Initial thoughts on BeBook Neo - Page 2

Fith · 03-27-2010, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by omk3

Is there any shop in the UK where I can see the Bebook up close, or can it only be ordered online?

If you are in London then Foyles apparently will have it.

Polyglot27 · 03-27-2010, 04:31 PM

Hi Harry, thanks for posting your thoughts on the BeBook Neo. I have a few questions concerning it.
1. Does it have the same (or similar) software as the BeBook Mini? Meaning
2. Does it read all the formats as on the latter machine. I noticed the site listed mobi but will it read prc?
3. Does it have the text to speech function as on the mini. I realise that this is not much use to normal users but could be very useful to people with eyesight problems.
I have just been to the Paris book fair and had a chance to play with the forthcoming Orizon. Touch sensitive screen and built in wi-fi too but fewer formats supported.

HarryT · 03-28-2010, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polyglot27

1. Does it have the same (or similar) software as the BeBook Mini? Meaning
2. Does it read all the formats as on the latter machine. I noticed the site listed mobi but will it read prc?

No, it's completely different firmware.

What format do you mean when you say "PRC"? A "PRC" file is simply a "container" (a bit like a ZIP file) which can contain data in any format whatsoever. One of those possible formats is a Mobipocket book, but it could be a thousand other things too.

If you have a Mobipocket book, it is irrelevant whether it has an file extension of ".mobi" or ".prc". All Mobi files are PRC files, but not all PRC files are Mobipocket books.

Quote:

3. Does it have the text to speech function as on the mini. I realise that this is not much use to normal users but could be very useful to people with eyesight problems.

No, it doesn't, but I think personally that it's significantly better than the BeBook Mini in terms of what it does have - the Wacom touch screen, the overall user interface, and so on.

hidari · 03-28-2010, 06:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luag

For BBC, i use this link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/low
Boox/neo renders it very nicely

Good link. my main news site on my pc as well. prefer the low graphics... to the point no photos... less hassle.

Latinandgreek · 03-28-2010, 06:39 AM

Thanks for your thoughts, HarryT. The BeBook Neo sounds like it would make a nice gift for my husband - or for myself, for that matter!

Polyglot27 · 03-28-2010, 06:42 PM

Thanks Harry for clearing up my ignorance of prc files. I did not know that it is only a container like avi and zip files. I had thought that mobi and prc files for the MobiPocket system had different features because some download sites allow one to choose between mobi and prc versions on the same page.
The touch sensitive screen is definitely a big plus. I had a play with the forthcoming Orizon from Bookeen when I went to the Paris book fair on Friday and realised how good such a screen can be. They say it should be out by June but if the Neo is as good as you think it is, I may not wait that long. The Youtube videos I have seen on the Neo are certainly very impressive.

Polyglot27 · 03-28-2010, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hidari

Good link. my main news site on my pc as well. prefer the low graphics... to the point no photos... less hassle.

I can't see anything on the BeBook Neo on the BBC site. I did try Noox/neo as suggested with no luck. I agree that this is a good site for news.

HarryT · 03-29-2010, 03:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polyglot27

I can't see anything on the BeBook Neo on the BBC site.

I think you may have misread Hidari's post. He wasn't saying that there was any information about the Neo on the BBC News site, but rather that the "low graphics" version of the BBC News site displays well on the Neo's web browser.

Polyglot27 · 03-30-2010, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I think you may have misread Hidari's post. He wasn't saying that there was any information about the Neo on the BBC News site, but rather that the "low graphics" version of the BBC News site displays well on the Neo's web browser.

Thanks Harry. After rereading Hidari's post I realise that is what he meant. I must be going gaga.

omk3 · 03-31-2010, 06:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fith

If you are in London then Foyles apparently will have it.

Oh that's really good, thanks!

Polyglot27 · 04-01-2010, 05:55 PM

Hi Harry, I just noticed that the Bebook Neo claims to have 16 levels of grey. The Cybook has only 4 and the Sony has 8. Is this all hype or can you see the improvement?

