Water and Dustproof! Do we really want/need it?

[cybmole]

I can see how water+dust proof could help if you read on the beach, but I would expect wind-blown sand to sand-blast & ruin the screen even so.

an outdoors reader needs to survive living in a hip pocket, with the possible torsion/twisting effects that can have on the device as you move about. I guess that current e-ink screens are too fragile for that.

PS there's a difference between water resistant ( can survive a little rain) and waterproof ( being dropped in bath/swimming pool ). waterproof requires a cunning solution for any USB or SD ports.
[ i do have a washable PC keyboard which copes with that last point by having a cap that goes over the usb cable end). I have not actually submerged it yet, but allegedly I can.- but the instructions say I have to leave it for several hours afterwards to drain & dry out, before re-connecting it]
http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/produc...-keyboard-k310

[donoharm]

My SO reads in the bathtub. Definately getting a waterproof ereader for xmas....

[leftright]

Originally Posted by Joques

leftright, yes, I often read in direct sunlight. Seems great to me; what is the problem?

See these two threads;

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=243602

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...irect+sunlight

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by leftright

I don't consider that a giant leap forward.

Have you ever tried to read with the Kobo in direct sunlight?, try it and then tell me what you think kobo's primary concern should be for a outdoors e-reader.

I often read outdoors in bright sunlight on my Kobo ereaders. The eInk screen works great unless I angle it so I get a nice reflection of the sun. So far I haven't seen issues some people have complained about due to overheating but around here, we consider 30°C as being hot. The rest of the time, the weather is best described as "In Vancouver, you don't tan, you rust" so a water resistant reader would be handy.

Regards,
David

[jackastor]

Originally Posted by leftright

I don't consider that a giant leap forward.

Have you ever tried to read with the Kobo in direct sunlight?, try it and then tell me what you think kobo's primary concern should be for a outdoors e-reader.

I read outdoors all the time, and while I can not recall if its direct sunlight or not, it reads fine to me. But again I can not recall if I have ever read in direct sunlight, this is my Aura HD.

regards

Jack

[treadlightly]

1) What would you be willing to pay for a Dust/waterproof Kobo?

Not more than $169 with the larger screen as suggested

2) Why would you want a Dust/waterproof Kobo?

For dust: to prevent crumbs from collecting in the corners
For waterproofing: to read in the hot tub, for easy cleaning, and not to be worried about the Kobo in a humid environment. Waterproofing implies the case has been designed to be easily held by a wet hand. I hope they've thought of this.

3) What colors should be optional for said Ereader?

Black, slate or brown

4) Last question, What features should be available!

The basic ereading features should work flawlessly, with many customizable display preferences. Extending battery life is always a bonus. Easily transferring sideloaded ebooks from computer to ereader wirelessly via some sort of shared folder would be a super-bonus.

[Anak]

Originally Posted by jackastor

1) What would you be willing to pay for a Dust/waterproof Kobo?

2) Why would you want a Dust/waterproof Kobo?

3) What colors should be optional for said Ereader?

4) Last question, What features should be available!

1. The maximum price I would consider to pay is the introduction price of the Aura HD. There is a good alternative available: The Onyx Bookx T68 Lynx. It is not dust or waterproof but has audio and bluetooth support. I do not necessarily need it but I prefer audio above dust and water resistence.

2. No, I don't. I prefer more useful features. Cloud storage to synchronize all book formats. Water and dustproof sounds like a gimmick for the 2% of users reading in the bad tub.

3. I don't really care as long there is a black (no high-gloss piano black!) and a white edition. Does it come with limescale remover?

4. An open device that allows the installation of third party android apps and does not need to be rooted or needs a modded community firmware.

[the.Mtn.Man]

Originally Posted by leftright

I don't consider that a giant leap forward.

Have you ever tried to read with the Kobo in direct sunlight?, try it and then tell me what you think kobo's primary concern should be for a outdoors e-reader.

I've used both my Touch and Aura in direct sunlight, and it's a great experience. I'm not sure what you're getting at.

Personally, I'd love a waterproof Aura provided it retained all the features of the current Aura. It would allow me to take my reader more places without worry.

[leftright]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I often read outdoors in bright sunlight on my Kobo ereaders. The eInk screen works great unless I angle it so I get a nice reflection of the sun. So far I haven't seen issues some people have complained about due to overheating but around here, we consider 30°C as being hot. The rest of the time, the weather is best described as "In Vancouver, you don't tan, you rust" so a water resistant reader would be handy.

