Pocketbook Era first look

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I just don't think the side-lit design is the best way to go. I wish PocketBook had gone with 6.8" "traditional" design (like the PaperWhite 5).

Or with the design of the InkPad Lite, if you prefer to have side buttons.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

The PocketBook Basic is lightless (and touchless).

And the key word is decent. Next.

[trekk]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I'm really sorry to hear all of this. I was kind of looking forward to the Era, but was worried about the side-lighting. Maybe they'll get it fixed.

I really hope so, because apart from the lighting the Era is a very good e-Reader.

[tomsem]

The Era is my first side-lit eReader. I am not noticing any lighting issues with it. I agree, it is very good, and compares favorably in many respects to my Paperwhite (11th gen).

What I like:
- No nonsense interface
- TTS for many languages (ironically I believe they are Ivona voices, Amazon owns them), and the iOS app also has TTS
- Better tap zones (I like the upper right one to exit book without first bring up UI to do it)
- Many more ways to view and categorize library with little effort needed
- DropBox option (iOS app also works with Google Drive and adds access to Google Books library, OPDS catalogs)
- on screen sliders for brightness control

What I miss are:

- No Dark Mode
- No justification options (iOS app has these)
- No real font adjustment (other than the weird Regular/Italic/Bold options, which should be replaced with a Bold slider). And to see which font you are using, you probably will need to scroll down until you find it. The could just show that first, followed by the rest.
- It should store different default dictionary on per language basis. If I'm reading a French book, it should default to a French dictionary etc.
- 'Dictionary mode' seems counter-intuitive and awkward (one might say 'awkword')
- It also needs to match TTS voice to the book language (like Pocketbook iOS app, or Kindle Fire).
- No 5 GHz WiFi

Questions:
- Anybody know where I might find an existing Pocketbook Czech-English dictionary? I understand there are tools to convert to what Pocket needs if I can find it in some other format (but so far I can't find that either).
- Is there a more expanded Russian-English dictionary somewhere? I got the one from pocketbook website but is described as 'short'.

[MultiKoopa]

Originally Posted by trekk

No, but you can have night mode in third-party programs like KOReader.

I guess that's good enough. Not sure why they can't just do a dark mode system-wide.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by cellaris

Or with the design of the InkPad Lite, if you prefer to have side buttons.

Are the lights on the bottom of the InkPad Lite? I always just assumed it was side-lit.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

And the key word is decent. Next.

In what way is the PocketBook Basic 4 supposedly not "decent?" It's basically the same build as PocketBook's Basic Lux 3 and their popular Touch Lux 5, but without some of their features. (All have 212 dpi screens.) It also has a microSD slot. It's also lighter than any current eReader at 145 grams.

I'm guessing the lack of a touch layer and light layer would make the screen clearer than other readers used without lights. I don't understand understand rejecting (out of hand) a device you've never seen.

[Michal Jancik]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Questions:
- Anybody know where I might find an existing Pocketbook Czech-English dictionary?

Czech-English dictionary mate ke stazeni zde ;
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/at...1&d=1658755785

• I agree that Pocketnook's MENU menu is very poor, there are errors in items such as text alignment, font weight, contrast settings and more.. In my opinion, it is based only on the CSS settings of certain books (text-align & text-justify).

But in my opinion, compared to KOBO or KINDLE, pocketbook has the best settings and options for PDF files (CBR/CBZ), which is a big plus for PB.

PB also supports TTS (Text-To-Speech) compared to other "E-Readers". Kindle does support text-to-speech translation, but if I'm not mistaken, only in the US, the same applies to audiobooks. The micro SD card port is also a big plus for me.

(With PB, what I prefer is the file manager and all the options associated with them. A lot of people complained about poor reactivity, but after the last update I feel a significant improvement in overall reactivity)

• I don't know if you have experience with KINDLE, but it also doesn't provide many settings, font weight only works for some formats, you can't see book info when you are offline and in addition it works only with books purchased from Amzon.

• I think that KOBO is the best in terms of the ability to set the font and text.
What I like about KOBO is the ability to display various information about the number of pages, chapter titles, remaining pages of the chapter and a lot of other things.

Tip
I would recommend you install to your "Pocketbook ERA" aplication "KOREADER" which has an extended choice of settings and is very reactive.

https://github.com/koreader/koreader...k-v2022.06.zip

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Michal Jancik

Czech-English dictionary mate ke stazeni zde ;
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/at...1&d=1658755785

• I agree that Pocketnook's MENU menu is very poor, there are errors in items such as text alignment, font weight, contrast settings and more.. In my opinion, it is based only on the CSS settings of certain books (text-align & text-justify).

But in my opinion, compared to KOBO or KINDLE, pocketbook has the best settings and options for PDF files (CBR/CBZ), which is a big plus for PB.

PB also supports TTS (Text-To-Speech) compared to other "E-Readers". Kindle does support text-to-speech translation, but if I'm not mistaken, only in the US, the same applies to audiobooks. The micro SD card port is also a big plus for me.

(With PB, what I prefer is the file manager and all the options associated with them. A lot of people complained about poor reactivity, but after the last update I feel a significant improvement in overall reactivity)

• I don't know if you have experience with KINDLE, but it also doesn't provide many settings, font weight only works for some formats, you can't see book info when you are offline and in addition it works only with books purchased from Amzon.

