MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - grad student seeks reassurance: Mentor and Q7

wallcraft · 06-29-2009, 11:29 AM

The Q7 probably does meet your requirements. I am a bit concerned about hardware build quality, based on a few posts here (but others have been favourable) and the other issue is that most likely you are going to need to install some software yourself and decide between various O/S options. So it isn't a "consumer" device, but it could meet your needs very well.

For 6" E-Ink devices, there seems now to be a convergence on mobile Adobe Digital Editions (first seen on the Sony PRS-505) for PDFs and ePubs. We still have not seen the release-quality versions (or any versions on some devices) of this software except on the Sony's. There is room for improvement over the Sony's PDF displaying capability (e.g. trimming margins, and zoom without reflow) but what the Sony (mobile ADE) has is state of the art for PDFs. It allows reflowing of the PDF if it isn't too image-heavy. Note that a 6" EInk screen just isn't very suitable for PDFs (because of its size, but also because fast zoom and pan isn't possible with EInk).

In the US, the EZ Reader from Astak (with a big sale coming up at Fry's on the 4th and 5th of July) is probably the best alternative to the Sony PRS-505. It is using old technology though (e.g. 4-bit greyscale). The Astak Mentor, like the EZ Reader, will also use mobile ADE but the hardware will be more modern with a different philosophy about hardware keys. Another option is the Astak EZ Reader Pocket Pro, which will be a Hanlin V5 with a 5" screen (very similar in design to the Hanlin V3/EZ Reader, but with more recent hardware). The Sony PRS-505 is a very polished design with a large user base, and should certainly be considered. For me, the big advantage of the Astak devices over the Sony's is folder support.

EDIT: The only current 6" EInk device that allows notes on PDFs (so far as I know) is the Sony PRS-700. Since it is using mobile ADE, this is presumably possible on other devices (probably even without a touch screen). I'm not sure if the standard PDF reader on the Q7 allows notes, but there are certainly Linux PDF aps that do.

06-29-2009, 11:29 AM	#3
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,977 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	The Q7 probably does meet your requirements. I am a bit concerned about hardware build quality, based on a few posts here (but others have been favourable) and the other issue is that most likely you are going to need to install some software yourself and decide between various O/S options. So it isn't a "consumer" device, but it could meet your needs very well. For 6" E-Ink devices, there seems now to be a convergence on mobile Adobe Digital Editions (first seen on the Sony PRS-505) for PDFs and ePubs. We still have not seen the release-quality versions (or any versions on some devices) of this software except on the Sony's. There is room for improvement over the Sony's PDF displaying capability (e.g. trimming margins, and zoom without reflow) but what the Sony (mobile ADE) has is state of the art for PDFs. It allows reflowing of the PDF if it isn't too image-heavy. Note that a 6" EInk screen just isn't very suitable for PDFs (because of its size, but also because fast zoom and pan isn't possible with EInk). In the US, the EZ Reader from Astak (with a big sale coming up at Fry's on the 4th and 5th of July) is probably the best alternative to the Sony PRS-505. It is using old technology though (e.g. 4-bit greyscale). The Astak Mentor, like the EZ Reader, will also use mobile ADE but the hardware will be more modern with a different philosophy about hardware keys. Another option is the Astak EZ Reader Pocket Pro, which will be a Hanlin V5 with a 5" screen (very similar in design to the Hanlin V3/EZ Reader, but with more recent hardware). The Sony PRS-505 is a very polished design with a large user base, and should certainly be considered. For me, the big advantage of the Astak devices over the Sony's is folder support. EDIT: The only current 6" EInk device that allows notes on PDFs (so far as I know) is the Sony PRS-700. Since it is using mobile ADE, this is presumably possible on other devices (probably even without a touch screen). I'm not sure if the standard PDF reader on the Q7 allows notes, but there are certainly Linux PDF aps that do. Last edited by wallcraft; 06-29-2009 at 11:34 AM.