I can walk across the office and get a cup of coffee or go outside and work on my fence with my internet radio in my pocket. My home computer would need two hands to lift, and the power cord isn't very long

And you shouldn't sit in front of your computer too much, it isn't good for your health

Really? I must disagree. Take some time to actually try reading with it. Mess about with font size and stuff. I found that once I got the settings right, I could read huge Neil Stephenson novels without any eye strain. I'd say reading from the tablet's screen is actually easier than from a book (except when outside in bright light). The crisp text, high contrast and back lighting really make reading enjoyable. And I can read in bed with the lights out without disturbing my wife!

I've been looking for a good e-book reader for a long time, and I've been very disappointed by the other options I've seen. Either the text is chunky, the screen is low contrast, the form factor is unwieldy, or there's something else wrong.

The tablets are great for reading e-books. I feel I've got some authority here; I'm a lifelong book reader. I've been tearing through stacks of novels for at least 30 years.

No Exchange support is a dealbreaker? That's like saying no MS Office document support is a dealbreaker. Perhaps Exchange support would be nice if you work in an office that has been lured away from standards-compliance by Microsoft, but there are workarounds even for those sad situations (eg. Texrat's web-based solution).

As for GMail access, I'd say Modest, while still beta, is close enough for most geeky types to live with. It does a fine job of GMail IMAP.

Not sure what add-ins you're looking for, and what coffin you're talking about, but some of the most popular ones have been ported over here. This being an open software platform, I'm sure others would appreciate it if you ported the ones you need and made them available for us.

Dude. What consumer level? There's no such thing as a consumer level for these things. This is cutting edge technology. I'm glad Nokia released the tablets before achieving this mythical consumer level. Why? Because getting to consumer level always involves a lot of paid developer time that drives the price up (for the iConsumer) and a lot of closed, secret beta testing that I can't be a part of. This way, I get to geek out on the coolest device that I've ever owned, and I paid half of what an iConsumer would have paid.


If you're bringing Windows vs Linux into the conversation (are you the same guy who said MS Exchange support was essential?), then NITs are exactly like desktop Linux. If you roll up your sleeves, pop open the hood and do some tinkering, you can get your tablet purring beautifully. But even desktop-centered Linux distributions like Ubuntu don't have the polish and ease-of-use that Mac or Windows has. The tablets are the same way, you sacrifice some polish for a whole lot more control and flexibility. Sure, no multitouch. But no jailbreaking required, either.

I love these threads; it always gets me worked up when people tell me my baby is ugly.