A manufacturer wants your opinion on 9.7" device features

[jee]

Larger formats are mostly used by researchers, students and professionals. Wi-fi, touch screen, stylus annotation option, keyboard input, web browser are absolutely necessary. I want to be able to download pdf articles directly from the web, without having to turn on my ugly notebook.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by mtravellerh

What's a Mini?

BeBook Mini...

[fishface]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

That's a problem I have with these 9.7" devices.

For most they're too big for casual reading of novels or any other type of straight text.

But they're still too small for 8.5"x11" documents in portrait mode, magazines, comics etc.

+1.

It must be a supplier-determined size point. That's what happens when you let somebody else's engineers dictate your product specs.

[carbonize]

Originally Posted by DannyElfman

As to me a reader is by nature a reader and not a tablet, I do not mind having a B&W display. Important features to me are dictionnary, search module, web browser + wifi (for wikipedia, forums like this one, articles, online newspapers, etc ...). A stylus would be useful for the web part.

I do agree that a reader should just be a reader but then you go on to say you would like it to have a web browser? Might as well just make a tablet then.

For me a good reader should have a legible screen, wide format support, touchscreen (just makes some things easier), search and a dictionary.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by jee

Larger formats are mostly used by researchers, students and professionals. Wi-fi, touch screen, stylus annotation option, keyboard input, web browser are absolutely necessary. I want to be able to download pdf articles directly from the web, without having to turn on my ugly notebook.

Yep as researcher/teacher (college prof) I really don't want a pure reader.

I want a full featured tablet with a big screen so I can read all my PDFs, search for articles and download them, have my calender and address book on their, mark up documents with stylus etc.

[Sweetpea]

Again, define tablet? In my lexicon a tablet is a computer. You can do (at least) basic computer tasks with that. So, text-editing, spreadsheets, some graphics, playing of multimedia content (music, video) and the ability to install applications.

A reader is a much simpler device, which is geared to make reading easier. So, limited functionality, only those functions that can make the life of a reader easier. A webbrowser can make the life a lot easier, as you can download your books from all webstores and other book sites. You will need some form of wireless connection for that, so either 3G and/or Wifi. Playing music can be be handy, if you like to listen to music while reading (I can't stand it, which is why I never use it). Playing movies will become more important as some people seem to thing that simple text based books aren't enough and books need to have sound, video and images to be interesting.

[dmaul1114]

If that's addressed to me, yes I more want a tablet PC.

Just not the big bulky tablet PCs that were laptops with flip around screens of the past, or the $2-3K slate PCs with short battery lives and still too bulky etc. Something like the iPad in terms of thinness, weight, battery life etc.--but with a screen a couple inches larger.

I don't necessarily need a full OS like Windows 7 etc. on it--though I do want a fuller OS than the iPhone OS on the iPad as I at least want a viewable file management system, ability to just drag and drop folders of documents on to the device and manually organize them etc.

But no full OS needed--as you note I'd do at most light computing on it--it would mainly be a reader and document mark up tool for me, that I also use as my calendar and do some web surfing, video watching (I'm MUCH more into movies and TV than I am reading for leisure) etc. I wouldn't do much in terms of writing, spreadsheets etc. as a pc/laptop with keyboard and mouse is superior for that kind of work.

[MrDrWatson]

I'm still searching for a good Comic Book Reader, so a colour screen will be essential and with the size to read 2 pages in landscape mode. I'm considering an Ipad but I still need to see it personally to see if the screen size is ok, it's fine for technical pdfs. For novels I have my trustworthy Sony prs 505, hasn't failed me yet so I'm not looking for a replacement, unless some really amazing product shows up.

*edit* I'm also searching for a Tablet PC like dmaul1114 described above.

[Xenophon]

I'm with WorldWalker on the feature list -- he hit most of my top desired features. I also agree with JSWolf (and whoever-else it was) on the subject of fonts, typography, kerning, auto-ligature support, etc.

