A self imposed present

[medfield]

New to the Forums, hello to all. I have searched through posts to my times extent and reached a foggy swamp, hopefully you can help me find my way through.

My choice has come upon a crossroads and I have thought of taking the units of ten posters, writing them down and choosing blindly.

Rationally my choice is not based upon the convenience of buying books or an ebook store layout and I could not justify spending the money of an iliad reader to my girlfriend. I have felt the sony and kindle at a local store and have come to a conclusion that I can get use to any case/button layout. The only requirements are overall document support and button durability. Organizing into folders would be helpful but not necessary.

Would it be fair to say that most 6 inch readers have typically the same hardware specs, just a different layout?

Is there a "bugtrac" like list of bugs per reader? From what I have read the prs series seems to be well developed by now, but the jetbook is lacking.

I really dont see much difference between the cybook, prs, astak and hanlin series besides default memory and preferred software/button layouts. Some claim more bugs are present than others, is this what pushes most to the prs series? The cybook/astak ez reader seem nice due to their high internal capacity, not needing to remember where I put the SD card or USB stick.

Another question would be the rss format, in the 6 inch line do all readers need a usb connection to update feeds.....or can some do this via wireless connection.

Currently I use a netbook for digital reading, but my attention span for IRC or solitaire has a tendency to interrupt my reading. The main use for this ereader would be school notes and ebooks. Format of notes/material varies since I am a student, quite often DOC/PDF for school and other typical formats. I realize the size of A4 but I am willing to try a useable "zoom" fucntion or attempt a change in formatting when possible.

Any response would be gratefully appreciated.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by medfield

I have felt the sony and kindle at a local store and have come to a conclusion that I can get use to any case/button layout. T

Welcome to MobileRead, medfield.

Just curious..........you saw a Kindle at a local store? From a customer, perhaps?

If not, which store?

[medfield]

it was a shop owner at a local gas station, he had just bought the sony 505 and had the original kindle there as well.....he preferred the sony

[emellaich]

Originally Posted by medfield

Currently I use a netbook for digital reading, but my attention span for IRC or solitaire has a tendency to interrupt my reading. The main use for this ereader would be school notes and ebooks. Format of notes/material varies since I am a student, quite often DOC/PDF for school and other typical formats. I realize the size of A4 but I am willing to try a useable "zoom" fucntion or attempt a change in formatting when possible.

I was with you until this last statement. This throws my recommendation set into a tailspin. As far as I can tell, none of the popular ebook's are great at note taking. I have heard the most positive response for one of the Irex models, but frankly I just don't think e-ink is well suited to note taking -- at least in its previous incarnation.

Many novices focus on the way that e-ink flashes when it changes pages. They think this is a big deal. I've never heard anyone who owns an e-ink device who had problems with the page flash. H

owever, it does disguise a problem that would impact your scenario. Let's look at your description of zooming in to read a pdf. If you were on a PC you could 'grab' the page with your mouse and slide it around to continue reading. On e-ink you have more difficulty moving the page since it must 'flash'. In the future this may be minimized with the advent of new display controllers, but it is a problem with current devices.

As far as I know, the Kindle (maybe the Irex???) is the only choice for wireless rss feeds. Depending on how you do this, and what changes Amazon makes in its future pricing, there may be a fee for this in the future.

In terms of bugs, any modern electronic device seems to have its share. However, I believe the Sony and Amazon devices are pretty solid within the limits of the technology. The Etaco Jetbook also seems to have its supporters. However, I am not a big fan of the Cybook. Mine had its share of problems. I would dismiss this as normal in a first generation device but I wasn't impressed with their customer service. I do think that others here would disagree with me and are happy with their Cybook.

In the end, if you goal is really note taking and PDF's and you want to do it electronic, and you need it now I would encourage you to consider a tablet PC instead of an ebook.

[medfield]

I see how that statement can be misleading, my wording isnt quite up to par. The unit wouldnt be to take notes, but to read them. Most of my schooling revolves around notes posted before class/lab, an ereader would reduce my need for a bulky printer and allow me to stash my books as well.

My girlfriend has finally turned in my favor allowing my pricing to go up a bit. Upon further reading the EZ book seems intriguing, maybe I should wait for a new one to come out.