Help, what reader?

[kpetzing]

I currently have a Kindle 3 and an Aztak EZreader.

I'm looking to replace the EZ reader beacuse I hate the screen. If it had a pearl screen, I'd probably be happy.


What I'm looking for:

MUST HAVE:
Pearl screen
A good selection of formats (txt, html, epub most imporant)
small (5-6 inches)
SD card (micro or regular)

WANT:
touch screen (non glare)
Search within books
dictionary
Folder structure or something that makes it not just one huge list of books

COOL BONUSES:
Search across books
highlights or some type of marking (notes would be a plus)
text-to-speach

DO NOT CARE:
mp3
internet



I was looking at the Kobo Touch as being a good fit since it does most of these (not sure about folders or searching across books though), but wondered if there was anything else I should look at.

Thanks for your help,


EDITED TO ADD: I'm in the US.

[Latinandgreek]

The ebook readers that would probably suit you best would be the Sony 650, the Kobo, and the Nook (if you are in the U.S.).

[jbcohen]

I agree a Sony would be a good option, however let's understand that they have one major problem - in PC Magazine's opinion the real problem with the Sony readers is their cost, they cost a whole lot of dollars. Of the three that Lantin and Greek mentioned I would go with the Kobo if you want simplicity, in addition to your list, or the Nook Simple Touch if you want a real powerful reader

[jocampo]

My 2 cents.

Focus on the type of books that you read and like. Based on that, do a quick search on any of the online bookstores for the most important devices. The one with better hits (and prices) should give you an idea of which device should be #1 on your list.

By the way, not sure if you reside in USA or not. If you're not in USA, I would not recommend any B&N device. They do not have support outside of USA. You will avoid some headaches (and money) in case of hardware issues.

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by jocampo

By the way, not sure if you reside in USA or not. If you're not in USA, I would not recommend any B&N device. They do not have support outside of USA. You will avoid some headaches (and money) in case of hardware issues.

I agree.

[delphin]

The Nook Simple Touch does nearly everything you want except Text-to-Speech (no audio).

The Sony PRS-350 is a terrific little reader. It can often be found on sale for $110 or so, and is a good value at that price (but it lacks both audio and SD expansion).

The Nook STR's best feature is that it is Android based, so you can 'root' it and run literally thousands of Android apps. In fact it is pretty much the ONLY Android tablet device that has super long battery life and an eInk Pearl screen.

The Sony's best feature is that it is incredibly compact compared to most other readers, and is truly pocket sized. The PRS-350's 5 inch screen only gives up an inch to your Kindle 3 (diagonally, less than an inch horizontally and vertically), but because of the lack of a keyboard, it's literally about HALF the size of the Kindle. The PRS-350's software isn't quite as expandable as the Nook, but you can run a few Apps using PRS+ if you really want to. The PRS-350's main strength though is as an eReader, where, even with just the plain vanilla firmware, the PRS-350 is quite simply a joy to use.

[kpetzing]

Thanks for the suggestions

My one concern about the Nook Touch is that it doesn't take many formats according to what I've seen, and while I've used Calibre, I don't want to have to put tons of books through it.

[jbcohen]

If you want to be able to read a whole lot of formats try the Pocket Book 301 it reads: Fb2, FB2.zip, TXT, PDF, RTF, HTML, PRC, CHM, DJVU, DOC, EPUB, TCR. The only major format out there that it does not read is MOBI which you would need to use Calibre for. I think this would keep the number of Calibre sessions down to a minimum. pocketbookreader.com/Home_Page.php

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

If you want to be able to read a whole lot of formats try the Pocket Book 301 it reads: Fb2, FB2.zip, TXT, PDF, RTF, HTML, PRC, CHM, DJVU, DOC, EPUB, TCR. The only major format out there that it does not read is MOBI which you would need to use Calibre for. I think this would keep the number of Calibre sessions down to a minimum. pocketbookreader.com/Home_Page.php

I had wanted to mention the Pocketbook readers, but they don't have pearl screen as far as I know.

[Pinecone]

Ther Sony PRS-650 adds the SD card (and Memory Stick) and MP3 capability. 6" screen instead of 5" on the 350.

