What would be your perfect E-reader? - Page 3

canuck100 · 10-23-2013, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

My feeling is that the Kobo Aura is the first kobo in a while to have hardware problems.

Just received Kobo Aura as gift. It was purchased at Chapters who assured us that they would exchange it if there were any hardware issues. Mine has no light leakage. The issue with patterns on the screen on mine is minimial. The pattern is like slanted scratches but it extends less than 1 in from the top, is extremely faint and is only visible at all in full sunlight with the screen tilted at an angle I would never use for reading.

sneakyspider · 10-24-2013, 08:01 PM

I don't know if I really have a perfect ereader. It's why I have several of them, because my needs may change depending on my mood. Sometimes I like an LCD screen, sometimes e-ink. I like the large screen size in the Kindle DX, but also like the portability of my Aluratek Libre Pro.

Rizla · 10-24-2013, 09:12 PM

The Aura HD light and screen in a Sony 650 chassis with the Nook ST's rootable Android OS. With buttons.

stevenaleach · 10-24-2013, 10:00 PM

The one thing I've yet to see in any E-reader is acceptable battery life. The same can be said for tablets. All of the manufacturers are focused on making slimmer and lighter gadgets -- which means you get stuck with a tablet that has eight hours of battery life.... or an e-reader that claims to have the best battery life at two-months (cool!) -- but is based on only 1/2 hour a day of use (NOT even remotely cool!).

I still can't believe that one -- calling thirty hours "two months based on 1/2 hour a day" is about the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard -- It has just a bit over one day of battery life, not two damn months. That's like saying a car that gets 30 mpg on the highway gets 300 mpg based on being towed 90% of the time.

If someone can make an e-reader that could do two simple things, I would be delighted: 1) support epub, and 2) have a REAL two month battery life (at least), i.e: 2x30x24=1,440 hours.

And really, why should this be so damned impossible? Consider first that an e-paper display doesn't consume any power when not being updated -- a simple reader based around a microcontroller and an SD card with physical page turn buttons wouldn't need to consume power until a button is pressed, then it would update the display and shut off again.

Then there's the issue of battery size and weight: the Kobo Mini weighs less than five ounces and is 0.4" thick. You're average hard cover book weighs about two pounds. If the mini had to be bulked up to a couple inches thick and a pound or two in weight to provide the kind of battery life that I want, that's perfectly fine with me.

meeera · 10-25-2013, 01:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevenaleach

The one thing I've yet to see in any E-reader is acceptable battery life. The same can be said for tablets. All of the manufacturers are focused on making slimmer and lighter gadgets -- which means you get stuck with a tablet that has eight hours of battery life.... or an e-reader that claims to have the best battery life at two-months (cool!) -- but is based on only 1/2 hour a day of use (NOT even remotely cool!).

I still can't believe that one -- calling thirty hours "two months based on 1/2 hour a day" is about the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard -- It has just a bit over one day of battery life, not two damn months. That's like saying a car that gets 30 mpg on the highway gets 300 mpg based on being towed 90% of the time.

If someone can make an e-reader that could do two simple things, I would be delighted: 1) support epub, and 2) have a REAL two month battery life (at least), i.e: 2x30x24=1,440 hours.

And really, why should this be so damned impossible? Consider first that an e-paper display doesn't consume any power when not being updated -- a simple reader based around a microcontroller and an SD card with physical page turn buttons wouldn't need to consume power until a button is pressed, then it would update the display and shut off again.

Then there's the issue of battery size and weight: the Kobo Mini weighs less than five ounces and is 0.4" thick. You're average hard cover book weighs about two pounds. If the mini had to be bulked up to a couple inches thick and a pound or two in weight to provide the kind of battery life that I want, that's perfectly fine with me.

