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Old 12-04-2010, 09:06 PM   #1
Quasinomer
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Question Looking for device advice

Hi, all. I'm new here, and begging for your wisdom!

For many years now, I have been searching for the elusive ‘perfect’ device. Perfect for me, at least. So far, despite hours poring over Internet searches and hundreds of dollars spent on what turned out to be inadequate electronics, I have failed. So I thought I’d try posting this here, and see if anyone out there can help.

My ‘perfect device’ requirements:

1. Lightweight, ultraportable. I intend to carry this thing around with me *a lot* - and I don’t mean in a bag or a pocket, I mean in my hands, while walking or sitting or reading and walking or sitting… So it has to be *really* light. About the weight of a paperback novel (or less) would be ideal, but I know this isn’t an ideal world, so just as light as possible. Screen size is not particularly important to me, and since small screen usually equals small device and lighter weight, I’m fine with a small screen.

2. Battery life. (I’m sure I’m *the only person in the world* to whom this matters. Or so you’d think from the utterly ridiculous battery life of some devices out there, am I right? I mean, really. All the wonderful sci-fi-turned-reality tech out there, and they can’t make a portable computer that will function for more than a few hours without being tied down to a power cable?! What use is that?) I’d like a minimum of eight hours with medium-heavy usage, but no playing of music or movie files. I am willing to settle for less than this if the battery is user-replaceable and I can carry around a spare or two.

3. Sunlight readability. I want a screen I can read easily in full sunlight. An E-Ink screen would be ideal, but the E-Ink devices I’ve looked at have failed to fulfil my next requirement.

4. Word-processing capability. Not just reading, but editing and creating documents. Preferably in Word (since I think that program is possibly the only thing Microsoft does really well), but I’m willing to compromise on this if necessary. I want a full word-processing program, though, not just Pocket Word. The device would probably need a touchscreen (or digitizer) in order for me to properly word-process, but a physical keyboard isn’t necessary as long as there’s an on-screen one. It might be nice, but I’d prefer to save the weight than have this feature.

5. Portrait orientation. I intend to spend most of my time holding the device and just reading, which feels more natural in portrait mode. So I want either a device in dedicated portrait mode or which can be easily switched to portrait view, and held thus without putting the buttons in awkward positions or somesuch.

Another thing I’d like, but it’s not a dealbreaker if I can’t get it, would be the ability to read .lit format e-books.

So, can anybody out there help me?
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Old 12-04-2010, 09:32 PM   #2
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Welcome to MobileRead, Quasinomer.
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Old 12-04-2010, 09:40 PM   #3
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Pretty much all of your e-ink readers meet your criterion except for the document creation bit. I don't think there are any e-readers that can do that. The Kindle and Sony are probably the easiest to use for annotating an e-book on the device but neither will allow you to create a new document.

You would need a tablet to handle document creation and those are going to be heavier and will not be as easy to use in the sun. The Nook Color is probably the lightest of the tablets available but I don't know if it can handle Word.

You might have to decide which features are most important to you and buy a reader based on that or wait a bit longer.
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Old 12-04-2010, 09:52 PM   #4
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If you are firm on the document creation ability then you want the NOOKcolor in 2-4 months or so. Currently only rooted NOOKColor's are creating documents on them but once Froyo is on the NOOKColor you will have full google docs and be able to author documents easily on the NOOKColor without any rooting.

The NOOKColor will be slightly heavier than an eINK display, it is basically a tablet with excellent ereader sw and a reader focus. It weighs slightly less than 1 LB, which is double what a paperback book weighs.

8 hours battery life is a trivial accomplishment in the ereader world if you go eInk. The NOOKColor doesn't live up to normal eInk battery life which tends to be measured in days (4 days, 8 days, 10 days, etc) but will run 10hrs without media playback and wifi use. The NOOKColor is a well designed LCD device. I will mention as both owner of both an eInk device and an LCD that the NOOKColor is easy to read but doesn't do as well in direct sunlight. OTOH in the lowlight conditions I experience in the Pacific Northwest winter, the NOOKColor is superior for 99% of my light conditions. As summer comes around I will want eInk for beach reading or anything is cloudless sunlight.

