8+ Readers in comparison

[mgmueller]

Just a brief status update:
I'm still using it.
Every single day, on average maybe 3 hours in the evening.
Strange enough: I use it for most of my web related tasks, but I don't really have the need for the keyboard.
I'd find a Chrome tablet highly interesting.
Chrome on Surface Pro gives a rough idea. But it doesn't have quite the display, nor the performance.

BTW: Surface Pro still is my other favorite.
Basically, Surface Pro and Chromebook Pixel make for about 80% of my time with gadgets. The rest mainly is for Kindle Paperwhite.

[Annanda]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I'm more about "collecting" readers, than actually reading ebooks .
I've got:
Sony 300
Sony 505
Sony 600
Sony 700
Sony 900
Sony T1
Cybook Gen3
Cybook Opus (white = old)
Cybook Opus (blue = new)
iRex iLiad
iRex 1000S
iRex 800S
Kindle 2
Kindle 3
Kindle DX
Kindle DX Graphite
Kindle touch
Kindle Paperwhite
Kindle Fire HD 7"
Kindle Fire HD 8.9"
nook
nook touch
nook HD
nook HD+
BeBook One
BeBook Neo
Spring Design Alex
PocketBook 360
2 x Kobo touch
Kobo Arc
Kobo Aura HD
iPad 1
iPad 2
iPad 3
iPad mini
iPhone 4 + iPhone 4S [only mentioning it, because it's the first iPhone model I actually like, although it's still far from being a business phone]
Dell Streak
Dell Latitude 10
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7"
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v
Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9
Samsung Galaxy Note
Samsung Galaxy Nexus
Toshiba Libretto W100
Fujitsu Stylistic ST6012
Microsoft Surface RT
Microsoft Surface Pro
Google Chromebook Pixel
Motorola Xoom
Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition
Google (Asus) Nexus 7
BlackBerry (RIM) PlayBook
Acer Iconia
Asus Eee Pad Transformer
Asus VivoTab Smart
HP TouchPad
Sony Tablet P
Sony Tablet S
Nokia Lumia 920
and: iPhone and iPod touch, BlackBerry and some old Pocket PCs.
Having checked out my units quite intensively, I've found lots of advantages and disadvantages, which I wouldn't have expected because of the reviews and tests I've found.
Just an example: On the iRex iLiad, I can change author's names or book titles on the fly. Very often, on my other units I'm annoyed if bookshops don't stick to naming conventions. I absolutely HATE it, when books I've bought officially on various websites sometimes for the author's name show: "Stephen King". The next time, it's "King, Stephen". Another time it's "KING, STEPHEN". I've even had this when buying an official bundle of books!
On the iRex, I can change that on the fly and even can add comments, for example "book 1/34" or something like that.
So, from time to time in this thread, I'll compare features of these units.
If anyone has got any questions or documents to compare.....

For now, 1 line per unit:

BeBook One: Rarely use it. Feels and looks "cheap" and since UnDe... doesn't have any real advantage to me.
Sony 300: Just started it for the first time. Similar to Cybook Opus, but even a little bit more appealing.
Sony 600: I'm very positively surprised. Display very much improved over Sony 700. Doesn't have Sony 300's "plastic framing", again another very elegant unit from Sony.
Sony 700: Rarely use it. Without dictionary support, the touchscreen for me doesn't have any advantage over the Sony 505, and I clearly prefer the display of the 505.
Sony 505: Has been my 2nd eInk Reader and still is one of my favorites. Excellent display, elegant and "cool" design.
iRex iLiad: Has been my 1st eInk Reader and I still love it. I don't use any 3rd party applications (anymore). But I love the standard OS, anyway. I easily can organize my files in folders. I can add thumbnails to these folders. As mentioned before, I can add comments to every single book, on the fly directly on my unit.
iRex 1000S: Rarely did use it so far. I miss some of the features of the iRex iLiad, some of them mentioned before. But having "played around" with it yesterday, I think I'll use it a bit.
Cybook Gen3: Rarely did use it so far. I don't like the buttons on the left from an ergonomical perspective. But still: A "cool" unit, I really like the thumbnail view of my Mobipocket books.
Cybook Opus: Just started it for the first time. My only 5" unit, definitely will take it with me when traveling "light".
Kindle 2: I've got it 6 weeks ago and it quickly did raise to my top 3. I can't use Whispernet over here, so I can't use the settings and my bookmarks show "1970". But this is more than compensated by the biggest source of books and usually having the lowest prices. And I LOVE the iPhone app, for a quick read when travelling.
Kindle DX: I've got it last week. After my experience with Kindle 2, I simply HAD to order the DX. It's great, but so far I haven't found the "niche" for it, yet. It's got the same features as Kindle 2. But it's a bit too bulky for travelling, but on the other hand still not big enough for some magazines or newspapers.
That's it for the moment...
Questions or documents for comparison are more than welcome...

