However, I finally set aside an afternoon to research available chrome extensions and discovered replacements for almost everything I use in Firefox.  I was initially concerned that installing too many extensions would impact performance, but discovered Chrome runs tabs and extensions in separate processes, so none of the extensions can affect the entire browser as add-ons do with Firefox.

So I’m now officially using Chrome as my primary browser.  I still think Firefox is a good browser, but with too many add-ons installed and tabs open – it slows to a crawl, which annoys me.   This isn’t a ‘Chrome is better than Firefox’ post.   Instead, it’s just my personal list of favorite chrome extensions that do the equivalent of what I did with Firefox for my work.

Color Pick by qufighter

Highlights:
Provides a zoomed view of target within the popup area in addition to a color swatch preview next to eye dropper.  Easy to copy hex code.

Drawbacks:
Author says picker may not always be exactly accurate because color is taken from screenshot of page instead of the page itself.  However, every test I’ve tried so far shows it to be exact.

View Selection Source by webkitchen.cz

Highlights:
Selected source already highlighted, with surrounding code also included (I suppose this could be an unwanted feature for some, but I like it).

Drawbacks:
No option to wrap long lines or resize pop-up,  so you always have to scroll horizontally to view longer lines of code.  Can’t right click to copy, but can use keyboard shortcut to do so.

Web Developer by Chris Pederick

Highlights:
Provides almost every tool I used in the Firefox version.  I think popup and UI is more accessible and easier to use. .

Drawbacks:
Doesn’t have the ‘View Style Information’ that outlines block elements, which I used often for quick access to style info.  There’s a ‘Display ID and Class Details’ option in the chrome version that outlines block elements, not as feature rich.

Pendule by Christian Frey

Highlights:
Provides useful developer shortcuts in an easy, quick-access pop-up.  The Web Developer tool above provides most of the same stuff, but it takes longer in their UI.  There is also a color picker and measurement tool available in Pendule that replaces a couple of standalone add-ons I’d used in Firefox.

Drawbacks:
Not as feature-rich as Web Developer, but accomplishes common developer tasks more quickly.

Measure-It by nirzoref

Highlights:
Quick access to pixel measurements.  Similar tool available in Pendule, but this one is faster to execute.

Drawbacks:
Unlike the measurement tool in Pendule, you can’t move selections around.

Pixlr Grabber by Pixlr

Highlights:
Allows you to capture visible page, full page or custom selection.  Ability to save to desktop, upload to Imm.io or edit in Pixlr.com

Drawbacks:
When saving to computer, only option is PNG – though I don’t really consider this a real drawback.

Lorem Ipsum by niko.pufal

Highlights:
Generates lorem ipsum text.   You can choose the number of paragraphs and characters per paragraph.

Drawbacks:
Opens in new tab (I wish it just popped up inline on the page).  Doesn’t give you the option of using alternate text or variate the length of each paragraphs.

IE Tab by Blackfish Software

Highlights:
Allows you to view a page using the IE rendering engine directly from Chrome.

Drawbacks:
None that I can think of.  It does what it’s supposed to.

SEO Site Tools by Carter Cole

Highlights:
A lot of really useful SEO related data and tools.  Shows social network back links and indexing/rank details with major search engines.  Alerts you to validation errors and provides suggestions to fix.  Displays server information.  Ability to choose light or dark theme.

Drawbacks:
A tiny bit ugly bulky looking,  but works great.

Image Search by WebVolcano.com

Highlights:
Allows you to perform a google image search of the keywords provided.  You have the option of filtering the search by image type and image size.  Very useful for searching stock image sites all at once like dreamstime or istockphoto.

Drawbacks:
The UI icons are somewhat of an eyesore, but otherwise it works fine. I wish there was an option to choose sources so I’d only get results from stock sites.

Google Mail Checker Plus by Anders

Highlights:
Ok, so this isn’t really a developer tool…but as I use Gmail as a hub for checking my work domain mail – I find this extension really useful for my business.  It displays the number of unread messages in your inbox and provides a preview of those messages when the icon is clicked. If there are no unread messages, the icon takes you to your inbox. Additional configuration options available, one of which is to always use SSL when connecting to gmail.

Drawbacks:
I can’t really think of any.  It works great.

Additional Useful Extensions:

Copy Without Formatting by jinjingforever:
Allows you to copy selected text from a web page as plain text, which is really useful if you’re about to paste it into a rich text editor.

Firebug Lite by pedrosimonetti:
Chrome’s built-in developer tools does for me what I had previously used Firebug for in Firefox.  However, there’s an extension for it if you prefer it.

Session Buddy by Hansifer:
Allows you to save and manage sessions.  I didn’t end up using it as much as I thought I would, so I uninstalled it – but I could see it being really useful for some people.

goo.gl URL Shortener by giakomino:
Not really web design specific, but I use it a lot when I need to send clients a long link.

Still Missing

The following are things I was able to do in Firefox for work, which I can’t (or not as easily) in Chrome:

View Background Image (From firefox context menu)
Doesn’t exist in Chrome, but you can sort of work around it by right-clicking and choosing ‘Inspect Element’.  On the right you can click on the image link defined for that particular block element style and then save it from there.

After configuring your router or computer with the OpenDNS nameservers, you can no longer:

a) connect to WHS through the client console
b) establish a connection between two systems running KaVoom! KM

The Problem:

Ok…I’ll be honest. I understand what the problem is, though I still don’t entirely get WHY it’s happening. OpenDNS appears to be taking over DNS name resolution – which is conflicting with software that connects using the local address pool of your LAN.  I”m not sure if this is the proper way to describe it – but the issue can be illustrated by opening a command prompt and pinging one of the systems on your network.

So for example, in my case…

With OpenDNS configured on my router, pinging a system with the netbios name ‘HTPC’ returns:

HTPC.eau.wi.charter.com [208.67.217.132]

Not only is it appending the DNS suffix of my ISP onto the netbios name, but it returns the OpenDNS IP for local ping requests.

Now…without OpenDNS configured, the same ping request above returns ['xxx' masked for privacy]:

HTPC [192.xxx.xx.x]

Because I have OpenDNS configured strictly through the WAN settings of my router…I’m still not entirely sure why it is affecting LAN connections – though admittedly, this goes beyond my skill-set in terms of networking expertise. If someone knows the answer – I’d love to hear about it.