• I think that KOBO is the best in terms of the ability to set the font and text.
What I like about KOBO is the ability to display various information about the number of pages, chapter titles, remaining pages of the chapter and a lot of other things.

Tip
I would recommend you install to your "Pocketbook ERA" aplication "KOREADER" which has an extended choice of settings and is very reactive.

https://github.com/koreader/koreader...k-v2022.06.zip

Thanks, but I need Czech-English dictionary, not English-Czech.

I've used Kindles for years, the available settings are enough for me and 99% of the books allow font weight adjustments etc. It's just that I like left-justified text and PocketBook doesn't currently offer that.

Kobo doesn't have TTS, it is something I like to have.

Kindle has a screen reader, which is English-only and requires turning on Speak Screen, which is great if you cannot read otherwise but is awkward if all you want is to have the text read out.

I'll look into KOREADER, thanks.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

In what way is the PocketBook Basic 4 supposedly not "decent?" It's basically the same build as PocketBook's Basic Lux 3 and their popular Touch Lux 5, but without some of their features. (All have 212 dpi screens.) It also has a microSD slot. It's also lighter than any current eReader at 145 grams.

I'm guessing the lack of a touch layer and light layer would make the screen clearer than other readers used without lights. I don't understand understand rejecting (out of hand) a device you've never seen.

212dpi screen, no front light, no touch screen. Meh!

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

212dpi screen, no front light, no touch screen. Meh!

You're still missing the point. It's a decent reader for someone who doesn't want a front light. For someone who doesn't want a front light, not having one is a feature, not a detriment. And the 212 dpi screen is still "decent." I didn't say it was "state of the art," I was just trying to find one with the feature (no front light) that the poster was asking about.

[Michal Jancik]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

212dpi screen, no front light, no touch screen. Meh!

On my KOBO H2O 2eme edition, I had a resolution of 1440 x 1080 pixels and 265 dpi, and I can say that the writing was perfectly sharp and perceptible on the "6.8" screen.


• KOBO h2O 2eme Edition vs Kindle Oasis (300 dpi vs 265) :

Spoiler:

• Kobo H2O vs OASIS DPI comparing screen :

Spoiler:

Even with a lower DPI, I would say that the KOBO has better and sharper writing than the Kindle OASIS with a higher DPI, where I find the writing more blurry.

212 dpi on a 6-inch screen is completely correct and I don't believe you could see the difference between 212 and 300 dpi with the naked eye.

PS: The Pocketbook InkPad Lite features a 9.7 E INK Carta HD with a resolution of 1200×825 with 150 PPI

Inkpad3 vs Touch Lux 5 (10xZOOM Police)



• I think that the fact that Touch Lux 5 has less DPI does not have a negative impact is quite clear.

[Michal Jancik]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Thanks, but I need Czech-English dictionary, not English-Czech.

I've used Kindles for years, the available settings are enough for me and 99% of the books allow font weight adjustments etc. It's just that I like left-justified text and PocketBook doesn't currently offer that.

Kobo doesn't have TTS, it is something I like to have.

Kindle has a screen reader, which is English-only and requires turning on Speak Screen, which is great if you cannot read otherwise but is awkward if all you want is to have the text read out.

I'll look into KOREADER, thanks.

Just extract the contents of "Koreader-Pocketbook-.zip" to the root directory. You will see the new KOREADER application in the application menu and start it. It is really easy. You will see that KOREADER has a launch function, I think it is one of the best SW for electronic readers.

DOWNLOAD :

https://github.com/koreader/koreader...k-v2022.06.zip

ScreenShots : https://linuxmasterclub.com/koreader/

[jviscosi]

Originally Posted by Michal Jancik

Just extract the contents of "Koreader-Pocketbook-.zip" to the root directory. You will see the new KOREADER application in the application menu and start it. It is really easy. You will see that KOREADER has a launch function, I think it is one of the best SW for electronic readers.

DOWNLOAD :

https://github.com/koreader/koreader...k-v2022.06.zip

ScreenShots : https://linuxmasterclub.com/koreader/

I've had the Era for a couple of days and haven't decided what I think of it yet (it's my first asymmetrical reader), but I just wanted to mention that unless there's been an update since Wednesday, KOReader doesn't work with it yet; it crashes on launch with a giant ASCII bomb image because it doesn't recognize the device code, which if I remember correctly is PB700. (Putting KOReader on it was literally the first thing I did.) Give them a little while and they'll add support for it I'm sure.

[jviscosi]

Originally Posted by jviscosi

I've had the Era for a couple of days and haven't decided what I think of it yet (it's my first asymmetrical reader), but I just wanted to mention that unless there's been an update since Wednesday, KOReader doesn't work with it yet; it crashes on launch with a giant ASCII bomb image because it doesn't recognize the device code, which if I remember correctly is PB700. (Putting KOReader on it was literally the first thing I did.) Give them a little while and they'll add support for it I'm sure.

Okay, so I actually just bothered to check the KOReader GitHub project and there is a change committed to support the Pocketbook Era in a devices file. It's just not in a build yet I guess. I replaced my copy of the file with the copy from GitHub and lo! It works now. Here's a link to the file that you need to change:

https://github.com/koreader/koreader...ook/device.lua