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Old 07-31-2010, 02:21 PM   #22
Lady Fitzgerald
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Posts: 2,013
Karma: 251649
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Tempe, AZ, USA, Earth
Device: JetBook Lite (away from home) + 1 spare, 32" TV (at home)
Obviously, my computer but only recently did it become practical for me when I started using calibre a few months ago and found its built in reader worked well when reading from my 32" TV screen. It made reading in bed much more comfortable. When I move into a travel trailer in a year or two, I'll be able to read on both the bedroom and living/dining room TVs. A wireless mouse works well for a "remote."

I had been holding off on buying a reader until prices and functionality met up with each other. The vast majority of my e-Books are (and will be) PDFs made by scanning my Dead Tree Books. Since I have so many to scan, and will have more because used DTBs are both less expensive and are DRM free, it is not practical for me to run the scans through OCR, then edit them for the ubiqitous errors. That means any reader I use will need to be able to zoom on the image of each page to fill the width of the screen and then scroll down the page. When the older Mentor went on sale at Newegg for less than 50% of the normal price, I ordered it. I love it for "normal" e-books (the 6" screen is addicting) but it isn't practical for all but the smallest of my PDF books since it has no zoom. I almost sent it back but decided to hang onto it to see if any firmware upgrades further down the pike will make it more versatile. It also came with a very nice real leather case and also has a user changeable battery.

While other readers touted the ability to zoom in on images, the Jetbook Lite looked especially attractive because it uses AA batteries instead of the usual proprietary Li-Ion batteries. I carry a slew of Sanyo Eneloops with me for my devices, especially my cameras so the ability to replace batteries in the field instead of being tethered to a source of power for the charger was also attractive. Turns out the JBL was much better suited for reading my PDFs since it has a Fit Width function which maximizes the usable real estate on its 5" screen (which feels tiny since I'm spoiled by the 6" Mentor). Scrolling down the page takes a bit of getting used to but I adapted. It is a compromise over a reader equal in size to the original page. A larger reader would be more readable but a 5" or 6" depending on design) will fit in my purse. The JBL didn't come with a case and the one that is available is overpriced (around $45 plus shipping) and is just a sleeve. I do not wish to fool around with pulling a reader out of a sleeve to be able to use it. Another poster on these forums came up with a clever way to modify the case to make it easier to use but for that amount of money and effort, I'll resurrect my rusty leatherworking skills and make a really nice one (tooled and double laced) someday (I'll wait until after the end of year Holiday season to make sure something better hasn't come down the pike).The JBL does not feel as well built as the Mentor but time will tell as to how well it will hold up. A case will go a long way toward protecting it from breakage as will keeping it in my purse when I'm not using it.

I have a netbook but it's too bulky and is too limited in battery life to use for a portable reader.
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