The Solution:

This may not be the proper way to resolve this issue, but it was easy and worked for me. It involves opening the hosts file on each computer having connection issues and mapping the IP and system name of the system(s) you’re trying to connect to.

The steps for this would be as follows:

1. Open notepad as administrator and go to ‘File > Open’
2. Browse to C\Windows\System32\drivers\etc
3. In the drop down next to ‘filename’ in notepad, change from (*.txt) to ‘All Files’
4. Select and open the ‘hosts’ file
5. Add the following line, replacing the x’s with the IP of the computer you want to connect to and ‘NAME’ with the name of that system.
   xxx.xxx.xx.x NAME

In my case, my hosts file on one system looks something like this:

192.168.xx.x HTPC
192.168.xx.xx SERVER

The first line is so KaVoom KM can find & connect to my system named ‘HTPC’. I had to add the same line on the HTPC hosts file, though using the IP and system name of the opposite system.

The second line resolves the issue with connecting to WHS from the client console. You put the IP address of the server, followed by the system name of your WHS server. Add this line to the hosts file of every computer of your network that uses the WHS client console.

That’s it!

It appeared my options were to either hack a rollback to WMP11 or switch over to the Netflix Silverlight player. I had  purposely been avoiding the latter because of all the [negative] [feedback]. Additionally, once you opt-in to use that player, you can’t revert your account back. So you’re stuck with it, whether you like it not.

Despite this, I decided to take the risk and go for the Silverlight option. One, because it was the easiest method – and two, rolling back to WMP11 seemed like a backwards solution.

So after installing Silverlight and using the opt-in page at Netflix, I was pleasantly surprised to find no problems whatsoever in any of the three Windows 7 RC machines I’ve tested on. In fact, it seems to be even more responsive than the old player and I definitely like the rewind logic better. Video quality appears about the same. I did notice a few studders on the htpc in my bedroom, but I suspect that has more to do with the older P4 hardware or going through a switch that is on a 100′ network drop from my router downstairs.

So if you’re having problems with Netflix on Windows 7 RC and feel confident braving the Silverlight player, I can vouch from my own experience that it works quite well. All you need to do is install Silverlight and opt-in at netflix (after logging in to your account):

http://www.netflix.com/silverlightoptin

Here are the network and system specs of my particular testing environment:

The touchscreen kit features a solderless design, so installation was fairly uncomplicated (with exception to wire management).   I video taped the install process, divided it up into three parts and uploaded them to YouTube.  A link to each video is included below for anyone who would prefer a visual guide to work with as well.

Part 1: Dissassembly

Watch Part 1 on YouTube

I didn’t follow the instructions from the Touchscreen Kit exactly as they had them.  Part of the issue was that this was my first time taking apart the Aspire One and I felt more comfortable going with my own instincts as opposed to their sparse outline.  Although I’d never before done this level of customization to a laptop-style device, I’ve been building my own desktop systems for quite some time and understood, overall, what needed to happen.  So I am outlining how I did it, which worked for me. This part of the install basically involves just stripping the Acer Aspire One down to the bare chassis.

Note:
Although I took video of the entire process, I didn’t use my camera to document more detailed aspects of the installation. Instead, I’ve just posted images that were part of the Install PDF that came with the TouchKit.

Step 1: Remove LCD Housing Caps and Screws

There are six screws on the LCD housing that need to be removed.  Use your fingernail or a fine tip of some sort to pry off the screw caps. I highly recommend organizing all of the screws you remove into sections and then using post-its to label what part of the netbook each section goes to.  I failed to do this and forgot which screws went where by the time I got around to putting things back together.  Keep tabs on where you put those screw caps – I ended up losing one of them in the mess I inevitably made throughout the install process.

Step 2:  Remove Battery and Chassis Screws

The photo below illustrates the screws you need to remove on the chassis.  The instructions from the kit also specified to remove the back door for the controller fitting (where the black arrow points to in the photo) – but I didn’t bother with this. Instead, I just slid the TouchHub controller  in from the left side of the chassis interior where it is to be installed and fed through the wires.

Step 3: Remove Keyboard

Ok – so this was a pain for me at first.  The problem was that I didn’t realize from watching other videos just how hard I had to push in on the three little clips at the top of the keyboard.  The credit card method didn’t seem to work as well for me as using a very small flat-tip screwdriver.  The process took me awhile because I was nervous about scratching the chassis or breaking one of the clips.  If you’ve never done it before, my advice would be to just keep in mind you need to use a fair bit of pressure to push in each clip.  You push each clip upwards towards the top of the chassis.  Once it has been pushed up enough, the lip of the keyboard should hopefully pop up a bit to keep that clip pushed back.  After you get a corner up, it is helpful to slide in a credit card or similar to hold it there while you use your fingers to pry up the remaining edges.  Be mindful not to just yank up the keyboard, as you still need to disconnect the the keyboard and touchpad in the next step.

Step 4: Disconnect Keyboard FPC Ribbon

After freeing the keyboard from the housing, tilt the top side up so you can reach underneath and disconnect the keyboard from the system board.  Although the photo below illustrates it, I had not paid proper attention to the lip I needed to lift up (#2 below) in order to free the cable, though eventually figured it out after realizing the cable wouldn’t just pull free.  You could also disconnect the touchpad cable (#1 below) in this step, though it doesn’t prevent removing the keyboard, so I did it in the next step.

Step 5: Disconnect TouchPad and Unscrew Keyboard Housing

If you didn’t already do it in the step above, disconnect the touchpad from the system board (the blue ribbon cable you see in #1 above).  Next, unscrew the six keyboard housing screws as illustrated in the photo below.

Step 6: Remove Keyboard Housing

I found this a little tricky the first time.  You essentially just use a combination of your fingers and credit card to pry up the edges of the keyboard housing.  Use gentle, but firm pressure to ensure you don’t snap off any of the plastic around the hinges or the clips which secure the housing to the chassis.  It took me awhile, but what worked best was first freeing the bottom three sides and then gently prying the housing away from the hinges.

Step 7: Remove LCD Housing

This was fairly simple with exception to it being a little tricky around the hinges.  Again, just use a gentle but firm pressure to release the housing clips from the chassis.  It worked better for me to start at the top and work my fingers down to the hinges.

Step 8: Unscrew LCD Panel

Remove the four screws on the LCD panel as shown in the photo below.

