902 PocketBook 902 - Quick Review

[CyGuy]

PocketBook 902 - Quick Review

Pros:
• Excellent screen: perfect size, very readable, great resolution, matte finish (low glare)
• Built-in micro SDHC card reader
• Great build quality
• Fantastic battery life (user serviceable battery too)
• Good for reading most PDF files
• Good format support
• Fast boot-up, fast page turns
• Easy to add bookmarks and find them later
• Folder view, folder management
• Easy to copy/paste files, no “syncing” needed (but optional)
• Works great with Calibre
• Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (haven’t used either though)
• Comes with a very nice protective sleeve (semi-rigid)
• Very customizable as far as reading layout, fonts, etc
• Text-to-speech works decently
• Ability to add custom dictionaries
• Easy to search for ebooks on the device by author, title
• 3.5mm headphone port
• Remembers where you left off in each book
• Progress bar on bottom is great (and recalculates for font changes etc)
• Easy learning curve, intuitive

Cons:
• Border around the screen is too large
• No built-in reader for .lit files
• No built-in reader for CBR or CBZ files
• Micro-USB instead of Mini-USB (huge negative for me)
• No way to actually disable the accelerometer
• Device is heavy, surprisingly heavy
• Power button is not recessed, too easy to turn on accidentally

Other:
• Haven’t used the Internet browser, can’t comment
• Haven’t used Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, can’t comment
• Haven’t played any MP3 files, can’t comment
• Multiple language support: only used English, can’t comment

Overall I really really like my new PocketBook 902. I have been reading more in the last week than I have in a long time. I love the large screen, and it is so easy on the eyes, no fatigue after reading for several hours straight.

[skydive]

You can disable the accelerometer:Congiguration>appearance>screen orientation> and seltec portrait. If select automatic, acelerometer is enable.

Originally Posted by CyGuy

PocketBook 902 - Quick Review

Pros:
• Excellent screen: perfect size, very readable, great resolution
• Built-in micro SDHC card reader
• Great build quality
• Fantastic battery life (user serviceable battery too)
• Good for reading most PDF files
• Good format support
• Fast boot-up, fast page turns
• Easy to add bookmarks and find them later
• Folder view, folder management
• Easy to copy/paste files, no “syncing” needed (but optional)
• Works great with Calibre
• Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (haven’t used either though)
• Comes with a very nice protective sleeve (semi-rigid)
• Very customizable as far as reading layout, fonts, etc
• Text-to-speech works decently
• Ability to add custom dictionaries
• Easy to search for ebooks on the device by author, title
• 3.5mm headphone port
• Remembers where you left off in each book
• Progress bar on bottom is great (and recalculates for font changes etc)
• Easy learning curve, intuitive

Cons:
• Border around the screen is too large
• No built-in reader for .lit files
• No built-in reader for CBR or CBZ files
• Mini-USB instead of Micro-USB (huge negative for me)
• No way to actually disable the accelerometer
• Device is heavy, surprisingly heavy

Other:
• Haven’t used the Internet browser, can’t comment
• Haven’t used Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, can’t comment
• Haven’t played any MP3 files, can’t comment
• Multiple language support: only used English, can’t comment

[CyGuy]

Originally Posted by skydive

You can disable the accelerometer:Congiguration>appearance>screen orientation> and seltec portrait. If select automatic, acelerometer is enable.

Unfortunately that does NOT disable the accelerometer, it only prevents page reorientation. Anytime you move the device around the little green LED still lights up, the accelerometer is not disabled using that feature.

[skydive]

Ok, as long as accidentally start turning when I do not want to, I am ok to if the green light lights up when I moved....

Originally Posted by CyGuy

Unfortunately that does NOT disable the accelerometer, it only prevents page reorientation. Anytime you move the device around the little green LED still lights up, the accelerometer is not disabled using that feature.

[J.C.]

Oh it'll light up when you move it, and every time you press a key.
And for a media player that supposed to be suitable for audio book listening, it won't remember your place in the book when you pause and turn off the device, or your playlist (as many audio books are split on more then one file).

[adrhc]

Hi, I' like to know how is you PB 902 dealing with pdfs ? Can you enlarge font but without loosing formatting or tables ?

Take a look at this:
http://static.springsource.org/sprin...rk-upgrade.pdf
and go to page 9 (chapter: 2.7 Repositories, Table 2.2.).
Is it possible to view it exactly as if I would be with Adobe Reader at 140% zoom ? Consider only the document's width when comparing, it doesn't matter for me if it splits the page on vertical,

thanks you

PS1: it doesn't matter for me if it has margins, it only matters to keep the formating (including tables) and to have big font
PS2: I assume you'll have to use the landscape view positionning for this test whitch is fine with me

[adrhc]

To read PDF technical documents is the main reason to buy PocketBook 902 or 903 (I want to replace the LCD with something very close to paper ). I tested a vizplex display (iRiver Story ) but form me the contrast is simply not satisfactory . The font is too gray for me and the background is too dark comparing both with Kindle 3 . Do you have any ideea if PocketBook 902 has darker fonts, whiter background or better contrast comparing with iRiver Story ?

