PocketBook Ink Pad 840

[rkomar]

It's hard to say how long it takes to charge, because my device usually shuts itself off while charging. I guess the light on the power button stays on while charging, but it is faint and hard to notice when it goes off. I would say that it takes at least four hours, though, and probably longer than that.

[john__doe]

In the User Guide, it states that the first full charging takes 8-12 hours. I thought it would be only the first one, but it still takes at least 8 hours and I find that dreadful. 3 days reading 2-3h/d and I can charge again, 8 hours... very uncomfortable...was very excited about it the first days but now am considering returning it and buying ipad mini instead, e-ink display is the only plus against the tablet (certainly not the battery life), and even that is not the contrast of e-ink carta in kindles

rkomar I see you have a lot of devices, can you compare at least in short PB 840 to other e-readers you have had in terms of battery life, battery charging time, e-ink contrast, ease of use?

[rkomar]

I can't really do a comparison of battery life at this time. I'm doing a fair bit of development work for it, which means I have the WiFi on for periods of time. That really chews through the battery charge. I think the charging time is comparable for my 623.

In terms of contrast, it is worse than my 623 (Touch Lux), and even seems to be less sharp. However, I don't have any trouble reading on it, so I don't let that bother me. Currently, I think it's the only larger device with a light layer. It could be that the light and touch layers affect the contrast and sharpness more as the display gets bigger (the layers may have to be made thicker than for a smaller display). So, I think we have to wait for another 8" device with a front light and multi-touch support before we can make comparisons. I think Onyx is coming out with one, so we'll know then.

[p38lightning]

Since switching mine to v 4.4, I also decided to try using "bold" in order to increase the contrast. It definitely helps with both contrast and sharpness for ebook text.

[Silent Bob]

Hello to everyone, i just registered to the forum.

Originally Posted by john__doe

3 days reading 2-3h/d and I can charge again

john__doe, this doesn't seem right. I got mine last Friday, downgraded to version 4.4, fully charged it after seeing your first post and having played with it for a while. Since then, i 've been sideloading books, testing alternative reading applications, setting up the network and dropbox account, exploring the interface and reading pdf, yesterday alone i 've been reading for 3 hours, and the battery level is still at 84%.
Why don't you try version 4.4 too?

Originally Posted by p38lightning

Since switching mine to v 4.4, I also decided to try using "bold" in order to increase the contrast. It definitely helps with both contrast and sharpness for ebook text.

I 've noticed that while reading pdfs, after staying for about 5 minutes in the same page, the screen refreshes automatically and the font gets lighter untill i turn to the next page. The time indication of the bottom bar also disappears.

Is there a way to prevent this from happening? How do i turn on the bold setting?

[penkin]

Hello,
Could any one recommend where could I buy this PocketBook InkPad living in Australia please?

[p38lightning]

To All,

Just a quick "FYI"...

Have recently been in touch with Pocketbook and they are now saying that the next software upgrade for the 840 will be late September/October 2015. Date has slipped from May.

[diimdeep]

Great news!

[joepie]

Yesterday I received my new 840 from Alza, Czech Republic. They sent it to me in just 2 days. I got great service and good information/emails/replies from Alza.

Thanks to the info and reviews in this thread, I decided to upgrade to the 840 from my trusty PB302. It is a giant leap forward and I love the 8 inch pearl screen and the frontlight.

I downgraded to the 4.x firmware, as the 5.x was pre-installed and will now join you all to wait for the new firmware in September.

[p38lightning]

Congratulations and thoroughly enjoy yours as I certainly do mine.
My only major ongoing gripe is the far too small size of the power button!
PS: I sideload all of my books and keep them on the sd card I installed and life is wonderful!!!

[joepie]

Thanks, I am enjoying the Inkpad very much. ATM I have yet to fill the internal storage to half of its capacity.

I've read many complaints about the power button, but in my case I seem to have no problems with it. Maybe because I've been playing a musical instrument for some years, so I'm used to find small keys to press.

I've only one small gripe: the page turn could be just a bit faster for my convenience. I sometimes find myself turning the page and reading the first line of the former page. But that is ok, I'll probably get used to it. My PB302 was a lot slower after all.

I love this ereader and the original cover as well!

[joepie]

Originally Posted by rkomar

It's hard to say how long it takes to charge, because my device usually shuts itself off while charging. I guess the light on the power button stays on while charging, but it is faint and hard to notice when it goes off. I would say that it takes at least four hours, though, and probably longer than that.

I did a full charge yesterday, this is the third time I charge it, and I waited until the Inkpad wouldn't boot anymore for lack of juice.

The charge took 4 hours. I used a charger that complies to the specs in the manual. I own chargers that have a weaker output, those may take longer.

I think the Inkpad may last up to for 4 weeks if I only use the Inkpad for reading with occasional frontlight set on the lowest brightness. This specific charge lasted 3 weeks and 1 day, but I did quite some filemanagement tasks and copied several versions of CR3 whilst not charging the Inkpad through the PC USB port. I saw the charge drop 10% during one of these operations, and expect it will last longer if these actions are omitted. YMMV of course.

Supposedly the third full charge will bring the battery to its full capacity - though I'm not sure if that's an urban myth or not, but it humours me so I make sure that I follow it. I have noticed no capacity problems in my trusty PB302, even after 5 years. So something I bought, or something I did must be working alright.

[rkomar]

With lithium polymer batteries, it is best not to let them drain completely before recharging.

[joepie]

Originally Posted by rkomar

With lithium polymer batteries, it is best not to let them drain completely before recharging.

Hi rkomar,

I'm really not a battery guru, there are so many faqs on the web about these batteries, that I'm sometimes confused :-). Some say the battery is not completely flat at just the moment when the <insert apparatus> stops booting. And I just follow this draining procedure for the first 3 charges if and when the gadget is brand new. Supposedly it calibrates the software-battery combination because the battery capacity is tuned to min and max and so is the systemsetup. If this is true I'm not sure at all. It just works very well for me :-).

Some say you had better bring the battery to zero once a month, but I don't do that. It just happens occasionally, but not often. Most of the time I just want to keep reading and prefer not to charge in the middle of a reading session so I charge after reading, when the charge is at 5% orso.

Some even say you shouldn't drain below 20% and not charge above 85%. So I'm just trying to keep things simple. I always try to charge until the device stops charging by itself.

That said, I am quite sure that your remark is on the spot. All faqs say that you shouldn't drain to 0 and keep it uncharged for an extended period. The battery may die completely. Sometimes it can be revived when kept on charge for a couple of days. But it is generally advised not to do so. Poor 302 of mine, it will probably suffer that fate as I don't use it anymore now I have the Inkpad.

[tontonjicy]

HI,
Sometimes my ink pad will not light on. We must repeatedly press the power button to light it on .
In truth when failure happens I connect to my computer via USB and there I hear it lights because the computer recognizes the inkpad as unknown device. So the unit is on but there is nothing on the screen.
Did you have te same problem?
Excuse my bad English