Opinion on what eReader to get :)

[b5530188]

Ok!! first post for me so hi!

Ive narrowed it down to the Nook Touch simple and the Kobo Touch and considering Pocketbook 360 Plus or prs 350

Main considerations:

1. Need mobility. will using it a lot on bus rides and waiting rooms and at home. so has to fit in my small bag

2. will be using mostly mobilepocket book, and calibre to get my books (allready have a library that will last some years). so format and computability with those are important. no need for wireless.

3. price!

4. Hackability love messing with hacks and hidden abilties

5. Im located in the middle east so i need it to be supported still, like updates and support.

6. syncing, for my netbook, and smartphone when can afford it.

what I like about them:

Kobo: Its smaller than than the new kindle and nook, touch screen is cool. I like th sync option. Im affraid that linux os will be a prob, and i dont know if syncing will be an option for me as i dont plan on buying the books from kobo.

Nook: same as the Kobo (give or take) only ANDROID!!! if a got a new phone it would be android 4sure so how is syncing?? is there any yet? i mean android seems perfect for future fucking around with and apps and stuff. also dont know wich is better interface... are the physical buttons that important?

sony and pocketbook: i like how the pocket book has a protector, that will come in handy inside my bag without investing in a case. the sony seems up to par with th nook and kobo and is a lot cheaper now. how do they match up to the nook and kobo?

im tempted to put in less money for older designs, but i do have the budget to spend an extra 40 -30 for a newer model.

any advice, personal experienced and additional recommendations are welcome and much needed...

[delphin]

Of those you listed, I would only consider the PRS-350 and Nook STR to really be in the running.

The PRS-350 is unique in being the only current mass market touch screen interface reader in the smaller 5 inch profile.

The Nook STR is unique in being the only eInk touch screen reader with an Android O.S.

The Kobo is also very nice, but lacks any kind of page turn buttons, or the Sony's compact size, or the Nooks Android O.S. In another time or place, in another market, the new Kobo touch could have been a contender, but here and now, in this market, it's just not that competitive.

So, getting back to the differences between the PRS-350 and the Nook STR . . .

- I REALLY LIKE the Sony's compact size and the fact that it still packs 800x600 resolution into that smaller screen.

- But I ALSO REALLY LIKE the Nook STR's ultra flexible rootable Android O.S.

- The Sony has better PDF handling out of the box, but the Nook STR has better EPUB handling because users can override fonts and line spacing. The PRS-350's lack of EPUB font settings can be fixed with a 3rd party app (PRS+), and the Nook STR's PDF handling will also undoubably be improved through 3rd party Android apps like ezPDF and RepliGo.

- BOTH devices should work well with ADE and Calibre as well as their own library apps on your Netbook. (I use my Sony with my Netbook in both Win7 and Linux, with both Calibre and ADE, and it works flawlessly.)

So for me, it's a tossup, as both the PRS-350 and Nook STR each have unique advantages, and your ultimate choice will have to depending on your own personal priorities, and whether you value pocket sized portability, or a more flexible and hackable Android based design.

Really tough call . . .

You might want to buy BOTH.

[paola]

welcome to mobileread!

I have only experience of the Pocketbook 360, and it scores full marks on hackability and portability (it fits into a pocket of a jacket). The newer version, 360 plus, has wireless support, and you can find a review here. As for hackability, there are many things you can do, from installing ready made themes, to making your own, to installing additional reading softwares, as e.g. the FBreader 180 that allows you to turn pages by flicking your wrist. The buttons can be reconfigured to do many things. Screen is 5'', and is not Pearl, but I still find it good enough. I do use it regularly to read technical pdf files when I am on the go, but some people find anything below 6'' impossibly small for pdf and djvu.

For the other readers you are researching (and for more impressions on the 360), I am sure other people will chime in soon.

[HarryT]

If reading Mobipocket books is a requirement, the Kindle would seem to be the obvious choice.

[b5530188]

@delphin - that really helps narrow it down. do you feel it is that important the flexibility of the android (which i know is cool on phones), i mean linux isnt that bad right (i have no experience with linux, but i dont shy away from new stuff). i like the sync of kobo in theory but i believe the android will cover that in the future, what do u think?

