Any new info about the ASUS DR-900/DR-950? - Page 10

BoldlyDubious · 02-18-2011, 03:37 PM

@Marcor: I've just found out finally how to give karma :-)

A question to DR-900 users who have installed the last version (394) of the firmware: did you get the browser to work in landscape mode? How?
When reading books you can switch from portrait to landscape, but it seems that the browser is stuck to portrait...

Marcor · 02-18-2011, 04:17 PM

I tried several types of stylus but the only one I would recommend is "Sensible pen" for iphone by Cellular Line art around 8 euros. Some readers recommended the Mark stylus, also by Cellular Line, but for me it wouldn't work at all. Everybody agreed to not waste money on the stylus by Phoenix.

Now my guess is that the different opinions on the same product are due to the fact that for products in the range of a few euros, the quality might change even for the very same product so that if you ar lucky you do not get a defective one. On top those products are not specificaly designed for our reader.

To avoid quality problems it might be worthy to spend a few euros/dollars more and buy the Griffin Capacitative Stylus. However the highlighting and the note taking are a pain in the butt and I hope that firmware updates will solve the issue.

Next accessory for me will be a water resistant cover, maybe trying one of those for the ipad, but we'll se in acouple of months before the summer season comes.

Marcor · 02-18-2011, 04:18 PM

Boldly

.

I couldn't make it work either in landscape.

Marcor · 02-18-2011, 04:19 PM

Adam,only if it works

. For me it does but the overall quality doesn't seem impressive. Also it doesn't seem to resistant, so if it breaks for me the next will be the one by Griffin.

PS troubles in highlighting and note taking depend on the software.

BoldlyDubious · 02-18-2011, 04:50 PM

Marcor, thank you very much for the information about the... styla? Styluses? Oh, well, whatever :-)

On another note: Italy (and Russia and Germany, according to Asus' firmware download page) seem to have been selected as beta testers for the DR-900, according to some inscrutable plan. What's certain to me is that the firmware of the device is far from finalized, while the hardware seems right.
Let's hope that Asus is getting from us beta testers the right feedback to get them work on the firmware, and finally give us a fully functional device. (That said, it's already very good for book reading as it is.)

BoldlyDubious · 02-19-2011, 05:46 PM

Some (non-)news about the Linux source code for the DR-900, which Asus has to release to comply with the GPL license.
In the last days I tried to download it to take a look around, but the links in the relevant Asus Support page were not working. Today, I finally managed to download the package (9DR_IT_SBF_S0_0036_2669_0394-GPL.zip).
The only working source was, for some reason, the Chinese mirror. Download speed was painfully slow (it took hours). And finally, when I tried to open the Zip package, I got an error ("Either this file is not a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive.").
These mysterious technical difficulties look very much like a way to postpone release.

grega_g · 02-20-2011, 06:50 AM

tnx everyone for answering dictionary Q&A

One more thing: What about css from epub reading. Can I replace it with my own custom css so I can change font, line spacing, text size,..

grega_g

BoldlyDubious · 02-21-2011, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grega_g

What about css from epub reading. Can I replace it with my own custom css so I can change font, line spacing, text size,..
grega_g

I don't have much experience with the epub format. But I can tell you that there is a dedicated configuration screen in the DR-900 where you can choose the font dimension and line spacing for epub files, separately for each of the zoom levels that you can choose from when reading. While reading, a menu lets you select one of these zoom levels. There's no way to choose between different fonts.
According to my (brief) test of this feature, if you set the font size for the lowest zoom level to any value below 20, you don't get any effect at all (it remains 20 on the screen). As 20 is already pretty big (and the other zoom levels are all bigger than this), this is annoying.

AdamV · 02-22-2011, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoldlyDubious

I don't have much experience with the epub format. But I can tell you that there is a dedicated configuration screen in the DR-900 where you can choose the font dimension and line spacing for epub files, separately for each of the zoom levels that you can choose from when reading. While reading, a menu lets you select one of these zoom levels. There's no way to choose between different fonts.
According to my (brief) test of this feature, if you set the font size for the lowest zoom level to any value below 20, you don't get any effect at all (it remains 20 on the screen). As 20 is already pretty big (and the other zoom levels are all bigger than this), this is annoying.

as for the font size - it really depends on the epub font sizing you did before copying the book to the device - I must admit that most of the ebooks I purchased in epub format had too big font size for even the smallest size used in DR-900. What I usually do is that I convert them with Calibre (yes, it converts epub to epub) using smaller base font size (in Calibre -> Convert books -> Look & Feel -> Base font size) like 8,0 pt. You may play with the value to see which is the best for you depending on what font size you would like to use on your device.

BoldlyDubious · 02-23-2011, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamV

as for the font size - it really depends on the epub font sizing you did before copying the book to the device - I must admit that most of the ebooks I purchased in epub format had too big font size for even the smallest size used in DR-900. What I usually do is that I convert them with Calibre (yes, it converts epub to epub) using smaller base font size (in Calibre -> Convert books -> Look & Feel -> Base font size) like 8,0 pt. You may play with the value to see which is the best for you depending on what font size you would like to use on your device.

