Quote:
Originally Posted by snowgoose
A Senior's View of E-reader sizes.
A 6" diagonal display just does not cut it. For the eagle eyed university crowd, these are probably just what they need, but for us older generation, the print is too small to read standard pdf full page documents.
Since I have about 20 GB of pdf and doc magazines, books, specs and much else waiting to be read, and that is too much to print, and too tiring to read on the computer screen, I with many others really need an e-reader that ready does display full page pdf documents without eyestrain, while using our glasses. Using landscape on smaller ereaders does not work where graphics are split between half screens, and no one wants to waste hours converting documents, while pdf files do not reflow properly anyway. Pdf files are in a print format, and not an editable format.
But how does one chose between the various available options and sizes? You try them out on your laptop first! Here is the method of setting the specification for the e-reader, and each senior should try this for himself.
1. Select a full page prf document from the web, preferably one with images and compact text such as a patent document or a magazine page from a pdf version of some magazine. I will use Page 3 from the current April 2009 PC magazine digital edition (the editorial) as an example pdf document sheet.
2. Display the page on a computer screen, using Adobe Reader or similar product, which allows one to scale the display size, but without reflow of the text. Typically, Adobe products allow scale factors for the display viewing of 25% to 300% at least
3. Set the display screen to typically 1152 x 864 pixels, and display the pdf page as large as possible on the screen; select each viewing percentage, and check the ease of reading that pdf page and its graphics.
Here are some typical results for a senior in his mid-70s; you may get different results. I have a nominally 17" display computer screen for the test (338 mm wide x 266 mm high, about 98 pixel/inch)), and found that 33% and 50% were too small to read comfortably, but "zoom to page" viewing or larger was reasonable . For this scaling, the size of the page displayed on the screen was 172 mm x 244 mm (for a diagonal of 11.75") with no clipping of margins. So I would really need a display with about 11.5" diagonal to view this admittedly very dense text magazine page.
So 6" diagonal displays do not cut it. Potentially useful screens include
Astak E-Z Reader True Diag = 9.7" marginal but possible
Irex reader Diag = 10.2" too expensive, and glass
Plastic Logic E-reader Diag = 10.7" ideal
Hearst E-reader Diag = 14.1” May be too large a unit for easy reading
However, as most of these are just vapourware as yet, I will be keeping an eye on all of them for a year, and perhaps the price may be a deciding factor, the ones with less bells and whistles. Hope this helps other seniors make up their minds. It should be an exiting next 12 months. In the next item I will address specifications for seniors.
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Dear Snowgoose:
Thank you for posting a Senior's point of view on eBook Readers. I think it is great that you did this.
Astak, of course, is trying to work thru various senior groups (such as Council on Aging) but NOT getting the info that you have furnished. Your discussion is well laid out, well thought out, and convincing.
Astak, as you know, is working with two factories to come out with an affordable device in the sizes you have named. We know that the main thrust is 9.7 inch: but we are also looking at 10.1 and 10.2 screens. I am looking forward to your specifications.
Keep in mind (I am sure you are) that price has a lot to do with devices for seniors also. While seniors supposedly have the largest amount of spendable cash for such things as eBook Readers... some do not. I believe that while a 10.4 inch screen by Plastic Logic may seem ideal... it is also a whole lot of money.
Also, keep in mind about REFLOW. The reflow of pdf pictures and newspapers can be accomplished just fine on a 9.7 inch device if the device has reflow. This would give you the same ability to "read true" on an 8 by 10 page with no discernible loss of picture quality. Certainly I do not in any way wish to disagree... I just hope that you will consider that if you have not yet.
In any case, Astak is very glad to get your feedback and we encourage other seniors to post also. This is a key segment of the populace that needs to be heard.