Quote:
Originally Posted by maidavale
dear lovely desertnana,
If reading ebooks is a highly ranked criterion for your purchase (if not, disregard this opinion), I wouldn't recommend it... yet. At least that was the result after my search, just nothing perfect for me in the market atm.
As others in this thread have pointed out indirectly, netbooks simply aren't ergonomically designed for long reading sessions - whether it be glossy lcd screen, keyboard getting in your way, weight distribution of the machine, etc.
Well, if you do have a good tolerance of prolonged reading on lcd and if you can withstand other physical factors, never mind.
If I'd get one personally for reading, I would wait (ah, the gadget lover's dilemma) for the release of upcoming tablet/touchscreen netbooks... Asus eee T91, or the widely rumoured Apple tablet, for example. Reading vertically w/o the keyboard getting in your way. |
For readable screens, you just have to shop around (or get lucky, in my case
). My Wind is very readable in all but direct,
direct sunlight, and on the lowest brightness indoors with a soft background color in FBReader, it's very easy on the eyes. The form factor is great for ADE PDFs of hardcovers, too, but I haven't tried reading those at length (the white-ish backgrounds might be harder on the eyes, idk). I think a lot of people who go on about LCDs just haven't had a proper matte display with easy brightness controls.
I could see the weight being an issue for some people, but mostly I prop it on my chest or in my lap or on top of my bag on the train, just as I would a hardcover.
You're right about the near future, tho--PixelQi still says netbooks will ship this fall with their hybrid displays, and we'll surely see a wider variety hitting different sweet spots for weight/battery-life/processing-power/cost.