It's nice that that's fine with you, but there are a lot of us out there who are reading ebooks partly or completely because we _can't_ handle those hardcovers, or even trade paperbacks. The light weight is a key accessibility feature. For others, it's a portability feature.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and postulate that the vast, vast majority of readers of ebooks are going to have access to power for their ereader before it conks out. If you are a long-distance hiker, how about grabbing a lightweight solar USB charger, or a Kindle with a solar cover?

eschwartz · 10-25-2013, 02:23 AM

I would love to have the best of both the Touch and the Paperwhite:

Frontlit display from Paperwhite, upgraded hardware, etc. but keep the physical home button, plus the ability to flip through chapters with a downward swipe. They removed that in the Paperwhite, and last I heard did not add it back. Also, keep the 4GB memory, which I find to be enough, but 2GB is sounds a little TOO cramped!

I also want decent collections management, perhaps they can hire ixtab as a developer for that, and ESPECIALLY the ability to manage those from calibre! While I'm at it, I wish you could view your archived items in collections inside the cloud tab, and a general overhaul to the whole Amazon system of organizing your books. We need to be able to tag an change the metadata -- annoying authors sometimes give titles like:
Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl, Book One) (Artemis Fowl (Quality))
Annihilation: R.A. Salvatore Presents The War of the Spider Queen, Book V (R.A Salvatore Presents the War of the Spider Queen)
So You Want to Be a Wizard (digest): Young Wizards, Book One: 1 (Young Wizards Series)
A Feast for Crows: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Four (Martin, George Rr)

which is just plain wrong.

I want to be able to see the page number directly while I read a book (now that they have had real page numbers for quite some time...) although I hear that may be part of the PW2? In which case it will probably make its way down to us Touch owners anyway, in the Goodreads update.

HarryT · 10-25-2013, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meeera

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and postulate that the vast, vast majority of readers of ebooks are going to have access to power for their ereader before it conks out. If you are a long-distance hiker, how about grabbing a lightweight solar USB charger, or a Kindle with a solar cover?

Or a charger like this one which will recharge your reader from AA batteries.

din155 · 10-25-2013, 05:12 AM

Five inch eink reader with front light (optional but great: that can turn into a ten inch screen for reading pdfs). We are telling our wishes right?

HarryT · 10-25-2013, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Frontlit display from Paperwhite, upgraded hardware, etc. but keep the physical home button, plus the ability to flip through chapters with a downward swipe. They removed that in the Paperwhite, and last I heard did not add it back.

The PW2 has an excellent new method of rapidly flipping though a book by dragging a slider.

eschwartz · 10-25-2013, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

The PW2 has an excellent new method of rapidly flipping though a book by dragging a slider.

I heard about that, yeah. How does it compare to flipping through chapters à la Touch? It sounds like it's more time-consuming to use.

HarryT · 10-26-2013, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I heard about that, yeah. How does it compare to flipping through chapters à la Touch? It sounds like it's more time-consuming to use.

No, it's much quicker to use, because it lets you go to any page in the book with equal facility, rather than only moving a chapter at a time. It's just like flipping through a paper book.

mikaelalind · 10-26-2013, 04:05 AM

I know it is unlikely to happen ( since Bookeen told me so on Twitter yesterday), but I would love an updated Cybook Opus with a Pearl screen, and maybe some firmware updates too

. I love my Odessey, but I really want an user replaceable battery.

AnemicOak · 10-26-2013, 09:00 PM

This looks like it could be pretty good.
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...t-android-4-0/

6.8" screen, Android 4.0, 4GB storage, microSD...

fjtorres · 10-26-2013, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

This looks like it could be pretty good.
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...t-android-4-0/

6.8" screen, Android 4.0, 4GB storage, microSD...

About as good as current tech allows.
If it takes 64GB cards I might forget I don't need a new reader and go for it.

JSWolf · 10-29-2013, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

This looks like it could be pretty good.
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...t-android-4-0/

6.8" screen, Android 4.0, 4GB storage, microSD...

Because of the exchange rate the T68 is going to be rather expensive for what it is.

10-24-2013, 09:12 PM	#33
Rizla Member Retired Posts: 3,183 Karma: 11721895 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Nook STR (rooted) & Sony T2	The Aura HD light and screen in a Sony 650 chassis with the Nook ST's rootable Android OS. With buttons. Last edited by Rizla; 10-24-2013 at 09:20 PM.

