Would you ever buy a non front-lit e-ink reader?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by caleb72

Interesting. I thought it might have been my imagination. I don't have a refresh every page, so perhaps that's it. I'll monitor the situation and experiment with the two settings and see if I notice any difference.

You will do. That is assuredly the reason for it.

[Yolina]

I have received a replacement PW which is much better and makes the whole front-lit reader experience far more enjoyable but I would still be happy to consider buying a non-lit device as for me the light isn't something essential.

[Leep]

I'm still using the original Kindle touch with the built-in lighted cover. It works so well that I just haven't found a good excuse to buy the Paperwhite. (Particularly after the newest software update)

Before the lighted cover, however, I went through at least 10 different reading lights.....none of were really satisfactory. If and when my Kindle Touch goes bye-bye, it's definitely a front lighted replacement. Long battery life and reading in any lighting condition are paramount for an ereader in my book. Love my tablet, but never read books on it just for those reasons.

cheers

[Synamon]

e-ink readers do seem to need a lot of ambient light, I use the built-in booklight on my case frequently, so a lighted eReader is a good idea. I haven't bought one yet, since there are features on my Kindle Keyboard that they don't have (audio, unhampered 3G, extra space), but eventually I'll will probably buy an eReader with a built in light.

[John Carroll]

My wife and I have ereaders that don't have the front-lit feature and we both want one that does. I can't imagine ever getting one without if I can afford a new ereader.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by toddos

So, a Nook with Glowlight? It's not the fancy high res screen, and the light is a bit bluer than the KPW, but in a side-by-side comparison between my Nook Glow and my wife's Kindle Paperweight in a completely dark room, both were great. As a bonus, I got mine for about 60% of the price of my wife's ($75 on craigslist for the Nook vs. $120 new from Amazon for the Kindle).

The Nook is not for sale here.
The Kindle for about two weeks...

Originally Posted by HarryT

The lighting certainly isn't perfectly uniform, but it's WAY better than any booklight, which is really what it's replacing.

That's something that would bother me to no end. I know I would want to see one in person before buying it...

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

That's something that would bother me to no end. I know I would want to see one in person before buying it...

Depends if you get to see a good one or a bad one!

The first PW I received was bad: murky with pink and green blotches and frankly not really usable in the dark or in less than good reading conditions.

The replacement is good: brighter, better contrast and no nasty colour blotches.

The difference between the two is staggering. It's obviously not totally even in low ambient light but it's not causing me any issues.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by caleb72

However, inside is a different story. When it is quite light inside, or I'm reading next to a window during the day, I find lighting the screen halfway improves the look of the screen considerably over my previous Kindle and if I light it just right it's not "glowy" at all, just crisp text on a much lighter grey background.

This is exactly the way I like it to be. I use the light to improve the look of the screen. I stop increasing it just before the point where it starts to look "glowy", as you describe it. In most places in my house, this point is around setting 12-13.

This is also the reason why I do not like to read in complete darkness. No matter how low I set the screen, it obviously always glows. Reading on the Kindle makes no difference to reading on a tablet, at least not for me. I have to have *some* ambient light, and then I adapt the brightness of the Kindle or tablet to it.

If I read on the Kindle in complete darkness, then the screen becomes some sort of white-blue-ish half-translucent "thing": like liquid light being poured between to sheets of glass, with letters floating in it. For some reason, the fonts are also smaller. They aren't of course, but it looks like that. Yesterday night (yesternight? ) I was reading in bed using my overhead light. I like the Kindle to be set to 12 or 13 to create a "I am reading a very high quality hardback"-experience. As soon as I switch off the light, the fonts seem to become two sizes smaller. I actually have to go in and increase them by two settings to keep the screen readable. It does not matter if I set the Kindle to 5, 13 or even 24. (Higher than 15 isn't even possible because it's just too bright.)

So, I use the Kindle's front light to augment the ambient light to a level at which the screen looks nice to me, not to read in complete darkness. Of course, the front light enables me to read in places where I otherwise would have needed to use a clip-on light.

[mr_nihilism]

I use the Arc & Mini combo for my reading, but I'm pretty sure my next e-reader will have lit tech included. I can see it as a standard feature within the next generation or two.

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by immutability

Last Friday I played with the friend's new Kobo Glo, and compared it to my Sony T1. I was excited about the front lit ePaper ever since I first heard about it. I don't use a clip-on light with my T1 but there are occasions when I need one.

I really liked the light. It's pretty uniform, and reminded me of the first laptops with BW passive LCDs back in the 90s. Also the improved resolution of the screen is nice. There are things I didn't like about Kobo, but that would mean comparing the readers and not the displays. If I was to choose again between the T1 and the Kobo Glo, it would be a difficult decision. If I was offered a T1 successor with a front lit screen, I'd definitely go for it. Even if I would use it 5% of the time, it would be nice to have.

I played with a Kobo Glo recently and felt the same way. I might pick one up for my husband. I would buy a new Sony reader with a lit screen in a heartbeat (provided that the display were the same as the Kobo's). The Kobo does seem like a great ebook reader, and it has a lot of features that I like, but it is lacking some things that I am used to on my Sony reader. If Sony does not produce a front lit reader next generation there is a good chance that I will purchase the newest iteration of the Kobo Glo. As it is I use covers with built in lights with my PRS-350 and T1, and I don't have a problem with them, but it would be a nice added feature to have a built in light, which would make for a less bulky package to carry. The added screen resolution is much more appealing to me than the built in light, to be honest. I really enjoy the added resolution on my 350 vs. the T1.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

If I read on the Kindle in complete darkness, then the screen becomes some sort of white-blue-ish half-translucent "thing": like liquid light being poured between to sheets of glass, with letters floating in it. For some reason, the fonts are also smaller. They aren't of course, but it looks like that. Yesterday night (yesternight? ) I was reading in bed using my overhead light. I like the Kindle to be set to 12 or 13 to create a "I am reading a very high quality hardback"-experience. As soon as I switch off the light, the fonts seem to become two sizes smaller. I actually have to go in and increase them by two settings to keep the screen readable. It does not matter if I set the Kindle to 5, 13 or even 24. (Higher than 15 isn't even possible because it's just too bright.)

Absolutely! I immediately increase my font sizes by one notch for the same reason you mention. It only happens when I don't really have ambient light.

[Katsunami]

Curious, isn't it? Reading on my tablet (websites) in complete darkness does not have this effect. The screen just stays the same, as do the fonts. Only the Kindle has that "liquid light between two sheets of glass with smaller letters floating inside"-effect.

[hidari]

Against the grain here.... Just bought a Kobo mini.... All my readers do not have lights and they read just fine. As one said earlier....yet another thing to go wrong. At night, in bed once in a while read on my android phone...otherwise daytime... never had a problem with any screen from any reader...even going back to the 505 and the originally Cybook...

[Andy_T]

Interesting to see that most here are really happy with their frontlit readers.
I only had a negative experience with a Paperwhite that was not as sharp as my Kindle Keyboard (first series) which has kept me from making another trial so far (using my Kindle Fire instead), but there seems a good chance that I might be happy with another trial at some point in the future, when product quality is seen generally as stable.

Best regards,
Andy

[Rizla]

I'm happy to wait for the moment. It seems to me that the technology remains immature. But ultimately I do want front-lighting.