Looking for a next generation eb1150

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Connect does sort out the formatting when the book is loaded onto the reader using Connect.

Sorry, I do not know what connect is. Are you now saying that my original supposition was correct and the pages are pre-defined before reading?

Dale

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Sorry, I do not know what connect is. Are you now saying that my original supposition was correct and the pages are pre-defined before reading?

Dale

It depends.

"Connect" is the Sony Reader's desktop PC software. It acts as a "Library Manager" and also allows you to buy DRM-protected books from Sony's on-line store.

If you transfer your books to the Reader using Connect, the pagination is done by Connect and downloaded to the Reader along with the book. If, however, you transfer the book directly to the Reader using a memory card, the Reader itself does the pagination.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It depends.

"Connect" is the Sony Reader's desktop PC software. It acts as a "Library Manager" and also allows you to buy DRM-protected books from Sony's on-line store.

If you transfer your books to the Reader using Connect, the pagination is done by Connect and downloaded to the Reader along with the book. If, however, you transfer the book directly to the Reader using a memory card, the Reader itself does the pagination.

Thanks for the explanation. Does this mean that it only happens the first time you do a zoom and after that the zoom is fast?

Dale

[igorsk]

Yes, pagination needs only be done once per zoom level.

[HarryT]

If you transfer your books with "Connect", pagination for all three font sizes is done by Connect itself. If you transfer the books directly, the Reader itself paginates for each font size the first time that font size is chosen. Selecting that font size subsequently is instantaneous.

[robvarga]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

Robert,

I've attached several images of what Bookeen's fonts look like at the smallest and largest - it does 12 different font sizes for each of the seven font families, btw - as well as what the font size menu looks like.

Derek

Hi Derek,

I don't really see how the font menu relates to small characters in images in the book.

However, let's see a real-world example:

Could you please download the following (free) pdf from the Manning website:

http://www.manning-source.com/books/...tate2_ch06.pdf

post a couple of hi-resolution photos of the book page 183 which show how the page looks like when showing the entire page (so that I need not scroll back and forth during paging) and what is the best display achievable for the picture on the page?

Thanks in advance,

Robert

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by igorsk

Yes, pagination needs only be done once per zoom level.

So we are finally all in agreement. Pagination is done and stored in some sort of file that is book specific, just like the eb1150. The only difference is that the reader is capable of creating this file on the fly if it is not done by the connect program. This was my original supposition that got challenged.

Dale

[HarryT]

My misunderstanding, Dale. I thought that we were talking about the differences between file formats in which the pagination is defined by the document - eg PDF - and formats in which it's defined by the reading device (practically everything else).

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by robvarga

Hi Derek,

I don't really see how the font menu relates to small characters in images in the book.

However, let's see a real-world example:

Could you please download the following (free) pdf from the Manning website:

http://www.manning-source.com/books/...tate2_ch06.pdf

post a couple of hi-resolution photos of the book page 183 which show how the page looks like when showing the entire page (so that I need not scroll back and forth during paging) and what is the best display achievable for the picture on the page?

Thanks in advance,

Robert

Robert,

I would, but your link keeps bringing me to the main Manning menu, not the free link to the chapter in question - and as I cannot determine which book you mean, I can't download the right PDF file.

And I can see where the confusion lies. No, at this time PDF files on the Cybook can be opened and paged through, but they can't be selectively zoomed or re-flowed. Nor can the Cybook alter the size of text that is integral to an image file, such as a jpeg.

Derek

[davidd]

[QUOTE=HarryT;99477]The results of this poll make me very curious; I see that the majority of voters have said that they regard backlighting as "vital".

May I ask someone who voted in that way, how you managed before electronic bookreaders appeared? Do you never read paper books? That format has, I believe, been moderately successful despite the lack of self-lighting. My local town has a number of stores full of them!

I have been using a number of reading lights at night when I read books in bed. Since getting my GEB 1150 I discovered backlighting and less eye strain so I prefer a device that uses backlighting, not another book light.

[mogui]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The results of this poll make me very curious; I see that the majority of voters have said that they regard backlighting as "vital".

May I ask someone who voted in that way, how you managed before electronic bookreaders appeared? Do you never read paper books? That format has, I believe, been moderately successful despite the lack of self-lighting. My local town has a number of stores full of them!

Originally Posted by davidd

I have been using a number of reading lights at night when I read books in bed. Since getting my GEB 1150 I discovered backlighting and less eye strain so I prefer a device that uses backlighting, not another book light.

I think I got the end quotes in the right place. Harry, it is just a matter of being spoiled by convenience. I really like backlighting. But when I am in the west I read paper books from the library like crazy. Here in the Middle Kingdom my Sony Reader is in my hands every day. When I travel, my monochrome Palm M125 with backlighting is very portable and convenient. What do I prefer? All are good. It is a wonderful world!