When will Calibre see the new Blackberry OS10 devices, on my old blackberry I could connect and send books to my device now calibre just does not see my Q5. I have to manually copy my books to my phone.

Please help as I often read my books on my phone, I am using BookReader on my Q5 and it works really well. Not as nice as Kindle for Blackberry but that is not available for the Q10 and Q5 yet but reads mobi format well.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Annanda

When will Calibre see the new Blackberry OS10 devices, on my old blackberry I could connect and send books to my device now calibre just does not see my Q5. I have to manually copy my books to my phone.

Please help as I often read my books on my phone, I am using BookReader on my Q5 and it works really well. Not as nice as Kindle for Blackberry but that is not available for the Q10 and Q5 yet but reads mobi format well.

Sorry, I haven't used calibre in a while.
I tend to buy my books for the respective platform at hand and not convert them anymore.

In the past, Dr. Kovid Goyal, the brain behind calibre, was giving support directly in the calibre subforum on mobileread.
You should raise your issue there. If Kovid doesn't give support anymore, there are definitely other experts in that forum.

Just from my personal past experience:
When calibre didn't identify my respective gadget, I often did transfer my content to the (Micro)SD card and then use that card in my gadget.

BTW: I thought about BlackBerry, as I hate my iPhone for business purposes. But I'm into tablets and to some extent readers, not smartphones and the likes. I loved my BlackBerry PlayBook, but unfortunately it couldn't shine against iPad (app-wise, the OS definitely was more than up to par)...
I'm using Windows 8 Mobile now for business and am fine for now...

[mgmueller]

Just ordered it, should be here around Tuesday next week.
It's been a while, since I bought an Android tablet.
I'm into Windows 8 now and don't have a real need for Android anymore.
But supported directly by Google = I couldn't resist.
And for this low price it's a steal anyway.

[mgmueller]

Not really about reading.
But I've ordered it anyway.
I'm really looking forward to it.
I'm not much into games anymore for the last 18 years or so.
But from time to time I enjoy a quick level on emulators.
Tiger Heli on PC Engine, like I played it on the original in 1991...
Or R-Type of course...
And I really hate touchscreens. Be it for typing or even more so for game controls (great for scrolling websites, though).
I'm fine with XPERIA Play, but it's a bit dated and a bit too small...
I should have my NVIDIA Shield end of next week.

[mgmueller]

...just installed it on my Nokia Lumia 920.
Great!
The screen size of Lumia 920 is fine, iPhone for example simply is too small for comfortably reading magazines...

[mgmueller]

I just saw the new Nexus 7 in German Saturn Market.
They only got 15 units and had them sold within minutes.
I've asked them to call 2 other markets in the region. Same: Only a few units and sold out quickly.
But they let me have a look at a demo unit.
I never buy demo units, they have the flavor of "pre-owned" to me.
But in this case, I was tempted.
I like it. A lot!
It's way more elegant and stylish and "valuable" than the pre-decessor.
And I like the slender design.
iPad seems the only somewhat "square" tablet now.
The other manufacturers all seem to go for widescreen.
Nexus 7 (2013) is as slender as the pre-decessor.
The display is great. But I don't mind much, I like them all (maybe with the exception of the over-saturated Samsung displays of some units).
I should have mine around Wednesday. Looking forward to it!

[mgmueller]

I've just received it from the US.
Although it's (as far as I know) full blown Android, I'll never read on it - given the form factor and holding position.
But I'll still briefly describe it, as it's such as unique unit and still Android after all.
So far: Cool design! Way more up to the task of video games than my XPERIA Play for example.
I don't play much. But if I briefly play action games (the all-time classic R-Type for example) I'm not a fan of touchscreen controls and very much prefer "classic" controls.

[mgmueller]

I'm impressed by both of my new gadgets.

Nexus 7 is an immense evolution to its predecessor.
More elegant, way more powerful.
Only complaint: I'd like to see a Micro SD expansion or more than 32GB of internal memory.

