Battery life on color e-book readers?

[TCFAN]

I've been looking at color e-book readers for the past few weeks now, and the one thing I've noticed is that they all seem to have very low battery life. I just assumed many of these devices would get 6-10 hours of battery life when only reading e-books--don't laugh!--but they all seem to be much lower, more around the 2-3 hour mark from what I can tell.

Is there a color e-reader on the market priced under a $100 that won't need a recharging after two hours of reading? I don't care about wifi, and I could care less about running apps and such. I just want to use it for reading the e-books I already own. Is this possible, or should I be looking at the black and white models like the Kobo? I really like the 7" color screens out there now, but if they're going to need a recharge so frequently I might have to reconsider the b&w models.

Thanks.

[tecweston]

Forget the part about battery life (although the number you quoted of 2-3 hours is way short. Most tablets have an advertised battery life of around 8-10 hours). Here's the most important part:

Originally Posted by TCFAN

Is there a color e-reader on the market priced under a $100

No. The cheapest you're going to find an LCD ereader for right now would be about $200 for the Kindle Fire or B&N Nook Tablet. Both of which have an advertised battery life of around 8 hours.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by TCFAN

I've been looking at color e-book readers for the past few weeks now, and the one thing I've noticed is that they all seem to have very low battery life. I just assumed many of these devices would get 6-10 hours of battery life when only reading e-books--don't laugh!--but they all seem to be much lower, more around the 2-3 hour mark from what I can tell.

Is there a color e-reader on the market priced under a $100 that won't need a recharging after two hours of reading? I don't care about wifi, and I could care less about running apps and such. I just want to use it for reading the e-books I already own. Is this possible, or should I be looking at the black and white models like the Kobo? I really like the 7" color screens out there now, but if they're going to need a recharge so frequently I might have to reconsider the b&w models.

Thanks.

Perhaps you bought some of those no-name Chinese LCD tablets? 2-3 hours on a charge reading only (with wireless connections turned off) that seems so low it is impossible to believe. The worst of the bunch should still get 3 hours streaming Flash video over WiFi at the highest screen brightness setting. So you should easily get 6-8 hours just reading.

Sure you can find readers below $100. Slow with lousy screens and no service, of course. But they exist.

[tecweston]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Sure you can find readers below $100. Slow with lousy screens and no service, of course. But they exist.

Oh yeah, I forgot about those cheap tablets they have behind the counter at CVS. Don't waste your time with those, TCFAN. They'll break in six months and you'll just have to buy a new one anyway, plus for those six months they'll do nothing but frustrate you and make you wish you'd sprung for the better models.

Save up and buy a Kindle Fire or a Nook Tablet. Or buy a b&w ereader, because seriously, unless you plan on reading a lot of magazines and/or comics, a b&w ereader is just as good (or better, since they have longer battery lives and you can read them in direct sunlight).

[ilovejedd]

Seriously, I wouldn't waste time on the sub-$100 tablets found in drugstores. Most have crappy, unresponsive touchscreens and you'd be likely to replace them within a month due to sheer frustration.

One suggestion, why not a refurbished Nook Color? I've seen those go for as low as $110 and it'll run better and is much better supported compared to the drugstore tablets.

[dwig]

Originally Posted by TCFAN

... I could care less about running apps and such. I just want to use it for reading the e-books I already own. ...

Then what use is color??

There is very little need for a color display when reading most ebooks. Unless your reading includes things like manga or similar types of graphic heavy works I would lobby that you concentrate on the excellent B&W eInk devices that are available.

[TCFAN]

Thanks for the replies.

Yes, I was looking at the cheap e-readers. I figured that one of them might be okay just for reading epubs and such. I was considering them because of the 7" screen, which I hoped would give me more lines per screen, making it look more like an actual book. One brand I was considering was Ematic. These sell for cheap but only seem to only get 2-3 hours of battery life with the wifi turned off (that's what the guy on the customer service line said, anyhow).

After reading some of these replies, I think I'll be getting one of the e-ink models instead--a Nook or Kobo, as battery life is important to me. I also want the thing to last. The Kindle DX looks really nice (lots of lines on the screen with full justification), but I can't afford to spend that much on a reader right now. I figure a Nook or Kobo should be fine.

[booklover6]

If you have a Best Buy near you, see if they have any Sony Readers left. They have been reducing them. I got a T1 and it is really awesome. It's a 6" screen. I also have a Nook Color, and while nice for reading, I really prefer the eink.

