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Old 05-14-2011, 03:36 PM   #1
jbr950
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Pocketbook Pro 902/903 vs. Kindle DX with library lending

Hi All,
I recently decided to (gasp!) buy my first eReader. I was planning on going with Pocketbook Pro 902 (or 903 if I can find it), basically because it could read DRM protected ePub (so I could borrow books from my library).

But I just read that the Kindle line is getting library loaning later this year, which changes the situation for me.

Now I want to compare usability between the two readers, mostly note-taking, highlighting, and annotating. (and searching / retrieving comments and notes). Also, is there a dictionary on either device that's easy to use?

Can anybody comment on Kindle DX vs. Pocketbook Pro 902 or 903 with regard to usability as I described above?

Thanks!
Jon
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Old 05-14-2011, 08:19 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jbr950 View Post
Hi All,
I recently decided to (gasp!) buy my first eReader. I was planning on going with Pocketbook Pro 902 (or 903 if I can find it), basically because it could read DRM protected ePub (so I could borrow books from my library).

But I just read that the Kindle line is getting library loaning later this year, which changes the situation for me.

Now I want to compare usability between the two readers, mostly note-taking, highlighting, and annotating. (and searching / retrieving comments and notes). Also, is there a dictionary on either device that's easy to use?

Can anybody comment on Kindle DX vs. Pocketbook Pro 902 or 903 with regard to usability as I described above?

Thanks!
Jon
Hi jbr950
I'm a pocketbook 903 user. I have never tested a Kindle Dx, but, for what i have so far seen on internet, i think that the most important advantage of PB 902-903 over a kindle is versatility, i.e. PB e-reader can read a lot of formats, pdf, epub, doc files (only text), jpeg, djvu files ecc. Besides memory is bigger and you can expand it.
However, look at this page

https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_Reader_Matrix

to select a good e-reader for you.
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Old 05-16-2011, 04:35 AM   #3
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For what you want, I would recommend that you wait and see where things are going. The Kindle doesn't allow library lending just yet, and you should see how that goes, and pocketbook is still perfecting the note-taking, highlighting, and annotating functions.
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Old 05-16-2011, 02:15 PM   #4
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You might also look into the Sony 950, if it is available where you live. The screen isn't as large as the two models you're comparing, but the usability is supposedly very good (I don't own one; I've only heard others raving about it).
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Old 05-17-2011, 10:13 AM   #5
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The Kindle DX does not allow you to take notes and highlight a PDF. It does allow you to take notes, highlight, bookmark, and search all ebooks. The dictionary is easy to use and you can switch the dictionary to one that you buy (such as a foreign language dictionary) very easily. You can synch the notes across all Kindle Devices and Apps if you want and there is a website that allows you to access all of your notes and highlights for easy exporting.
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Old 05-17-2011, 01:48 PM   #6
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IMHO, i prefer the PB902 over the kindle, although it have some bugs, the features are there and usable. For me take a capture of the note, review later, bookmarks, change the fonts on epubs, have note taking on pdf, zoom pdf and scroll is good. Also, in this forum, you can get some applications that normally do not come on kindle, or you need the jailbreak the kindle to have more applications.

I am very happy with it.

just my 2 cents
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Old 05-18-2011, 12:24 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skydive View Post
IMHO, i prefer the PB902 over the kindle, although it have some bugs, the features are there and usable. For me take a capture of the note, review later, bookmarks, change the fonts on epubs, have note taking on pdf, zoom pdf and scroll is good. Also, in this forum, you can get some applications that normally do not come on kindle, or you need the jailbreak the kindle to have more applications.

I am very happy with it.

just my 2 cents
I'm definitely not a kindle advocate but that required some comment:

A) zoom pdf and scroll is good ?! you mean that feature they accidentally disabled and haven't fixed yet ?

B) Applications that need to be developed by a 3rd party cobbled together SDK because the official SDK is already about 2-3 months late in coming ?

C) You might need to jail-break the kindle but at least you can, since you can't do that for the pocketbook yet, even those applications that can be developed are limited in what they can do.
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Old 05-18-2011, 07:01 AM   #8
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A) I use adobeviewer, pdfviewer is the one that disable the pan /zoom feature

B) I am not a programmer so I do not take any advantage of this, although there is a lot a helpful programmers here that as they initiative, develop applications, and I am interested in test and provide feedback on their work so they can improve it.

C) I am satisfied with all features included


Quote:
Originally Posted by J.C. View Post
I'm definitely not a kindle advocate but that required some comment:

A) zoom pdf and scroll is good ?! you mean that feature they accidentally disabled and haven't fixed yet ?

B) Applications that need to be developed by a 3rd party cobbled together SDK because the official SDK is already about 2-3 months late in coming ?

C) You might need to jail-break the kindle but at least you can, since you can't do that for the pocketbook yet, even those applications that can be developed are limited in what they can do.
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Old 05-21-2011, 09:07 PM   #9
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For me Kindle is useless, limited formats and no card slot.