Sony may cost more, but the firmware is very good and stable, and they are very well built units.

You can have a Yugo or a BMW.

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by Pinecone

Ther Sony PRS-650 adds the SD card (and Memory Stick) and MP3 capability. 6" screen instead of 5" on the 350.

Sony may cost more, but the firmware is very good and stable, and they are very well built units.

You can have a Yugo or a BMW.

Lol I'd readily drive a Yugo but I would never give up my Sony reader!

[delphin]

Originally Posted by kpetzing

Thanks for the suggestions

My one concern about the Nook Touch is that it doesn't take many formats according to what I've seen, and while I've used Calibre, I don't want to have to put tons of books through it.

The good news is that some of those 'thousands of apps' that I mentioned that you can load on a Nook STR under Android are book reader apps.

This means that although readers like the Kobo, and PocketBook might support more formats natively, in the end the Nook STR is more flexible.

More flexible because you are not locked into the file formats and features supported by the built in viewers.

For example, though the built in PDF viewer on the Nook STR is not as nice as the one on my Sony, there are several 3rd party Android App PDF readers which have advanced features that my Sony lacks. For example, add-on readers like ezPDF and RepliGo, offer capabilities that you won't find on ANY of the built in PDF readers (like the ability to mark up a PDF file, then re-save the fully marked document in PDF format).

In fact, one of the advantages often cited for the PocketBook is that you can hack it to run a few additional Apps including a custom version of FBreader, which improves on it's built in reader app.

Until now, I would have considered the Pockbook to be one of the most 'hackable' readers, but the Nook STR's Android OS is about 50 times as flexible when it comes to running 3rd party software.

So, if you don't like the formats and features supported by the Nook STR out of the box, don't worry, you can run literally dozens of 3rd party viewer apps (including FBreader).

[kpetzing]

@delphin. That's really helpful. I hadn't thought of that (even though I hacked my Nook Color into an android tablet). I hadn't thought of just converting a regular e-reader into a super-e-reader.

I did look at the Sony Pocket reader yesterday and that was pretty nice as well, but it's about $170 everywhere I found it, depite finding lots of people saying they found it for between $100 and $120.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by kpetzing

@delphin. That's really helpful. I hadn't thought of that (even though I hacked my Nook Color into an android tablet). I hadn't thought of just converting a regular e-reader into a super-e-reader.

I did look at the Sony Pocket reader yesterday and that was pretty nice as well, but it's about $170 everywhere I found it, depite finding lots of people saying they found it for between $100 and $120.

One point.

Nook Touch does not do landscape, Sony does. That can't be improved even via hack, as far as I know; feel free to correct me if I am wrong and there are some videos about it, using landscape I mean.

Landscape mode is a must for most PDF documents, poetry and computer books.

I don't understand why B&N refuses to implement that.

[delphin]

Originally Posted by jocampo

One point.

Nook Touch does not do landscape, Sony does. That can't be improved even via hack, as far as I know;

Sorry, that is not correct. External 3rd party Android Apps are able to do landscape just fine.

Here's a video showing early results with a number of 3rd party Android PDF Apps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayAcdHuI5hw

So, now you know different.

I agree with most of the reviewers comments, including that the Sony's PDF capabilities are currently less buggy and better integrated.

. . . But where the reviewer totally blows it, is in failing to point out that these apps have not had a chance to be optimized for the Nook STR.

This video gives an overview only of the early results. You should keep in mind that the only reason for many of the limitations that are mentioned is that these apps have not yet been tweaked for the eInk Nook STR.

The Nook STR is projected to sell in the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS TO MILLIONS, and the idea that the developers of these reader apps will not tweak them for the Nook, after spending thousands of hours tweaking them to run on everything from a Galaxy Tablet to a crappy little Android Smart Phone, is insane.

So ultimately, I expect the Nook STR will not only have Apps that let it read formats that my Sony lacks, but also to outperform the Sony on both the EPUB and PDF reading experience and features.

The key here is that there is money to be made, as well as some terrific open source software available as a starting point, so ultimately, Android will redeem the Nook STR, even if B&N doesn't.