Pocketbook Era first look

[trekk]

Originally Posted by jviscosi

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

It's been in the latest nightlies for a few days now. Simply copying the changed device.lua also works, of course.

[Michal Jancik]

Originally Posted by maydocsach

Here is the video about Pocketbook Era

• I finally got to play with the new modedel of Pocketbook the ERA !
But alas, I was disappointed with the quality of the screen, especially its contrast.

• For me, screen quality is the number one priority. For a screen that uses the new E-INK 1200, I found the contrast a little low for my taste.
The sharpness of the writing is not downright bad, but there is nothing extra either.
Maybe it's because of the cover glass or light transmission.

• Unfortunately, for book type files (ePUB, MOBi etc) Pocketbook lags behind and provides very minimal settings.
At least for the premium models, I would expect some smaller extras in terms of parameters

• The built-in speakers aren't a miracle, but they're quite sufficient, especially for TTS or audiobooks, where you don't need deeper bass like you're listening to music.

• The construction is impressive and really premium, the buttons are great. It holds well and does not slip. The body of the device does not retain fingerprints as in the case of the KINDLE.

• I like that on ERA (pocketbook) I don't have big and different spaces between words (space between words), because I have this problem with space between words with both KOBO and KINDLE.

Many people, for many years, have complained about poor optimization on Pocketbook devices, but after the last Update, a significant change can be seen.

Without discussion, Pocketbook is much more reactive than KOBO, its reactivity is closer to KINDLE.

A very fast response, even when turning pages, can be observed when using KOREADER.
** I was surprised how fast and reactive the work with KOREADER was. 0 crashes
Bravo to the KOREADER team for their work.


Just my personal opinion, KOBO LIBRA is the clear winner.
• Excellent screen with strong contrast, excellent and adjustable font sharpness.
• Much better and wider settings for displaying books. (I dare to say that KOBO is the best against the competition in terms of settings in this "ereader" category)
**However, when it comes to PDF documents, in particular, I think Poketbook is the most well-executed software.
• Lower price

[trekk]

Originally Posted by Michal Jancik

For me, screen quality is the number one priority. For a screen that uses the new E-INK 1200, I found the contrast a little low for my taste.
The sharpness of the writing is not downright bad, but there is nothing extra either.
Maybe it's because of the cover glass or light transmission.

The screen is also very important for me. The contrast on the Era might be not as good as on other devices with Carta 1200, but for me it is good enough. What I really dislike is the visible light gradient and some greyish blotches in the right corners.

Originally Posted by Michal Jancik

• Unfortunately, for book type files (ePUB, MOBi etc) Pocketbook lags behind and provides very minimal settings.
At least for the premium models, I would expect some smaller extras in terms of parameters

Yes, PocketBook provide only minimal setting options as in older Kindle UIs. You can manually change things like line-height, margins etc. in some config files, but Pocketbook should make these configurable in a settings menu.

Originally Posted by Michal Jancik

The construction is impressive and really premium, the buttons are great. It holds well and does not slip. The body of the device does not retain fingerprints as in the case of the KINDLE.

The buttons are very well positioned for my liking, but on one of my Eras the lower button already had a misfunction, so I wonder how the quality of the buttons will turn out in the long run.

Originally Posted by Michal Jancik

A very fast response, even when turning pages, can be observed when using KOREADER.

KOreader is fast on all my Pocketbook models. I like that small speed boost compared to the standard software.

Ultimately, the Era is a good device with a mediocre screen when it comes to contrast and lighting. If PB can iron these things out, the Era would clearly be a great device.

[tomsem]

The screen on my Era is perfectly fine, no visible gradient or blotches.

I actually prefer minimal settings, and with PB reader, I haven't felt the need to tweak anything beyond what is there. The exception is with font management: I'd like to adjust the weight slightly. It makes NO sense to me to provide Italic and Bold options.

And dictionary lookup: how did they manage to make it so awkward?

Of course there's KOReader, where all things are possible. But that's the problem with it: it's going to take me a month to get comfortable enough with it that I can sit and read something. What I really want to do is fork the repo and rip out all the features I'll never use, and put the ones that are buried at my fingertips.