A couple of things that I haven't seen mentioned yet:

• I want more pixel density. For a gray-scale reflective device like this, I want at least 300 DPI; 600-ish would be better. But I realize that they're at the mercy of the display manufacturers on this front.
• Tell them to check out the REB-1100 (a.k.a. eBookwise 1150) for good ergonomic ideas, especially with respect to support for any of the 4 sides being the "top", remappable buttons, and other issues of physical ergonomics. That ancient design is STILL superior to everything that has come since in the area of ergonomics.
• OPDS support should specifically include support for an OPDS catalog ON THE DEVICE. That is, I should be able to create and download on OPDS catalog that provides access to the books on the device -- with MY choices of how to group and display them, and MY choices of how to navigate through the catalog. In this mode, it should be possible to select a book from the catalog and immediately start reading in the appropriate reader program. This is currently supported on soft-rooted Nooks, and is the single feature that is making me want a Nook RIGHT NOW.

Also, the only reason I voted for a Web Browser was as an alternate way to get access to my own eBooks from my own server. OPDS support alone would be fine, as long as I can point it at any of (1) my library on my server, (2) my books currently on the device, or (3) the OPDS catalog provided by the eBook store of my choice.

Overall, my priority order for features would be:

1. Screen quality (DPI, contrast, etc.)
2. Size (I prefer 6" to 9.7" because my primary use is for fiction, not reference works)
3. format support (at least ePub, or it's right out)
4. physical ergonomics
5. Reader software (typographic issues, ease-of-use, etc.)
6. Organization issues (like OPDS support)
7. Other features as listed by other folks.

Xenophon

[Dulin's Books]

Originally Posted by fishface

+1.

It must be a supplier-determined size point. That's what happens when you let somebody else's engineers dictate your product specs.

Actually that's not the case as far as the e-ink film itself is concerned. I was talkign with one of the "ink" guys at SID recently and finally got to ask someone "where did that 7" panel for the Sony Daily come from" because I hadnt ever seen it mentioned anywhere from Eink or PVI or LG etc. He said they will cut panels to whatever size people ASK for. Sony ASKED for that 7 inch size so thats what they cut for them when they order it.

Of course some size choices are economical- how many displays can we get out of our film that is produced in rolls x wide. They'd prefer to cut in sizes that maximize the film used but nothing is stopping anyone from ordering film of a larger / different size- as we'll see soon with the LG displays.

[Godzil]

I think it come from LG, all 300 and 600 use LG eInk panel

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

Actually that's not the case as far as the e-ink film itself is concerned. I was talkign with one of the "ink" guys at SID recently and finally got to ask someone "where did that 7" panel for the Sony Daily come from" because I hadnt ever seen it mentioned anywhere from Eink or PVI or LG etc. He said they will cut panels to whatever size people ASK for. Sony ASKED for that 7 inch size so thats what they cut for them when they order it.

Of course some size choices are economical- how many displays can we get out of our film that is produced in rolls x wide. They'd prefer to cut in sizes that maximize the film used but nothing is stopping anyone from ordering film of a larger / different size- as we'll see soon with the LG displays.

It's definitely more of an issue with LCD tablets.

We're seeing so many 9.7" screens and smaller etc. as they're going with cheap netbooks screens, pda screens etc.

There's not really been many 12" screens or 8.5"x11" screens made regularly, so we've not seen anyone get one made and come out with LCD tablets that size.

Which is a shame as they're really needed for anyone that want's to use at able to read and mark out letter sized stuff instead of printing it out. Or read comics with out straining at the font size or using the crummy (IMO) panel-by-panel view etc.

[fishface]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

Of course some size choices are economical- how many displays can we get out of our film that is produced in rolls x wide. They'd prefer to cut in sizes that maximize the film used but nothing is stopping anyone from ordering film of a larger / different size- as we'll see soon with the LG displays.

Right, so the roll is X wide, the height or width of a 9.7" screen, plus bezel, is Y. Then Y divides X, or X = kY for some integer k; I'm now wondering what X/(k-1) would be and why nobody picks that (too huge?). The roll's gotta be pretty small (i.e., k<5) for it to matter so much.

[Dulin's Books]

Originally Posted by Godzil

I think it come from LG, all 300 and 600 use LG eInk panel

not the display- the e-ink film layer of the panel. i know the display panel comes from LG.

[SameOldStory]

A lot of posts say - "It's too big to carry, read a book on, etc".

I don't think that's its perpose.

It's like saying a Smart Car is the best size car to drive around in.



But people with different needs, say a large family, may have other requirments.