Reader To Alleviate A Medical Problem: Opinions Please ?

Bob Rose · 05-31-2007, 12:28 PM

Hi,

Let me start by saying I know absolutely nothing about these readers, but think that one of these might help alleviate a medical problem.

A friend of mind has a neurological disorder, and cannot move their eyes very well.
This results in their being forced to only be able to read books or newspaper columns that are pretty narrow; perhaps 2 or 3 inches wide at the most.

Tried to see the Sony ebook unit at Best Buy and Circuit City, but neither has one in the store. CompUSA went out of business in our area.

So, can I please ask the following:

a. What are the screen dimensions ? It's only listed in their Specs as "6" diagonal"

b. Is it possible to easily re-format what the screen shows to a narrower width; the 2 or 3 inches range ?

c. Looked at the Sony Connect store, and see that most of their titles seem to be in the $ 15-18. Wow ! Is this typical ? Are their cheaper places to download from ?

d. Any way to get daily newspaper news from the NY Times, or perhaps our local paper, the Boston Globe ? Or other sources ?

e. Are there other units by others than Sony I should consider ?

Thank you very much; appreciate your help and time,
Bob

HarryT · 06-01-2007, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Rose

a. What are the screen dimensions ? It's only listed in their Specs as "6" diagonal"

90x120mm

Quote:

b. Is it possible to easily re-format what the screen shows to a narrower width; the 2 or 3 inches range ?

If it's your own content - yes. Commercial content - no.

Quote:

c. Looked at the Sony Connect store, and see that most of their titles seem to be in the $ 15-18. Wow ! Is this typical ? Are their cheaper places to download from ?

There's a virtually limitless supply of free books available from numerous sources - eg Project Gutenberg

Quote:

d. Any way to get daily newspaper news from the NY Times, or perhaps our local paper, the Boston Globe ? Or other sources ?

There are RSS feeds which can be easily converted into Reader content. What's available, I couldn't say.

JSWolf · 06-01-2007, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Rose

d. Any way to get daily newspaper news from the NY Times, or perhaps our local paper, the Boston Globe ? Or other sources ?

Where in MA are you located? I'm Not far off the Orange Line on the T. If you like, I can show you my Reader so you can see if it might be appropriate for your friend.

Jon

Xenophon · 06-01-2007, 09:29 AM

Anything available with no DRM should be easy to process to meet your friend's needs. I'd bet that one of the volunteers providing eBook conversion software would be willing to cons up a switch that would put output into a narrow format. With that done, he'd be able to use any convertable format. SF & Fantasy from Baen. Older books from Project Gutenberg. News feeds and RSS off the web in general.

If the reader's screen seems good enough except for width, you should venture over to the Reader Developer's Corner and ask the folks there to support "narrow column" mode.

yvanleterrible · 06-01-2007, 09:36 AM

Can he move his head and his hands?

If he's got good eyesight there's always the iPod Nano. And you can have any ebook formated for it at this place. And many ebooks come directly in this format too! ex. Steve jordan books

HarryT · 06-01-2007, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xenophon

Anything available with no DRM should be easy to process to meet your friend's needs. I'd bet that one of the volunteers providing eBook conversion software would be willing to cons up a switch that would put output into a narrow format. With that done, he'd be able to use any convertable format. SF & Fantasy from Baen. Older books from Project Gutenberg. News feeds and RSS off the web in general.

Using RTF and simply setting suitable left/right margins is probably the easiest way to do it.

JSWolf · 06-06-2007, 01:26 PM

Well Bob, here is a photo of the Sony Reader with a large size font, and about a 2 inch column. I hope this helps you decide if it will be good enough for your friend. Also remember, that I could have editied the margins to be smaller and the font to be larger if need be.

Jon

halljames · 06-08-2007, 08:01 AM

Your all to be commended on the help you give to help the disabled.

JSWolf · 06-08-2007, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by halljames

Your all to be commended on the help you give to help the disabled.

We'd try to help disabled or not. That's what we do.

Jon

NatCh · 06-08-2007, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

We'd try to help disabled or not. That's what we do.

Jon

Yeah, we try not to discriminate against the non-disabled around here.

tapf! · 06-16-2007, 07:34 PM

Possibly a PDA is a better Reading Solution for your friend, because the Displays are less wide.

Best Regards

Fabian

mogui · 06-17-2007, 01:34 AM

I highly recommend an old monochrome Palm with AAA batteries. They are so easy to find eBooks for, easy to find batteries for and the screen is just the right width. You can use large bold fonts too if needed. See other posts here on the suitability of a Palm for reading. You can get them cheaply refurbished.

