MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Manga E-reader, help needed!

Logseman · 03-09-2011, 08:52 PM

Let's see. I can't give much insight on the Asus reader, but maybe I can help you with the rest.

1) It's the correct choice not to buy an iRex unit. Aside of the obvious lack of support, you still get a device with an inferior screen quality and battery time than modern units.

2) I've read regularly in a Sony PRS-350 (Pearl) and in my Pocketbook 360 (Vizplex). In good light conditions, Pearl appears much clearer. However, under non-optimal conditions, the difference is much smaller. The response time of Pearl is faster, though.

3) Pocketbook readers (and their tablet, IQ) have some issues: nevertheless, the main complaints which exist, and which you will see in this forum, are mainly about promised features and updates which are promised and promised again, but the company never delivers. In essence, the core functionality of Pocketbook readers (including its superior PDF rendering) is all right, but it's annoying that you get promised updates which never arrive. That means, if you buy a Pocketbook reader, you should do it for what it can do now, which is rendering PDF better than anyone else. Future updates, which may come, of course, and so on are just gifts, don't count on them for your decision.

4) I think the only readers which support CBZ/CBR natively are the iRiver ones, because the software is open-source and the community has enhanced them. Nevertheless, you still can get excellent results with Calibre, converting CBZ/CBR files to PDF.

5) The PB903 does exist, and it has the same specifications than the PB902, except that 903 has a Wacom touch screen and a 3G module to insert SIM cards. Given that the SIM card is only good for buying in Pocketbook's book store, which is not ready still, you are mainly paying the extra 70 euro for the Wacom touch screen. You can scribble on it, but annotations are not possible as of today (though they've been promised as a future feature).

In my opinion, your workflow will probably be converting CBZ and CBR into PDF and reading the resulting PDF files. For that, Pocketbook readers are, as far as I know, better suited than other e-ink options (I opted for a tablet PC though, because e-Ink's slowness bores me while reading manga).

In case you go for PB, I and many other forum members have good experiences with the German store Pocketgoods.

03-09-2011, 08:52 PM	#2
Logseman Orisa Posts: 2,001 Karma: 1035571 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Ireland Device: Onyx Poke 5	Let's see. I can't give much insight on the Asus reader, but maybe I can help you with the rest. 1) It's the correct choice not to buy an iRex unit. Aside of the obvious lack of support, you still get a device with an inferior screen quality and battery time than modern units. 2) I've read regularly in a Sony PRS-350 (Pearl) and in my Pocketbook 360 (Vizplex). In good light conditions, Pearl appears much clearer. However, under non-optimal conditions, the difference is much smaller. The response time of Pearl is faster, though. 3) Pocketbook readers (and their tablet, IQ) have some issues: nevertheless, the main complaints which exist, and which you will see in this forum, are mainly about promised features and updates which are promised and promised again, but the company never delivers. In essence, the core functionality of Pocketbook readers (including its superior PDF rendering) is all right, but it's annoying that you get promised updates which never arrive. That means, if you buy a Pocketbook reader, you should do it for what it can do now, which is rendering PDF better than anyone else. Future updates, which may come, of course, and so on are just gifts, don't count on them for your decision. 4) I think the only readers which support CBZ/CBR natively are the iRiver ones, because the software is open-source and the community has enhanced them. Nevertheless, you still can get excellent results with Calibre, converting CBZ/CBR files to PDF. 5) The PB903 does exist, and it has the same specifications than the PB902, except that 903 has a Wacom touch screen and a 3G module to insert SIM cards. Given that the SIM card is only good for buying in Pocketbook's book store, which is not ready still, you are mainly paying the extra 70 euro for the Wacom touch screen. You can scribble on it, but annotations are not possible as of today (though they've been promised as a future feature). In my opinion, your workflow will probably be converting CBZ and CBR into PDF and reading the resulting PDF files. For that, Pocketbook readers are, as far as I know, better suited than other e-ink options (I opted for a tablet PC though, because e-Ink's slowness bores me while reading manga). In case you go for PB, I and many other forum members have good experiences with the German store Pocketgoods.