Quote:
Originally Posted by Freddy Bastiat
I've been debating purchasing an e-reader for a few months now. My search has led me to this forum, which has been great in helping to me to narrow my choices so thanks to everyone that contributes here on a regular basis. I'm pretty sold on the Astak EZ Reader Pocket Pro for the following reasons:
- It's not tied to one particular book seller - most of what I read is free anyhow. The books I usually read are older and aren't offered for sale online anyhow.
- Removable battery
- Memory card slot
- Can handle more formats than any other device I've seen
- Seemingly good customer service and continued product development
- Comes with protective cover
I don't care that it doesn't have mobile capabilites. Not a big selling point for me. If it were about $50 cheaper I probably would have bought it already without much further thought. However, I do have a few questions of those of you who own one.
1. I've got my eye on the 5" Pocket Pro, but have since seen discussions of the 6" model recieving a number of "enhancements". Portability is of some importance for me, but readability is probably ranked higher in my evaluation. Is the 6" reader more "readable" than the 5"? Readable for me is comfort of viewing, how it feels in your hand, flow of text on screen, page turns, etc. I will do most of my reading at home (inside or outside on my deck) or at kid's soccer games. I may, on occasion, even throw it in my backpack for an extended trip into the backcountry.
2. I noticed that the new 6" model handles hyperlinks. Does the 5" model not handle hyperlinks? I need more background on this feature.
3. Will the 6" model come with it's own cover like the 5"?
4. I read a lot of pdfs currently on my computer - well, actually I usually end up just printing them off and binding them...part of the reason I'm considering getting an e-reader in the first place because I'm starting to have this stuff pile up. How well does each model handle pdfs where the text is from a scan (older books)? I don't expect much from this because I understand how scanned pdfs are displayed and can't really be reflowed as text. But are e-readers a good option for reading these types of files at all?
5. What is the best way to recieve RSS feeds from websites and then reformat them to place them on the device?
6. Given my questions, which model would you recommend?
Thanks in advance for your help with these questions. |
Hi Freddy, and welcome to the forums! I'm anxious to see how others who are more knowledgeable will answer your questions.
I have the 5", and I really love it! It's very light and easy to hold, although I pretty much always keep it in the case. And the 3 different ways of turning pages is great, so it doesn't matter which hand you're using to hold it. So far all I've read are epubs, but they look very good on the 5" screen. I went to Borders one day and compared the Sony 5" and 6", and there really wasn't that much difference in the screen size. But I really like the compact footprint of the Pocket Pro.
For RSS feed, I've seen that you can use a free program called Calibre to download the RSS feed into ebook form. I've tried it once, and it works pretty well. I don't use it regularly, it was more just out of curiosity that I tried it.
I don't really know much about the hyperlinks. I had a book that used hyperlinks for chapters instead of the standard way of having chapters listed, and I really didn't like it. It took too long to navigate to the hyperlink I was trying to get to. And eventually the Pocket Pro just locked up. I don't think this was a problem with the pocket pro, but with the book. It was a HUGE book, and I had to navigate through the pages of hyperlinks... it just wasn't set up very well for an ebook reader. It would have done better with a touch screen device. But I don't want touch screen, so I just deleted the book.
I am very happy with my Pocket Pro, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an ebook reader. This is my first, and I don't foresee myself getting another any time soon.
It's a great little device! From what I've seen about the new 6" (which isn't much, I haven't been around on the forums much the past couple weeks), the main difference is the screen size. So if portability is a big thing to you, you might consider the 5". Oh, and when I was looking, I looked up the dimensions of all the readers I was interested in, then drew them out on paper so I could compare the different sizes. That helped me see the difference between the Pocket Pro and the Sony Pocket, which were the two main ones I was looking at. I also drew out the Nook, but that was monstrous!
Good luck with your research, and eventually your decision!