Dedicated Ebook readers...anyone got any experience with them?

Werewolf · 27 Oct 2008 at 04:47

Not 100% sure what section to put this one in, as it might fit in books, GH or even mobiles

Has anyone got one/tried a proper ebook reader yet?
I'm starting to look at possibly getting one as the number of free ebooks seems to be increasing (Baan, Tor, Gutenburg etc all offer some/many free), and it seems more and more normal books are coming in an ebook format as an option, and as i'm starting to run low on room it makes a certain amount of sense.

So, has anyone tried/got a dedicated ebook reader yet, and if so what do you think of it?

Jolteh · 27 Oct 2008 at 05:30

I believe these are the three most popular ones on the market:

http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless-Reading-Device/dp/B000FI73MA
http://www.irextechnologies.com/products/iliad
http://www.sony.co.uk/hub/reader-ebook

Although, thanks to the Free Stanza application, the iPhone is actually the most widely used eBook reader on the planet (according to Forbes Magazine).

I guess it'll take some fancy OLED device to really make eBook readers take off though.

titchard · 27 Oct 2008 at 09:40

I keep getting drawn to the Sony one they sell at Waterstones, but I don't think I could ever really be drawn away from the "Dead Tree" version of a book.

Rich

Cosimo · 27 Oct 2008 at 09:42

titchard said:
I keep getting drawn to the Sony one they sell at Waterstones, but I don't think I could ever really be drawn away from the "Dead Tree" version of a book.

Rich

Ok, but have tried one?

titchard · 27 Oct 2008 at 09:47

simulatorman said:
Ok, but have tried one?

Yeah tried the one they had in store - I can see it being useful, but it just doesn't seem the same at all.

Also doesn't seem to be as much text on the screen as would be on a regular page in a book, and the books didn't seem to be that much cheaper than the actual physical version - were about the same price or a couple of quid cheaper.

They did include something like 100 classics, or something silly on the reader when you bought it though.

I am really in two minds about them, they really wow me and I want to get one (especially the Sony one at Waterstones as it's the right pricepoint for me) but then I keep thinking it's just "not the same" as a proper paper book.

Rich

snail1 · 27 Oct 2008 at 10:00

I was looking at one of these for Mrs Snail for Christmas. I may be being a muppet, but I could not understand the difference between one of these and, for example, getting an old PDA running Pocket Word and downloading the text files from, say, Guttenberg.

Have I missed something?

AFK_Matrix · 27 Oct 2008 at 10:04

Well I have always used the mobile phone I have had at the time, be it a Blackberry or the iphone I have at the moment. I used to use Mobipocket on the blackberry but for some reason they seem incapable of producing mobipocket for the iphone :mad:

But have just found ereader which I can download from the app store and its great!! I just go to ereader.com and get the books I want and there cheaper as they are in US dollars.

The only difference to using a PDA instead of one of these dedicated readers I belive is that they dedicated readers use that Eink stuff. It basically looks like a book and has no backlight so its easier on the eyes. I personally don't have any probs with a backlight on the screen as its great for reading in the dark, so I have not seen a reason to get a dedicated reader tbh.

titchard · 27 Oct 2008 at 10:15

snail1 said:
I was looking at one of these for Mrs Snail for Christmas. I may be being a muppet, but I could not understand the difference between one of these and, for example, getting an old PDA running Pocket Word and downloading the text files from, say, Guttenberg.

Have I missed something?

Bigger screen, far better battery life - the screen is E-Ink meaning that when it refreshes and displays the page of text on the screen it then will stay on the screen indefinately, only needing a charge to change the screen rather than to keep it powered constantly (if you get me).

It holds a charge for 36,000 page turns or something crazy - also means it can just be left for weeks on one screen with no burn in or battery loss.

Rich

Talon · 27 Oct 2008 at 10:23

I think part of the difference is that the dedicated ebook devices don't use LCD displays they use a form of electronic Ink or something along those line thae make the screen much easier to read. I couldn't imaging reading a complete book from a PDF I think the eye strain would do me in pretty quick.

titchard · 27 Oct 2008 at 10:27

Talon said:
I think part of the difference is that the dedicated ebook devices don't use LCD displays they use a form of electronic Ink or something along those line thae make the screen much easier to read. I couldn't imaging reading a complete book from a PDF I think the eye strain would do me in pretty quick.

Aye - that and the fact it only uses power on altering the page.

Rich

bam0 · 27 Oct 2008 at 10:37

I actually have the Sony Reader, bought it a year ago in the US and IMO it's brilliant. The screen quality is amazing and much, much easier on the eyes that using a backlit LCD or similar (helped by the fact that the PPI is much higher).
Another advantage over using a phone/PDA is the battery life, as said it only really uses power when changing the page and you can easily read several books on a single charge, and it's simple to charge direct from the USB port.
The included software is pretty naff, but connected it acts as a USB mass storage device, or the newest firmware works with Adobe Digital Editions and has support for epub books which allows you to buy from more places (waterstones ebook store, macmillan publishing site), additionally there are tools to convert purchased books in other formats.
As a replacement for normal books, it depends how much you care about the format, I can happily read the ereader and get just as engrossed as if I was reading a normal book, but I still buy real books for ones I want to own.
It really comes into its own when you're travelling, I spent 6 months commuting to London and staying over there for half the week, not having to carry several books at once (or worry about them getting damaged) was worth the purchase price in itself.
If anyone's got any specific questions about the Sony just ask.

