I bought mine at the last woot sale and have enjoyed it. I mostly use the ereading side and the battery lasts a long time. You can do the usual android things to make the battery go farther. Use the included widget to turn everything off(wifi, dim the screen, etc)

Just don't be afraid of tweaking it to make it usable... The stock version of android is awful.

The edge does not natively support Flash. But you can get the Skyfire browser from freeware lovers and that will play flash.

http://www.freewarelovers.com/android/app/skyfire

The edge won't accept the newest version. Unfortunately I don't remember which version I got to work. Probably 2.3.

smittypap wrote:OK. Who bought one of these last time 'round? Report please!

Yeah, I bought one last time. Do we get a rebate?

janoc7 wrote:I feel dumb asking this question but...how does the red one look (in-person of course)? Does it look girly?

It's a nice bright red suitable for both boys and girls. Something of a Swiss army knife red. Or an in-your-face lipstick red.

People, please don't ask again whether it plays mp3s, has flash, is upgradable past Android 1.6.... Read the two pages of comments before this. It won't take long.

In a hurry? So maybe you could start here: http://www.woot.com/Forums/ViewPost.aspx?PostID=4534261 I wouldn't necessarily say that you will want it instead of a Nook or Kindle. You might. Also, the Froyo update is a beta, but fairly decent.

If you get one you absolutely must join the MobileRead forum - it's the only place you'll get support. Plus it's nice people. In fact, you should drop by right now!

I can recommend this item only if you have a spare $125 bill lying around to play with. Don't get it if you'll only be able to buy yourself one e-reader and/or tablet this year. On the other hand, if your budget is limited to all the devices you can get for $125 total ... this may be exactly what you're looking for!

-- Ed

Why would anyone get this over an actual Kindle?

"Because it runs Android" is not an actual answer btw.

I got one of these last time for $149. They were brand new. It kills me that they are advertised now for much less.

Mine is red. Bright, fire-engine read.

I always shut down the Edge instead of using hibernate. I don't have battery life issues.

I found the instructions to upgrade it on the Edge forum easy to follow. Within a half an hour (I'm a newbie), I was updated and ready to discover how to use all the features of the product. That forum had some seriously awesome organized posts on it -- bummer they took them down (I can't find them?).

I like to read on one side and use the Docs to Go (which it came with) on the other to make my outlines/notes. I thought the writing/notes app on the e-reader side was just a tad slow, but it's nice to have to circle stuff and highlight. I don't use that much, though.

I do find myself wishing for on-screen page-turning. But the arrow buttons to flip pages on the e-reader are easy to use. I learned that I may want an LCD screen e-reader so I can read it in low lighting conditions. This is just like a book - you need light to read it.

I'm very glad I purchased this. I would buy the full size in a NY minute.

By the way, this is for new units. The previous woot was for alleged refurbs for more money. So lucky you!

(Some of us got units that may have been unsold stock from stores. Mine looked new, but not everyone was nearly that lucky.)

-- Ed

Another thing I like is the ability to read a Web page on the e-reader screen. I find text-heavy Web pages tedious even on a full-sized screen. You can move them over to the e-reader to read as e-ink. You can also read them as pdfs on that that side, but the screen's too small to read them at that size and at 100 percent you have to move around the face of the document. Of course, pdfs can be read as text on that e-reader side.

M3947TG5 wrote:That forum had some seriously awesome organized posts on it -- bummer they took them down (I can't find them?).

ivanivanovich wrote:If you get one you absolutely must join the MobileRead forum - it's the only place you'll get support. Plus it's nice people. In fact, you should drop by right now!

The old forum was copied over.

-- Ed

ivanivanovich wrote:By the way, this is for new units. The previous woot was for alleged refurbs for more money. So lucky you!

(Some of us got units that may have been unsold stock from stores. Mine looked new, but not everyone was nearly that lucky.)

