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Old 04-20-2010, 06:17 PM   #14
Xochipilli2012
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Posts: 101
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Seattle
Device: Red PRS-600, Slate Blue Astak EZReader Pocket Pro
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robertb View Post
Dear All:

Astak is just curious. I am not at all against anyone doing what they want to do.

We are just a bit curious about this LBook firmware desire?

Can you all nicely state WHY you prefer the LBook firmware upgrade over the Astak version? We are curious because it should be identical. The speed is set by the hardware and not the software... so it is difficult to understand speed is the deciding factor. Is it the ease of the downloading or something else? What, to you, makes it a better route to take??

I am being asked by the PM on this. Be blunt. If we just seem to do a poorer job then state that. We are just trying to improve!
Hi Robert!

I am using the previous LBook firmware, so I cannot speak to the newer version in this post, which I'm downloading right now. So all references to "LBook" will be for the previous version, listed as "20100330" or "3/30" if you prefer.

Why not try it for yourself? Given how easy it is to change firmware, you can jump back to Astak at any time.

I don't love everything about the LBook software, but it edges out Astak in a few key areas--the menus are cleaner and easier to read. There are only 5 levels of zoom for epubs and pdfs, but they seem to cover a good range. The CoolReader software opens TXT and HTML files by default, not just RTF and FB2. You can do this on the Astak CoolReader by renaming the files to FB2. The LBook also opens EPUB files renamed as FB2, just like Astak's.

The LBook software allows one to delete, copy, or move books on board. This is huge. Astak does not.

The system font choice for the LBook not only affects the non-CoolReader and non-ADE book formats, but the PocketPro's menus themselves.

The LBook firmware allows the use of a dictionary--it actually ships with a Russian-English dictionary. On the Hanlin forum here there are instructions for converting a Debian dictionary to work on the PocketPro / V5 devices. I installed an English dictionary that was prepared from such a package and offered by another MR reader, but it's a little buggy and not of much use beyond the curiosity value--but it suggests that with a little tweaking, we can have a dictionary on the PocketPro.

Some of these options may be available with the newest Astak firmware, but I think not.

There are things about the LBook software I don't like. The bookshelf has a gray tint behind it for no good reason--so book titles are not as crisp as they would otherwise be. There are a couple other places where the Astak firmware does a little better, but I can't recall them right now. While I think the LBook might render LIT files slightly better, they seem to crash more with LBook than the latest Astak, and LIT files seem to have improved there since the December Astak firmware.

Overall, the user-experience with the LBook firmware seems more "pleasant" and "intuitive".

Anyhow Robert, I recommend you give it a try so that you can communicate your findings directly to the evil PM rather than relying on 2nd hand accounts. I dare say, you might have access to more than one PP at a time so you could make comparisons side-by-side.

I hope this helps!

(And I'll pop back into this thread with my findings once I get a chance to play with the firmware that is the subject of this thread.)


Cheers!

Last edited by Xochipilli2012; 04-20-2010 at 07:28 PM. Reason: Typos....
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