[LenzGr]

Originally Posted by Polydwarf

I'm looking around for e-ink reader options, and the primary concern I have is page-turning speed. My plan is to use it for personal reading of epub short stories and novels, not technical pdf's. But, I read pretty quickly, and I've found I'm more sensitive to page turning speed than a lot of people. Since this isn't a question handled very well by the wiki's ebook matrix, I'm looking for input.

You may want to look at the Onyx Boox 60 or the BeBook Neo then (both use the same hardware and very similar firmware). It is very fast when it comes to turning pages. And you can choose between full and partial screen refresh.

Screen Size : I would prefer 6" or up. I've played a little bit with the Sony 300 at Target, and a 5" screen just seems... small.

The Boox/Neo have a 6" screen, which works for me. The text zooming and reflowing is excellent.

Folder Support : Not really a concern for me. My current plan is to load a few books onto the device at a time from my PC, rather than putting my entire library on the device.

FWIW, the Boox/Neo supports arbitrary directory structures.

Note Taking : Not a concern for me.
Dictionary : Not a concern for me.

Both are supported, but the dictionary support is still a bit flaky with the current firmware.

Language : English (US)

No problems here.

3G Connectivity : A little bit of a concern, but not much of one.

WiFi : I'm not sure... If I can load books from my PC to the device wirelessly via Calibre/etc, instead of via usb, that might be kind of nifty. It's nowhere near a "significant" decision point, though, because I always have multiple cables hanging out of my PC anyways, so another one (or re-using a mini-usb one) isn't really a big deal.

The Boox/Neo has built-in WiFi, which I personally prefer over 3G connectivity. It's useful for downloading and reading documents when your're not near the PC. When I'm around, I usually either use the USB cable (it appears as a mass storage device when connected) or just take the SD card out of the reader into the PC to synchronize the data.

Touch Screen : I don't really care. I realize that at the screen size I'm talking about, touch screens are pretty common, but I doubt I'd use it very much; I hate wiping fingerprints off my iphone, and I imagine I'd hate it on this too.

Screen Clarity : I really care (commence Sony 600/900 flame fests here)

With the Boox/Neo, you have the best of both worlds - it uses a Wacom touchscreen which only works with a stylus: no fingerprints, much better contrast and readability. But you can fully use it by using the navigation button on the bottom of the device. In fact, I mostly use the stylus when browsing the web, not when reading a book

Price : $450 max; cheaper is better

Check Dulin's books for current US prices - I paid 279 EUR for my Boox.

Looks : I'd prefer something that doesn't look like a piece of plastic squashed by a sumo wrestler (IE, kindle; way too much white plastic for my tastes), but I'm much more interested in speed/functions over looks.

The Boox looks a tad bit like an oversized iPod. Here are some pics from mine:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenzgr/...7623312901012/

The obvious heavyweight choices are Sony 600/900, and iRex dr800sg. However, there are plenty of other 6" readers that are cheaper than a Sony 600, but it's hard to tell things like screen clarity, and true time-to-change-a-page off of youtube videos (ie, sometimes you can't tell when someone actually clicked the button so you can't tell how long the page change actually took).

I directly compared my Boox against the Sony 600 and the difference screen quality was notable. The touch screen does reduce the contrast and readability.

As for units I've actually seen... I saw a beat up Sony 300 and 600 display kiosk at a local Target store. I tried an Astak EZ Reader a few months ago. That's about it for my personal hands-on experience. There's a Sony Style store in the next suburb over that I'm going to try to get to soon to play with a 900.

If anyone has other reader ideas/feedback, I'm interested in hearing them.

I think you should seriously consider looking at the Onyx Boox or BeBook Neo