I hope this helps.
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Old 12-05-2010, 01:34 AM   #5
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The PocketBook 360 and 301+ meet your number 1, 2, and 3. Of the two devices, the 360 is the lightest at 5.3 oz, but it has a 5" screen where the 301+ has a 6". I've got a 301+ and have never been let down by it.
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Old 12-05-2010, 05:50 PM   #6
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I right with you on most of your wants. Extensive word processing is not necessary, but I do need to take notes and make notes on PDF knitting patterns. I have been waiting for the Pocketbook 603 - I am hoping it will meet most of my criteria. As I have been shopping I almost pulled the trigger on the Sony 350 for an interum until the PB603 comes out, but I noticed something that was a deal breaker for me - the "page blink"! I read ALOT - so for the time being I went with the Jetbook. The page does not have the high contrast like the kindle, sony and nook, but the page does not go totally black before the refresh - page turn is totally unnoticable and fast. The "page blink" was very annoying to me. I am hoping the PB603 will not do this as much. It is supposed to only completely refresh after every couple page turns so I hope it will not be as noticable. Does anyone know the technology the Jetbook uses?

Does anyone have any suggestions as to an ereader that does not have the "page blink"? I had to send the Jetbook back for a replacement - the SD card slot did not work. My first and foremost requirement is the ability to get books from my local library. I read enough that I would go poor if I had to buy all my books. I read an average of 1 to 2 books a week. I am happy with the Jetbook so far - except the card slot.
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Old 12-05-2010, 06:11 PM   #7
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Have a look at the Entourage Edge, it might fit your needs. If not for the word-processing pretty much any e-ink device would fit your needs. The Entourage Edge has a double screen, (LCD on one side, e-ink on the other), 9.7 inches:

https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/EnTourage_eDGe

There is also a 7 inch version:

http://www.entourageedge.com/devices/pocketedge.html

The website states that you can create Word, Power Point and Excel documents using the device.
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Old 12-05-2010, 06:13 PM   #8
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You're screwed. Nothing does all of that.
1, 2, 3 & 5 - Any eInk or reflective LCD screened 5" or 6" reader will work.
No. 5 - Nothing that meets the above does that.
No. 6 - Nothing reads .lit format books except MS Reader or a few licensed devices from Hanlin. The Astak readers are the ones I'm most familiar with.

Good Luck,
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Old 12-05-2010, 06:16 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Knit n' Read View Post
I right with you on most of your wants. Extensive word processing is not necessary, but I do need to take notes and make notes on PDF knitting patterns. I have been waiting for the Pocketbook 603 - I am hoping it will meet most of my criteria. As I have been shopping I almost pulled the trigger on the Sony 350 for an interum until the PB603 comes out, but I noticed something that was a deal breaker for me - the "page blink"! I read ALOT - so for the time being I went with the Jetbook. The page does not have the high contrast like the kindle, sony and nook, but the page does not go totally black before the refresh - page turn is totally unnoticable and fast. The "page blink" was very annoying to me. I am hoping the PB603 will not do this as much. It is supposed to only completely refresh after every couple page turns so I hope it will not be as noticable. Does anyone know the technology the Jetbook uses?

Does anyone have any suggestions as to an ereader that does not have the "page blink"? I had to send the Jetbook back for a replacement - the SD card slot did not work. My first and foremost requirement is the ability to get books from my local library. I read enough that I would go poor if I had to buy all my books. I read an average of 1 to 2 books a week. I am happy with the Jetbook so far - except the card slot.
All the e-ink devices have the "blink", but you stop noticing it after a day or so. I imagine that with the newer, faster devices like the Sony 350 or the Kindle 3 the blink is less noticeable than with my PRS-505. For something without the blink you'd have to look into LCD devices, either the backlit ones or the reflective lcd screens (like the Jetbook).

Last edited by Latinandgreek; 12-05-2010 at 06:21 PM.
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