Zetmolm · 04-02-2010, 04:15 AM

Quote:

Bebook Neo claims to have 16 levels of grey

The hardware supports 16 levels, but the current version of the firmware supports only 8. So there's not a lot of improvement yet.

DaleDe · 04-02-2010, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zetmolm

The hardware supports 16 levels, but the current version of the firmware supports only 8. So there's not a lot of improvement yet.

Actually the big improvement is between 4 and 8, less so from 8 to 16.

Dale

oncdoc · 04-13-2010, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Only on-line, to the best of my knowledge.

Pros of the Neo:

MUCH better screen quality, due to the Wacom touch screen.
Much better ADE implementation (full justification in ePub files)
More formats supported
WiFi (not important to me, but may be for some)
Folder support.

Pros of the Sony:

Currently much more refined software for dictionary lookup and annotation.

Overall, I'd say the Neo is a clear winner.

does it support coolreader ie fb2? astak does a great job with that awesome reader.

Zetmolm · 04-13-2010, 02:06 PM

There is good support for fb2. The lines are shown a bit too far apart for many people's taste, but there is a small application that you can download and install which makes the line distance configurable.

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03-27-2010, 04:31 PM	#17
Polyglot27 Addict Posts: 231 Karma: 5588994 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Paris, France Device: Cybook Gen3, Archos 80 G9, Sony PRS-650, Sony T1, Asus MemoPad.	Hi Harry, thanks for posting your thoughts on the BeBook Neo. I have a few questions concerning it. 1. Does it have the same (or similar) software as the BeBook Mini? Meaning 2. Does it read all the formats as on the latter machine. I noticed the site listed mobi but will it read prc? 3. Does it have the text to speech function as on the mini. I realise that this is not much use to normal users but could be very useful to people with eyesight problems. I have just been to the Paris book fair and had a chance to play with the forthcoming Orizon. Touch sensitive screen and built in wi-fi too but fewer formats supported.

03-28-2010, 06:39 AM	#20
Latinandgreek Warrior Princess Posts: 5,038 Karma: 9724231 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-505; PRS-350, PRS-T1, iPad, Aura HD	Thanks for your thoughts, HarryT. The BeBook Neo sounds like it would make a nice gift for my husband - or for myself, for that matter!

03-28-2010, 06:42 PM	#21
Polyglot27 Addict Posts: 231 Karma: 5588994 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Paris, France Device: Cybook Gen3, Archos 80 G9, Sony PRS-650, Sony T1, Asus MemoPad.	Thanks Harry for clearing up my ignorance of prc files. I did not know that it is only a container like avi and zip files. I had thought that mobi and prc files for the MobiPocket system had different features because some download sites allow one to choose between mobi and prc versions on the same page. The touch sensitive screen is definitely a big plus. I had a play with the forthcoming Orizon from Bookeen when I went to the Paris book fair on Friday and realised how good such a screen can be. They say it should be out by June but if the Neo is as good as you think it is, I may not wait that long. The Youtube videos I have seen on the Neo are certainly very impressive.

04-01-2010, 05:55 PM	#26
Polyglot27 Addict Posts: 231 Karma: 5588994 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Paris, France Device: Cybook Gen3, Archos 80 G9, Sony PRS-650, Sony T1, Asus MemoPad.	Hi Harry, I just noticed that the Bebook Neo claims to have 16 levels of grey. The Cybook has only 4 and the Sony has 8. Is this all hype or can you see the improvement?

04-13-2010, 02:06 PM	#30
Zetmolm Guru Posts: 612 Karma: 2031728 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: PocketBook Touch (622), PocketBook Touch Lux 2, Pocketbook Touch HD 3	There is good support for fb2. The lines are shown a bit too far apart for many people's taste, but there is a small application that you can download and install which makes the line distance configurable.