Best e-reader for Cyrillic text?

[larisa0001]

I realize that it may be better manners to start my own thread rather than hijack someone else's; so here goes.

I have a ton of public-domain e-books, mostly in .txt format. About half of them are in Russian, so one of my basic requirements for a reader is that it should be able to display Cyrillic text. I'm not really interested in DRM'd e-books, because I got burned on that once already; I've got a whole bunch of PalmReader-formatted books (*.pdb, encrypted with my credit-card number) that I cannot read on any other device. But if any of the existing e-readers can read encrypted *.pdb files, I'd prefer those.

Can some of the experts here recommend an e-reader? Based on my own cursory research thus far, I like the BeBook the best - but I'm not sure I fully know what I'm talking about.

[HarryT]

The CyBook would certainly be an excellent solution, given the fact that it permits you to load your own fonts onto the machine. Load a set of Cyrillic fonts, and you're good to go.

[bill_mchale]

I am not a hundred percent sure, but I am pretty sure that the Jetbook supports Cyrillic text. It also supports .fb2 which seems to be the most popular ebook format for Russian books.

--
Bill

[Kris777]

I recommend jetBook - it has support for Russian fonts and it has Russian interface

[dsip]

I'm sorry to be mannerless, but..

Originally Posted by HarryT

The CyBook would certainly be an excellent solution, given the fact that it permits you to load your own fonts onto the machine. Load a set of Cyrillic fonts, and you're good to go.

Would the same thing work for RTL fonts, e.g. arabic or hebrew?

[igorsk]

RTL needs special handling and no current readers (AFAIK) implement it for reflowable formats. It does work in Sony Reader's PDF viewer (if you embed the fonts) and possibly some other devices.
Actually now that I think about it, it might be possible RTL in EPUB works on the Readet...

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by igorsk

RTL needs special handling and no current readers (AFAIK) implement it for reflowable formats. It does work in Sony Reader's PDF viewer (if you embed the fonts) and possibly some other devices.
Actually now that I think about it, it might be possible RTL in EPUB works on the Readet...

You can see the attached picture of my jetBook with Hebrew text on it

[hidari]

Привиет Лариса,

I read books in Russian on my Cybook and My Sony 505. The Cybook is easy to put in the font you want and you can read it. On the Sony 505 you have to put it iinto PDF format before you put it on the reader with Open Office for example.

They both have a good screen. The Sony is better ergonomically. However, I find the Cybook more versatile with fontsizes (12) and font Families(about 15 you can put on the reader at one time).

hidari

Originally Posted by larisa0001

I realize that it may be better manners to start my own thread rather than hijack someone else's; so here goes.

I have a ton of public-domain e-books, mostly in .txt format. About half of them are in Russian, so one of my basic requirements for a reader is that it should be able to display Cyrillic text. I'm not really interested in DRM'd e-books, because I got burned on that once already; I've got a whole bunch of PalmReader-formatted books (*.pdb, encrypted with my credit-card number) that I cannot read on any other device. But if any of the existing e-readers can read encrypted *.pdb files, I'd prefer those.

Can some of the experts here recommend an e-reader? Based on my own cursory research thus far, I like the BeBook the best - but I'm not sure I fully know what I'm talking about.

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by hidari

Привиет Лариса,

I read books in Russian on my Cybook and My Sony 505. The Cybook is easy to put in the font you want and you can read it. On the Sony 505 you have to put it iinto PDF format before you put it on the reader with Open Office for example.

They both have a good screen. The Sony is better ergonomically. However, I find the Cybook more versatile with fontsizes (12) and font Families(about 15 you can put on the reader at one time).

hidari

jetBook support Russian fonts in regular TXT format so no need to convert it into PDF. As an additional feature you can use Russian<->English dictionary for words translation

[larisa0001]

hidari, I'm curious about the ergonomics issue - why do you think the Sony Reader is better ergonomically? I don't actually mind converting to PDF (as mentioned, my ebooks are TXT files so it's easy to convert them to any format), but I do have some significant repetitive-stress injury issues, so ergonomics is a big deal for me.

[hidari]

Originally Posted by larisa0001

hidari, I'm curious about the ergonomics issue - why do you think the Sony Reader is better ergonomically? I don't actually mind converting to PDF (as mentioned, my ebooks are TXT files so it's easy to convert them to any format), but I do have some significant repetitive-stress injury issues, so ergonomics is a big deal for me.

The Sony has buttons on the bottom left as well as on the right side to change pages. Also, The Sony can be turned to landscape mode for every format. The Cybook only for PDF format. However, as of April the Cybook will have epub and PDF reflow like the sony. Hopefully, it will be able to be viewed in Landscape mode as well from then.

Either way they are both good readers and easy for turning pages. Just an extra option or two on the Reader. I recommend both.

[larisa0001]

Hmm, thanks! The Sony Reader is a lot cheaper than the other ones, at least on ebay, so I am highly tempted by that option. And is it easy to convert PDF files to whatever format it uses? Or does it read regular PDF files?

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by larisa0001

I've got a whole bunch of PalmReader-formatted books (*.pdb, encrypted with my credit-card number) that I cannot read on any other device. But if any of the existing e-readers can read encrypted *.pdb files, I'd prefer those.

You can read your eReader ebooks on many device types, but not currently on Linux (and so not on EInk devices). There will be EInk devices supporting eReader DRM "soon". It is likely that EZ Reader (US Hanlin V3) will be one, but it may be worth waiting until the software is actually available before counting on it.

The other option, not legal in all places, is to use ereader2html to strip the DRM and then Calibre (say) to convert to LRF or ePub or MOBI. Then you choice of device is independent of eReader.

[larisa0001]

Sigh... I am kicking myself for having spent that much money on DRM'd books that I can't read on the devices I want to read them on. I live in a place where circumventing copy-protection measures is illegal, so I cannot take advantage of the software that's available. (I am in law school, and I'd rather not do anything that would get me disbarred) But I do, thankfully, at least have the option of expressing my disapproval of the DMCA by not buying any more DRM-locked books.

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by larisa0001

Sigh... I am kicking myself for having spent that much money on DRM'd books that I can't read on the devices I want to read them on. I live in a place where circumventing copy-protection measures is illegal, so I cannot take advantage of the software that's available. (I am in law school, and I'd rather not do anything that would get me disbarred) But I do, thankfully, at least have the option of expressing my disapproval of the DMCA by not buying any more DRM-locked books.

At the risk of starting a thread that has been discussed many times here... you are finding out now, what a lot of people might find out in a few years when their kindles start breaking. They will find that they are limited to where and how they can read their books.

--
Bill