Nvidia Shield: Wow!
Lots of the "normal" Android games don't support the controller yet.
But I'm mainly into emulators anyway.
And this is really spectacular. There's even a Sony PSP emulator. And it's working great! And there's a Nintendo DS emulator. I haven't tested it yet, but reviews are quite favorable.
The unit itself is a bit bulky, not that mobile. But the performance: A dream!
Some criticise the display only being 720p. But for that small size, I'm more than fine with that resolution. And it's probably one of the reasons for the phantastic performance.
I'm only a casual gamer. But, as you might have recognised by my collection, I'm into hoarding stuff. I'm nostalgic. So I love briefly playing the classics I have played on the original consoles (Sega Genesis aka Mega Drive, Nec PC Engine aka TG16, Commodore Amiga, ...) 20 years ago. Basically I have every single game with me that I've ever owned...

[mgmueller]

Just made the update on my iPhone4S.
Buah, thats really one ugly UI!
I barely use my iOS devices anymore.
For tablets, I very much favor my Surface Pro.
And I like playing with some Android devices as well.
The update to iOS7 certainly didn't change things to the better for me.
I guess, I won't update my iPad Mini yet.
Just looked at my iPhone4S again. Man, that's really, really ugly!
Looks like someone fell into the paint bucket! Very strident! Almost looks like the over-saturated display of some of my Samsung devices...

I can't help but ask myself: Was it the creative genius of Steve Jobs, that avoided such "accidents" in the past? Or was it him being a control freak? Or am I over-critical?
But to me it really seems, Apple doesn't progress anymore for at least the last 12 months...

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Just made the update on my iPhone4S.
Buah, thats really one ugly UI!

The update to iOS7 certainly didn't change things to the better for me.

I really think it isn't that cut and dried. I like some things about the new UI, but don't like some other things. I do like the removal of skeuomorphic silliness that makes some apps look very fisher price-ish.

However, some of the underlying changes they made I am happy about... allowing apps to run in the background is nice... now I don't have to ensure I open my podcast app before I go to bed or in the AM to ensure it will d/l new content.

I also like the Activation Lock... I hope it isn't defeated so people will stop stealing these phones... my niece had one stolen right out of her hands in New York City.

I also like the ability to open the notifications from the lock screen and the control center. Siri has certainly improved and can do more stuff now wrt to controlling the device. I read somewhere you will be able to specify which map app siri uses but I haven't seen how yet.

I was hoping for the ability to have an icon grid like andriod rather than the flow layout and also want widgets...although notification from lock screen helps that a bit because apps can put info there. Syncing notifications across devices is nice too... (even though it doesn't affect me yet, however I might get an iPad and it will).

Oh an auto app updates... it's about time.

So, I think iOS 7 was well worth the $0 I paid for it.

BOb

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I really think it isn't that cut and dried. I like some things about the new UI, but don't like some other things. I do like the removal of skeuomorphic silliness that makes some apps look very fisher price-ish.

However, some of the underlying changes they made I am happy about... allowing apps to run in the background is nice... now I don't have to ensure I open my podcast app before I go to bed or in the AM to ensure it will d/l new content.

I also like the Activation Lock... I hope it isn't defeated so people will stop stealing these phones... my niece had one stolen right out of her hands in New York City.

I also like the ability to open the notifications from the lock screen and the control center. Siri has certainly improved and can do more stuff now wrt to controlling the device. I read somewhere you will be able to specify which map app siri uses but I haven't seen how yet.

I was hoping for the ability to have an icon grid like andriod rather than the flow layout and also want widgets...although notification from lock screen helps that a bit because apps can put info there. Syncing notifications across devices is nice too... (even though it doesn't affect me yet, however I might get an iPad and it will).

Oh an auto app updates... it's about time.

So, I think iOS 7 was well worth the $0 I paid for it.

BOb

Quite frankly, I didn't check out a single feature.
I probably wouldn't recognise the difference anyway, as I'm not using my iPad mini for months now and my iPhone4S only for phone calls.
I only saw the interface and was weirded out.
I even found the keyboard somewhat bright and irritating. Probably this can be changed in some settings, but at first glance to me it simply seemed not business-like but very playful and somewhat cheesy...

[huari]

Enjoying your thread, Gadget Meister
any thoughts on the new Tegra tablet? http://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2013/09/18/tegra-note/

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by huari

Enjoying your thread, Gadget Meister
any thoughts on the new Tegra tablet? http://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2013/09/18/tegra-note/

I really enjoy my NVIDIA Shield.
One of the best gadgets I've bought in the last few years!
Theoretically, I don't have any need at all for another Android tablet.
But given my great experience with NVIDIA Shield, I'll probably go for their tablet as well.

[mgmueller]

The 128GB version is on its way.
From the Netherlands. So it should be here (Germany) around end of this week.
I didn't sell my Surface Pro 128GB Gen1, so I'll be able to directly compare.
I've pre-ordered the 256GB version as well. It won't be here for another 6 weeks or so, but then I'll be able to compare the impact of more RAM.