-- Ed

No, the last ones were billed as new, and mine was, but some people said they'd received units that were obvioulsy used -- and not even refurbed. One guy said his still the registration information of a previous owner. Woot said it was checking its stock, so I suppose any used ones have been weeded out.

PennyB9 wrote:Don't know if Hulu works,but Netflix does not, so my guess would be no. At $119 though, it's a good deal. Even though Entourage store has closed, Google books has a huge library of titles for the reader. I purchased mine for $150 and have really used it a lot. I love having the reader and tablet combo. Don't think you can go wrong at this price.

My guess would also be no, but not because Netflix doesn't work. These are licensing issues, and many companies work out a deal with Netflix or Hulu, but not both.

I'll toss out my own experiences with my eDGe - I bought one last time they were here.

Hardware-wise, this is a decently, but not fantastically, capable little device - the dual screens are the most obvious feature, but it also has WiFi, Bluetooth, USB host capability (the ability to plug in a flash drive and copy files is, IMO, a very underrated one), and a microSD slot for expandability. The processor is a Marvell something-or-other, and it's ARMv6 instead of the more modern ARMv7 - the biggest side effect of this is no Firefox. (Shame, really, it would work well on that big screen. Try Dolphin or Opera instead.)

It comes with what is, as best I can tell, 4GB of internal flash, of which only ~1GB is partitioned out as internal storage, leaving the other 3GB as a sort of pseudo-external storage which appears as the default SD card under Android (the one mounted under /mnt/sdcard). Why they didn't just make a bigger /data partition is beyond me... In any event, though, you're unlikely to run out of storage for your books and such. Music is something else entirely, but fortunately the media scanner seems capable of picking up media stored anywhere (internal storage, external SD, or USB).

Other complaints include the fact that the screen is resistive-touch, meaning *no multitouch* - this threw all the muscle-memory gestures I had from working with other Android devices until I adapted. On the other hand, the stylus support on the e-ink screen is quite useful, and, as far as I have seen, unique among e-readers.

As far as software is concerned, out of the box, it's not fantastic - Android 1.6, no Google apps or market support, kinda buggy. That said...

Upgrading to Android 2.2 is dirt simple - log in on the Entourage site, and it gives you the option to upgrade. Not sure if it's that easy anymore, but I know someone mirrored the update.zip that's necessary to run the upgrade. Google about for it if you need it.

Rooting the device from that point is remarkably easy - download z4root from Amazon Appstore. Push the "Root Device" button. Done.

That still doesn't get you Google apps support, but if you have another (also rooted) Android device, it's entirely possible to use Titanium Backup to copy the apps over and get them installed - instructions here. Market support can also be added with a similar hack.

I successfully copied over the Google apps packages from my Epic 4G, and now have working Market, Gmail, Talk, YouTube, and Voice, complete with background data sync. The background sync seems kinda flaky, though - I often have to manually refresh. Still beats nothing, however. (For those of you who don't want to follow these hacky directions to get Market running, Amazon Appstore works just fine.)

As far as useful packages to install - Swype is available as a public beta and is incredibly usable, especially with the stylus, and SwiftKey is also lovely ($2 in the Amazon Appstore). Angry Birds runs, but has some coloring issues (blue and red are swapped). Some apps work well with the larger screen, some don't. Give things a try, but be prepared for unusual displays or outright breakage.

Bottom line - if you just want something that "just works" out of the box - buy an iPad. If you're willing to put a bit of effort into making this thing run, you'll be rewarded with an awesome device at an awesome price.

Edit: Broke up the wall of text a bit.

enantiodromia wrote:Why would anyone get this over an actual Kindle?

"Because it runs Android" is not an actual answer btw.

Because it runs Android and can be rooted!

Plus....

On the e-ink side, write yourself notes and annotate PDFs. Then there's the whole LCD side as a bonus.

However ... the e-ink screen isn't as contrasty as the third-generation Kindle. And if you're going to spend lots of time doing PDF markup, you'll want the bigger version.

