First Impressions - Good Enough

[Jack Tingle]

My jetBook arrived this evening.

The battery was partially charged, so I poked around. The firmware was already at 33g, so there's nothing to do there. The 2 GB SD card from my X51 was read in with no problems. A quick cruise around the various file formats I commonly use showed no real issues. Some hard formatted text files look a bit odd, but that's true of a lot of renderers. Not exceptional but good enough.

I was very pleased with the screen. It has the same crisp black letters as my old Aero 1550, on a somewhat lighter background (as I recall, but that was =cough-ahem= ago). it was quite readable under a table lamp. I was mildly impressed by the photo rendering. It isn't perfect, but it's probably at the very bottom end of "good enough", which is, well, good enough.

The size is good for a device that will usually ride in my briefcase. For now, it appears I got my money's worth. One of the attractions of the device is that it doesn't have any groundbreaking technology in it. All of the things I've read and observed about it say that it's unsexy and serviceable. My first impression bears that out. Good enough.

As for usability and durability, time will tell.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

[wodin]

Originally Posted by Jack Tingle

It isn't perfect, but it's probably at the very bottom end of "good enough", which is, well, good enough.

I'm reminded of that old Klingon proverb, "CRO-MAAT!"

Roughly translated: "The perfect is the enemy of the good enough."

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by wodin

I'm reminded of that old Klingon proverb, "CRO-MAAT!"

Roughly translated: "The perfect is the enemy of the good enough."

I would say about jetBook - The Best of the Best!

[LuBiB]

hey jack!

what color did you get and where did you buy it?

i have a red one and even though it may not be so appealing, everyone around me always asks what it is since its such an eye-catcher.

Its grown on me though so i find it to have some inanimate sex appeal lol

[Jack Tingle]

Clever lads, those Klingons.

I got it at BB&B online with a 20% off coupon.
Blackish gray - they didn't offer a choice.
My second impression is like my first. Not really sexy.

I did take the 2 GB card out and put it back in my PDA. I cloned an ancient 256 MB card for the jetBook. It didn't need a lot of things on the PDA's card.

It's actually not much heavier than the X51 in its Rhinoskin. It's screen is vastly superior in high ambient light. I find I use the square page buttons more than the little slider thingy, but the slider is nice to change hand positions.

The one deficiency (sort of) is the lack of a clock in the top bar. I do miss that a little. One can get absorbed and lose track of time. Since I haven't been able to find the same feature on a paper book, I suppose this one is very minor.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

[queentess]

I'm thinking of getting a JetBook, but I've only ever owned a Kindle and handled a Sony, which both use e-ink. How does the screen compare? Does it cause any eyestrain? Easily readable in sunlight?

[Jack Tingle]

Originally Posted by queentess

I'm thinking of getting a JetBook, but I've only ever owned a Kindle and handled a Sony, which both use e-ink. How does the screen compare? Does it cause any eyestrain? Easily readable in sunlight?

It's about the same. I don't think you'll perceive any meaningful difference.

Sunlight readability is fine. LCDs have always had excellent direct light readability(1). The jetBook's LCD works well from lamplight to full sun. The blacks are crisper than eInk, but the background is a light, matte-reflective gray-green rather than the light, sort of dirty, gray of eInk. I was pleasantly surprised that pictures turn out as well as they do with the very limited gray scale.

I've never had any problem with eyestrain unless, well, I overstrained my eyes. You don't need technology to do that. Most people who have eyestrain problems either overuse their eyes, don't set up the screen/room lighting correctly, or have some kind of hypersensitivity to lighting quirks. I know folks who hate 60 cycle flicker from fluorescents. I've even known a few who could sense it from incandescents. Use proper lighting when reading.

My biggest question is, "How long between charges?" Unfortunately, since it charges whenever you hook up the USB cable, I haven't found a limit yet. My PDA got charged every other day, and I had two batteries for travel, since I also used it for music. My smartphone (which I also read on) gets charged about every three or four days. The jetBook hasn't shown any movement on the power indicator at all. I don't think it will be an issue.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

(1) Yes, back-lit LCDs aren't very good in bright sunlight. They're dynamite in dim light because they have their own light source. Non-backlit LCDs/eInks/paper books are dynamite in bright light, but aren't worth a penny in dim light because they don't have their own light source. I've never understood disputes about this point. It seems really obvious to me. The lamp you use for reading a magazine? Turn it on for non-backlit eReaders, too.

