Quote:
Originally Posted by ab78727
Thank you for the battery assessment - this looks promising. Is the Bluetooth needed for the pen or were you using it for something else, such as headphones?
The performance with opening PDFs is a bit concerning -
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ATTENTION: I'm correcting what I wrote about reading certain PDF raster files with yellowed or dark backgrounds, made up of high-resolution jp2000 images from Archive.org, which were the only ones to cause problems when opened on models prior to the Pocketbook Inkpad Eo.
There are in fact two reading applications available for the Pocketbook Inkpad Eo, alongside a drawing and note-taking application.
One, called 'Reader', is more geared towards reading PDFs, and is the improved E-ink version of the free, full-function Pocketbook Reader smartphone application, and the other is more geared towards Epub, called 'Xreader', both of which allow notes to be taken with the stylus, but only the first, dictionaries. It's this second application, 'Xreader', that reads some of Archive.org's raster PDF books with yellowed backgrounds slowly and with difficulty.
On the other hand, the "Reader" application, in fact an improved "Pocketbook Reader", reads raster PDF files with a yellowed background from Archive.org, without even having to correct them beforehand with K2pdfopt or FineReader 16, but often on condition that you change the processor speed to the fastest setting (in the E-ink centre) as well as the background and text colours, lightening one and darkening the other. On the Pocketbook Inkpad Eo , it is therefore the 'Reader' application, in fact the improved 'Pocketbook Reader', that should be used first, to read PDF book-files, whether they are classic vectors or raster images, with a light background, never posing any problems; or whether they are PDF book-files with raster images, with dark backgrounds from Archive.org, supposedly resistant, which nevertheless require, for some of them, under the 'Reader' application, in fact an improved 'Pocketbook Reader', the little preliminary manipulation I've just described.
To answer ab78727, I assume that his PDF files from digitised books are in greyscale or black and white, with an average resolution of 300 dpi, whereas the difficult raster PDF files I'm talking about from archives.org are in colour, with a dark background and high resolution, which makes all the difference in terms of ease of reading on an E-ink screen, whether it's a Sony DPT-S1 or a Pocketbook Inkpad Eo.
Above all, I also discovered that the 'Reader' application, in fact the improved 'Pocketbook Reader', offered the same translation, dictionary and TTS (Text to Speech) possibilities with Bluetooth (and headphones) as the Librera or Moon+Reader and GoldenDict or Free Mdict combination. In fact, the 'Reader' application, in other words, 'Pocketbook Reader', can be linked via its interface to translation programmes such as Google translate, Reverso Context, Abbyy Lingvo and, above all, Fora Dictionary. The Fora Dictionary application provides instant access to the Wiktionary and the same functions as GoldenDict, although it supports fewer different dictionary formats, i.e. only Stardict, DSL XDXF Dictd, and .dict. I was thus able to install on the internal memory, in the required Android directory ( Android/data/com.ngc.fora/files), the raw files of around forty Stardict dictionaries, or free DSL language dictionaries, which all work perfectly, and simultaneously, after import, with the Fora Dictionary and Pocketbook Reader pair on the E-ink reader, as on the Smartphone. There is an accessory version of 'Fora Dictionary', called 'Premium Features', for €5.49, which I bought and which seems to be more a form of donation than anything else.
To use Text to Speech (TTS), you need to update Google's Speech Recognition & Synthesis application. Similarly, you need to choose Unicode for dictionary integration in Fora Dictionary, except for Russian dictionaries (UTF 8).
Still using the Pocketbook Reader application, I was able to connect very easily to my Calibre library, both on the Pocketbook Inkpad Eo reader and on my smartphone, by strictly following the explanations given by Pocketbook on its Youtube channel (
https://youtu.be/Ci-pWjbjvhY?si=4k00_cbD61IijO98 ), and by taking the precaution of uninstalling and reinstalling Calibre in order to give the necessary authorisations for public and private networks, blocked by default by Windows Defender or other firewalls.
What's more, in addition to its own library, Pocketbook is also offering a 5 Gigabyte Cloud, plus access to Google Drive or Dropbox.
You shouldn't be fooled by the appearance of the results when taking photos, which at first glance look mediocre on an E-ink screen, whereas viewing them on a smartphone or computer screen gives excellent results.
For daytime reading, the ideal screen illumination ratio seems to be 25% and 15%. There is no manual in French, and even the English manual fails to explain certain E-ink functions.
For intensive use, with Wifi and Bluetooth open, and maximum processor speed, it seems necessary to recharge the battery every 4-5 days. To be on the safe side, I actually recharge every day. You don't need to activate Bluetooth to use the stylus.
The Pocketbook Reader application, like Google Chrome, allows you to change the interface language, for example to French.
To get an idea of the possibilities offered by the Inkpad Eo's 'Reader' applications (in fact, the improved 'Pocketbook Reader'), their connection with the Calibre library, and 'Fora Dictionary', simply install their respective Android versions directly on your smartphone.
In conclusion, having hastily purchased their 'premium' versions, I abandoned also the initially free Librera applications, such as Moon+Reader and GoldenDict/Free Mdict, to limit myself to the combination of 'Reader', in fact an improved 'Pocketbook Reader', and 'Fora Dictionary', offered by default, which have more or less the same functions and are very easy to use.