-- Ed

Pudnhead wrote:No, the last ones were billed as new, and mine was, but some people said they'd received units that were obvioulsy used -- and not even refurbed. One guy said his still the registration information of a previous owner. Woot said it was checking its stock, so I suppose any used ones have been weeded out.

Huh - my memory betrayed me, I guess! I remember the stories about the obviously used ones.

But yeah. If woot has any sense it's checked what it has now.

-- Ed

enantiodromia wrote:Why would anyone get this over an actual Kindle?

"Because it runs Android" is not an actual answer btw.

Because it's cheaper. (Unless you like ads, then the "Special" kindle is $5 cheaper.)
Because sometimes you want to read in direct sunlight [and sometimes you want to read in the dark.
Because you want to take notes or sketches.
Because you want to play videos.
Because you want to play video games.
Because you like pretty, shiny, colors.
Because you want to use bluetooth or USB peripherals.

*Sigh* So after woot put up the Kindle, I bought one for my sister. Well I used it and wanted one so bad. I did some research and in the Kindle thread someone linked to this doobly-thing. I was hesitant because it was an unknown so I wasn't sure if it was worth it.

I ended up buying a Kindle (its in the mail now). I'm a fairly techie person (computer science major) and my main want an e-reader. Does anyone here think I should return the Kindle for the Dual Book?

lestylong wants to know where to go for tech support. My edge seems to be working fine but I am having problems getting the kindle app and my google e-book didn't load to my reader screen.

merlinschenk wrote:I am responding on my pocket edge this morning and I feel it is easy to use and I am tech illiterate. My onlygripe is the e reader's touch screen. If I can use and update this to 2.2 anyone can.

Have you been able to syncronize the screens?

I haven't read through most of the comments about this thread, but am replying because I bought one last time. This was my first tablet, first e-reader.

I love it! Would I have loved a kindle or a nook as well? My thought is no, but I could be wrong.

I don't love that I paid $30 more.
I love having an epub-capable e-reader (good for library books and lots of public domain books), love that I can use a built-in capability to move a webpage to the e-reader side (recipes!) to conserve battery if I'm going to want it to be open and up for a while, love that it's small and easy to bring around with me.

Cons: You cannot zoom in as much on pdfs as you can on epub, due to the lack of re-flow. So while I bought it thinking I'd read pdf papers on this, I now am not sure if I'd be able to use it that way. It's not LIGHT. It's about the same weight as a mid-weight Harry Potter hardcover I'd say, so I like to rest it on things when I use it to read. Oh, and I couldn't figure out how to get google calendar to sync, so I just use the mobile version of calendar in the browser (which you can only do on wifi, since wifi is your only standard connection option.) I have used it for note-taking, and it's not perfect in that aspect. The e-reader tablet, with the pen I've got, even with the screen-alignment set up, warps writing near the edges of the screen. So you get an even SMALLER screen to work on, and a thick line.

Angry Birds Rio plays just fine on it, but you can't zoom (due to no multi-touch) and some of the colors are off (blue instead of orange?) I use Dolphin Browser most of the time (except when I want to use the built-in browser's utility to view the page on the e-reader side), and there are many swype-type keyboards that can be found online to make the touchscreen keyboard easier to deal with. Along with the Amazon App store I used "Best Android Downloads" (like for getting the keyboard options), but I'm not sure if it's a truly "safe" download site.

I'm thoroughly pleased with it. I've read a few books and used the tablet for web browsing and a few games. I bought it because I've been thinking an e-reader would be nice, but wasn't sure between a tablet and an e-ink e-reader. This seemed like a good way to try out both. Honestly, I'm still not sure which I like better, but this way I didn't REALLY have to choose. As pointed out in the previous woot over and over - it's not the best available at either aspect (I'd say it's weaker compared with other tablets than it is vs other e-ink readers). It's got some neat functions, and as both aspects it's sufficient for my purposes. I recommend skinning it to make it look less ugly and protect the exterior from scratches.

Sorry this is such a long comment.