Step 9: Disconnect Webcam and Microphone

Now you need to disconnect the webcam module and microphone.  The webcam disconnected with minimal effort – but the microphone connector was really, really tight.  It took me around 20 minutes to finally separate it.  You can see how they look disconnected below.  If you have problems with the microphone connection – my only advice is to firmly rock it back and forth until it separates a bit.  From there you can pry it further with your fingers.

Disconnect Webcam and Microphone

Step 10: Disconnect and Unscrew System Board

Disconnect and unscrew everything on the system board as outlined in red below.  There are five screws to remove and disconnection of the speaker and LCD cables.

Step 11: Remove System Board from Chassis

Once everything has been disconnected and unscrewed, pull out the system board and set it to the side.  The top left corner is a little tricky, but if you pull the board down and then gently to the right, you should be able to free everything without much effort.

Step 12: Remove LCD Panel from Chassis

To remove the LCD panel, you’ll need to first unscrew the hinge towards the lower left hand side of the LCD. Once that is done, you can pull out the LCD connection cable that was tucked under it and then lift the LCD panel away.

Disassembly Complete!

That’s it. You now have the netbook completely stripped down so we can start installing the TouchKit components.

Part 2: Hardware Installation

Watch the Part 2 Video on YouTube

This part deals with installing the actual hardware from the Touchscreen kit and re-assembling the Acer Aspire One.  Admittedly, if I were to do this again, I would perform the following steps in a slightly different sequence.  The outline below will work, but aren’t as logical as they could be.  For example, after positioning the touch panel on the lcd display, logically I should have applied the shock absorbers next.  Instead, I went immediately to installing the controller board and then applied the shock absorbers after that.

However, because I wanted this installation outline to be a faithful recreation of the YouTube videos, I have written down the steps in the exact same order I did it on the video.  It works just fine this way, but it could have been better.

Step 1: Connect and Position Camera Harness

In the video I kept referring to this harness as a ‘USB Harness’, but that was technically incorrect.  The USB harnesses are the two in the kit that have the wider connector at the end and aren’t even needed to install the TouchKit.

Instead, I should have referred to this cable as the ‘Camera Harness’.  There are two of these cables in the kit and they have a small connector at each end. The guide calls one a ‘Camera Harness’ and the other a ‘Hub Harness’, though they are essentially identical cables.  Just something to keep in mind if you’ve come here from watching my YouTube videos and are confused about the verbiage.

So connect this camera harness to the webcam module (outlined in red below), then place it diagonally across the chassis cover so the other end is in the bottom right corner.  Secure it with some tape.  I used athletic tape, but anything should work.  I’ve included a photo from the installation guide as well as a screenshot of my own system during this step.

Image From Installation Guide:

My Own Image:

Step 2: Reposition Camera Connector

Now turn over the LCD Panel and move the connector that used to go to the camera module from the top of the LCD to the left-hand side as shown in the photo below  (the left of the LCD if it were facing you).  This step is necessary because the Hub harness we will be attaching to it is not long enough to reach to the controller board.  This hub harness will eventually be connected to the #1 USB input of the controller board.  I’ve included the image from the installation guide as well as my own.

Image From Installation Guide (before and after)

My Own Image (after it had been moved)

Step 3: Attach Webcam Harness to Controller Board

Ok – so although this is the next thing I did in the video, you really don’t need to do it right now.  As mentioned above, I would have done things in a different sequence if I were to ever install another touch screen.  In this particular instance, it is somewhat of a wasted step, as you’ll just have to disconnect it again later when we install the controller board.  So…seriously…don’t bother with this right now unless you just want to familiarize yourself where it eventually needs to go.

However, despite my statement above, I’ve included a screenshot from my video of how this looked.  I basically just connected the other end of the Camera Harness that we positioned diagonally to the #3 USB input of the controller board – then set the controller board to the side.

Step 4: Return LCD Panel & Screw Down

Put the LCD panel back onto the chassis and screw it in place.

Step 5: Connect Hub Harness

Plug the hub harness from the kit into that connector we moved to the left hand side of the LCD screen.  This harness looks just like the one we connected diagonally from the webcam module.

Step 6: Hub Harness Cable Management

Unscrew the hinge next to the LCD (if it isn’t already) and tuck the hub harness underneath.  Go ahead and screw the hinge back in when you’re done, as we won’t need to do anything more with it.

Step 7: Apply Double-Sided Tape to LCD Panel

My kit didn’t come with double-sided tape, so I just used some cut-up carpet tape, which worked fine.  Initially I just taped the left and right side, but then had problems with the touch panel slipping down while I was installing the controller board.  So I went back and added a 3rd strip at the top.  I didn’t use any on the bottom and had no problems with this.  The touch panel can’t really move around after you install the shock absorber strips and re-attach the lcd housing.  The strips don’t need to be very long (I used about two inches) and should be applied onto the metal frame around the LCD.

Step 8: Position Touch Panel on LCD

Before you do this, make sure your lcd screen is perfectly clean. Put it under bright light and check for dust, finger prints, hair, whatever.  Seriously.  This is your last chance and you will be insanely annoyed if you end up looking at crap you can’t wipe off once the everything has been put back together.  If you use a liquid cleaner, make sure the screen is completely dry before placing the Touch panel on top.

Once you’ve cleaned your LCD, peel the plastic off the back side of your touch panel and place it as perfectly center as you can on the lcd.  The touch panel should have the cable coming off the bottom towards the right hand side.  The idea is to have an even amount of metal frame showing around the perimiter, as this is where you’ll be applying the shock absorber strips from the kit.

Step 9: Install Controller Board & Attach Harnesses

As mentioned earlier, if doing this install again – I’d do this step after the next one below.  However, this is where I did this step in the video.  First, take the adhesive rubber installation from the kit and apply it to the bottom of the controller board.  Peel the paper off the underside as well.

If you connected the camera harness to the Touch Hub Controller Board earlier, disconnect it now (I warned you).  Now feed that camera harness in through the right side of the controller board slot so it comes out the left side.  Once you’ve fed it through, feel free to reattach it back to the controller board.  Next, take the soldered wire coming off the controller board and feed it through that same slot, but from the left side to the right.

After you have the camera harness and the soldered touch panel wire from the hub fed through the slot correctly, go ahead and connect the hub harness from the left-side of the lcd.  This is the one we attached to the connector that was moved to  the left side of the LCD.

