Where are the simple e-readers?

[stanislaw lem]

Hi, I am looking for an ereader primarily because I do alot of reading off the computer and pixels are hurting my eyes.

I have absolutely ZERO interest in ebooks, I have real books that do the job far better; a design that doesn't need any imporvement; what i would like to use it for is reading documents: pdf, rtf, txt files and maybe blogs or internet but internet is not something necessary at all. All I need is something that allows me without any hassle to transfer my documents onto it and read them whilst out and about.

This seems an impossible task as all the ereaders seem to come with infinite amounts of features = 3g, internet access, colour screens, mp3 players, video etc. and therefore huge prices.

Are there any ereaders out there for simple document reading?


P.S. The only other feature I had dreamed might be immensely useful was a slot for a portable usb keyboard in order to write txt. documents whilst on a train. This would be infinitely more useful than carrying around a small netbook laptop for many reasons.

a) battery life (most ereaders seem to last for month or at least a week since only dealing with simple text)

b) price, surely an ereader and a keyboard is cheaper than a netbook?

c) paper screen, its just easier to read text of the ereader screens that is the main advantage i can see

I am looking for a simple cheap document reader but would pay a thousand Gold doubloons for the all the features I mentioned above, plain B&W ereader paper screen, simple document transfer and possibility of creating a simple txt file.

Any suggestions or discussions would be gladly welcome?

thanks x

[pappcam]

You're out of luck. Just buy a netbook for 200-300 bucks because you're not going to find a "simple e-reader" that has internet access and is also able to have a keyboard connected to it.

[jbcohen]

The simplest of all of them is probably the Kobo. It has one button that operates all of the functions. The cheapest tend to be the Libra Pro and the smart phone based readers. Personally I like the smart phone based ones.

[stanislaw lem]

I did not request internet access pappcam, i'm not looking for a laptop.

Thanks for the comment jbcohen, I looked up this ereader which is a libre which seems nice and simple with easy to read screen and relatively cheap.

I'm wondering do any of the more expensive models such as kindle, nook or sony ereaders have the ability to create txt documents or whether it is a feature simply too niche for an ereader.

also which smart phone ones are you talking about?

[susan_cassidy]

Ereaders typically do not have the ability to create text, per se. They sometimes support note-taking, but not creation of documents from scratch.

PDF files typically require a larger screen, since they are usually formatted for a larger page size (8.5 x 11 or A4 size). They usually do not work as well on a smaller screen. The iPad is probably the smallest screen that works well for PDF. You usually have to scroll or zoom to see the whole page. I think I've heard people say that Sony supports reflowing PDF documents, though. Kindle does not, if you want that, you have to convert to .mobi format. Any reader you consider, you should research what people say about its PDF abilities, in particular.

.txt files do no line-wrapping outside of just carriage returns in the file, so they often display oddly on a smaller screen, since the line length is usually longer than the screen. Unless you use a really small font size, or turn the ereader to landscape format.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by stanislaw lem

Thanks for the comment jbcohen, I looked up this ereader which is a libre which seems nice and simple with easy to read screen and relatively cheap.

It's not e-ink, though, if that matters to you.

I'm wondering do any of the more expensive models such as kindle, nook or sony ereaders have the ability to create txt documents or whether it is a feature simply too niche for an ereader.

No, they are readers, not laptops.

[snipenekkid]

hmmm, do any of the Pocketbook devices support some sort of text editor yet? I seem to remember a discussion about it but not more than a wiff about if it was true or not.

I bet there would be a nice market for a pocket word processor with maybe an email client. However once a company goes that far they likely will spend the extra $20 to make it a full reading device. Still i get what the OP is wanting, there are times I would like some lightweight device for just writing or notes. One reason the Eee EA-800 is interesting to me. If it could handle a Bluetooth keyboard (remember according to Sheldon and the guys, "...Penny...everything is better with Bluetooth") then it might be useful to a lot of people. Not me but I am sure it's a way to unload some production over-run hardware and old replacement parts.

[Dava]

Maybe a Bluetooth Keyboard are the solution. I don't know if there are any E-book-readers that support these but I recall that the KOBO have Bluetooth support.

The Ipad works with BT Keyboard.. I would guess that more of the so called tablets do too.