Tefal · 27 Oct 2008 at 10:40

I find foxit pdf reader, set to sho 2 pages side by side and then set to full screen (so just the pages with black background, no startmenu, file controls etc) is great, can also coulor the pages whatever you like, nice dark blue makes it so much easier on the eyes.

And it;s free

edit: oh sorry, thought you ment software not hardware

snail1 · 27 Oct 2008 at 10:52

titchard said:
Bigger screen, far better battery life - the screen is E-Ink meaning that when it refreshes and displays the page of text on the screen it then will stay on the screen indefinately, only needing a charge to change the screen rather than to keep it powered constantly (if you get me).

It holds a charge for 36,000 page turns or something crazy - also means it can just be left for weeks on one screen with no burn in or battery loss.

Rich

Thanks, that is good to know.

SteveOBHave · 27 Oct 2008 at 10:57

I did a review on one a while ago: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17789717&highlight=prs-500

I love my PRS-500 and use it every day. The new PRS-700 looks like the dogs furries but in these times of credit crunch the missus won't let me buy one. If you can get your hands on one you won't regret it.

rsatd · 27 Oct 2008 at 12:05

Um, not sure on dedicated ebook readers, but n810 can do that and so much more. But I have it a guess that n810 is more expensive then ebook readers for that same reason. Just they look much larger, ie not pocket size, and after looking at one of them, its even more expensive then N810...

titchard · 27 Oct 2008 at 12:17

rsatd said:
Um, not sure on dedicated ebook readers, but n810 can do that and so much more. But I have it a guess that n810 is more expensive then ebook readers for that same reason. Just they look much larger, ie not pocket size, and after looking at one of them, its even more expensive then N810...

Yeah but the N810 wouldn't have the battery life of the eBook reader due to the special screen.

Rich

rsatd · 27 Oct 2008 at 12:26

titchard said:
Yeah but the N810 wouldn't have the battery life of the eBook reader due to the special screen.

Rich

What's the battery life of an ebook? And how much of it you are realistically will spend reading? N810 lasts a good 5-7 hours playing music, just reading it will last a lot more, while giving you far more features, such as gps/expandable memory (2gig internal and external mini-sdhc slot so up to 16gig last I heard)/browser/file editors/more languages (installed Japanese on my one, so now after Japanese tutorials I can convert my paper notes into electronic ones)/mythTV remote via wifi and all of that will fit into your pocket unlike an ebook.

Sounds like I am trying to sell it, but personally I think its a better piece hardware and usually I am quiet critical at finding faults, its not without issues, but they get thrown to the side because of the massive bonuses it has over other similar products (at least when I got it probably by now 6 month's ago)

bam0 · 27 Oct 2008 at 12:53

rsatd said:
What's the battery life of an ebook? And how much of it you are realistically will spend reading? N810 lasts a good 5-7 hours playing music, just reading it will last a lot more, while giving you far more features, such as gps/expandable memory (2gig internal and external mini-sdhc slot so up to 16gig last I heard)/browser/file editors/more languages (installed Japanese on my one, so now after Japanese tutorials I can convert my paper notes into electronic ones)/mythTV remote via wifi and all of that will fit into your pocket unlike an ebook.

Sounds like I am trying to sell it, but personally I think its a better piece hardware and usually I am quiet critical at finding faults, its not without issues, but they get thrown to the side because of the massive bonuses it has over other similar products (at least when I got it probably by now 6 month's ago)

Battery life on the Sony with constant reading would probably be somewhere in the 20-30 hours region, maybe more (it only really uses power when turning pages, so smaller fonts decrease battery use). Plus until you've used them you can't appreciate how good the eInk displays look, it is designed as a dedicated device for reading electronic books, when it comes to doing that job *nothing* is better.

rsatd · 27 Oct 2008 at 13:02

Looked up that Sony one, its not bad but personally I prefer something that can fit into my pocket and do far more things at the same time. But then I am more of a person who likes having to only carry one gadget used for everything instead of a million with only one and exact use.

SteveOBHave · 27 Oct 2008 at 13:23

bam0 said:
Battery life on the Sony with constant reading would probably be somewhere in the 20-30 hours region, maybe more (it only really uses power when turning pages, so smaller fonts decrease battery use). Plus until you've used them you can't appreciate how good the eInk displays look, it is designed as a dedicated device for reading electronic books, when it comes to doing that job *nothing* is better.

heh - that's an interesting idea - smaller fonts use less power - where did that come from?

It's better to look at the page turns vs the time taken as some people read slower than others - a charge will last on average about 2000-3000 page turns. I only need to charge mine about once every month. Oh and they play music and audio books as well but then I use an ipod for that.

The new SONY will reflow PDFs, has touch screen and allows you to annotate directly to the screen. It's just a different beast to the N810 and I would not be comparing them at all. The eInk is significantly easier on the eyes.