Now you can go ahead and slide the controller board into the slot. Be very careful if you are tugging on the right-side wires to assist pulling it through. You don’t want to pull off one of those soldered wires for the touch panel connection.  Be gentle or try to pull more on the camera harness wire if you can.  Better yet, try to guide it in more with your left hand.  Once it is positioned in the slot to your satisfaction, press down a bit to secure the adhesive more firmly to the chassis. It should look something like what you see below:

Step 10: Apply Shock Absorber Strips

The kit includes four, thin rubber strips that need to be placed on each side of the touch panel.  These are shock absorbers that will help secure and protect the touch panel from impact to the lcd housing.  They don’t go on top of the touch panel, but rather, just to the side so it is on top of the LCD metal frame.  If you positioned your touch panel perfectly center earlier, you should have just enough space to place each strip.

Step 11: Tape Wires and Secure Under Hinge

Ok – so honestly – this is the part of the project which gave me the most grief.  It is important to secure the wires tightly enough so you can eventually replace the LCD housing without any kind of visible seam.  I can’t even remember the number of times I had to redo this.  I’m outlining below what eventually worked for me, with the hope that it saves someone time in having to do it over and over again.

First off, take the two wires coming out of the right side of the controller board and tape them together with electrical tape.  The kit guide does not tell you to do this – but I promise it will save you the hassle of trying to keep those wires in place later.  I also think it adds additional protection so the wires are in less danger of being cut or crimped by the housing or chassis when the netbook is being opened and closed.  Initially I had taped the camera harness and soldered wire individually, but then couldn’t get them to fit properly where you need to tuck them under the LCD hinge.  So I removed the tape and then did again, but this time, with both wires together.  The photo below shows how it looked when I was done.  I’d recommend taping at least to where they just come out the other side of the hinge.

Next you need to unscrew the hinge next to the LCD and tuck those wires underneath. Try to push them down on the interior side of the hinge.  There’s already a cable there, so it is a tight fit. You just need to use your fingernail or a blunt tip to squeeze the wires in next to the other wire until you can put the hinge back in place properly.  Once the hinge is back on, go ahead and screw it back down right away  The photo below is the same one from above, but with the hinge area highlighted to show how it should look.

Tuck Wires Under Hinge

Step 12: Connect Touch Panel to Controller

Now that your wires are secured properly under the hinge, go ahead and connect that wire coming from the bottom of the touch panel to the soldered one from the board (which we taped off with the camera harness).  Just slide the ribbon into the end.  I don’t believe it matters which direction it is connected.

Step 13: Tape Down Loose Wires

Now we’re going to secure those lose wires above the hinge with some electrical tape as shown below.  Technically this step could be done after the next step (which deals with securing the touch panel connector, but this is where I did it in the video.  You’ll probably have to readjust the wires and tape again a little later.

Tape down loose wires above hinge

Step 14: Secure Touch Panel Connector

And finally, we need to tape down and secure the touch panel connector on the bottom.  This was really tricky for me.  Eventually it required bending and squishing that ribbon cable down far more than I was comfortable with.  I thought for sure I had kinked it too much – but everything worked fine when the system was all back together.  Also, even more difficult in this step is placing that black connector where the touch panel and controller board wire meet so that the LCD housing will snap close properly.  If it isn’t placed just right, the housing won’t snap or will end up with a visible seam.  In the end, it required placing the long side of the black connector perpendicular to the LCD chassis. The black connector itself was about 1/2 – 1 inch from the right corner of the LCD.  The photo below is awful quality, but it shows the position that ended up working for me:

Positioning the touch panel connector

Once you get the touch panel connector in place, I recommend taping it down to keep it in place.  I used athletic tape because I wanted something loose and not too sticky (since I had ended up re-doing it so many times) – but electrical should be ok if you’re sure you have it placed right.  Also, whatever loose wires are remaining from the touch panel connector, wrap around the perimeter of the lcd and tuck under the black tape we applied on the right earlier.  In the end, it should all look something like this:

The final result should look something like this

Step 13: Put LCD Housing Back On

I probably don’t need to say this – but before you put the housing on, make sure you peel the remaining plastic from the touch panel if you hadn’t already at some point. If your wires are tucked in properly, the LCD housing should snap back on without any visible seams.  The bottom side is the most difficult.  Even with the instructions above, you may need to go back and tweak some of your wires. However, as long as the housing snaps all around, having a slight seam showing isn’t that big of a deal. I guess it just depends on how anal you are.  Personally, it bothered me to have a visible seam, so I spent an obnoxious amount of time re-doing it until there was none.

When the LCD housing is in place, go ahead and screw it back on. DO NOT OVER-TIGHTEN.  The guide explicitly states that over-overtightening can crack the touch panel.  Just screw until you meet resistance and then perhaps just a nudge  more.

To not over-tighten screws!

Step 14:  Reassemble Netbook

Using the reverse of steps outlined in part one, put your netbook back together.  I’m not going to outline this in detail, but instead – just highlight a couple of points to remember.

• As you return the keyboard chassis, you may need to readjust the wires going over the chassis hinge.  Just take care not to pinch your wires in between where the chassis and housing meet.
• Don’t forget to position and seat your wi-fi properly during reassembly.  After replacing the keyboard housing, slide the wi-fi lever over to ensure it is working properly.

Step 15: Boot Up to Confirm Working

After your Aspire One has been put back together, quickly power it up to ensure everything is working.  If everything looks good, then move on to part 3, which deals with installing the touchscreen drivers and testing to ensure the touch panel is working.

Part 3: Driver Install & Test

I never got around to documenting this part of the install. However,  you can watch a simple walk-through  on my Part 3 YouTube Video.

DRIVER UPDATE 02/16/2010:
After recently doing a clean install of Windows 7, I downloaded and installed a newer version of the touchscreen drivers directly from the EETI.com website.  I noticed a definite improvement in smoothness when using the browser scrollbar in Firefox with my finger.  Everything else seems about the same.

Troubleshooting

Webcam Not Working
I didn’t have this problem initially, but after upgrading RAM and installing Windows 7 a few months later – my webcam no longer worked and was listed as an unrecognized device in Device Manager (despite attempts to manually install drivers and disable/enable device).  I was able to resolve the issue by doing the following:

1. Uninstalled unrecognized usb device from device manager
2. Removed all webcam drivers & software I tried installing
3. Shut down netbook
4. Unscrew & pop off lcd bezel
5. Disconnect and reconnect usb harness from webcam module at top of LCD
6. Boot Up and Check Device Manager

After doing the above, my webcam showed up under Imaging Devices as ‘Acer Crystal Eye webcam’.  It worked fine (in Windows 7) without installing the LiteOn drivers from Acer’s website.

