How's 160x128 resolution for reading ebooks?

[classics_reader]

Hello,
I am thinking of buying a new mobile phone and I'm interested in reading eBooks on it. I have hit upon a very appealing phone within my budget (Nokia 3110) but its resolution at 160x128 is a bit on the low side.

Can I have some opinions on how practical is this resolution for reading eBooks?

I have in mind another phone too which has a higher resolution at 176x220 but it lacks a lot of other features unfortunately so I will have to take a decision.

Thanks everyone.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by classics_reader

Hello,
I am thinking of buying a new mobile phone and I'm interested in reading eBooks on it. I have hit upon a very appealing phone within my budget (Nokia 3110) but its resolution at 160x128 is a bit on the low side.

My opinion is that 160x128 is very low.
I have got Sony Ericsson K800i with
240x320 pixel screen and even that is not enough for other than "emergency" reading.

On the other hand, my old "handheld" I was using to read the books on did not have substantially bigger resolution and it was enough. The difference was made by the *size* of the screen.

You do not need high resolution, you need big screen. Super tiny pixels will not help you if the letter "I" displayed as a 1x8 pixel matrix is too small for you to see without squinting.

Try to purchase an old Cassiopeia A-20 or A-11 from third hand. It makes good low cost reader. The screen is really big. The contrast is nowhere near the contrast on an e-ink display, but in a good lightning conditions it is not that bad.

[HarryT]

I have a Windows Smartphone which has a screen resolution of 220x176 - ie virtually double the number of pixels that yours has. It's OK for quick reading sessions, but you wouldn't want to read "War and Peace" on it.

For serious reading I'd try to get something that's at least QVGA - ie 320x240.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by classics_reader

Hello,
I am thinking of buying a new mobile phone and I'm interested in reading eBooks on it. I have hit upon a very appealing phone within my budget (Nokia 3110) but its resolution at 160x128 is a bit on the low side.

Can I have some opinions on how practical is this resolution for reading eBooks?

I started reading ebooks on a Handspring Visor Deluxe, and later a Visor Pro. These were low res mono Palm OS devices, with 160x160 screens. Using the standard Palm built-in fonts, I got about 20 llines of about 40 characters per screen, and could read comfortably.

Per other posters here, the variable is not so much screen resolution as size. I'd also add font. Variables like the precise font used, the character spacing, and the leading (space between lines) greatly affects legibility and reading comfort.

Personally, I wouldn't use a cell phone for reading ebooks. The screen size is simply too small. My current ebook reader is another Palm OS PDA, with a 320x480 screen.. Using my preferred viewer and a custom font, I gat about 15 lines per screen with 10 - 12 words/line in landscape orientation, and I can read comfortably. I wouldn't mind an even larger screen, but that would be for other purposes.
______
Dennis