[LuBiB]

generally, e-ink's have the splash effect before loading the next page.

the jetbook solved that problem with the LCD and now the page turns are instant without lag. so thats a pretty cool feature.

[Kralik]

Originally Posted by Jack Tingle

My biggest question is, "How long between charges?" Unfortunately, since it charges whenever you hook up the USB cable, I haven't found a limit yet. My PDA got charged every other day, and I had two batteries for travel, since I also used it for music. My smartphone (which I also read on) gets charged about every three or four days. The jetBook hasn't shown any movement on the power indicator at all. I don't think it will be an issue.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

(1) Yes, back-lit LCDs aren't very good in bright sunlight. They're dynamite in dim light because they have their own light source. Non-backlit LCDs/eInks/paper books are dynamite in bright light, but aren't worth a penny in dim light because they don't have their own light source. I've never understood disputes about this point. It seems really obvious to me. The lamp you use for reading a magazine? Turn it on for non-backlit eReaders, too.

Ectaco claims 20-24 hours of use between charges. I usually charge about once a week out of habit, but I suspect that in standby mode (no use), the battery would slowly discharge in a few weeks.

I prefer the non-backlit screen because I find that backlit screens are near impossible to read in bright light. I'd rather turn on a light to read in low-light situations than be unable to read in the sun. Sorta like my preference to cold weather vs. heat (I can always put in a sweater, but there's a limit to how much I can strip off! )

Maybe it would be best to put the rating in perspective. For instance, I could say that given my idea of the perfect reader, every one produced now comes up short. However, the Jetbook comes up less short that the others, mainly due to screen, which has less inherent problems than those of the e-ink variety.

[slm]

Originally Posted by akira28

Maybe it would be best to put the rating in perspective. For instance, I could say that given my idea of the perfect reader, every one produced now comes up short. However, the Jetbook comes up less short that the others, mainly due to screen, which has less inherent problems than those of the e-ink variety.

Just to round out the picture, I have both e-ink devices and the Jetbook. At the right angle, the Jetbook screen is as good. As the wrong angles, it is awful. since I read lying down in bed a lot, the Jetbook turns out to be vastly inferior--for my uses--to the e-ink screens.

[Jack Tingle]

WRT battery life, after a couple of days of use (including being hitched to the computer, which charges it) the battery indicator finally showed 2/3 charge. Overnight charging showed fully charged again. I'll probably treat it like my cell phone and charge every 3 days to one week.

WRT reading in bed, I haven't noticed any problems. You must be viewing it at a very odd angle, since mine is good from normal (90 degrees) to about 30 degrees.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

Originally Posted by slm

Just to round out the picture, I have both e-ink devices and the Jetbook. At the right angle, the Jetbook screen is as good. As the wrong angles, it is awful. since I read lying down in bed a lot, the Jetbook turns out to be vastly inferior--for my uses--to the e-ink screens.

If you are a frequent bed reader, with presumably a dim side light and not wanting to employ one dedicated for an ebook , then angling the unit towards the light or a white shirt can be a hassle. For those times I use paper or my iTouch. I have issues enough with the low contrast of e-ink in regular light that I can't imagine using one in bed, even without the black flashes that make me nauseous. Let's hope there is another technology arriving soon that gives us a true white background with true black letters and no flashes of black. Until then I don't think any of these dedicated readers will go mainstream.

Duplicate post

[Jack Tingle]

Ah, well, if you're trying to read in dim light... Frankly, I don't know what to say about that, other than that you should have listened to your mother when she told you you'd ruin your eyes doing that.

My third impression is that I love the reflective LCD (Just like my old, old, PDA) but I'm not sure the 5" screen is inherently better than a 3.5" screen. I suppose fewer page turns is nice, but I never minded turning pages.

I still miss the clock.

Regards,
Jack Tingle