[Web4lib] Wireless devices for roving reference (our next steps)

[Peter Schoenberg]

Quick update on comments received and our next steps.     Suggested /
considered devices:

1) iPod Touch - would be fun, but not a great choice for us right now
http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/

2) HP iPAQ units - a number of managers have newer wireless enabled
units, the small screen size is a major challenge for catalogue and web
site searching
http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/prodserv/handheld.html

2) ASUS eeePC - we have actually ordered a couple of these units to try
them out.    $400, light, already has linux, firefox, openoffice,
durable flash based hard disk, 7" screen.     Quite excited to see how
this works for our staff.   Seems to hit a good balance of weight,
screen size, cost and relative ease of use.    http://eeepc.asus.com

3) SIRSI PocketCirc - at first glance this would seem to be a good
choice as it is PDA based and has full circulation functionality.  There
are several big negatives with this one.   (Prices are VERY approximate)
 - small screen size on a PDA can be a real challenge
 - licensing is more than $1,000 per user (we would need about 20) -
with $200 per year per license ongoing support
 - the flash connected bar code reader is being sold by SIRSI for more
than $1,000
 - it cannot do circulation in our setting because we use RFID and it
cannot turn off the security bit
 - we would still need to buy the HP iPAQ unit.
	http://www.sirsi.com/Solutions/Prodserv/Products/pocketcirc.html
		Bottom-line: costs close to $3,000 per complete unit and
it couldn't do RFID circulation and not ideal for catalogue or web site
searching.

Peter
__________________________________________________
Peter Schoenberg                  (780) 496 1855
Director - eServices - Edmonton Public Library
                           www.epl.ca