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MacEachaidh · 04-22-2010, 09:58 AM

Mike_73,
Thanks for the comments, and yeah, I am a geek, and happy to embrace my geek-ness. I want to buy an e.Reader. Apart from anything else at all, I love the feel of holding a book in my hand and physically reading from it, something that a laptop or tablet PC will never be able to replicate. (Sorry, Steve Jobs.) The e.readers I've seen approximate that in dimension and weight (well, a first-release larger-format paperback, maybe), which for me adds to their appeal.

In response to what you and pilotbob said (thanks for your comments, pb), yeah, it is an expensive way to go, and I agree there's no point in doing it *and* whingeing about the cost -- I know we've got to do it and shut up, or find another option (and another forum!). And I realise that over time it will actually work out cheaper than buying physical printed books, which in my country at least (I'm not sure where everyone on this forum is physically located, so pardon me if I make incorrect assumptions) have reached dizzying heights in price. As far as I can see, even trade paperbacks here in Australia cost two or on-towards three times what they do in the US, which is a bit shocking. (None of them are physically printed here any more -- they're all done offshore and imported, even Australian titles, which bumps the prices up.) But even so, the outlay for a machine is a big slug up-front -- most of them in Australia are up towards $500, which is a lot of money. I'm guessing those screens must be really expensive -- wouldn't that be the most costly component in the unit? -- so I'd hate to break one.

ChrisC333, I take your points, absolutely, but I assure you I wasn't reading only "anecdotal" reports -- I was basing what little I understood of these units on reviews in professional PC/electronics magazines and their websites. Doesn't mean they get everything right, but it's more than some cattlehand out in Walgett writing on the internet in his spare time. And it seems that the firmware upgrade that came out late last year has improved the PDF handling on the Story, so maybe that makes the review comments obsolete. In any case, I appreciate your (ahem!) setting the Story straight!! ;-)

Mike_73, I haven't seen a Zune, so I know very little about them. Part of the problem I'm having (and I imagine it's the same for afa) is that very few of these machines are available at all in Australia (the Booknook, the Bookem, the Zune aren't sold here at all), and those that do have distribution here are rarely in-stock at B&M shops, so you can't just walk in off the street and give them a test-run. Most of them are sold on-line and on order only, so we've only really got word-of-mouth and pictures on websites to go by.

A couple more questions if I may:

1) I've noticed the iriver Story only has 8 levels of grey in its display, while the Sony devices have 16. Is anyone here with experience of these different levels of display, and can tell us whether you feel it makes a lot of difference to using the device? For myself, I won't be reading comics or loading photo-albums; though I don't know about the future, for now it'll just be text. Any thoughts on this, please?

2) I'm considering a third option, what's called an Ecoreader (www.ecoreader.com.au). It's got only 4 levels of grey in its display, and a smaller memory, and only USB 1.1, but it supports even more formats and is small and easy to handle. At least $100 more expensive than the Story, though. And apparently it's sold under a different brand name overseas, though i don't know what it is. Anyone seen this units, and can offer any observation through experience?

Thanks, folks.

04-22-2010, 09:58 AM	#21
MacEachaidh Browser Posts: 745 Karma: 578294 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura HD	Mike_73, Thanks for the comments, and yeah, I am a geek, and happy to embrace my geek-ness. I want to buy an e.Reader. Apart from anything else at all, I love the feel of holding a book in my hand and physically reading from it, something that a laptop or tablet PC will never be able to replicate. (Sorry, Steve Jobs.) The e.readers I've seen approximate that in dimension and weight (well, a first-release larger-format paperback, maybe), which for me adds to their appeal. In response to what you and pilotbob said (thanks for your comments, pb), yeah, it is an expensive way to go, and I agree there's no point in doing it and whingeing about the cost -- I know we've got to do it and shut up, or find another option (and another forum!). And I realise that over time it will actually work out cheaper than buying physical printed books, which in my country at least (I'm not sure where everyone on this forum is physically located, so pardon me if I make incorrect assumptions) have reached dizzying heights in price. As far as I can see, even trade paperbacks here in Australia cost two or on-towards three times what they do in the US, which is a bit shocking. (None of them are physically printed here any more -- they're all done offshore and imported, even Australian titles, which bumps the prices up.) But even so, the outlay for a machine is a big slug up-front -- most of them in Australia are up towards $500, which is a lot of money. I'm guessing those screens must be really expensive -- wouldn't that be the most costly component in the unit? -- so I'd hate to break one. ChrisC333, I take your points, absolutely, but I assure you I wasn't reading only "anecdotal" reports -- I was basing what little I understood of these units on reviews in professional PC/electronics magazines and their websites. Doesn't mean they get everything right, but it's more than some cattlehand out in Walgett writing on the internet in his spare time. And it seems that the firmware upgrade that came out late last year has improved the PDF handling on the Story, so maybe that makes the review comments obsolete. In any case, I appreciate your (ahem!) setting the Story straight!! ;-) Mike_73, I haven't seen a Zune, so I know very little about them. Part of the problem I'm having (and I imagine it's the same for afa) is that very few of these machines are available at all in Australia (the Booknook, the Bookem, the Zune aren't sold here at all), and those that do have distribution here are rarely in-stock at B&M shops, so you can't just walk in off the street and give them a test-run. Most of them are sold on-line and on order only, so we've only really got word-of-mouth and pictures on websites to go by. A couple more questions if I may: 1) I've noticed the iriver Story only has 8 levels of grey in its display, while the Sony devices have 16. Is anyone here with experience of these different levels of display, and can tell us whether you feel it makes a lot of difference to using the device? For myself, I won't be reading comics or loading photo-albums; though I don't know about the future, for now it'll just be text. Any thoughts on this, please? 2) I'm considering a third option, what's called an Ecoreader (www.ecoreader.com.au). It's got only 4 levels of grey in its display, and a smaller memory, and only USB 1.1, but it supports even more formats and is small and easy to handle. At least $100 more expensive than the Story, though. And apparently it's sold under a different brand name overseas, though i don't know what it is. Anyone seen this units, and can offer any observation through experience? Thanks, folks.