I initially made the attempt last week, but because I didn’t have an Action Replay kit (the reader or memory card) – I followed another tutorial that outlined how to use a USB flash drive with a homemade xbox-to-usb cord for transferring the Linux os & game  save exploit needed to perform the softmod.

I spent several, frustrating hours on the project before realizing the xbox and Action Replay software wouldn’t read from my USB flash drive because none of the sticks I had were compatible.  In the end, I gave up and just ordered a $20 action replay kit on ebay, which arrived yesterday.

So after unpacking everything and following a very clear set of instructions, I had my xbox modded and running XBMC within 20 minutes. I chuckled to myself after seeing that whomever I bought the kit from on ebay must have used it for the same purpose – as they had left part of the softmod data on the memory card.

In short, I am ridiculously impressed with XBMC.  I had been recently focusing on setting up Boxee (which is actually based on XBMC) because the UI seemed so much more attractive than the default one for XBMC.  However, I hadn’t done my research properly, as there are tons of really attractive skins available for XBMC that completely transform the interface.  I tried out several last night, but the one which worked best on the small, 20″ tube TV in our bedroom was the xTV skin.

Especially cool is the fact that I can now just FTP directly into the xbox from my office for whenever I want to load up new skins, plugins or scripts.  There is also an HTTP interface I enabled that allows me to access the XBMC interface from any of my computers in the house and control it remotely.  I’m not sure how useful that would really be – but it’s still cool.

I was also surprised at how easily I was able to set up my media sources.  Because of the Linux OS, I had expected there to be issues with accessing the Video, Music and Photo shares on my Windows Home Server.  Not so.  It was simply a matter of browsing to each network share, which showed up right away.

Truthfully, I like XBMC so much that I’m seriously considering switching over the other two HTPCs in the house.  Although I have been happy with both Window 7 Media center (same as Vista’s) and the old Windows XP MCE 2005 – neither of them are as flexible or easy to use as XBMC.  The only downside is that I would lose the extender capabilities my xbox 360 now has with the Windows 7 HTPC.  I don’t believe there is any way to softmod an xbox 360 with XBMC – and I’m not sure that I’d want to even if there was.  I also wouldn’t have the TV tuner capabilities I now have with our main HTPC, though I could use another program such as MediaPortal or MythTV.

Anyways, at the very least, I think I am going to buy a 2nd xbox so I can use it on another TV in the house.  You can get them used on ebay for less than $50, which makes it a far cheaper media center solution than buying an Windows media extender or building another HTPC.

After several failed attempts using ATI’s automatic driver installer (which resulted in a black or garbled screen after rebooting), I eventually found a manual installation guide outlined at the Unofficial ATI Linux Driver Wiki that worked for me.

I’ve duplicated these steps below with adjustments made for my particular setup, in addition to extra commenting that would hopefully assist someone completely new to Linux (like myself).

This walk-through makes the assumptions outlined below. If any of this information is different for you – then update the steps to reflect your particular environment. I didn’t include extra instructions for a 64-bit system, but the Wiki does.

• The filename of the ATI driver is:
  ati-driver-installer-9.2-x86.x86_64.run
• The ATI driver was downloaded to your desktop
• We are installing this on a 32-bit system

Step 1: BEFORE YOU BEGIN

This may not be a necessary step for you, but because I had messed around so much with the ATI drivers before finally getting them to work, I performed the following Terminal commands to reset my graphics driver back to the original, open source ones so I could be working with a clean slate.

Open Terminal and enter the following command to remove any previously installed restricted fglrx drivers:

[cc]$ sudo apt-get remove –purge xorg-driver-fglrx[/cc]

Now enter the following command to reconfigure the X server. This will put your xorg.conf file back to how it was originally with the open source drivers. WARNING: this will overwrite any customizations you made to the xorg.conf file.

[cc]sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg[/cc]

Ok, with that done – now we need to make sure a few necessary programs are installed before we begin manually installing the ATI proprietary drivers. Open your terminal and enter the following command:

[cc]sudo apt-get install build-essential cdbs fakeroot dh-make debhelper debconf libstdc++5 dkms [/cc]

Step 2: DOWNLOAD ATI DRIVER

Go to ATI’s Support and Driver page and use their search tool to get the Linux driver for your particular video card. This guide assumes it is being downloaded to your Desktop

Step 3: CREATE .DEB PACKAGE

Open terminal and enter the following commands to make your desktop the working directory and create the .deb package for Ubuntu Intrepid

Make the desktop your active working directory (replace ‘username’ with your username):
[cc]cd /home/username/Desktop[/cc]

Now build the driver package for Ubuntu Intrepid:
[cc]sudo sh ./ati-driver-installer-9.2-x86.x86_64.run –buildpkg Ubuntu/intrepid [/cc]

You’ll now see a handful of additional files unpacked to your desktop. These are what we’ll use to install the driver.

Step 4: INSTALL .DEB PACKAGE

[cc]sudo dpkg -i ./xorg-driver-fglrx_8.582-0ubuntu1_i386.deb ./fglrx-kernel-source_8.582-0ubuntu1_i386.deb ./fglrx-amdcccle_8.582-0ubuntu1_i386.deb[/cc]

NOTE:
I think the instructions from the wiki assume the user understands how to properly reference files in Terminal, which – being brand new to Linux – I did not. Following their instructions exactly failed for me with ‘file not found’ errors. Instead I added the extra steps of first making my desktop the active working directory and then referencing the unpacked files with ‘./’ added before each filename in the command – which worked.

Step 5: UPDATE XORG.CONF FILE

Now we need to make sure the xorg.conf file has the fglrx driver setting added. In terminal, enter the following to open and edit your xorg.conf file:

[cc]sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf [/cc]

Scroll down to the ‘Device’ section and add the following line of code to that section:

[cc] Driver “fglrx”[/cc]

So the section would look something like this ([...] being the other settings possibly listed in that section):

[cc]
Section “Device”
[...]
Driver “fglrx”
[...]
EndSection
[/cc]

Save your changes:
On your keyboard, press Ctrl + X to exit nano and then press ‘y’ to confirm saving your changes. Press your enter key to return to the terminal prompt.

NOTE:
The wiki used gedit to open the xorg.conf file, which I apparently don’t have on a fresh Ubuntu 8.10 install…so I used nano instead.

