Recomendations on a reader for a Fast book reader?

dragoncat · 10-19-2009, 11:13 AM

Hi everyone,

I've been researching ereaders for about a month now. Still haven't found exactly what I would like. I am a fast reader. (abt. 50-75 pages an hour depending on if it's hardback or paper back. Also depends on how long I've waited for a new book by any favorite author to come out! Those get devoured at 80-90 pages an hour. ) I mainly read sci-fi/fantasy, mixed genre, classics, and suspense/horror. I like both older and new stuff.

No one within a 45-60 minute drive has any readers for me to check out. (One of the cons of living in an area with lots of little towns.) Due (not do, sorry

) to kids in school and the hubby's work schedule trying to get further out isn't feasible any time soon. I really don't want to put 2 or 3 ereaders on the credit cards to "try them out" and then have to deal with returning them.

My main worry with a 5 inch screen is that I'll spend more time turning pages than actually reading. I'd like to keep the total cost under $300. Any help or advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

AnemicOak · 10-19-2009, 11:16 AM

If there's no Target or Wal-Mart close enough to check out a Sony 505 I guess you could maybe check out the videos on Youtube of various readers and maybe get an idea :shrugs: that's all that comes to me immediately.

FWIW I read fairly quickly (3-6 books a week) and haven't found current readers to be a problem. IIRC it took me about 20-30 'pages' to get accustomed using the 505 back when I got it a couple years ago.

dragoncat · 10-19-2009, 11:41 AM

I've got wal-mart close by, but none of them actually carry any ereaders. Got some really odd looks from my local one. The people back in our electronics dept. had no idea what I was asking about. (Of course that's not that unusual at our store!) I've looked at you-tube videos, but that doesn't give me any actual hands on input. Which is what I'm hoping people on here will be able to provide!

The closest Target to me is almost 2 hours away. (4 hour round trip, nor really something I can do during the week with kids in elementary school.)

Thanks for the advice though!

Terisa de morgan · 10-19-2009, 11:47 AM

I'm a quite fast reader too (perhaps a normal paperback in 4 hours if I like it a lot), and turning pages hasn't been an annoyance for me in a PDA (or an iPhone now), so 5" wouldn't be an annoyance (6" as my Cybook isn't it either).

sassanik · 10-19-2009, 01:24 PM

I don't know that I would say one ereader would be better than another for a fast reader. I think what type of books is probably more the issue, and what formats they are available in.

I have a EB1150 and a Cool-er and the time it takes to turn a page on the screen is not very long on either of them.

I would check out Fictionwise and Books on Board as well as Amazons ebook inventories and make sure they carry what type of books you like to read and then pick which reader you like based on that. Though if you are willing to take the time to convert stuff what formats your ereader reads is not as big a deal.

Amy

wallcraft · 10-19-2009, 01:43 PM

I don't think the page turn will end up being an issue. I have never timed a page turn in a real book, but it is often said here that an EInk page turn takes no longer than turning a page in a real book (you may have to make more turns per book with EInk though, depending on the font size you use). What can be annoying to some is the inverse flash on each page turn that keeps the screen from ghosting. However, for most people the page turn is a non-issue within the first few minutes of use.

Another alternative is the Ectaco Jetbook, which uses a 5" reflective grayscale LCD. So its page turns are very fast. These cost less than $200, and there is a new Ectaco Jetbook Lite about to be introduced for $150. The battery might only last you a day or two with heavy reading. The other issue with the Jetbook is that it does not support any DRM (encryption). Many new ebooks are restricted to a small set of devices by DRM, and DRM-free devices are out of luck. However, Ectaco appears to be adding eReader (B&N) DRM support to its readers. It is also possible to remove the DRM from most ebook formats.

DrMoze · 10-19-2009, 02:40 PM

I have a SOny 300 (and a 505, ok, and a 500 too!) and it has a completely comfortable reading experience. I would say there is a tiny bit more hesitation when pressing the pageturn button on the 300 than the 505. But the flashing part is fine--the new page is ready when your eyes get back up to the top of the screen. I simply found a rhythm where I press the pageturn when I start the last line of text, and the screen flashes right when I finish the line. It's completely unconscious now. My opinion is, don't worry about the "speed" of page turning. It doesn't slow me down at all, and I'm a fairly fast reader. And the 300 is a great portable e-ink device--feels solid, fits in my front pants/jeans pocket.

kelly1010 · 10-19-2009, 02:49 PM

I have a sony 505 and never even notice the page turns. It probably takes a second, but to me, it's really no slower than me turning a page myself.