Thank you very much, AdamV, for your advice :-)
(...besides, being a Larson aficionado you get a grin from me every time I see your avatar)

BoldlyDubious · 02-23-2011, 05:44 AM

To Marcor: after reading your comprehensive review, I have bought the Sensible stylus, and I agree with your description of it. (I'm posting this to provide MobileRead users with more information about using a stylus with the DR-900.)
A finger works much better (a very light touch is sufficient to trigger a response from the touch screen), but it's also bigger; the stylus, instead, requires to apply some pressure on the screen, but it doesn't smear the surface and allows for finer positioning. For instance, using the sketching application with the Sensible stylus has proved to be nearly impossible (you get lines with wide gaps). The stylus has a soft tip, so it's unlikely (I hope) that damage to the screen will result from the pressure.
So it seems that to highlight words, make annotations, or use the virtual keyboard (which has fairly small keys) the stylus is the best compromise; while for everything else, including everyday reading, a finger (and occasional screen wiping, if you -like me- are a bit fanatic) is better.

Marcor · 02-23-2011, 05:17 PM

Good you did because it gives a better image on how much you can make use of the stylus. This was missing in my post. Finally, the point is that a capacitative screen is not really designed for the use of a stylus. With the limitations above I think however it is still worth using it, especially for certain tasks as you mention (also dictionairy). I could not use (nor finger nor stylus) the highlighting properly and also notes exporting/importing features are weak, but tose are software issues I guess.

Cypriobrit · 03-18-2011, 11:43 AM

First off a huge thanks to Marcor and others posting in this thread. After searching high and low for more information on the DR900 i now finally have something to go on!

I am a clinical psychologist who regularly reads journal articles in .pdf form. I have been looking into an e-reader for a while now and the DR900 seemed to tick all the boxes and save me printing off .pdfs each time i want to read one.

However, having read about some of the issues and its price i am now questioning whether the DR900 is for me. The alternative is that i buy a Kindle DX to view .pdfs. The older version, not the newer 'Graphite' one with a supposedly upgraded screen, are on ebay in the UK for around £170. The DR900 would cost me around £260.

Which would you buy?

Many thanks in advance.

BoldlyDubious · 03-18-2011, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cypriobrit

Which would you buy?

(Kindle DX or Asus)

Only if you read your papers sequentially, without too much jumping from one page to another, these are the right devices for you. If you don't, I would suggest trying something with an LCD screen. If you don't like backlit LCD screen, I suppose the only option at the moment is the Asus eeeNote EA800, which has a non-backlit 8" LCD.
I have bought my DR-900 for scientific papers as well as for literature, but I have found it more suitable for the latter. In combination with pdfcrop (for Linux), which I use to remove white margins from pdf documents before loading them on the DR-900, it makes a very good tool for reading. (It would be much nicer, though, if the device had this functionality onboard... Asus, wake up!)
I can't comment about the DX, which I don't have used personally, except to say that in my view it's too large to be easily brought with you in a bag. The Asus, with its touchscreen interface, is noticeably smaller (and forces you to use a virtual keyboard, of course, but for reading you don't need it). In previous posts, I already wrote about the limitations of the current version of the DR-900's firmware, which are pretty strong (although mostly affect "secondary" functions like web browsing). That said, I didn't even consider the Kindle because I don't like a device that has the built-in possibility for the vendor to spy -and possibly mess with- the files that I choose to load on it. On a more pragmatic note, the Kindle lacks some very useful features, like the microSD slot.
I hope these notes have been useful.

Cypriobrit · 03-18-2011, 08:54 PM

Thanks for the quick reply.

I have tried an iPad that handles .pdfs very well but i didnt like the dpi nor the glare from the shiny LCD. I even tried a hacked Nook Color but didnt like the screen nor Android on a tablet.

Are articles readable without cropping? I have too many to manually do this for each.

02-18-2011, 04:17 PM	#137
Marcor Enthusiast Posts: 27 Karma: 136 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: none	I tried several types of stylus but the only one I would recommend is "Sensible pen" for iphone by Cellular Line art around 8 euros. Some readers recommended the Mark stylus, also by Cellular Line, but for me it wouldn't work at all. Everybody agreed to not waste money on the stylus by Phoenix. Now my guess is that the different opinions on the same product are due to the fact that for products in the range of a few euros, the quality might change even for the very same product so that if you ar lucky you do not get a defective one. On top those products are not specificaly designed for our reader. To avoid quality problems it might be worthy to spend a few euros/dollars more and buy the Griffin Capacitative Stylus. However the highlighting and the note taking are a pain in the butt and I hope that firmware updates will solve the issue. Next accessory for me will be a water resistant cover, maybe trying one of those for the ipad, but we'll se in acouple of months before the summer season comes. Last edited by Marcor; 02-18-2011 at 04:19 PM.