Step 6: INITIALIZE THE DRIVER

Use the following Terminal command to initialize the driver:

[cc]sudo aticonfig –initial -f [/cc]

Step 7: (optional?) ENSURE DRIVER IS USING XORG.CONF

Ok – so I don’t know if this step was absolutely necessary and the wiki seemed to indicate not all people would need to do this. Even so, I followed it just in case and it didn’t seem to hurt anything.

To ensure the driver is using the changes made to the xorg.conf file, enter the following Terminal command:

[cc]sudo aticonfig –input=/etc/X11/xorg.conf –tls=1 [/cc]

Step 8: REBOOT AND CONFIRM

Reboot your system. Afterward, open Terminal and enter the following command to confirm the driver is installed properly:

[cc]fglrxinfo [/cc]

You should now see the following:

[cc]
OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: ATI Radeon HD 4670
OpenGL version string: 2.1.8494 Release
[/cc]

That’s it! The ATI driver is now installed. If, like me, you are doing this to enable s-video out on your card – follow the remaining steps if you aren’t getting a signal yet on your s-video display or if it is in black and white.

Step 9: S-VIDEO DISPLAY

After installing the ATI drivers above and rebooting, the s-video display should be now working – or at least it was for me. If it isn’t for you – then you’ll have to do some additional troubleshooting. There is a lot of s-video specific settings for the xorg.conf file you can find from other users on the Ubuntu Forums.

My problem with s-video was that the display was in black and white. To fix this, I had to go into Catalyst Control Center and change the display type for the TV2 display to ‘M/NTCS’ instead of the ‘United States’ location option.

To launch Catalyst Control Center, open Terminal and enter the following command:

[cc]amdcccle[/cc]

Installation went smoothly and I was surprised by how intuitive and functional the UI was. Until that point, I think I had been harboring a prejudice that Linux would be clunky and ugly in that ‘developed-by-a-smart-person-with-no-design-sense’ way.  You know….the gaudy, beveled buttons with Comic Sans font.  However, despite Xubuntu having a stripped down GUI, it was still attractive and professional looking.

I think it was good that I started with Xubuntu, as it was pretty enough to prevent me from dismissing it yet challenging enough that I was forced to learn how to use the Linux terminal and command line way of doing things (which I had absolutely no experience with).  I couldn’t just drag/drop files to other directories or right click to perform other actions, like renaming a file.  Instead, I had to open the terminal and type out the command for performing these simple tasks.

At first this was daunting and even annoying.  It seemed such a waste of time to spend 5 minutes renaming a file when I could do it in 5 seconds through Windows (granted, someone more familiar with Linux could do things a lot faster). However, there was still a sense of accomplishment each time I learned something new and even sort of a god-like feeling performing actions through the command line  that I had blindly done through a GUI previously. I think it gives you a greater appreciation of the logic involved for basic system tasks you take for granted in Windows.

Anyways, so I kept Xubuntu installed and eventually figured out how to install packages (ie: programs), which consisted mostly of toddler-friendly games for Kade.  Extreme Tux Racer became his favorite, though there were quite a few others that even I would have enjoyed.

I also installed Kubuntu on my laptop around that time, but couldn’t figure out how to make it communicate with the rest of my Windows-based network.  I wanted the laptop set up as a dedicated box for torrent downloads, so it was essential that I could access it from any of the other systems in the house or vice versa.  I’m sure I could have figured it out eventually – but with work, kids and daily obligations, I was short on extra time and eventually just gave up and reinstalled XP.

So Xubuntu worked fine for Kade’s system until I upgraded the hardware and it started also being used by my husband. He doesn’t share my passion for computers and had a harder time adjusting to the Linux environment.  Because it was frustrating always having to stop what I was doing to assist with something … or worse, find him on my computers because he didn’t want to use Kade’s … I eventually removed Xubuntu and reinstalled XP.

That was the end of my Linux exploration until a week ago, when I was motivated to install Ubuntu so I could try out the Boxee media center. It is a long, drawn out story that I will probably complain about in a future post – but essentially I was able to dual boot Ubunto on my XP-based laptop.  Setting up the dual boot and installing Boxee was a simple process.  However, the nightmare began when it came time to enable the s-video out on my laptop so I could watch movies through Boxee on my bedroom TV.  The laptop has an ATI Radeon Mobility 9600 card, which Ubuntu had open source drivers for.  However, the s-video didn’t work with the open source drivers…so after finding no restricted driver available within their hardware driver tool, I downloaded and installed ATI’s proprietary linux driver from their website.  It took some fiddling, but I eventually got the s-video port working (the display was initially black and white until I set it to NTCS within the Catalyst Control Center instead of using the ‘United States’ local option).

Had I been smart, I would have left well enough alone.  Instead, I decided that I would be clever and install Lirc so I could use one of my remotes to control Boxee while it was hooked up to the TV (I had an old ATI Wonder receiver and remote I was going to try).  At some point through the process of installing and configuring Lirc (I’m not sure at what point, as I wasn’t paying attention to the s-video display I had hooked up across the room) – the s-video display reverted to black and white again.  Changing settings in Catalyst Control Center did nothing for me, at which point I noticed there were now restricted drivers being listed in the hardware drivers tool of Ubuntu.  I tried installing those, but the process failed.  When I rebooted, my display disappeared entirely once it got past the Ubuntu loading screen and just looked like a garbled mess.  By the way, I never did get Lirc working – but that was a whole fiasco in itself, so I won’t get into it now.

Since there is no GUI method of rolling back a driver (and I couldn’t get into the GUI anyways) – I spent another two hours researching the command lines for purging ATI graphics drivers through the recovery mode shell prompt so I could revert back to the original, open source ones.  I think the problem was that I had tried downloading the Ubuntu restricted drivers when the ATI proprietary ones from their website were already installed.  I’m not well versed enough in Linux or understanding the config file to know for sure, but I believe there was a conflict between the Ubuntu restricted drivers I tried installing and the proprietary ATI ones I had installed earlier.

Anyways, I tried every command I could find to strip out all of the ATI drivers, hoping this would force Ubuntu to load the original open source ones….but nothing I tried worked.  My frustration was so high after several hours that, under normal circumstances, I would have said to hell with Ubuntu and just reverted entirely back to Windows.  However, for the short time during which everything was working perfectly – I had the chance to explore and fall in love with Boxee.  The Boxee UI is fantastic and it can  flawlessly access and play media stored on my home server. It would be perfect for streaming media to our bedroom.

