touchscreen+dictionaries+font support

dtacha · 08-31-2009, 07:59 PM

dear forum participants,

i am new in this world and looking for a long-term relationship with an e-book reader. :-)

since i like learning foreign languages and speak 12 (including turkish, japanese, arabic, russian and greek) the device must have font support and user-friendly dictionaries (definitely touchscreen and freeware dictionaries if possible).

plus, it must have e-ink, pdf support and i must be able to underline important passages while reading.

what would you recommend?

thanks in advance!

HarryT · 09-01-2009, 03:26 AM

The iRex DR1000S probably comes closest to meeting your requirements. It has excellent support for Mobipocket dictionaries, which can be used to look up words in PDF files, and the PDF files themselves support all the languages that you describe (provided that they have the appropriate fonts embedded in them).

However, although one can get Mobi dictionaries for most European languages, Mobi itself doesn't support "right to left" languages, and I suspect that you'll struggle to find an Arabic Mobi dictionary for that reason.

dtacha · 09-01-2009, 09:00 AM

Thank you very much for your answer!

dtacha · 09-01-2009, 09:12 AM

Hi again,

I checked it and it's beautiful but it is not very affordable. (700euros) Is there a cheaper device which fills the criteria above? Mp3, Wifi and other stuff is not required. Thanks again.

dtacha · 09-01-2009, 12:41 PM

what about smart q7? would it fit?

HarryT · 09-01-2009, 01:12 PM

Pretty much any device will display PDFs, but the issue arises when, as is usually the case, the PDF file is formatted for a large (generally A4/Letter) devices. No small-screen device will display that well, hence the recommendation for the large-screen iRex. Yes, it is expensive, but there's really no alternative, I'm afraid. The only other large-screen eInk device is the Kindle DX, but that has no dictionary support, no annotation, no hyperlink or table of content support in PDFs - it is VERY limited.

As always, you get what you pay for.

wallcraft · 09-01-2009, 01:26 PM

There probably will be several new 8" to 10" E-Ink devices by the end of the year.

The 8" DR800 from iRex has been confirmed at "about $400", but because it will not include MobiPocket support the dictionary capabilities of the DR1000 are probably absent. It might be possible to port an open source dictionary app though.

The dictionary capabilities of other likely devices, e.g. from Jinke and Netronix are unknown but probably not present.

The wild cards are devices like the rumoured Asus Eee e-Book Reader. These might have a Pixel Qi screen and be much more general purpose computer like than conventional ebook readers (i.e. a SmartQ with a better screen). No one knows for sure yet.

08-31-2009, 07:59 PM	#1
dtacha Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: none	touchscreen+dictionaries+font support dear forum participants, i am new in this world and looking for a long-term relationship with an e-book reader. :-) since i like learning foreign languages and speak 12 (including turkish, japanese, arabic, russian and greek) the device must have font support and user-friendly dictionaries (definitely touchscreen and freeware dictionaries if possible). plus, it must have e-ink, pdf support and i must be able to underline important passages while reading. what would you recommend? thanks in advance! Last edited by dtacha; 08-31-2009 at 08:07 PM.

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09-01-2009, 03:26 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	The iRex DR1000S probably comes closest to meeting your requirements. It has excellent support for Mobipocket dictionaries, which can be used to look up words in PDF files, and the PDF files themselves support all the languages that you describe (provided that they have the appropriate fonts embedded in them). However, although one can get Mobi dictionaries for most European languages, Mobi itself doesn't support "right to left" languages, and I suspect that you'll struggle to find an Arabic Mobi dictionary for that reason.

09-01-2009, 09:00 AM	#3
dtacha Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: none	Thank you very much for your answer!

09-01-2009, 09:12 AM	#4
dtacha Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: none	Hi again, I checked it and it's beautiful but it is not very affordable. (700euros) Is there a cheaper device which fills the criteria above? Mp3, Wifi and other stuff is not required. Thanks again.

09-01-2009, 12:41 PM	#5
dtacha Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: none	what about smart q7? would it fit?

09-01-2009, 01:12 PM	#6
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Pretty much any device will display PDFs, but the issue arises when, as is usually the case, the PDF file is formatted for a large (generally A4/Letter) devices. No small-screen device will display that well, hence the recommendation for the large-screen iRex. Yes, it is expensive, but there's really no alternative, I'm afraid. The only other large-screen eInk device is the Kindle DX, but that has no dictionary support, no annotation, no hyperlink or table of content support in PDFs - it is VERY limited. As always, you get what you pay for.

09-01-2009, 01:26 PM	#7
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,975 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	There probably will be several new 8" to 10" E-Ink devices by the end of the year. The 8" DR800 from iRex has been confirmed at "about $400", but because it will not include MobiPocket support the dictionary capabilities of the DR1000 are probably absent. It might be possible to port an open source dictionary app though. The dictionary capabilities of other likely devices, e.g. from Jinke and Netronix are unknown but probably not present. The wild cards are devices like the rumoured Asus Eee e-Book Reader. These might have a Pixel Qi screen and be much more general purpose computer like than conventional ebook readers (i.e. a SmartQ with a better screen). No one knows for sure yet.

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