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10-24-2013, 08:01 PM	#32
sneakyspider Ereader Addicts Anonymous Posts: 329 Karma: 1071692 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: USA, FL. Device: (2)KO2, PW7thGen., KT2, iPadMini1	I don't know if I really have a perfect ereader. It's why I have several of them, because my needs may change depending on my mood. Sometimes I like an LCD screen, sometimes e-ink. I like the large screen size in the Kindle DX, but also like the portability of my Aluratek Libre Pro.

10-24-2013, 10:00 PM	#34
stevenaleach Enthusiast Posts: 46 Karma: 134116 Join Date: Oct 2013 Device: Android Tablet	The one thing I've yet to see in any E-reader is acceptable battery life. The same can be said for tablets. All of the manufacturers are focused on making slimmer and lighter gadgets -- which means you get stuck with a tablet that has eight hours of battery life.... or an e-reader that claims to have the best battery life at two-months (cool!) -- but is based on only 1/2 hour a day of use (NOT even remotely cool!). I still can't believe that one -- calling thirty hours "two months based on 1/2 hour a day" is about the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard -- It has just a bit over one day of battery life, not two damn months. That's like saying a car that gets 30 mpg on the highway gets 300 mpg based on being towed 90% of the time. If someone can make an e-reader that could do two simple things, I would be delighted: 1) support epub, and 2) have a REAL two month battery life (at least), i.e: 2x30x24=1,440 hours. And really, why should this be so damned impossible? Consider first that an e-paper display doesn't consume any power when not being updated -- a simple reader based around a microcontroller and an SD card with physical page turn buttons wouldn't need to consume power until a button is pressed, then it would update the display and shut off again. Then there's the issue of battery size and weight: the Kobo Mini weighs less than five ounces and is 0.4" thick. You're average hard cover book weighs about two pounds. If the mini had to be bulked up to a couple inches thick and a pound or two in weight to provide the kind of battery life that I want, that's perfectly fine with me.

10-25-2013, 02:23 AM	#36
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,422 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	I would love to have the best of both the Touch and the Paperwhite: Frontlit display from Paperwhite, upgraded hardware, etc. but keep the physical home button, plus the ability to flip through chapters with a downward swipe. They removed that in the Paperwhite, and last I heard did not add it back. Also, keep the 4GB memory, which I find to be enough, but 2GB is sounds a little TOO cramped! I also want decent collections management, perhaps they can hire ixtab as a developer for that, and ESPECIALLY the ability to manage those from calibre! While I'm at it, I wish you could view your archived items in collections inside the cloud tab, and a general overhaul to the whole Amazon system of organizing your books. We need to be able to tag an change the metadata -- annoying authors sometimes give titles like: Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl, Book One) (Artemis Fowl (Quality)) Annihilation: R.A. Salvatore Presents The War of the Spider Queen, Book V (R.A Salvatore Presents the War of the Spider Queen) So You Want to Be a Wizard (digest): Young Wizards, Book One: 1 (Young Wizards Series) A Feast for Crows: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Four (Martin, George Rr) which is just plain wrong. I want to be able to see the page number directly while I read a book (now that they have had real page numbers for quite some time...) although I hear that may be part of the PW2? In which case it will probably make its way down to us Touch owners anyway, in the Goodreads update.

10-25-2013, 05:12 AM	#38
din155 Guru Posts: 880 Karma: 7556602 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: UK Device: Kindle PW, Win 10 thinkpad 8in	Five inch eink reader with front light (optional but great: that can turn into a ten inch screen for reading pdfs). We are telling our wishes right?

10-26-2013, 04:05 AM	#42
mikaelalind Fanatic Posts: 590 Karma: 788068 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Sweden Device: Sony PRS 505, Cybook Odessey	I know it is unlikely to happen ( since Bookeen told me so on Twitter yesterday), but I would love an updated Cybook Opus with a Pearl screen, and maybe some firmware updates too . I love my Odessey, but I really want an user replaceable battery.

10-26-2013, 09:00 PM	#43
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	This looks like it could be pretty good. http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...t-android-4-0/ 6.8" screen, Android 4.0, 4GB storage, microSD...