Elfwreck · 10-19-2009, 03:03 PM

I read sci-fi paperbacks at about 100 pages/hour, and I've had no problems with (well-formatted) ebooks on the Sony Reader.

Loading the book for the first time can take a while (10 sec-2 min, depending on filesize and type), and some badly-made PDFs take longer to turn pages than I'm comfortable with, but all the reflow formats (LRF, ePub, RTF, txt) work fine; the pages turn quicker than I can turn paper pages.

Where you'll notice the page turn speed is when you want to back up three or four pages to check some detail; in those cases, the page turning seems slow. (In paper books, very few people flip back one page at a time; they grab two or three and flip through them. Ebooks don't have that option.)

LDBoblo · 10-20-2009, 03:55 AM

Speed isn't an issue if you only read linearly and don't skip around much. Any reader would be suitable.

5" is a little on the small side for reasonably-formatted book blocks. Even 6" is a little smaller than would be ideal, but it's doable. I make my books for my POS-505 using 8-9pt typefaces and it works reasonably well...but some would complain that the text is too small. If you deal with low-quality formats like epub though, you don't need to worry about size because you can just resize/reflow the text.

Ben0 · 03-01-2010, 04:56 PM

For sheer speed you can't beat the Ectaco JetBook Lite with TXT or EPUBs, the TFT LCD makes all the difference, you can even set it to auto-turn the pages!

aliettedb · 03-01-2010, 05:12 PM

I'm a fairly fast reader as well (3-4 hours for a paperback), and I'm using a 5'' Bebook Mini with no particular problem. At first, I attempted to make the text small in order to minimise page turns, but that ended mostly with me screwing up my eyes, so I've given up and gone to a more normal font size. I have no speed problem even while turning pages at this rhythm.

Lindca2 · 03-03-2010, 11:58 AM

One thing I like about my Cybook is the option to use any of 12 different font sizes. The smallest font size is smaller than those I've seen on other readers and the largest is larger. I'm also a fast reader and like to use the smallest fonts size--maximizing the words per screen and minimizing page turns.

Darqref · 03-03-2010, 11:48 PM

I'm going to come at this from a different direction. I've had an older Rocket ebook (similar to the eb1150, but yet older transfer interface) as well as my current Gen3. All the E-Ink readers are rated in "number of pages per battery charge." I've NEVER reached that number of pages.

I generally manage to read 2-3 small books or 1 to 1.5 larger ones before needing to recharge. (that's small novels, not short stories.) And the battery takes several hours to recharge, and I can't read while it recharges.

Actually, at my reading speed, I got more books read per charge on my Rocket than I do on my Gen3. I prefer the E-ink screen, but wish the battery would last longer. The only way I get weeks per charge is if I don't read for several days.

So, given my history, I'd recommend one of the lcd based readers, because their battery will last a certain number of hours of run-time, "regardless" (I think) of the speed at which you change pages. Of course, you may decide the lcd screen looks worse, in which you should at least look at the E-ink screens.

And, if you turn pages fast, the placement of the buttons (or sensitivity of the touch screen) makes a significant difference. Make sure you try one of the units while sitting in a chair similar to what you normally use, or even lying down, to get a familiar posture.

Because of the way the buttons feel in my hands, I won't buy another one with only the D button of the Netronix clones, or even other models that have similar button types.

10-19-2009, 11:13 AM	#1
dragoncat Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: ohio Device: astak ppro	Recomendations on a reader for a Fast book reader? Hi everyone, I've been researching ereaders for about a month now. Still haven't found exactly what I would like. I am a fast reader. (abt. 50-75 pages an hour depending on if it's hardback or paper back. Also depends on how long I've waited for a new book by any favorite author to come out! Those get devoured at 80-90 pages an hour. ) I mainly read sci-fi/fantasy, mixed genre, classics, and suspense/horror. I like both older and new stuff. No one within a 45-60 minute drive has any readers for me to check out. (One of the cons of living in an area with lots of little towns.) Due (not do, sorry ) to kids in school and the hubby's work schedule trying to get further out isn't feasible any time soon. I really don't want to put 2 or 3 ereaders on the credit cards to "try them out" and then have to deal with returning them. My main worry with a 5 inch screen is that I'll spend more time turning pages than actually reading. I'd like to keep the total cost under $300. Any help or advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated! Thanks Last edited by dragoncat; 10-19-2009 at 11:54 AM.

