eBook Readers

[fintach]

All right. I know some people on this list like ebook readers. I've never thought I'd consider one, but in looking at my list of .pdfs (and the new trend of some authors to offer .pdfs of books for free), I find myself wondering if there is any potential to them

Comments

[deirdremoon]

I've only used the Sony eReader. I've looked at the Kindle, but I think the constantly available keyboard would bug me ergonomically (even though I would want the function 10% of the time, it'd be in the way 90%).

The eReader is great in that it: has a paperback form factor that's really easy to hold one-handed, has a well-placed PageForward/Backward button, has E-Ink so it's really easy on the eyes like paper, and has an amazing battery life because the E-Ink only requires power to turn the page (none to maintain the page). It does shut down after about 20 minutes just to prevent burn-in.

I thought I'd mind it not being backlit, but it's actually easier on the eyes that way, I think. However, the E-Ink takes a long moment to refresh the screen when you turn the page-- I literally hit the button and then read the last three lines-- which is okay for normal reading, but if you lose your place or want to scroll back ten pages, is really annoying. It does create bookmarks pretty easily, but has NO search function AT ALL, which is highly annoying.

I'm embarrassed to admit that Jeff is the one who knows how to load the thing with books, so you'd have to ask him about how it handles PDFs and DRM in general. I *think* it accepts nonproprietary stuff.

I think I'd like to have another reader if it had search functions and better refresh rates. I wish I could reward Amazon for advancing the ebook cause by buying a Kindle, but like I said, I'm not sure it's ergonomically feasible for me. I'd be curious if any of your friends have one, and what they say. (And am I the only one who thinks that product name has shades of Farenheit 451 about it?)

[fintach]

Yeah, that was my first thought about the name "Kindle" too.

So far, you're the only ebook reader to speak up. I thought there were three or four around here, but perhaps not.

I've done some digging around since reading your post, and it sounds like the latest Sony (the 505) has sped up the refresh rate, but still no search. The Kindle has a search, plus the ability to annotate and bookmark, but I'll need to find out more about how well they handle third-party .pdfs before I could move further.

Not that I expect to buy one soon, but I can't help it. I plan for things like this well in advance.

Thanks for your feedback, though -- much food for thought. . . .

[tronpublic]

Here's another electronic ink device to look forward to:

http://www.polymervision.com

I often read using an ooooold Palm V. It's got a crappy B&W LCD screen. The nice thing about this is that the back light is weak compared to today's color screens. This means that I can read it in bed in the dark without waking up Wendy.

The Sony's firmware is utter crap. No search. Stimpy... you EEEEDIOT! PDFs that were made for 8.5 x 11" printouts have two font sizes on the Sony: annoyingly small and unreadable.

OCR scans of lots of scifi and many popular books are drifting around the internet. Quality varies. Often, italics are lost. Pictures are usually lost. Formatting them for the eReader can take some time. For example, paragraphs need to be indented or separated with an extra line feed.

[fintach]

"http://www.polymervision.com"

Now that's an interesting looking reader.

I can't imagine how they would not include a search engine. Ah, well. For the time being I suspect I'll stick with the Palm for reference and the books for reading.