Front-lit sub-6" readers with buttons?
 

When I picked up the 4.3" Pyrus mini, I thought it would just be a gimmick-y gadget that would be too small, but surprisingly, I find it ergonomically superior to the Kobo Glo and really enjoy reading on it.

Size and weight aside, I think what makes the real difference for me are the page-turn buttons that the Pyrus mini has. Having to page-turn more often (less text per page) is still nicer than having to swipe or touch. It fits in my palm and the index finger rests comfortably on the buttons. Just feels natural to me.

On the other side, the Kobo has the front lights, which I really appreciate and that are essential for late night or early morning reading.

I haven't seen any, but I still wanted to check: Are there any e-ink/digital ink readers that are smaller than 6 inches, have front lights and page-turn buttons?

No, there are no front-lit 5" readers, either with or without buttons.

Thanks! I feared that might be the case. Oh well, perhaps some time in the future. :)

Are there any readers, of any size, that are front-lit and have page turn buttons? I have been waiting on news of the next Sony but so far I haven't seen anything firm. From what I see the PW and the Glo don't have buttons?

That's right, they have touch screens.

One that I know of is the 6" model from Bookeen:

http://www.bookeen.com/en/cybook-odyssey-hd-frontlight

It has physical buttons, a touchscreen and it is front-lit. I'm kind of tempted, but haven't dug for reviews yet.

Edit: Not a single one on eBay (Germany), though accessories are offered. In Germany, I found only one vendor who sells it, and that is the bookstore tied to it (Thalia, which I never heard of, but that doesn't say much). Costs as much as the Glo, and I'm not sure if I really need another device, though physical page-turn buttons would be lovely to have. Still, weird that there are none on eBay.

The Nook Glowlight has buttons as well as a touch screen. But the lighting is pretty bad - much brighter near the top edge, and the other edges are also brighter than the rest of the page.

Hmmm, I haven't noticed that on mine. The lighting has been even on mine so far, and I do like the placement of the buttons (even though the width of the edges around the screen do make the gadget less "pretty and sleek" looking as the others).

I'd prefer the buttons to be wider - the thin ridge hurts after a while.

Perhaps the lighting varies from device to device, but mine is clearly uneven at the top, where the eight LEDs cast little blobs of light in the top 2mm or so. The other edges are nothing like as bad, but are still a bit brighter than the rest of the page. But it's the top that's really bad. I do agree that the lighting over the main body of the page is nicely even.

The new Onyx has buttons and a light.

Thanks, I'll check those out and see what Sony comes up with for the T3.

I ended up ordering the Bookeen, shortly before I read about Sony introducing a new model later in the year (the Onyx looks sexy too, but it is larger). Oh well, new gadgets are fun. This review from another MR user convinced me of giving it a try: http://flackoverflow.com/e-reader-review/. Should be here by end of the week.

ERAS (E-Reader Acquisition Syndrome) seems to become an "issue" for me. :)

In a couple of posts in the speculation thread about the T3, it was mentioned that only the Sonys allow direct download from Overdrive. Is this correct? I would have thought that any device with a basic web browser would be able to do it? Although I sideloaded my 300, since using the T1 I have gotten used to the convenience of downloading direct from my public libraries. Since the vast majority of books I read are from the libraries, this is a significant factor for me, more so than front lighting. Especially since I now use my tablet for most of my web browsing and my "home" laptop is hardly ever switched on. (The work laptop lives at work.)

As far as I know this is correct. The problem isn't with downloading the book perse, it's that the other readers can't authorize the book with ADE on the reader itself so you could read it. I guess somewhere in the Sony firmware it has some sort of (stripped down?) version of ADE that allows the device to authorize the book whereas the others don't have that ability.

Thanks robko. I guess I will be staying with Sony then. T3 if frontlit, otherwise T2 or another T1 if discounted. (I *like* my shiny red bezel!)