What e-reader to purchase?

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by Tamara

I'm guessing that your backlit devices weren't capable of reversing the image to make the background black and the text white. It nicely takes care of the "flashlight" effect.

Trust me, I tried every possible combination over the years. I started reading on PDAs way back in the time of Palm Pilots, then moved on to a Palm Tungsten with a colour LCD screen. After that I bought a Fujitsu Siemens Loox N560 with a nice VGA screen. I even had a Lifebook tablet for a while!
In my personal experience reading on e-Ink with a reading light is far superior to back-lit screens.
I had a look at a friend's iPad the other day. Same thing really. Snazzy interface and all that, but not for reading. Not for me anyway.

Try them all I say - see what floats your boat

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by Gwen Morse

You may want to hold off until about mid-late summer this year. A number of tablets are coming out, at least a few of which will have the Pixel Qi display (combined e-ink + backlit screen).

Google for "Pixel Qi" if you're curious about how the screen works.

Is that the Adam device you are referring to? Last I heard it got postponed again.
It would be nice to see Pixel Qi in a real product! It looks promising, I just hope the company finds the way to commercialise it.

[Gwen Morse]

The adam was one, but, it was supposed to be in another one as well.

!@#$. I was planning on getting the Adam, myself. I love all things Android.

[bmurphy]

Originally Posted by Gwen Morse

You may want to hold off until about mid-late summer this year. A number of tablets are coming out, at least a few of which will have the Pixel Qi display (combined e-ink + backlit screen).

Google for "Pixel Qi" if you're curious about how the screen works.

Thanks for posting this- I followed your advice and ended up watching the youtube videos posted. It's fascinating technology and NOW I know what I want to wait for !!
I agree with her that most of what we do with our laptops is READ - whether it be books, emails, research (I'm taking an online cataloging course... and I'm reading and researching constantly to find the answers that I need! then posting assignments.)
I think that I might watch for the DIY kits she mentions, instead of constantly getting more laptops!

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by Gwen Morse

The adam was one, but, it was supposed to be in another one as well.

!@#$. I was planning on getting the Adam, myself. I love all things Android.

I like the Android too. I can't believe what they've done with the Froyo!
BTW, I noticed you referred to Pixel Qi as "e-Ink". It's in fact still LCD - but with some tweaks. It uses more power than e-Ink (needs charge to preserve the screen layout) and it doesn't have the refresh issue as the e-Ink screens.

I really hope they pull it off. Maybe with the upcoming OLPC tablet?

[tedtcf]

I have just had 3 days with the new Kobo, let me tell you I am not happy, and will return it to the store tomorrow. The main reason is that the black type is not on a white background, moe like light grey. It's hard to read!! I'm use to Black on White like most books are made.
If someone knows about another ereader/ebook that will have more contrast please let us hear about it. Thanks.
Did anyone else have a similar problem?

[pboss]

I've heard others complaining about this, too. It's such a pity since it has the same eink screen.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by tedtcf

I have just had 3 days with the new Kobo, let me tell you I am not happy, and will return it to the store tomorrow. The main reason is that the black type is not on a white background, moe like light grey. It's hard to read!! I'm use to Black on White like most books are made.
If someone knows about another ereader/ebook that will have more contrast please let us hear about it. Thanks.
Did anyone else have a similar problem?

Had you not seen photographs of an eInk display before you ordered one? The screen background is always light grey. Contrast is similar to that of newsprint, or a cheap paperback book.

All eInk screens are the same as far as the background colour goes, so any other eInk device would be equally unsatisfactory for you.

[jonnybraga]

Yes, that's exactly what I was gonna say. I've read complaints on this issue about the Kindle too... since it's the very same screen. It's not just the Kobo.

[bmurphy]

Originally Posted by m-reader

I like the Android too. I can't believe what they've done with the Froyo!
BTW, I noticed you referred to Pixel Qi as "e-Ink". It's in fact still LCD - but with some tweaks. It uses more power than e-Ink (needs charge to preserve the screen layout) and it doesn't have the refresh issue as the e-Ink screens.

I really hope they pull it off. Maybe with the upcoming OLPC tablet?

Here is a link to a new tablet that has the Pixel Qi screen -by Innoversal.

Take a look... it uses Android OS,(so says the video) or Windows, Linux, or Chrome OS.
http://www.electronista.com/articles...xel.qi.screen/

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by bmurphy

Here is a link to a new tablet that has the Pixel Qi screen -by Innoversal.

Take a look... it uses Android OS,(so says the video) or Windows, Linux, or Chrome OS.
http://www.electronista.com/articles...xel.qi.screen/

Thanks for that. There was also a whole bunch of tablets demoed on the Computex using Pixel Qi screens. Endgadget had lots of pictures and a nice video as well.
It's good to see things are progressing on commercialising Pixel Qi. I hope we'll be able to order them soon though.