[CyberPaul]

Originally Posted by trekk

Yes, PocketBook provide only minimal setting options as in older Kindle UIs. You can manually change things like line-height, margins etc. in some config files, but Pocketbook should make these configurable in a settings menu.

Can you please report what parameters can be changed in config files? Is it possible to impose text justification or set the font weight?

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by CyberPaul

Can you please report what parameters can be changed in config files? Is it possible to impose text justification or set the font weight?

Yes, and is it possible to reduce the list of default fonts, 90% of which are junk (to me anyway)?

[trekk]

Originally Posted by CyberPaul

Can you please report what parameters can be changed in config files? Is it possible to impose text justification or set the font weight?

I have no device at hand, but on my InkPad3 I changed lineheight in lineheight.cfg. There is a margins.cfg too. You also can adjust the html.css to your liking. I suggest, backing up the files after you changed them. Then you can easily go back if an update has overwritten the files.

If you want to change font weight you have to use an external programm as Font Forge or you use KOreader.

[trekk]

Originally Posted by trekk

I suggest, backing up the files after you changed them. Then you can easily go back if an update has overwritten the files..

The files should be in system/reader. Make sure your OS shows hidden folders if you can't find the system folder.

[trekk]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Yes, and is it possible to reduce the list of default fonts, 90% of which are junk (to me anyway)?

That would be nice, but I think you can't do this without rooting. Maybe it is possible to manipulate the list without actually deleting the fonts. I'll get back to you when I've found a solution. If I find one.

[cellaris]

I've been using a second PocketBook Era for a couple of days now and I think I'm going to keep it. The lighting is still uneven, but in the conditions in which I usually read in the evenings I hardly notice the gradient and am not distracted from reading. Contrast is lower than on my PW5, but the fonts are sharp enough for my taste and I don't need to use any method to vary the font weight (nor do I need to on the PW5 and I suspect even less so on the Kobo Libra 2). On the other hand I use KOReader as my default reading program, which does have this option to change font weight and contrast, although I have it set to zero on the PocketBook Era.

I still think it's too heavy to hold comfortably in one hand and I'm not convinced by the position of the keys either, perhaps influenced by my habit of using the InkPad X in landscape mode and using its keys, which are a bit smaller and a bit off the edge of the e-reader.

PBReader is a basic, simple reading programme that does the job. That's all I ask of it. I only use it occasionally for some ePub with Adobe DRM, but no matter how much they improve it, I doubt it will come close to what KOReader offers me, which will continue to be my default reading program. KOReader is integrated into PocketBook's interface and for me it's as if it were its native reading program. And indeed, it works fast and well.

And PocketBook gives me what I want: ease of sending books without using a computer (Dropbox PocketBook, PocketBook Cloud and Send to PocketBook), fine tuning of the lighting, both brightness and colour temperature, a good Library, and the integration of KOReader into your system. I haven't been able to check the battery life yet, but I have read quite a lot with KOReader and in principle it performs reasonably well.

All in all, the PocketBook Era is a very nice, compact, somewhat heavy e-reader with irregular illumination and sufficient contrast. It's not my favourite PocketBook device, but it's attractive enough to enjoy.

[cellaris]

By the way, an interesting feature for those who have storage problems or simply want to carry their entire library with them, is that you can attach a USB stick to it.

I leave the pictures and the link to the German forum where they were posted (thanks @Elim Garak).

https://www.e-reader-forum.de/t/pock...4/post-2452080

[rantanplan]

I'd imagine this also works with ext2 formatted sticks

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by trekk

That would be nice, but I think you can't do this without rooting. Maybe it is possible to manipulate the list without actually deleting the fonts. I'll get back to you when I've found a solution. If I find one.

Not a big deal, it is just that the font UI they have seems like an afterthought. I am not one to change fonts often.

[trekk]

Originally Posted by rantanplan

I'd imagine this also works with ext2 formatted sticks

It works with every format the PocketBook Linux OS supports.

Personally I wouldn't use a FAT32 formatted stick, because the FAT32 file system only supports files of up to 4GB of size. You can't copy an audiobook larger than 4GB if it has been compressed into a single zip file. Of course, this is a special use case.

[Deobulakenyo]

https://youtu.be/1DuOPB5eKLs

video comparison of PocketBook Era against the Paperwhite 5 and Libra 2