MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Gathering Thoughts on High-End eReader Requirements

rchiang · 01-23-2013, 05:54 AM

Requirements

So, I've been reading around through these forums for a bit. I thought I'd gather up all the requirements for what people are potentially looking for in a High-End eReader.

I'm purposely excluding LCD/LED/AMOLED tablets since there's a huge variety of those to choose from for those whose eyes have no problems reading on tablets.

The list so far:

Large grayscale e-Ink screen OR color e-Ink screen
High DPI screen
Fast PDF rendering. Implies fast processor, large amount of RAM and/or quality PDF software rendering.
Android OS to allow custom apps
SD or microSD card. Preferably SDXC/microSDXC at this point.
Annotation capability (solved by using Android apps)
Wide-ranging format support (also possibly solved by Android apps)
Wi-Fi

Debatable Requirements

Touch or touch-like IR screen
Keyboard
Backlighting
Stylus support

Documents Requiring High-End Features

Not every document below will have these requirements, but these are some of the types that can be painful on a smaller or less-powerful eReader.

Comic Books (sometimes image heavy)
Technical documents and academic papers (fine text, diagrams)
Technical books (different font styles, images)
Role Playing Game Books (lots of color images)

Current High-End eReader Options

The Onyx Boox M92 is the current recommendation for the high-end eReader on several threads. This post indicates that Android is coming soon to the latest Onyx eReader family.
This post mentions that a new Onyx model is coming in March 2013. Hard to say whether it will be 6" or 9".
One enterprising forum reader has pointed to a fairly high-end spec 6" ereader (low DPI, but Android 4.0).
The Jetbook Color/Jetbook Color 2 are the only color eReaders that I can find.

Existence of Cutting-Edge Hardware

E-Ink has a 300 DPI grayscale screen on their website (9.7", 2400x1650 resolution)
E-Ink also has a color e-ink screen E-Ink Triton 2, but the color resolution is pretty poor.
Epson has the corresponding controller for the large E-Ink screen designed.
RAM is relatively easy to add
There are tons of high-end CPUs available

Question for Industry Insiders

On a final note, does anyone on these forums work in the eReader industry? While I'm sure there are cost related issues with getting all the features above, I'd be curious to hear more details about what else could be keeping a really high-end eReader from making it to market.

Finally

Please feel free to add to the discussion.

01-23-2013, 05:54 AM	#1
rchiang Connoisseur Posts: 50 Karma: 159200 Join Date: Jan 2013 Device: Kindle PW3, iPad Pro 9.7"	Gathering Thoughts on High-End eReader Requirements Requirements So, I've been reading around through these forums for a bit. I thought I'd gather up all the requirements for what people are potentially looking for in a High-End eReader. I'm purposely excluding LCD/LED/AMOLED tablets since there's a huge variety of those to choose from for those whose eyes have no problems reading on tablets. The list so far: Large grayscale e-Ink screen OR color e-Ink screen High DPI screen Fast PDF rendering. Implies fast processor, large amount of RAM and/or quality PDF software rendering. Android OS to allow custom apps SD or microSD card. Preferably SDXC/microSDXC at this point. Annotation capability (solved by using Android apps) Wide-ranging format support (also possibly solved by Android apps) Wi-Fi Debatable Requirements Touch or touch-like IR screen Keyboard Backlighting Stylus support Documents Requiring High-End Features Not every document below will have these requirements, but these are some of the types that can be painful on a smaller or less-powerful eReader. Comic Books (sometimes image heavy) Technical documents and academic papers (fine text, diagrams) Technical books (different font styles, images) Role Playing Game Books (lots of color images) Current High-End eReader Options The Onyx Boox M92 is the current recommendation for the high-end eReader on several threads. This post indicates that Android is coming soon to the latest Onyx eReader family. This post mentions that a new Onyx model is coming in March 2013. Hard to say whether it will be 6" or 9". One enterprising forum reader has pointed to a fairly high-end spec 6" ereader (low DPI, but Android 4.0). The Jetbook Color/Jetbook Color 2 are the only color eReaders that I can find. Existence of Cutting-Edge Hardware E-Ink has a 300 DPI grayscale screen on their website (9.7", 2400x1650 resolution) E-Ink also has a color e-ink screen E-Ink Triton 2, but the color resolution is pretty poor. Epson has the corresponding controller for the large E-Ink screen designed. RAM is relatively easy to add There are tons of high-end CPUs available Question for Industry Insiders On a final note, does anyone on these forums work in the eReader industry? While I'm sure there are cost related issues with getting all the features above, I'd be curious to hear more details about what else could be keeping a really high-end eReader from making it to market. Finally Please feel free to add to the discussion.