02-18-2011, 04:18 PM	#138
Marcor Enthusiast Posts: 27 Karma: 136 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: none	Boldly . I couldn't make it work either in landscape. Last edited by Marcor; 02-18-2011 at 04:23 PM.

02-18-2011, 04:19 PM	#139
Marcor Enthusiast Posts: 27 Karma: 136 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: none	Adam,only if it works . For me it does but the overall quality doesn't seem impressive. Also it doesn't seem to resistant, so if it breaks for me the next will be the one by Griffin. PS troubles in highlighting and note taking depend on the software. Last edited by Marcor; 02-18-2011 at 04:22 PM.

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02-18-2011, 03:37 PM	#136
BoldlyDubious what if...? Posts: 209 Karma: 750870 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: paper & electrophoretic	@Marcor: I've just found out finally how to give karma :-) A question to DR-900 users who have installed the last version (394) of the firmware: did you get the browser to work in landscape mode? How? When reading books you can switch from portrait to landscape, but it seems that the browser is stuck to portrait...

02-18-2011, 04:50 PM	#140
BoldlyDubious what if...? Posts: 209 Karma: 750870 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: paper & electrophoretic	Marcor, thank you very much for the information about the... styla? Styluses? Oh, well, whatever :-) On another note: Italy (and Russia and Germany, according to Asus' firmware download page) seem to have been selected as beta testers for the DR-900, according to some inscrutable plan. What's certain to me is that the firmware of the device is far from finalized, while the hardware seems right. Let's hope that Asus is getting from us beta testers the right feedback to get them work on the firmware, and finally give us a fully functional device. (That said, it's already very good for book reading as it is.)

02-19-2011, 05:46 PM	#141
BoldlyDubious what if...? Posts: 209 Karma: 750870 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: paper & electrophoretic	Some (non-)news about the Linux source code for the DR-900, which Asus has to release to comply with the GPL license. In the last days I tried to download it to take a look around, but the links in the relevant Asus Support page were not working. Today, I finally managed to download the package (9DR_IT_SBF_S0_0036_2669_0394-GPL.zip). The only working source was, for some reason, the Chinese mirror. Download speed was painfully slow (it took hours). And finally, when I tried to open the Zip package, I got an error ("Either this file is not a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive."). These mysterious technical difficulties look very much like a way to postpone release.

02-20-2011, 06:50 AM	#142
grega_g Member Posts: 24 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: hanlin v3	tnx everyone for answering dictionary Q&A One more thing: What about css from epub reading. Can I replace it with my own custom css so I can change font, line spacing, text size,.. grega_g

02-23-2011, 05:44 AM	#146
BoldlyDubious what if...? Posts: 209 Karma: 750870 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: paper & electrophoretic	To Marcor: after reading your comprehensive review, I have bought the Sensible stylus, and I agree with your description of it. (I'm posting this to provide MobileRead users with more information about using a stylus with the DR-900.) A finger works much better (a very light touch is sufficient to trigger a response from the touch screen), but it's also bigger; the stylus, instead, requires to apply some pressure on the screen, but it doesn't smear the surface and allows for finer positioning. For instance, using the sketching application with the Sensible stylus has proved to be nearly impossible (you get lines with wide gaps). The stylus has a soft tip, so it's unlikely (I hope) that damage to the screen will result from the pressure. So it seems that to highlight words, make annotations, or use the virtual keyboard (which has fairly small keys) the stylus is the best compromise; while for everything else, including everyday reading, a finger (and occasional screen wiping, if you -like me- are a bit fanatic) is better.

02-23-2011, 05:17 PM	#147
Marcor Enthusiast Posts: 27 Karma: 136 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: none	Good you did because it gives a better image on how much you can make use of the stylus. This was missing in my post. Finally, the point is that a capacitative screen is not really designed for the use of a stylus. With the limitations above I think however it is still worth using it, especially for certain tasks as you mention (also dictionairy). I could not use (nor finger nor stylus) the highlighting properly and also notes exporting/importing features are weak, but tose are software issues I guess.

03-18-2011, 11:43 AM	#148
Cypriobrit Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: none	First off a huge thanks to Marcor and others posting in this thread. After searching high and low for more information on the DR900 i now finally have something to go on! I am a clinical psychologist who regularly reads journal articles in .pdf form. I have been looking into an e-reader for a while now and the DR900 seemed to tick all the boxes and save me printing off .pdfs each time i want to read one. However, having read about some of the issues and its price i am now questioning whether the DR900 is for me. The alternative is that i buy a Kindle DX to view .pdfs. The older version, not the newer 'Graphite' one with a supposedly upgraded screen, are on ebay in the UK for around £170. The DR900 would cost me around £260. Which would you buy? Many thanks in advance.

03-18-2011, 08:54 PM	#150
Cypriobrit Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: none	Thanks for the quick reply. I have tried an iPad that handles .pdfs very well but i didnt like the dpi nor the glare from the shiny LCD. I even tried a hacked Nook Color but didnt like the screen nor Android on a tablet. Are articles readable without cropping? I have too many to manually do this for each.

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