Help, not sure which to buy

[kpetzing]

I'm looking at the smaller, more pocket-ready readers. So I want a 5 or 6 inch screen.

Things I'm concerned about:
screen glare
text contrast
file compatability - I would primarily be reading pdf, doc, txt, prc and lit format books as that is most of what I have already. I hear of a lot of problems with pdf books not being re-flowable, and that has me the most concerned.

I would prefer to be able to search text if possible.
Would like it to take SD cards or other external memory.
Don't need/want: backlighting, wifi, touch, mp3s, etc.

The ones that I keep coming up to are the Pocketbook 360, the Astak EZ Reader, and the Sony pocket reader 505. I'm not sure how to choose between them. Can anyone help me understand the differences between these, and which might be best for me.

Thanks

[Bremen Cole]

For what you want the 360 sounds good.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by kpetzing

I'm looking at the smaller, more pocket-ready readers. So I want a 5 or 6 inch screen.

Things I'm concerned about:
screen glare
text contrast
file compatability - I would primarily be reading pdf, doc, txt, prc and lit format books as that is most of what I have already. I hear of a lot of problems with pdf books not being re-flowable, and that has me the most concerned.

I would prefer to be able to search text if possible.
Would like it to take SD cards or other external memory.
Don't need/want: backlighting, wifi, touch, mp3s, etc.

The ones that I keep coming up to are the Pocketbook 360, the Astak EZ Reader, and the Sony pocket reader 505. I'm not sure how to choose between them. Can anyone help me understand the differences between these, and which might be best for me.

Thanks

You may already have found it in the forum. But to make sure:
Astak EZ Reader = Hanlin/Jinke = BeBook = same hardware, different firmware. You can interchange firmware without any problems. There's a brillant "hacked" firmware available: TIRWAL. It unites features of 2 firmware sets, so you can read DRMed Mobipocket and ePUB, plus various other features. Depending on your location, you don't have to go for Astak, you can buy any of the other units.
Those units directly can process (DRM free) Microsoft lit (don't know, whether the other units you mention can do that), which is relatively rare and might be a big plus for you.

[frozennorth]

From what I read on this board the lit format on the HanLin is basically useless and I don't think any of the other readers does support it. Sony also does not support prc.

[kpetzing]

Thanks for the help.

It looks like any problems I have with format can be solved with Calibre, which is nice. I'll probably just convert everything to epub. So I guess the PDF and .lit issues go away.

Without those restrictions are any of the 5"/6" ones better than any I'm already looking at? At that point all that really matter are SD card and screen glare/contrast.

One final question: I see differing answers on different sites when I look at whether the Astak Pocket Pro and the Pocketbook 360 allow searching within text. Does anyone know for sure?

[Forkosigan]

Originally Posted by kpetzing

Thanks for the help.

It looks like any problems I have with format can be solved with Calibre, which is nice. I'll probably just convert everything to epub. So I guess the PDF and .lit issues go away.

Without those restrictions are any of the 5"/6" ones better than any I'm already looking at? At that point all that really matter are SD card and screen glare/contrast.

One final question: I see differing answers on different sites when I look at whether the Astak Pocket Pro and the Pocketbook 360 allow searching within text. Does anyone know for sure?

All models allow Pocketbook delat search in the text, as well as search for a book on a bookshelf.