I got my M125 for $29.

tapf! · 06-17-2007, 06:37 AM

Then I would recommend an Handera 330. It has an higher Resolution (240x320) than the old Palms (160x160), has PalmOS and runs from AAA. I got mine for 25 EUR.

HarryT · 06-17-2007, 06:48 AM

If believe the original questioner said, in a different thread, that he has bought a Sony Reader!

05-31-2007, 12:28 PM	#1
Bob Rose Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2007	Reader To Alleviate A Medical Problem: Opinions Please ? Hi, Let me start by saying I know absolutely nothing about these readers, but think that one of these might help alleviate a medical problem. A friend of mind has a neurological disorder, and cannot move their eyes very well. This results in their being forced to only be able to read books or newspaper columns that are pretty narrow; perhaps 2 or 3 inches wide at the most. Tried to see the Sony ebook unit at Best Buy and Circuit City, but neither has one in the store. CompUSA went out of business in our area. So, can I please ask the following: a. What are the screen dimensions ? It's only listed in their Specs as "6" diagonal" b. Is it possible to easily re-format what the screen shows to a narrower width; the 2 or 3 inches range ? c. Looked at the Sony Connect store, and see that most of their titles seem to be in the $ 15-18. Wow ! Is this typical ? Are their cheaper places to download from ? d. Any way to get daily newspaper news from the NY Times, or perhaps our local paper, the Boston Globe ? Or other sources ? e. Are there other units by others than Sony I should consider ? Thank you very much; appreciate your help and time, Bob

06-06-2007, 01:26 PM	#7
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,942 Karma: 128903250 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Well Bob, here is a photo of the Sony Reader with a large size font, and about a 2 inch column. I hope this helps you decide if it will be good enough for your friend. Also remember, that I could have editied the margins to be smaller and the font to be larger if need be. Jon Attached Thumbnails

06-17-2007, 01:34 AM	#12
mogui eNigma Posts: 503 Karma: 1335 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: The Philippines Device: HTC G1 Android FBReader	I highly recommend an old monochrome Palm with AAA batteries. They are so easy to find eBooks for, easy to find batteries for and the screen is just the right width. You can use large bold fonts too if needed. See other posts here on the suitability of a Palm for reading. You can get them cheaply refurbished. I got my M125 for $29. Last edited by mogui; 06-17-2007 at 01:40 AM.

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06-01-2007, 09:29 AM	#4
Xenophon curmudgeon Posts: 1,481 Karma: 5748190 Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Redwood City, CA USA Device: Kobo Aura HD, (ex)nook, (ex)PRS-700, (ex)PRS-500	Anything available with no DRM should be easy to process to meet your friend's needs. I'd bet that one of the volunteers providing eBook conversion software would be willing to cons up a switch that would put output into a narrow format. With that done, he'd be able to use any convertable format. SF & Fantasy from Baen. Older books from Project Gutenberg. News feeds and RSS off the web in general. If the reader's screen seems good enough except for width, you should venture over to the Reader Developer's Corner and ask the folks there to support "narrow column" mode.

06-01-2007, 09:36 AM	#5
yvanleterrible Reborn Paper User Posts: 8,616 Karma: 15446734 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Que Nada Device: iPhone8, iPad Air	Can he move his head and his hands? If he's got good eyesight there's always the iPod Nano. And you can have any ebook formated for it at this place. And many ebooks come directly in this format too! ex. Steve jordan books

06-08-2007, 08:01 AM	#8
halljames Zealot Posts: 116 Karma: 463 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Newcastle, UK Device: Apple iPad	Your all to be commended on the help you give to help the disabled.

06-16-2007, 07:34 PM	#11
tapf! Enthusiast Posts: 44 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Germany / Stuttgart Device: Sony Reader PRS-500	Possibly a PDA is a better Reading Solution for your friend, because the Displays are less wide. Best Regards Fabian

06-17-2007, 06:37 AM	#13
tapf! Enthusiast Posts: 44 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Germany / Stuttgart Device: Sony Reader PRS-500	Then I would recommend an Handera 330. It has an higher Resolution (240x320) than the old Palms (160x160), has PalmOS and runs from AAA. I got mine for 25 EUR.

06-17-2007, 06:48 AM	#14
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	If believe the original questioner said, in a different thread, that he has bought a Sony Reader!

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