So this morning I completely reinstalled Ubuntu.  I took me awhile to figure out how to do this on my dual-boot system (it required using the manual partition option during the install process) – but I now have a fully functional Ubuntu OS again.  My problem now is that I cannot decide whether or I should try to reinstall ATI’s proprietary driver so I can get s-video working…or if I should spend another handful of hours researching to see if there is a way this can be done using the open source drivers.

Ultimately, this is my biggest complaint with Linux (or rather, those distros I have experience with thus far).  I don’t mind things breaking, so long as I can easily undo whatever damage I did.  I realize my inexperience with Linux and the command line is the biggest issue here, but I can’t see that average people will ever be motivated to use Linux when it is so complicated to fix issues like a broken video driver.  I want to love Ubuntu.  The GUI is awesome and the OS more snappy than Windows.  If I had more time on my hands, I would very much enjoy the steeper learning curve.  In the 6+ hours I spent trying to fix the video driver last night, I gained a slew of new information on how to use the command line.  But the reality is that I have work, kids and daily responsibilities that only leave a few hours each day (if even) to indulge personal hobbies.

Anyways, I’m stubborn and won’t give up on Linux yet – but if there is anyone thinking of switching to Linux from Windows, I’d highly recommend doing it on a secondary machine that you aren’t completely dependent on so you can learn how to use it without feeling pressured to have a fully-functional and reliable system.  If you have absolutely no Linux background (like myself), then be prepared to spend a significant amount of time learning how to perform system tasks via command prompt.

Because some of these readers are actually re-branded versions of the same device hardware (though may have different firmware), I’ve grouped them together by the hardware manufacturer.  I will be adding to this list over time, so it is a work in progress.

Amazon Hardware
KINDLE 2 : $359.00
Amazon Kindle 2	Display: E-Ink / 6″ diagonal Dimensions: 8″ x 5.3″ x 0.36″. Weight: 10.2 ounces. Storage: 2GB internal (no expansion) Wireless: Yes Audio: Yes Formats Supported: Kindle (AZW), TXT, AAX, MP3, MOBI, PRC natively and PDF, HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion.
ORIGINAL KINDLE : $240.00
Original Amazon Kindle	Display: E-Ink / 6″ diagonal Dimensions: 7.5″ x 5.3″ x 0.7″. Weight: 10.3 ounces. Storage: 185MB internal / SD up to 4GB Wireless: Yes Audio: Yes Formats Supported: Kindle (AZW), MS Word, HTML, TXT, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, PRC and MOBI and PDF through conversion.
Netronix Hardware
BOOKEEN CYBOOK GEN 3 : $350 – $450
Bookeen Cybook Gen 3	Display:E-Ink Vizplex / 6″ diagonal Dimensions: 4.7″ x 7.4″ x 0.3″ Weight: 6.13 ounces Storage: 512MB internal / SD expansion Wireless: No Audio: Yes Formats Supported: Mobi, PalmDoc, HTML, TXT, PDF, JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, MP3
FOXIT ESLICK READER : $259.99 (pre-order)
Foxit eSlick Reader	Display:E-Ink Vizplex / 6″ diagonal Dimensions: 4.7″ x 7.4″ x 0.3″ Weight: 6.13 ounces Storage: 128MB internal / SD expansion Wireless: No Audio: Yes Formats Supported: PDF, TXT (and anything else with conversion to pdf)
Sony Hardware
PRS-505 : $299
Sony Reader PRS-505	Display:E-Ink / 6″ diagonal Dimensions: 6.9″ x 4.8″ x 0.3″ Weight: 9 ounces Storage: 192MB internal / Expansion: SD, MemoryStick/Pro Wireless: No Audio: Yes Formats Supported: BBeB Book, Adobe PDF, JPEG, MP3, AAC
PRS-700 : $399
Sony Reader PRS-700	Display:6″ diagonal, E-Ink, 170 dpi, 8-Grayscale Dimensions: 5.1″ x 6.8″ x .41″ Weight: 10 ounces Storage: 420MB internal / SD, MemoryStick/Pro Wireless: No Audio: Yes Formats Supported: BBeB Book, ePub, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, MP3, AAC7, TXT, RTF, PDF and (with conversion) MS Word
Jinke Hardware
BEBOOK READER : $279
BeBook Reader	Display:E-Ink / 6″ diagonal Dimensions: 4.2″ x 7.2″ x 0.4″ Weight: 7.76 ounces Storage: 512MB internal / SD expansion Wireless: No Audio: Yes Formats Supported: pdf, mobi, prc, epub, lit, txt, fb2, doc, html, rtf, djvu, wol, ppt, mbp, chm, bmp, jpg, png, gif, tif, rar, zip, mp3
HANLIN EREADER V3 : $299
Jinke Hanlin eReader V3	Display:6″ diagonal, E-Ink, 170 dpi, 8-Grayscale Dimensions: 4.7″ x 7.2″ x .4″ Weight: 7.4 ounces Storage: 32MB internal / SD (up to 4GB) Wireless: No Audio: Yes Formats Supported: PDF, DOC, WOLF, MP3, HTML, TXT, CHM, FB2, Djvu, PNG, TIF, GIF, BMP, JPG, PPT, EPUB, LIT, PRC, MOBI
EZ Reader : $329
EZ Reader	Display:6″ diagonal, E-Ink, 170 dpi, 8-Grayscale Dimensions: 4.7″ x 7.2″ x .4″ Weight: 7.4 ounces Storage: 32MB internal / SD (up to 4GB) Wireless: No Audio: Yes Formats Supported: PDF, DOC, RTF, HTML, TXT,  MP3, WOL, CHM, RAR/ZIP, FB2, Djvu, Epub, BMP, JPG, LIT, PRC EZ Reader Notes: The MobileRead Wiki says this is just a rebranded version of the Hanlin V3 reader with more color options and (possibly) different firmware-based features in the future.

eBookwise 1150

I currently use a low-cost eBookwise 1150 for 99% of my reading needs.  It has flaws but essentially does what I wanted it for.  Before making that purchase, I’d struggled for at least a month or two as to whether or not I should opt for a higher-priced e-Ink device [2] instead.  Living in the middle of nowhere as I do, walking into a store for a hands-on demonstration wasn’t an option.  Instead, I watched dozens of YouTube videos and read every review I could find on all of the models available at the time.