Regards,
David

I live in the tropics 80m from the sea, I'm no stranger to corrosion and the sun is fierce. The e-ink screen was great in bright sunlight until the ink faded and the screen went totally white, the ONLY way to recover the unit was via a hard reset, so yes e-ink is beautiful in direct sunlight, for as long as it lasts.

I don't see how corrosion is a issue as the unit is well enclosed in plastic. I've had my Glo for a year and no signs of corrosion anywhere.

Which is a priority for me ?. To be able to read in direct sunlight in latitudes lower than the Arctic Circle for longer than 10 minutes.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by leftright

I live in the tropics 80m from the sea, I'm no stranger to corrosion and the sun is fierce. The e-ink screen was great in bright sunlight until the ink faded and the screen went totally white, the ONLY way to recover the unit was via a hard reset, so yes e-ink is beautiful in direct sunlight, for as long as it lasts.

I don't see how corrosion is a issue as the unit is well enclosed in plastic. I've had my Glo for a year and no signs of corrosion anywhere.

Which is a priority for me ?. To be able to read in direct sunlight in latitudes lower than the Arctic Circle for longer than 10 minutes.

I'm not sure why a hard reset would be needed. Unless you completely crashed the CPU at which point the display would have frozen on what was being displayed when the CPU crashed, I would think that waiting for the unit to cool off would work.

The comment about not tanning had nothing to do with corrosion. Simply that Vancouver tends to have quite a bit of rainfall -- the nickname for this area is "the wet coast". If I want to read outside on the average day, a water resistant device would be handy -- preferably one with a factory installed wiper blade.

Having lived for a few years in Port Radium on the shores of the Great Bear Lake, the issue with reading outdoors would be needing the light up to 22 hours per day and figuring out how to hold the ereader and turn the pages with heavy gloves on.

Regards,
David

[rwhe]

I live in Seattle and I'm tired of having to put my Kobo in a plastic bag so I can read it at the bus stop during the rainy season, which is most of the year. I have an Aura HD, and I would pay a bit more than I paid for that if I could get hold of a waterproof Aura HD. I wouldn't buy a waterproof Glo; I love my HD too much.

[Breid]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

Nothing I'd be interested in at all. I can see special uses for some people, but none that would affect me to want one. While I do read outdoors a lot, reading outdoors in the rain or dust storms isn't one of them.

I like my Aura HD, see no reason to upgrade to dustproof/waterproof version unless it also includes major improvements on screen resolution and reading experience, which I doubt it will. Because I have been studying for exams recently, my house contains shocking quatnitities of dust, but fortunatley no leaks. In the rare moments that I have had time for leisure reading, I have removed the copious layers of dust from my Kobo HD and it has worked flawlessly

[leftright]

Originally Posted by DNSB

If I want to read outside on the average day, a water resistant device would be handy -- preferably one with a factory installed wiper blade.

excellent feature as it could remove dust as well.

Originally Posted by DNSB

Having lived for a few years in Port Radium on the shores of the Great Bear Lake, the issue with reading outdoors would be needing the light up to 22 hours per day and figuring out how to hold the ereader and turn the pages with heavy gloves on.

The joys of living in or near the Arctic Circle eh. Hang in there, Global Warming to your rescue, the Tropics will soon be with you, my advise, buy seaside property but it must be higher than 20 meters.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by leftright

excellent feature as it could remove dust as well.
The joys of living in or near the Arctic Circle eh. Hang in there, Global Warming to your rescue, the Tropics will soon be with you, my advise, buy seaside property but it must be higher than 20 meters.

Hey, I'm living in the deep south now so I now longer have to worry about being asked "Where were you the night of Nov. 23rd to Jan 25th inclusive? Admittedly we used to talk about Edmonton as heading south.

And I'm not going to touch the global warming debate with a 3.048 metre pole. Neither side has anything to talk about other than sloppy excuses for the scientific method. Though I was looking forward to Greenland becoming green again just like it was before the "Little Ice Age" hit though I tend to be somewhat cynical and agree with the suggestion that Eric the Red named it Greenland as a sales device.

Regards,
David

[dakini]

I often read mine at the beach. Having it water resistant is nice. I'm going to assume that would also help the join between the screen and the bezel to prevent sand from getting in. If so, that would definitely be a feature I'd add on ... It's not that I plan to take my ereader swimming, but if it rubs up against a wet suit or towel in my bag, or gets splashed, it would be nice not to worry.