10-19-2009, 11:16 AM	#2
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	If there's no Target or Wal-Mart close enough to check out a Sony 505 I guess you could maybe check out the videos on Youtube of various readers and maybe get an idea :shrugs: that's all that comes to me immediately. FWIW I read fairly quickly (3-6 books a week) and haven't found current readers to be a problem. IIRC it took me about 20-30 'pages' to get accustomed using the 505 back when I got it a couple years ago. Last edited by AnemicOak; 10-19-2009 at 11:18 AM.

10-19-2009, 01:24 PM	#5
sassanik Guru Posts: 774 Karma: 1211741 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Oregon Device: EB1150, iPhone, Cool-er Purple, Pocketbook 360, Kindle Fire	fast reader I don't know that I would say one ereader would be better than another for a fast reader. I think what type of books is probably more the issue, and what formats they are available in. I have a EB1150 and a Cool-er and the time it takes to turn a page on the screen is not very long on either of them. I would check out Fictionwise and Books on Board as well as Amazons ebook inventories and make sure they carry what type of books you like to read and then pick which reader you like based on that. Though if you are willing to take the time to convert stuff what formats your ereader reads is not as big a deal. Amy

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10-19-2009, 11:41 AM	#3
dragoncat Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: ohio Device: astak ppro	I've got wal-mart close by, but none of them actually carry any ereaders. Got some really odd looks from my local one. The people back in our electronics dept. had no idea what I was asking about. (Of course that's not that unusual at our store!) I've looked at you-tube videos, but that doesn't give me any actual hands on input. Which is what I'm hoping people on here will be able to provide! The closest Target to me is almost 2 hours away. (4 hour round trip, nor really something I can do during the week with kids in elementary school.) Thanks for the advice though!

10-19-2009, 11:47 AM	#4
Terisa de morgan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,233 Karma: 11768331 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Madrid, Spain Device: Kobo Clara/Aura One/Forma,XiaoMI 5, iPad, Huawei MediaPad, YotaPhone 2	I'm a quite fast reader too (perhaps a normal paperback in 4 hours if I like it a lot), and turning pages hasn't been an annoyance for me in a PDA (or an iPhone now), so 5" wouldn't be an annoyance (6" as my Cybook isn't it either).

10-19-2009, 01:43 PM	#6
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,975 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	I don't think the page turn will end up being an issue. I have never timed a page turn in a real book, but it is often said here that an EInk page turn takes no longer than turning a page in a real book (you may have to make more turns per book with EInk though, depending on the font size you use). What can be annoying to some is the inverse flash on each page turn that keeps the screen from ghosting. However, for most people the page turn is a non-issue within the first few minutes of use. Another alternative is the Ectaco Jetbook, which uses a 5" reflective grayscale LCD. So its page turns are very fast. These cost less than $200, and there is a new Ectaco Jetbook Lite about to be introduced for $150. The battery might only last you a day or two with heavy reading. The other issue with the Jetbook is that it does not support any DRM (encryption). Many new ebooks are restricted to a small set of devices by DRM, and DRM-free devices are out of luck. However, Ectaco appears to be adding eReader (B&N) DRM support to its readers. It is also possible to remove the DRM from most ebook formats.

10-19-2009, 02:40 PM	#7
DrMoze Booknut Posts: 858 Karma: 2852 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: West Palm Beach, Florida! Device: Sony Reader 500/505/300/350, Nook Glowlight Plus (6")	I have a SOny 300 (and a 505, ok, and a 500 too!) and it has a completely comfortable reading experience. I would say there is a tiny bit more hesitation when pressing the pageturn button on the 300 than the 505. But the flashing part is fine--the new page is ready when your eyes get back up to the top of the screen. I simply found a rhythm where I press the pageturn when I start the last line of text, and the screen flashes right when I finish the line. It's completely unconscious now. My opinion is, don't worry about the "speed" of page turning. It doesn't slow me down at all, and I'm a fairly fast reader. And the 300 is a great portable e-ink device--feels solid, fits in my front pants/jeans pocket.