@paola - I really love how compact the 360 looks and the wrist flick sounds cool too.
was wondering if i get one of them wich would u recommend the regular or the plus?
also if u know of any syncing abilities that would be really cool.

@HarryT - Ive been mostly relying on Mpocket for reading, but i think that i would rely more on calibre for putting books on my device. i was first considering the kindle but i prefer something smaller like i mentioned, and i know its a good device, but i dont know why im getting a "Apple inc." vibe from them.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If reading Mobipocket books is a requirement, the Kindle would seem to be the obvious choice.

Sorry, but library Mobipocket will not work with a Kindle due to the DRM.

[JSWolf]

I suggest waiting for a Harry Potter themed Sony Reader. You only have to wait till sometime in October.

[paola]

Originally Posted by b5530188

@paola - I really love how compact the 360 looks and the wrist flick sounds cool too.
was wondering if i get one of them wich would u recommend the regular or the plus?
also if u know of any syncing abilities that would be really cool.

I cannot really say, as I do not have the plus edition - the main difference is the wireless capability, and as the Plus is a new model I expect to see more software developments there. If you are thinking about wireless syncing, I have no clue - I suggest you ask these questions in the pocketbook forum, as people using the Plus may be able to help you.

[b5530188]

Thanx guys!!! got the prs 350 for an incredible 100 dollars... another 8 dollars shipping international YAY went for the compactness and touchscreen and visual appeal and the third party apps viable. also i guess u cant go wrong with sony!!

[delphin]

Originally Posted by b5530188

@delphin - that really helps narrow it down. do you feel it is that important the flexibility of the android (which i know is cool on phones), i mean linux isnt that bad right (i have no experience with linux, but i dont shy away from new stuff). i like the sync of kobo in theory but i believe the android will cover that in the future, what do u think?

Linux based devices are only moderately hackable, because there is no such thing as a 'standard' version of Linux. Even full blown Linux distributions like Slackware and Ubuntu have interoperability headaches due to packaging format and file system organization issues, but these are nothing compared to the differences between these larger X-Windows based Linux O.S.'s and the minimalist real-time Linux environments used by devices like the Kindle, Kobo, and PB360. For these smaller devices there is esentially no standardization at all beyond the linux kernel itself, and this means that someone has to reverse engineer the whole environment for EACH device individually, and this information is then only applicable to that specific device and tends to remain incomplete.

On the other hand, for the Android O.S., the design goals were to create an absolutely standardized environment that does everything possible to hide the differences between devices. It's not always perfect, and some apps do work better on some hardware than others, but Android has features to allow developers specify minimum hardware requirements, and to tweak their apps to run on as many devices as possible, so least they are trying.

These differences translate to the difference between being able to hack (if your lucky) a small handful of apps onto your reader, v.s. easy access to literally THOUSANDS of apps already available (many of which are FREE) that can be found in the Android marketplace.

As far as SYNC goes, there is more to this than simply remembering your page number, bookmarks, notes, etc. With Android, it should be relatively easy for B&N not only 'sync' data like page numbers etc. between their reader software on the Nook Color, Nook STR, and the various Nook Apps running on other Android devices, Macs, and PC's, but ALSO to create very similar user interfaces across all these platforms.

This is important in todays technology saturated marketplace, because it would mean that B&N users could switch seamlessly between devices, not only without loosing their page number, but also without having to deal with several different user interfaces.

B&N is not quite there yet, but this is clearly the direction that they are going.

Kobo also seems to be shooting for this 'one reader to rule them all' goal for their various reader applications, but I consider the lack of Android and page turn buttons on their new touch screen reader to have been major tactical errors.

The PB360 is not a touch based device, and is not Android based, but for a non-touch device the user interface is very nice (shows what the Kindle could have been if Amazon's programmers were any good).

The cover on the PB360 is a nice feature (though the device could have been even more compact) and I do think Sony missed the boat on the PRS-350 when they didn't include a slide on reversible cover screen protector like those that many Casio and TI calculators have used for years.