In the end, I decided on the eBookwise 1150 because it was so much cheaper and I wasn’t convinced that I’d be happy with the e-Ink technology itself.  The refresh delay from page to page looked annoying and I wanted something I could read in low-light situations.  As it turned out, I was able to test out an e-Ink reader some time later after a friend purchased the Sony PRS-505.  Although I was very envious of the crisp, clear text and that you could read it effortlessly in direct sunlight  – I didn’t like the navigation logic as much as my eBookwise and was able to confirm that the refresh delay was slower and more annoying than the instant page turns I can get with the eBookwise. Plus, he paid several hundred dollars more for his.

BTW, a lot of people say they experience eye strain from reading text on a back-lit LCD screen, but I personally don’t find this to be true.  I’ve had some 18 hour reading marathons on my eBookwise and my eyes hurt about the same as they do reading a regular book.  I can also adjust the brightness and contrast to make the backlighting less harsh when I’m in the dark.

However, my biggest complaint with the eBookwise is that it doesn’t natively support any document formats aside from its own proprietary IMP ebook format.  It will automatically convert compatible files (doc, rtf, txt, html, rb)  into the necessary IMP file when I import an ebook, but I run into a lot of character encoding issues that require manual editing of the source document – especially so with .doc and .rtf files.

Additionally, PDFs aren’t supported by the import utility, which means I have to first convert PDFs to a compatible format beforehand. The problem with this is that spacing and paragraph definitions are often not translated properly, which means I end up with run-on sentences instead of defined paragraphs .  When working with a PDF source document, I almost always have to go through and use regular expressions to add in paragraph tags or line breaks.  Usually the former, as my preferred document format for ebooks is html, as I can strip out all embedded font declarations and assign formatting universally through a stylesheet.

Anyways – so although my little eBookwise has served me well, I’m just not satisfied with the amount of prep time required for certain types of ebooks.  I have started researching dedicated eBook readers again to see if any of the technologies have improved or if prices were more reasonable.  I don’t like the small screen sizes of pocket pcs or mobile devices, so those options are immediately ruled out for me.

In a perfect world, this would be my criteria for the perfect eBook reading device:

1. Priced under $200
In a market saturated with multi-use devices, I think the current pricing of $300-$500 for an eBook reader is just too high.  I realize this is due to the e-Ink technology being more expensive – but until prices come down, I fear these devices will remain in the niche market as opposed to being a mainstream, must-have device.  A lot of people love to read – but I think the average consumer will have a hard time dishing out $400 for a single use device when they can do the same thing on a netbook (albeit less comfortably), which is priced the same and also functions as full time computer.  There are even applications available that allow you to rotate the screen and touchpad on a netbook, which would provide a more reader-friendly layout.

2.  More LCD-based Options
Although I’d love to have an e-Ink reader as a secondary device to use outdoors or in bright light  – I actually prefer an LCD backlit display for indoors.  There are very few LCD-based ebook readers available and most of them are outdated models no longer in production.  Obviously an LCD reader requires more power and would need to be recharged more often, but this doesn’t bother me personally.  My eBookwise charges very quickly and can go for about 10-12 straight hours before running out of juice.  Granted it has a very low-res (half-vga), grayscale display, so it has less power requirements than a color, high resolution display would have.

Unfortunately, every new and upcoming reader I came across is based on e-Ink technology – which apparently means backlit LCD readers are a thing of the past.

3. DRM-Free & Lower Priced eBooks
If you want consumers to actually purchase media instead of downloading pirated copies, then don’t impose annoying restrictions on where it can be used.  Frankly, DRM is counterproductive to driving sales and just doesn’t work.  I purchased an eBook off of Fictionwise last year and discovered I couldn’t read it using just my laptop. Very annoying (and it was the last time I ever purchased a protected eBook).

Also, given that electronic books don’t have the same overhead and production costs as their paper-based cousins – I think a reduced pricing structure should be applied.  I often see ebooks priced the same or even more than a print copy.

4.  Format Standardization
The perfect ebook reader would be capable of natively handling all of the most common document formats ( txt, html, pdf, doc, rtf, opf, etc).  I guess I wouldn’t mind a proprietary format so long as the conversion process was quick, painless and accurate in translation.  I also want to have the ability to read my ebooks on other devices, so a proprietary format should be backwards convertible.

5.  Form Factor
I think the Amazon Kindle (first gen) is a very ugly device. Kindle 2 isn’t so bad…but what’s with all the buttons at the bottom?  I want my eBook reader to look and handle like a book.  I don’t want a keyboard on it or a bunch of buttons that I have to worry about accidentally hitting when I’m rolling into one of the 17 different positions I find myself reading in.  I don’t mind a few shortcut or bookmark buttons if they’re out of the way – but I’d rather have everything like that software-based so there is more room for the screen.

Additionally, I love how the sony devices come with a folding cover .  It would be great if all readers had this as a standard feature.

Even better, a folding, dual-display ebook reader would be like a wet dream for me.  I came across the following dual-display concept reader and think it looks amazing:

Dual Display eBook Reader

6. More robust and flexible UI
Although not as important as everything else mentioned above, I’d really like to see a more intuitive UI and browsing experience that allowed end-users to navigate in list or thumbnail (book cover) view, with more advanced filtering options such as author, genre and tags.  Something visually like the ebook Classics App for iPhone, which is super sexy.  I’m not sure what would be the best way to implement a thumbnail view given that this would traditionally mean importing a 2nd image file in addition to the eBook…but I was thinking perhaps it could display it from the first page of the ebook itself.  Of course, this wouldn’t work for ebooks that didn’t have a book cover image for the first page.  Another option would be some kind of 3rd-party software indexing service similar to how you’d fetch ID3 tags automatically for a music or video library.

7. Inline Editing/Corrections
It would be insanely handy if I could make text or formatting corrections on the fly while I’m reading.  I’m always coming across typos or characters that were incorrectly encoded during a format conversion or import process.  Right now I’m just setting bookmarks while I read, and then go back through the source document later to make corrections.  It would be a huge time saver if I could do this real-time.

So there isn’t anything on the market right now that covers everything above, but there is definitely a wider array of device options than there were a year ago – with more still to come.  There seems to be a heightened consumer awareness to ebook devices, which I think is owed to Amazon following the Kindle launches.  I believe we’ll see a significant boom in device option and sales over the next few years.   I’d like to keep track of everything currently available on the market in addition to upcoming prototypes or concept devices – but will save it for another post.