In addition to the much longer battery life of the eink readers, the weight is another consideration. If you like to read in bed and hold your book up in the air, any of the LCD readers/tablets are going to feel fairly heavy after awhile. The T1 is very light. I love it. I think I will go read.

[delphin]

I picked up a Curtis Klu 5 inch media tablet for 79 bucks on Amazon.

What has already been said about these inexpensive tablets is basically true.

The supplied USB charger would never properly charge the tablet, and within a week had failed completly.

After I had replaced the charger with a generic 2 amp high-capacity USB charger, the tablet's charging issues were solved, but the Klu 5 still proved a mixed bag.

My first impression wasn't too bad, because the little 5 inch screen looked GREAT. Bright, clear, sharp, fairly good viewing angle - really nice.

Checked out the built in webcam style camera, and it also did a GREAT job (better than average performance in low light)

Then the disappointments set in . . .

1) No Google Apps or Android market access, and the built in 'Slide Me' crap was garbage (not only CRAPPY selection, but wouldn't even download)

- fixed this by installing 1 Mobile Market by downloading from their web page (a few glitches, but does work, and pretty good selection of apps)

2) That wonderful built in webcam is pretty much useless because I couldn't get ANY of the common video chat programs to work (Skype, Yahoo, Gtalk, oovoo).

- Couldn't fix this, ddVideo almost works (lowres very ZOOMed off color image) About the only use for the camera is to locally record a video then email it to someone as an attachment.

3) The resistive touch screen takes WAY too much pressure, especially when dragging and swiping (not too bad for tapping)

- Again no fix for this, it is what it is. You get used to it somewhat, and accuracy does improve a bit if you carefully calibrate the touch-screen, but it's never great.

4) Local Video Playback and YouTube is fairly good, but there is no Flash Video in the browser, and it can't be added.

5) It uses a REALLY WEIRD button arrangement with one rocker switch for Home/Menu and another rocker for Power/Back. This is a real pain to get used to - but you do figure it out eventually . . .

6) Overall Android performance is lacklustre, and stability is only so-so. I was able to run Angry Birds for a few hours without it locking it up, but the graphics performance was nothing to shout about.

7) Wireless range is only so-so, not horrible, just not great (about on a par with my 5 year old laptop, but not as good as any of my other modern WiFi devices)

8) The built in eReader app is JUNK. It has a warning about trying to load any EPUB larger than a few Megs, and I can confirm that this DOES crash it. Unfortunately, this excluded it from being usable for a good portion of my library.

-The Fix: Just Download and configure FBReader (get it from 1Mobil Market or download the APK from the FBReader web site, and check to make sure your it's settings point to either your internal or external SD card memory).

And Guess what??? FBReader ACTUALLY WORKS PRETTY NICELY!!!

I later upgraded to a nice Galaxy Player 4 (MANY more features, NONE of the above problems), but I have to admit, that if my only concern was reading eBooks, the little Klu5 would definitely do the job.

And the battery life isn't too bad - With the screen brightness near minimum (the most comfortable setting when reading indoors), the battery life is about 5 to 6 hours or more.

So, if your only criteria is battery life, and "will it work at all" the Klu does pass the test.

BUT - For the record, my Galaxy Player 4 lets me read for at least 8 hours, and is just flat out a MUCH, MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better device (but it was also about two and a half times more expensive, so you get what you pay for).


EDIT -

Just noticed the post recommending the Sony PRS-T1 and would like to second that suggestion.

The original poster was considering a low cost Color LCD generic Android device, so I responded with some of my experiences with a similar device.

But if he or she would prefer a black-and-white eInk device to one with a Color LCD, and would prefer more of a dedicated eReader device to a generic Android tablet, then as has already been suggested, the Sony PRS-T1 is an EXCELLENT choice.

With a little luck, the PRS-T1 can be purchased for $79 to $99 dollars on sale.

I was able to find one at a local FRYS in Southern California for only 79 bucks brand new in the box (almost to the penny, the same as I paid for the Klu)

The Sony, even after rooting, is not quite as flexible as the Klu, but it's about two orders of magnitude better built, and when used in it's original configuration as an eReader works GREAT.

I actually prefer the Sony PRS-T1 over BOTH the Nook Touch and Kindle Touch eInk readers and at anything less than $100 it's an absolute steal.