On Pocketbook I have two additional open-source readers (fbreader180, cr3),
and you can improve them yourself if you don't like something in them.

But as I am not interested in note taking at all, this specific area is unknown to me.
I use PocketBook 902 for reading books and for this purpose it is just perfect, especially with fbreader180 which allows to set corrects margins for such a large screen.

Maybe Kindle (9" version) owners can tell, can you set margins as large as 22 mm (almost an inch) each?
If not, for me Kindle does not exist
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Old 05-21-2011, 10:38 PM   #10
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My DXG works great for the reading I do. I have never had problems with "limited formats" because Amazons store is huge, I can buy Mobi books from other stores, and I know how to move an EPub book to my Kindle.

You cannot set margins. You can change line spacing and have a large number of font sizes to choose from.

I am comfortable with being able to store 3,500 books on my hard drive. I have a memory card slot on my K1 and never needed it and it only help 300 books.

I take notes in some books. If it is a series, I will take notes regarding who is who and how they are related to other folks. I love highlighting passages I find funny or interesting or important.

I am glad that your PB works well for you. My Kindle works great for me. I have three of them, the K1 is rarely used but the K3 and the DXG both see a good amount of use.
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Old 05-22-2011, 05:07 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ProfCrash View Post

You cannot set margins. You can change line spacing and have a large number of font sizes to choose from.
That is the main problem with Kindle, then.

All I want is to have a regular size book page (like 8" paperback) on my reader, so that it feels like I am reading a real book.

6" screen is too small, because such a regular size book usually has text size 7" (when margins, lines with page number and title are discarded).

The perfect solution: using 9" device and having such margins that leave the text size of 7" inside. If I use a font size similar to the one used in real books that are most comfortable for me to read, I get also a very comfortable width of text = length of the line of text (similar number of letters / words per line).
This is very important, if the line is too long, you have to follow it with your eyes left->right and then go back and search for the beginning of the next line.

An additional advantage of using wide margins is that wide white margins are very comfortable when reading words close to the edges of the page.
Then you can use a black device which makes the page look whiter.

Now, if you cannot set wide margins, then you have one of two:

1. Too long lines, too many letters in a line.
2. Or you have to use a font of a large size and read from a much greater distance.

In both cases, you also have text close to the edges of the screen, therefore you need a white device, not black, and therefore the page does not look as white.

So you see, the perfect solution is a 9" black device and wide margins (of approximately 22 mm from each of all 4 sides, but most importantly - the left and right margins).

From my experience: I bought a black 9" device fully expecting to be able to set those wide margins.
Unfortunately, the default software in PocketBook does not allow that.
The reading was pretty unpleasant.
Then I installed an open source fbreader180 and got the margins I needed:
the difference is like night and day. Now I cannot put the reader down, literally.
It is more comfortable than reading a real paper book for sure.
I got the practical confirmation, that the best way to read books is on 9" device with wide margins, as I planned all along.

Last edited by parkher; 05-22-2011 at 05:28 AM.
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Old 05-22-2011, 11:00 AM   #12
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I have never felt like I needed to adjust the margins and I have been using the DXG for about a year now. It reads just fine for me. (shrugs)

I think that is an individual taste thing.
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Old 05-23-2011, 06:13 AM   #13
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@parkher

I really enjoy being able to configure my device any way I want to, but it sounded like the OP just cared about library lending.
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Old 11-11-2011, 04:03 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by skydive View Post
IMHO, i prefer the PB902 over the kindle, although it have some bugs, the features are there and usable. For me take a capture of the note, review later, bookmarks, change the fonts on epubs, have note taking on pdf, zoom pdf and scroll is good. Also, in this forum, you can get some applications that normally do not come on kindle, or you need the jailbreak the kindle to have more applications.

I am very happy with it.

just my 2 cents
can you note taking on pdf with Porketbook902/903? I thought it is still in developint........
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Old 11-12-2011, 03:46 AM   #15
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yes you can - with the new firmware (still in beta) you can now take notes in both EPUB and pdf. But before you take the plunge, I'd wait for the final version of 2.1.2 (should be available by the end of november) and wait for some review. "Notetaking" means that you can highlight words and apragraphs, as well as make free-hand notes, and take a snapsot of the page to annotate free-hand. I am not sure about exporting notes, as I do not use/am not interested in this feature. In my device free-hand is still doable but slow, while for others it seems to work fine, so I guess it may still be a matter of fine tuning (or of my own stylus, got to investigate more).

Besides notetaking, the new firmware has some other features that I really love, like for instance the possibility to "multitask" so that you can have several books and applications open at the same time, and switch between them. If you work with it, it is a substantive change. Apparently (from the Ukranian forum) this drains the battery quite a lot (I am sure it does, but I have not noticed), and some people over there complain about it as they only want the device to read a single book, so I am not sure what will happen in the final version, but I do very much hope they keep the feature on (I think users are arguing for a choice to activate the multitasking or not - but bear in mind that google translate is what I go by, and it is far from perfect!
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