Two cheap, underpowered gadgets attached to each other (yawn). When I hear talk about "rooting" and changing the OS, I smell another failed Android device that only appeals to those who want to get seriously under the hood.

I bought this last go around and was fortunate to do the upgrade to 2.2 days before they shut down business. Was very easy with support, but I imagine a bit more difficult without.

One annoyance I have had with it (and I dont know if this is common among other tablets as this is my first), but I cannot access the SD card via a USB cable when I hook it up to my computer. So if I have a movie that's in MP4 format, I have to move it to a USB key first then move it to the SD Card from the USB key. (I guess I could move it to the internal memory using the USB cable then move it to the SD card, but with only about 3 gigs of internal memory, you are limited how much you can move over at a time and you still have to do two moves).

Also, I noticed that with Opera, the colors seem to be distorted. Green shows up as brown, for example.

Overall, I have been happy with it. I am not a power user when it comes to tablets and all I need it for is to watch a few movies, listen to some MP3s and play some card games while on the plane. The fact that it has the second screen that can be used as a base is nice since you can watch movies and not have to hold it.

I bought it in the last woot offering.

I have used the amazon apps store to download apps.

I have installed the kindle app so I can read kindle books on the tablet side.

I have done quick browsing on the tablet side.

On the reader side I have read pdfs after reflowing them to fit the screen. I have sent web pges to the reader side.

It is a good device for reading on the subway, and for playing the occasional game. I don't like the battery life when using the tablet side and haven't got hibernate to work I did upgrade to the newer version of android.

The size and weight is better the the netbook I was previously using for my subway reading. I bought this without much thought since the netbook broke a day or two before this came up.

Overall, it is a good utility. It fills the niche for e-reading, occasional browsing, and simple games.

I also got one last time from Woot! I knew it was going to have limitations but I have had lots of fun with it. Angry Birds Rio works on it as do many other games I got from the Amazon Market, free app of the day. There is still support thru another forum, well informed, helpful people to answer any questions you have. Registration still up. I had no problems updating the device and it was brand new when I got it. (I know some others had issues with getting used/dirty units last time) Over all, for a kid or something to play with, great little device.

I bought one last time around, so did my buddy.
We both liked them, very nice device.
At $120, this is a steal.

I bought mine as as training wheels for a tablet and e-reader to see if I liked either one enough to buy a dedicated device. Sure enough I did. I have both mine and my buddy's for sale, not because we didn't like them, but because we both ended up buying big tablets and e-readers recently.

Few questions for the confused:
YES there IS an official Android 2.2 Froyo (Ermnie they call it) update, you must manually install it now as I believe Entourage has ended support for these completely to work on a new device.

No there is NO Google Market or any kind of official Google support for this.

YES you can get your gmail on it's app.

YES you can load the Amazon Appstore and get all their stuff, though with no 3D graphics support, not many games run smooth on it to even bother playing.

YES you can still get pretty much any app on it, just google for "whatever apk" to find your apps, download them, then load them on there any way you want (USB thumb drive, microsd card, etc).

I had no complaints about mine except it was a tad heavy to hold when reading in bed at night. That's about it.

does this thing play DVDs?

How well does the note taking work? Is it like pen/pencil or kindergarten crayon? I've found many stylus notes look thick.

racingfreak92 wrote:Didnt they just go bankrupt?

YES! (Pity, this is a great little tablet/eReader, but NO MORE SUPPORT)

smittypap wrote:OK. Who bought one of these last time 'round? Report please!

Great little tablet/eReader, good idea BUT entourage is defunct/bankruot = NO MORE SUPPORT

PennyB9 wrote:Don't know if Hulu works,but Netflix does not
snip..

Out of the box Netflix does not work, however if you root it is possible :D

schmide wrote:I was actually very surprised at how much I liked mine. Although I rooted mine, I haven't gotten as far as I wanted customizing it.

I'm tempted for another one...

I really like mine, but where did you find the info to root yours?? I couldn't find any instructions that I had confidence in.

