Sony Reader vs. ILiad questions

[wadood]

I have purchased Sony Reader but have some issuses with it and thinking of moving up to Iliad.
Can someone give me comparison on the following:
1. Does Iliad have the same irritating Refresh that we have on Sony?
2. Does Iliad screen (eInk) is better or good or nearly as good as Sony?
3. Is it significantly slower or faster than Sony?
4. Are PDF documents as readable on Iliad as on PC?

Sony refresh and inability to read pdf not formatted for Sony may break the deal for me.

Thanks,

[NatCh]

Welcome to MobileRead, wadood.

I'll take a swipe at your questions:

1. Yup. It's a characteristic of e-ink.
2. They look pretty much the same to my eyes, but it should be noted that the iLiad's screen is 16 shades of gray to the Reader's 4. The PPI is the same on both, though the iLiad has more pixels since it's bigger. Like I said they don't seem that different to me.
3. If you install scottiy1024's PDF viewer, it's supposedly faster for PDFs. Otherwise, I think they're about the same these days, I know iLiad has been closing the gap on that.
4. Nope. The iLiad has an 8" screen so it's better than the Reader for A4 (letter) sized files, and the iLiad does have a rotate/zoom/pan solution now (I'll let someone who's used it comment on how well it works, I haven't seen it directly ), but the general consensus seems to be that it's not the magic bullet for dealing with A4 files either. I expect we'll have to wait for an A4 sized device for that.

Hope that helps.

[jæd]

Originally Posted by wadood

4. Are PDF documents as readable on Iliad as on PC?

Well... Since its 160 dpi the clarity is better... To get an idea of using pdfs then simply open an A4 document in an A5 sized window on screen (and turn down the colour so its black and white). If possible, use an LCD display from the late 90's to get an idea of the refresh rate and you should be set.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by jæd

Well... Since its 160 dpi the clarity is better...

How's that better than the Reader's 167 dpi, jæd?

[ElaHuguet]

I think he was answering the "as on PC" part, Natch.

(BTW, I haven't noticed an "irritating refresh" on the iLiad, nor have I seen it commented much, I've taken it to mean that it's less noticeable than the Sony's, but just my impression)

[jæd]

Originally Posted by ElaHuguet

I think he was answering the "as on PC" part, Natch.

Yes... Most monitors are at 72 dpi...

[wadood]

Thanks for your help. I think I will stick with Sony Reader because of teh above.
Also, is it true that ILiad does not have something like Sony Connect (which has a good collection of all the latest and greatest books). So what are my choices for new books for Iliad. Does it read Sony BeB format?

About the refresh I have trained my eyes not to look at it and also try to block the view by closing the cover while its refreshing - but that think hurts and I am sure it can cause problems for the eyes if you keep on at it. I think just by slowing down the refresh time, this could have been improved.

About the PDF, I am using Cute PDf to crop the pages and that makes A4 barely readable but not great.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by jæd

Yes... Most monitors are at 72 dpi...

Ah, yes, that makes sense then. Sorry 'bout that.

Thanks, ElaHuguet, jæd, for 'splaining it to me.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by wadood

About the refresh I have trained my eyes not to look at it and also try to block the view by closing the cover while its refreshing - but that think hurts and I am sure it can cause problems for the eyes if you keep on at it. I think just by slowing down the refresh time, this could have been improved.

The eInk "invert the screen" refresh seems to be something that some readers (and reviewers) find intolerable, while others don't notice it. I must admit that I don't even realise it's happening - my brain just "tunes it out".

[Phebe]

About the refresh I have trained my eyes not to look at it and also try to block the view by closing the cover while its refreshing - but that think hurts and I am sure it can cause problems for the eyes if you keep on at it. I think just by slowing down the refresh time, this could have been improved.

Hi ---- You may have gotten used to it by now.

For days at first I was shutting my eyes while the Sony Reader screen refreshed, or it hurt me. But I got used to it quickly and until I saw your question, I had forgotten that.

So I think it may be a self-solving problem.

[mill0r]

Originally Posted by wadood

I have purchased Sony Reader but have some issuses with it and thinking of moving up to Iliad.
Can someone give me comparison on the following:
1. Does Iliad have the same irritating Refresh that we have on Sony?
2. Does Iliad screen (eInk) is better or good or nearly as good as Sony?
3. Is it significantly slower or faster than Sony?
4. Are PDF documents as readable on Iliad as on PC?

Sony refresh and inability to read pdf not formatted for Sony may break the deal for me.

Thanks,

Having both I might be able to answer some questions.

1. The refresh between the two devices is very difference imo, with the Sony my eyes are disoriented for a second due to the ghosting effect.
The iLiad loads and white/black screen between each refresh and this seems to be softer on my eyes and results in less ghosting effect.

2. The iLiad screen is bigger and imo has a better contrast at least with images. See my post regarding comics. So for me as comic reader the iLiad screen is better.

3. The Sony is faster overal, untill you start converting your own documents, especially PDF, the iLiad handles these very well.

4. Yes.

[Roceh]

Found a good video here showing the page turning difference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8GBNR-MngQ

You can see the sony ereader goes inverse and then changes to the new page, while the iliad fades to white, then black then the page. I don't know if this is purely a software thing iRex has done, or whether it is a limitation of the 4 grey scale e-ink display used in the sony.

Heh just noticed it was posted on youtube by the above poster

[yokos]

Originally Posted by Roceh

You can see the sony ereader goes inverse and then changes to the new page, while the iliad fades to white, then black then the page. I don't know if this is purely a software thing iRex has done, or whether it is a limitation of the 4 grey scale e-ink display used in the sony.

This white/black/then page is a software thing. It's is used to remove ghosting.

iLiad has a scribble function, it's a main difference, I think.

[fred1630]

Hello everybody,
For sure I will buy one or the other ( or another one if somebody convince me! )
I'am in Belgium, quite closer to the Netherland than Japan and I agree to pay for the right stuff whatever the price ( in the range of the 2 items)
I have spend a lot of time reading posts and articles about these two ebooks.
Still after that, I'am not convince about one or the other.
Let's take a look a what seems to be the bads points of the Iliad:
poor reading time
slow update pace
poor or no service even under warranty on screen failure
no response from the dealer to queries

Now about the Sony:
uncompatibility to pdf, needs of complicated changes.
no hand writting
ghost effect between pages
needs of physical link to load file

Some questions:
Are those remarks still current or am I outdated?
any idea of how many of each have been sold?
or what's the ratio between the 2 ( x sony / x iliad )
How often does the screen breaks under NORMAL pressure?
finally what is your feeling and advices
Many thanks in advance,
sincerely, Fred1630

[jæd]

Originally Posted by fred1630

Hello everybody,
Still after that, I'am not convince about one or the other.
Let's take a look a what seems to be the bads points of the Iliad:
poor reading time
slow update pace
poor or no service even under warranty on screen failure
no response from the dealer to queries

Currently the only concern is the battery life + boot/resume time. But with planning you can get around these... The Iliad has more features than the Sony Reader...

Oh, and avoid thinking of them as e-books. They aren't. They are *e-readers* for your content, where-ever it is from...