PS: I'm really very sensitive to the quality of display because my eyesight is poor

[Anthony.h80]

@adrhc: Pls check the link of the PDF again as the document was not found on the page.

p.s. It would be interesting if dual device users could post their outcome after testing the doc.

[parkher]

I mostly read books and avoid pdf format, convert it to epub with Calibre converter, if necessary.

For reading e-books, PocketBook 902 is just perfect. But I use fbreader180, not the default fbreader, because it allows me to set very wide margins: > 2 cm each margin.
This way, the actual page on screen is of the same size as a regular paperback book page, it has the same font size (2.2 DejaVu) and has the same number of lines per page, and (most important) the same number of words/letters per line.
Wide margins also make reading words at the edges very comfortable.

This could not be achieved with a smaller screen, such as 602.

Those wide margins made the crucial difference for me. Before installing fbreader180, I read with 902 very little, afterwards (with those wide margins) - almost continuously
The difference is like day and night.

So I suggest to everybody, install fbreader180. There is also a script which makes all the internal dictionaries accessible from fbreader180, so there are no cons whatsoever.
Current version of fbereader180 requires to edit the configuration file on PC to set wide top and bottom margins, but left and right margins can be handled directly on PB 902 in another way, so you can easily fine-tune them to your taste.

Yes, also the history application supporting up to 30 last opened books and allowing to move/delete books is very important to me, as I usually read many books simultaneously, and also try to open various versions of the same book to find out which looks the best.

I know, fbreader180 and history.app - additional software, but they make PocketBook 902 so much better! They make the device perfect. I could not ask for anything more.

Actually, I prefer PocketBook 902 to real paper books.
Often I have a real paper book but I choose to read it with PocketBook 902 instead.
I find it is easier and more pleasant to read with 902, easier on my eyes.
Some regular books have very small font. Even when the font size is ok, still somehow PocketBook is more comfortable to read.
And of course, additional benefits, such as: no need to search for a misplaced book, no need to search for the page I was reading. Instant access to dictionaries, and dictionaries sometimes are very informative, like wikipedia, to look up various geographical or historical references, etc - when reading a regular paper book I would never dream of looking up such things, but with PocketBook - why not. It takes seconds.

[parkher]

Originally Posted by adrhc

To read PDF technical documents is the main reason to buy PocketBook 902 or 903

The main reason to buy 902/903 is for reading regular books.
Not on a tiny 5" or 6" screen, but pages of the same size as in real paper books.
For a feeling that you are actually reading real paper book.

As to pdfs, unless they are created for PocketBook 902/903 size screen specifically, they are still difficult to read.
In A4 documents, letters are too small, re-flow does not work very well (again, no margins to speak of), zooming and moving the page around - also very unpleasant.
In same cases landscape orientation helps, but again, only 1/3 of a page at a time or so.

So yes, 902/903 is better for pdf than smaller devices, and also it has 2 pdf viewers to choose from, but still not good enough.

I suggest the following:
1. To convert pdf books to other formats, such as epub
2. To regenerate pdf for this specific screen size with the margins of your preference.
3. To read technical documentation on a PC.

[Billi]

Originally Posted by parkher

For reading e-books, PocketBook 902 is just perfect. But I use fbreader180, not the default fbreader, because it allows me to set very wide margins: > 2 cm each margin.
This way, the actual page on screen is of the same size as a regular paperback book page, it has the same font size (2.2 DejaVu) and has the same number of lines per page, and (most important) the same number of words/letters per line.
Wide margins also make reading words at the edges very comfortable.

I agree with you in regard of the margins.

In the beginning, when I just had received my Pocketbook 902, I avoided novels (= epub files) like the plague. I had the impression that the developers had not read one single book themselves on their devices. I prefer the Adobe Reader for epub files but with the text going exactly from the beginning to the end of the screen it was impossible to read any novel on this device.

My solution then was to set the margins to my liking in the css file directly and like you I prefer big margins. Now it is a real joy to read novels on the Pocketbook.

[0utis]

@adhrc. I don't have an iriver Story but a sony prs-505. The screen is Vizplex, same as the Pocketbook and the iriver. I find the Pocketbook's clearer, maybe because it's bigger but it is a slight improvement. Changing fonts is trivial with fbreader and coolreader, so you can choose a bold font if you want to get a better contrast. As far as I know, you can't do that with pdfviewer or Adobe viewer which are the applications you'd use for pdf files.

I read pdf files on my Pocketbook, I can usually find a zoom percentage which it's both readable and allows me to fit a whole page on the screen. Sometimes they are only legible with reflowing, losing the format, drawings, etc. No big deal for me, my pdfs are pure text, but it does matter if you are reading code. Also, I don't know why, but with some files the text is far too pale to be easily read and I have to convert them.

Frankly, pdf files work *lots* better on a computer or a tablet. If they are the only reason you are considering buying an ebook reader, I'd tell you to reconsider it. Yes, you can convert them to epub but it takes time to get a good result. Calibre's automatic conversion is not at its best when the source is a pdf. Ebook readers are wonderful devices if you've got poor eyesight, except with pdf files.