I am also tempted to get another one. It is wonderful having the best of 2 worlds, a tablet and an e-ink reader that I can read outside. Not a very powerful processor though.

PennyB9 wrote:Don't know if Hulu works,but Netflix does not, so my guess would be no.

Netflix uses Silverlight to stream, but I think Hulu just uses Flash. It should work but I don't have one to test on.

theant wrote:Android 1.6
That seems... umm... NOT new I guess.
Anyone have any thoughts on the putting froyo or gingerbread on the thing? Is im... NOT new I guess.
Anyone have any thoughts on the putting froyo or gingerbread on the thing? Is it even possible let alone feasible? t even possible let alone feasible?

They released a build of fryo 2.2 for it just before the company closed. It works great, and you can get the amazon app store on the device too. I bought one last time.. Love it. I use the eink side all the time for reading, browse the Internet on the other. The only downsides are the lcd screen isn't the best and the processor is kind of slow so you won't be playing any hardcore games on it.

locajoja wrote:How well does the note taking work? Is it like pen/pencil or kindergarten crayon? I've found many stylus notes look thick.

The note taking is quite accurate since it is a resistive screen. The eink isn't too bad either since its waccom.

steakpirate wrote:Woot's product descriptions are getting progressively more ridiculous and less informative. Honestly, it's almost time to start copy and pasting from Gutenberg books and just replacing character names with the names of the products.

Haven't their write-ups always been more about entertainment than info? The actual information you need can be found in the specs below the write-up and the discussion boards? What more is really needed? Personally, I love seeing what sort of dumb write-ups the woot guys have come up with.

radix0 wrote:Enjoyed the one I got from the last go-around, especially after the Froyo update. Unfortunately it now has the "White Screen of Death", which is a pretty common problem, and no hope of getting it repaired. I did spring for a Square Trade warranty, but they seem to think that Entourage should be providing coverage (even though they're out of business). Caveat emptor...

Whee!!!

-r0

FYI, enTourage still lists an '866' number for warranty repair that was working 28 Jun on their support page here:

https://www.entourageedge.com/support/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=26&nav=0

Please let us know if you get results.

schmide wrote:I was actually very surprised at how much I liked mine. Although I rooted mine, I haven't gotten as far as I wanted customizing it.

I'm tempted for another one...

What do you mean by "Rooted"?

calbaer wrote:More than a minute (but seems like forever). Has a sleep mode, but drains the batteries very quickly - less than a day - in my experience.

Ummm - Mine last for several days if I hibernate it. Push the sliding switch on the bottom right hand side of the e-ink screen to the right, then choose "hibernate" from the options.

Does this have the free wifi network like a Kindel does?

PennyB9 wrote:Don't know if Hulu works,but Netflix does not, so my guess would be no. At $119 though, it's a good deal. Even though Entourage store has closed, Google books has a huge library of titles for the reader. I purchased mine for $150 and have really used it a lot. I love having the reader and tablet combo. Don't think you can go wrong at this price.

If you want to use Hulu, it will require the upgrade to Hulu Plus and pay a monthly fee. I think that it may be that way with any Android device.

For Pandora, as a "portable device" it's not subject to any time limit. So listen as long as you like. It's worth the price just for that.

I can view web pages on the E-ink screen, while there is no browsing per se. The Edge converts it to epub and displays it.

I frequently used my large EE as a notebook. However, I did get a larger-barreled penabled stylus, since the one hurt my hand after hours-long notetaking sessions. The small screen on the Pocket Edge might make it harder to take notes in book margins, and may not be as good for displaying PDFs (the full-size is great for that).

The Pocket Edge looks to be best for epubs, occasional notes, unlimited Pandora, and light web browsing/e-mail on the go.

Got this for hubby last go 'round. He loves it - uses the calendar feature the most for work. (Work does not allow smartphones/other devices that can sync with work computers. - and no, he doesn't work for a secret government agency.)