Quote:
Originally Posted by Robertb
Dear Xenophon:
I am familiar with the ergonomics of the REB 1150. I make it a point to never point out anything good or poor about my competition. I like the big buttons on the left side of the REB 1150 and it has a nice shape.
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I'm
very glad to hear that you are aware of it. And I certainly understand the dangers of saying too much about one's competition.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robertb
Let me JUST talk about the EZ Reader in vague comparison. First, not all of the world is right-handed. WHERE would a left hander grasp this other device without accidently doing a page advance. The EZ Reader has three sets of page advance/retreat buttons and accomdates both right and left handed people well. Like the 1150 does to you, the EZ Reader feels great in my hand and everything is in easy reach with my thumb yet there is no danger of accidently triggering a function (why we decided NOT to go with oversized buttons).
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Hmmm... Perhaps you haven't played with the 1150 quite enough. If you wish to hold it in your right hand, you set the configuration so the buttons are on the right by indicating which side is on "top" as you hold it. The buttons remap automatically, so that they work "the same" for holding it in the right hand vs. holding it in the left hand.
Even better, if you want to hold it differently than their designers envisioned,
you can remap the meaning of the big buttons. So, if I hold it with my left hand in the middle of the device, the "next page" button -- the upper of the two big buttons -- falls directly below my left thumb. If I want to hold it with my left hand on the lower left corner of the device, I can remap the buttons so that the lower button means next page... and still use the button that naturally falls beneath my thumb to advance the page!
It works right-handed. It works left handed. I can use it in landscape mode with buttons on top or on bottom. I can reverse the meaning of the buttons, so I can hold it from whatever corner I want while still having the "next page" button fall directly under my thumb. It gives me the freedom to use it in whatever orientation and grip location works for me!
I should also note that in 2 1/2 years of using an 1100, I never once hit one of those big buttons by mistake. The simple (and very comfortable) solution was to grip with my thumb just outboard of the button. Your mileage may vary, but...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robertb
Let me say though that I am pleased that you are pleased. I think it great that you found something that feels good to you. Two years of research went into getting the EZ Reader (Jinke Hanlin V3) exactly right on ergonomics. I cannot imagine a more well-planned and logical layout. I am sure that some will feel differently... but I honestly think the strongest suit of the EZ Reader is how it feels in the hand, how it should not have misfires (accidental tripping), and how your thumb has reach.
Robert B
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The 1100/1150 family indeed feels great in my hand. But I nevertheless use a Sony PRS-500, because the screen quality and battery life is SOOOO much better that I couldn't resist switching. And I've been missing that high-quality ergonomic design ever since.
To check what you mean about the button layout of the EZ Reader (since I haven't been able to see one in person): If I hold it in any of the following positions, there's a large comfortable button directly under my thumb that advances the page:
- Reader in portrait mode, held in my left hand, with middle and ring fingers at roughly the middle of its height
- Reader in portrait mode, held in my left hand, but gripping near the lower left corner rather than the middle of the left side
- Either of the above positions, but held with my right hand.
- Any of those four positions, but in landscape mode rather than portrait mode.
And... in any of those 8 total reading positions, not only are the buttons well placed but also the reader is well balanced in the hand. Right?
Note that neither the Sony PRS-500, nor the PRS-505, nor the CyBook Gen3, nor the Kindle, nor any other eInk reader I have yet encountered manages all of that. But the 1100/1150 does. (The jury is still out on the PRS-700 -- I haven't gotten my hands on one yet. But I'm not holding my breath, either.)
Seriously, if you haven't spent a couple of hours with an 1100/1150 family device in your hands, you haven't yet understood the difference I'm trying to point at. And your question about left-handers above leads me to suspect that you haven't spent those couple of hours (as does your raising the issue of mis-fires, which are just not a problem on that device).
What I'm requesting is that you spend the roughly $100 for the reader plus a couple of hours of your time so that you can read with one of those devices for a long enough period to understand
why I make such a fuss about the physical ergonomics of that family of devices. It's perfectly clear that no-one at Sony has bothered to do that. Nor did the good folks who designed the Cybook G3. Nor did Amazon and the Kindle's designers.
You have the opportunity to beat the crap out of the big guys! Please take it! Get the ergonomics right, as well as formats and screen and all the other things you've already worried about, and you'll get my vote in the most sincere way possible: I'll buy the unit.
Xenophon