[delphin]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

Ereaders typically do not have the ability to create text, per se. They sometimes support note-taking, but not creation of documents from scratch.

PDF files typically require a larger screen, since they are usually formatted for a larger page size (8.5 x 11 or A4 size). They usually do not work as well on a smaller screen . . .

Susan speaks wisdom here.

These e-ink devices do not yet handle PDF's anywhere near as well as even the most basic Netbook PC or I-Pad, and probably NEVER WILL.

What the original poster seems to be looking for is some kind of nifty e-ink I-Pad, with full screen high quality PDF capability, plus text input, but really 'simple' [cheap?]

The problem is e-ink devices have SLOW screen updates, so no one is EVER going to try to create a full high end tablet device like an I-Pad based on e-ink alone, and the lower end CPU capabilities of portable reader devices can't keep up with Adobe's BLOAT-WARE PDF spec .

This means that e-ink devices will most likely never match the PDF handling of larger Netbook and tablet devices.

The closest thing out there now, screen wise, to what the original poster is looking for is probably the Kindle DX, but it costs way too much, doesn't handle complex PDFs very well, and has a really clunky interface.

The closest thing, performance wise, would probably be an I-Pad, but it has one of those evil backlit TFT screens that the original poster seems to find so objectionable, and also cost's way too much (especially when you have to deal with Apples proprietary we-got-cha store add-on's).

[GA Russell]

stanislaw, I think the jetBook Lite meets your requirements.

Not only does it read txt, it comes with 100 txt files (books) on it!

It has pdf reflow, which I have been quite happy with.

And it reads rtf very well. rtf is the favorite format of GhostHawk, a jetBook Lite maven here.

Newegg.com currently has the jetBook Lite on sale for only $79.99. Newegg's prices change from week to week, but the JBL is usually the least expensive reader available.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Lite&x=16&y=26

[brbubba]

Sony devices in conjunction with Calibre can handle many of those functions fairly well. Calibre formats RSS feeds into a nice form that your reader can handle. The only downside is that not all RSS feed include the entire article and you can't really update those articles without manually connecting the ereader.

Also PDF has it's negatives on any eink device and will continue to do so until we can get some very high resolution displays (Most displays hover around 160 ppi). The PRS350 and a small handful of others push the 200 ppi resolution barrier and it shows in PDF viewing. PDF's are quite clear in landscape and readable, but far form ideal, in portrait mode, depending on the PDF. Some PDFs, especially ones that are images, don't render well at all.

I'd like to start seeing some 250/300 ppi displays, akin to the iPhone retina display and I could start to safely say that PDF reading on a 6/7/8 inch screen would be very comfortable.

[FF2]

I'm not sure that the resolution would help me for a portrait mode pdf - I think I would still have to scroll left-right which would drive me crazier!

[stanislaw lem]

thanks for the responses, its been very informative.

I think some people were missing the point of my fact finding mission, I know all about the features of devices such as net books, the ipad and kindle, for me technology is always about a means to an end, i own a powerful desktop that handles music, video and computer graphic creation and i own a laptop that I can get similar smaller work done out and about but to me the ideal third device seems to be completely missing from the market. Like snipenekkid says, the pocket word processor! I've no idea why it doesn't exist, something smaller than a laptop, that you can take out to read and write like an electronic notepad.

I remember in school when laptops first started coming out and were insanely expensive the school bought these very small purse sized laptops for kids who had hurt their arms. They had small calculator sized screens and only supported text files creating and editing, which you then plugged into the desktop and printed out your work. Where have they gone?

If any CEO's of netbook/ereader companies are reading they should think in investing in a true B&W notebook. One can only dream..

but for now I think a cheap device like the jetbook mini seems on the cards, I need not any of the features of the snazzy ipad also I've read about seemingly adequate solutions to the pdf problem such as pdf reflow or converting pdf's into ePUB's that seems to be able to make pdfs readable on normal ereader devices, if this is incorrect let me know.

[JSWolf]

The closest I think in the 950 or 650. You get a virtual on-screen keyboard and can take notes.

[sourcejedi]

I'm sure there is a way to say "here are the other features I'd be interested in if they exist" without getting piled on. But it's not easy to do, and I sympathise .