[robvarga]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

Robert,

I would, but your link keeps bringing me to the main Manning menu, not the free link to the chapter in question - and as I cannot determine which book you mean, I can't download the right PDF file.

And I can see where the confusion lies. No, at this time PDF files on the Cybook can be opened and paged through, but they can't be selectively zoomed or re-flowed. Nor can the Cybook alter the size of text that is integral to an image file, such as a jpeg.

Derek

Hi Derek,

What you described seems to be the Manning webserver checking for links to the free content from other web pages (if it finds a non-Manning Http-Referrer header it redirects to the main page).

Please copy the link by the "Copy link location" context menu item (not by a text copy as the text of the link is abbreviated by the forum engine), open a new browser window and paste the copied link to the new window. It works for me that way.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention, anyway.

Best regards,

Robert

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

My misunderstanding, Dale. I thought that we were talking about the differences between file formats in which the pagination is defined by the document - eg PDF - and formats in which it's defined by the reading device (practically everything else).

We were just coming from different experiences. I was really worried about devices that don't paginate at all or don't save the pagination and can't reuse it. My experience with multiple readers is on PDA's and PC's. I only have one dedicated reader, the eb1150. On PDA's I have seen problems without pagination at all on MobiPocket devices, although I now understand that this is fixed on the iLiad. I also have experienced poor pagination performance on the digital editions on a pc.

Even PDF files are repaginated on the device is reflow is supported. Only the non-reflow implementations insist on original page sizes, although for reference purposes original page numbers have their uses, particularly if you are reviewing a document and want to reference a location for another user on another different device.

It is this kind of pagination issues such as no permanent pagination and need for original pagination and pagination performance that I was originally wanting to talk about.

dale

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by mogui

I think I got the end quotes in the right place. Harry, it is just a matter of being spoiled by convenience. I really like backlighting. But when I am in the west I read paper books from the library like crazy. Here in the Middle Kingdom my Sony Reader is in my hands every day. When I travel, my monochrome Palm M125 with backlighting is very portable and convenient. What do I prefer? All are good. It is a wonderful world!

Certainly, how many of us would say I really want to read by candlelight because it was around years before the electric light bulb. Just because it has been around for years and centuries doesn't make it the preferred solution one you have seen Paris. (to mix a metaphor)

Dale

[6charlong]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

The idea is that the current new products are all too expensive and have no backlight. There is a demand in the mass market for cheaper devices and many who still want a device with a backlight to use in bed or in the evening. The goal is to stay under $150 for the full device or $100 would be even better. There is no need for a multipurpose device but it must be a good ebook reader. The eb1150 was chosen as a starting point as it is the cheapest device available today. Many folks find that it is the reader they most like but it is getting behind the curve in technology.
Dale

The original post seemed to me to be addressing the whole issue of obsolescense in eBook readers using the eBookwise-1150 as a starting point. These are the issues I want to have addressed to avoid eBook reader obsolescense:

1. eBook readers are machines and machines always fail, so how long will you be able to get replacement parts and repair service for the ET_x_ or any other eBook reader? (The SmartMedia external memory used to store books on the EB-1150 isn't made anymore, making an excellent device seem obsolent right now.) So I think purchasers will need to know

2. Will repairs be possible, for how long, and where can you go to get it fixed when it breaks. Apple's iPod is sent back to an Apple repair center even to replace the battery, so can an owner find a ready source of routine maintenance if they buy an ET3? I think this information should should accompany the warranty information. But savy consumers--including anyone who ever owned an iPod--will look for this information right up-front: where the device is advertised.

3. I think that most of the people who care enough about books to buy a reader, even at the $100-$150 price, will want to keep their books. Those of us who love books soon have more invested in content than in the cost of the reader. So what happens to my eBooks when the device I bought them for is beyond repair? I think that most people will feel that if they must buy their favorite books all over again then forget it. Myself, I don't have any problem with DRM. The way I see it, I expect to be paid for my work so it seems fair to pay authors and publishers for their's, as long as the price is reasonable (that is, the price of eBooks for any particular reader has to seem fair: justice is a two-way street after all). Related to this, every eBook reader should answer the question

4. "if I buy an ET3, in 10 years, after it quits, will an ET5 still read my old books?" Many posts in this thread spoke of the importance of new devices supporting a universal markup standard, but reasonable as that request is, it adds a new demension: if the ET3 supports epub 2.0, in 10 years will the ET5 support epub 3.4 and still read my epub 2.0 eBooks? These two problems are also interelated issues. It's the same problem public libraries have: their customers have a variety of eBook readers and they need some common stardard that they all can read right across several generations of both readers and eBook formats, while at the same time preserving the copyrights across every platform. I thought perhaps, if it's possible, an important feature in an eBook reader would be support for flash up-grades allowing the device to display emergant eBook markup protocols.