I have an old Casio calculator which has been with me for years that has simple slide on cover and it's GREAT. There are grooves down the sides of the device, and the cover slides on and off vertically. The cover is reversible, so when you are using the device, you just slide it back on facing the other way (covering the back of the device) for storage. With it's cover in place, that calculator has survived being sat on, jammed into gym bags with a dozen books, and a hundred other indignities that would destroy a Kindle, Sony, or Nook eReader very quickly. I'm not sure why the makers of 10 dollar calculators can figure this out, when the makers of eReaders costing over a hundered dollars more can't.

[b5530188]

so after ordering the prs 360, and we dont get the slide on cover... whats the next step to protect it, ill want to carry it with me in my bag, its almost a purse lol. the sony cover seems nice, how does it hinge anyway? is it still in the market? what do you recommend?

[delphin]

Originally Posted by b5530188

Thanx guys!!! got the prs 350 for an incredible 100 dollars... another 8 dollars shipping international YAY went for the compactness and touchscreen and visual appeal and the third party apps viable. also i guess u cant go wrong with sony!!

Yep, that's a GREAT price for the PRS-350.

If you decide to hack your 350 with PRS+, go slow and read the instructions a few times to make sure that you understand everything.

The main thing is to NOT try to load PRS+ until you are sure that you have a good reliable PC to PRS-350 USB hookup. If you are having any issues between your Netbook or PC with USB connections to the PRS-350 reader being unreliable, DO NOT TRY TO FLASH THE PRS-350 until you get them straightened out. Once you get PRS+ loaded, you can remove it, but if the reader freezes due to a USB glitch right while it's being loaded, you could end up with a non-recoverable 'bricked' reader that must be returned to Sony.

It's not like there is any big rush, because even without PRS+, I think that you will find that the basic reading and organizing features of your PRS-350 are pretty phenomenal right out of the box.

[Namekuseijin]

Android is a Linux.

But frankly, I don't see the point of either multitasking kernel OS in a single-purpose device. I'm yet to see a pure e-reader where you select the file to read and read it without much fuss. Shouldn't require a general-purpose, though obsolete, CPU, nor much memory...

[ring0_event]

Originally Posted by delphin

The PRS-350's lack of EPUB font settings can be fixed with a 3rd party app (PRS+)

Are you sure about that? Am I misinterpreting, or is that quote below a serious limitation here?

ALL: This isn't a bug actually: LRFTextScale is NOT compatible with Reader Library. On top of it, it WON'T correctly work with books that were open PRIOR to changing LRF scale. On top of it it would probably WIPE your notes possibly not only in LRF books if you change scale settings! Don't change LRF Text Scale settings unless you are absolutely sure what you're doing!

http://code.google.com/p/prs-plus/

So, anyone here use LRF scaling?

[delphin]

Originally Posted by b5530188

so after ordering the prs 360, and we dont get the slide on cover... whats the next step to protect it, ill want to carry it with me in my bag, its almost a purse lol. the sony cover seems nice, how does it hinge anyway? is it still in the market? what do you recommend?

The PRS-350 has two small holes at the upper left and lower left corner of it's top and bottom edges, and the official Sony covers have a clip right where the spine of a regular book would be with small pins that snap into these holes and hold the reader along it's left edge (while leaving it free to pivot just like the pages of a book).

With the exception of Proporta (which uses the above Sony style pins), most of the after-market covers use either picture album style corner loops, or a full slide in wrap around pouch to hold the reader.

Sony's covers use tiny rare earth magnets to hold themselves closed, and most of the others provide some kind of clasp (either magnetic or with a mechanical snap).

To tell the truth, I wasn't all that impressed with ANY of the covers (Sony's included) because they don't provide enough protection for the screen. So you will want to use some caution when shoving your reader into your bag to make sure that nothing is pressed up against the screen. Sadly, whether you have a Kindle, Nook, or Sony, it just takes a few pounds of force right up against your screen to destroy it (you don't have to actually crack the glass to nuke your screen).