is too small for you, you're not looking for a portable book device. Fair enough if your primary use is PDF's; You can still use it just fine if your PDF is just printed words, but once you throw in a diagram or chart you're pooched. I do a lot of PDF reading on mine, but fortunately with few diagrams/charts (you can still see them if you zoom out fully, but then they're so small it can be hard to make out words printed on/in them).

[Kersh]

Looks fine, but will compete hardly with the iRex DR1000S that have 1 year in the market with better specs.

[nn_step]

The Que will support PDF, among other formats.

But will sufficient information be published so that we can quickly and easily port some open source operating systems to it?

[MentholMoose]

I have a Sony reader myself which I bought when I was moving (I only took down 2 suitcases for the first few months, no room for books) and have been using it endlessly since. They are lighter than books, you can carry around a number of e-books with you so you can flip as your mood changes, the definition is very nice and the batteries last forever.

@Menthol: To give you an idea about the Sony lineup, consider that the size of their viewable screen is about the same size as a paperback book. If that is too small for you, you're not looking for a portable book device. Fair enough if your primary use is PDF's; You can still use it just fine if your PDF is just printed words, but once you throw in a diagram or chart you're pooched. I do a lot of PDF reading on mine, but fortunately with few diagrams/charts (you can still see them if you zoom out fully, but then they're so small it can be hard to make out words printed on/in them).

I had the original Sony Reader, it's definitely fine for text, and if I read more novels I would have kept it. I'm not really looking for something ultra portable, but I do want something lightweight. Mainly I want a huge screen for technical books with a lot of diagrams, and of course supporting multiple formats.

Looks fine, but will compete hardly with the iRex DR1000S that have 1 year in the market with better specs.

Well the complete specs on the Que haven't been released, but it does have a bigger screen than the IREX, has a touch screen, and has a new high tech plastic display! Also the e-reader market is growing rapidly, so a it's unlikely to be too late for new competitors.