10-19-2009, 02:49 PM	#8
kelly1010 Book Addict! Posts: 533 Karma: 1070 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: CA Device: Sony PRS-505, iPod Touch, Kindle 3G + Wi-Fi	I have a sony 505 and never even notice the page turns. It probably takes a second, but to me, it's really no slower than me turning a page myself.

10-19-2009, 03:03 PM	#9
Elfwreck Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,185 Karma: 25133758 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)	I read sci-fi paperbacks at about 100 pages/hour, and I've had no problems with (well-formatted) ebooks on the Sony Reader. Loading the book for the first time can take a while (10 sec-2 min, depending on filesize and type), and some badly-made PDFs take longer to turn pages than I'm comfortable with, but all the reflow formats (LRF, ePub, RTF, txt) work fine; the pages turn quicker than I can turn paper pages. Where you'll notice the page turn speed is when you want to back up three or four pages to check some detail; in those cases, the page turning seems slow. (In paper books, very few people flip back one page at a time; they grab two or three and flip through them. Ebooks don't have that option.)

10-20-2009, 03:55 AM	#10
LDBoblo Wizard Posts: 1,385 Karma: 16056 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Asia Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Sony PRS-505	Speed isn't an issue if you only read linearly and don't skip around much. Any reader would be suitable. 5" is a little on the small side for reasonably-formatted book blocks. Even 6" is a little smaller than would be ideal, but it's doable. I make my books for my POS-505 using 8-9pt typefaces and it works reasonably well...but some would complain that the text is too small. If you deal with low-quality formats like epub though, you don't need to worry about size because you can just resize/reflow the text.

03-01-2010, 04:56 PM	#11
Ben0 Retired Field Engineer Posts: 21 Karma: 62 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Daly City, CA Device: Astak EZ Reader Pro, Ectaco JBL	For sheer speed you can't beat the Ectaco JetBook Lite with TXT or EPUBs, the TFT LCD makes all the difference, you can even set it to auto-turn the pages!

03-01-2010, 05:12 PM	#12
aliettedb Member Posts: 14 Karma: 12028 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: Kobo Glo	I'm a fairly fast reader as well (3-4 hours for a paperback), and I'm using a 5'' Bebook Mini with no particular problem. At first, I attempted to make the text small in order to minimise page turns, but that ended mostly with me screwing up my eyes, so I've given up and gone to a more normal font size. I have no speed problem even while turning pages at this rhythm.

03-03-2010, 11:58 AM	#13
Lindca2 Member Posts: 21 Karma: 20 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: Nook Wifi, Cybook Gen 3	One thing I like about my Cybook is the option to use any of 12 different font sizes. The smallest font size is smaller than those I've seen on other readers and the largest is larger. I'm also a fast reader and like to use the smallest fonts size--maximizing the words per screen and minimizing page turns.

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03-03-2010, 11:48 PM	#14
Darqref space cadet Posts: 330 Karma: 2963633 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Seattle area Device: Rocket PRO, gen3, Pocketbook360	I'm going to come at this from a different direction. I've had an older Rocket ebook (similar to the eb1150, but yet older transfer interface) as well as my current Gen3. All the E-Ink readers are rated in "number of pages per battery charge." I've NEVER reached that number of pages. I generally manage to read 2-3 small books or 1 to 1.5 larger ones before needing to recharge. (that's small novels, not short stories.) And the battery takes several hours to recharge, and I can't read while it recharges. Actually, at my reading speed, I got more books read per charge on my Rocket than I do on my Gen3. I prefer the E-ink screen, but wish the battery would last longer. The only way I get weeks per charge is if I don't read for several days. So, given my history, I'd recommend one of the lcd based readers, because their battery will last a certain number of hours of run-time, "regardless" (I think) of the speed at which you change pages. Of course, you may decide the lcd screen looks worse, in which you should at least look at the E-ink screens. And, if you turn pages fast, the placement of the buttons (or sensitivity of the touch screen) makes a significant difference. Make sure you try one of the units while sitting in a chair similar to what you normally use, or even lying down, to get a familiar posture. Because of the way the buttons feel in my hands, I won't buy another one with only the D button of the Netronix clones, or even other models that have similar button types.