MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Your thoughts on the best non e-ink device?

MrFinch · 09-11-2008, 01:26 AM

Greetings all,

First of all, thanks to everyone who posts here-I've lurked for lo these many moons and done a lot of reading and soaked up a wealth of information

Recently, I purchased a BeBook for a close friend of mine. Her requirements for the device (multi format, ease of use, not reading any DRM books and so on) were the same as mine, so she asked me to place the order on her behalf, and then set the device up when it arrived, as she's not that particularly technically minded. She just wants to read the sucker.

Sooooooo....along comes the BeBook in the post. Can't fault the customer service or the promptness of the transaction, but...the device itself is godawful.

I'd been looking foward to getting my hands on it, because I was going to buy one next. However...the eInk screen is just terrible. In strong light its not too bad (but decidely greyish and dead-looking) and in any other sort of light it looks like the text is floating above the screen. Throw in the glacial speed of page turns and the horror of the inverted image flash as the page redraws and all I had by the end of the day was a splitting headache and a severely lowered set of expectations.

This has caused me to re-think my own reader requirements somewhat. Currently I'm using a Nokia 770. I love it to death, but I would like a bigger screen-and that's my only beef with this particular device. Love the supersharp screen (and now realise how much I love the backlight, after doing without one on the BeBook!). So-any recommendations for me folks? Here's my major requirements for a reader:

NOT eInk

must be backlit

able to read a variety of formats would be very nice

DRM is not an issue. I refuse to sully any of my devices with such a thing.

a little beeeeger than the Nokia 770 would be nice...

09-11-2008, 01:26 AM	#1
MrFinch Collector Posts: 34 Karma: 88 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Melbourne, Australia Device: Nokia 770	Your thoughts on the best non e-ink device? Greetings all, First of all, thanks to everyone who posts here-I've lurked for lo these many moons and done a lot of reading and soaked up a wealth of information Recently, I purchased a BeBook for a close friend of mine. Her requirements for the device (multi format, ease of use, not reading any DRM books and so on) were the same as mine, so she asked me to place the order on her behalf, and then set the device up when it arrived, as she's not that particularly technically minded. She just wants to read the sucker. Sooooooo....along comes the BeBook in the post. Can't fault the customer service or the promptness of the transaction, but...the device itself is godawful. I'd been looking foward to getting my hands on it, because I was going to buy one next. However...the eInk screen is just terrible. In strong light its not too bad (but decidely greyish and dead-looking) and in any other sort of light it looks like the text is floating above the screen. Throw in the glacial speed of page turns and the horror of the inverted image flash as the page redraws and all I had by the end of the day was a splitting headache and a severely lowered set of expectations. This has caused me to re-think my own reader requirements somewhat. Currently I'm using a Nokia 770. I love it to death, but I would like a bigger screen-and that's my only beef with this particular device. Love the supersharp screen (and now realise how much I love the backlight, after doing without one on the BeBook!). So-any recommendations for me folks? Here's my major requirements for a reader: NOT eInk must be backlit able to read a variety of formats would be very nice DRM is not an issue. I refuse to sully any of my devices with such a thing. a little beeeeger than the Nokia 770 would be nice...