What do you like in your pocketbook 360?

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by mrsmac

There is a lot I don't understand -- you use different ereader software (fbreader or calibre) than what's on the 360?

Calibre is run on your computer. It helps you to organize your collection, and transfer the books to the reader. On the reader itself (which really is a small computer, running Linux) you need another program to view your files. fbreader is that viewer of choice.

Certain newer firmware updates don't seem to work as well

15.3's been rock stable for me for some time. No worries there.

It seems that epub books work better than pdf? Both are available from our library.

Well, yes. PDf was never meant to be used for on-screen reading. While you can format it for different screen sizes most documents are formatted in printing size, i.e. A4/Legal/Letter. Hard to read that on a 5 inch screen. Text-based formats like epub, txt, html, even rtf are vastly superior here. The allow for reflowing of your text according to font size etc; epub every time you have a choice.

[mrsmac]

Rogue,
Thanks for the info -- I checked out both calibre and fbreader and it seems pretty straightforward. Sounds like the epub format is best for me.

(P.S. Love your Pinto reference -- I actually owned one in the 70's and thankfully it never blew up before I got rid of it!)

[mrsmac]

Originally Posted by Logseman

If you can get it cheap, don't hesitate.

From e-readers plus llc for 129.99 + 8.00 shipping.

[rogue_librarian]

Can't go wrong at that price. IMNSHO.

[Logseman]

That's a bargain. Jump at it.

[sassanik]

I am very happy with my PB360. My favorite thing is where the buttons are placed.They are bigger than most ereaders and very comfortable. I have mine set "upside down" so the buttons are on the left side which is a very comfortable way of reading for me.

I have an ivory one and have also been very pleased that even after a year of use it doesn't look "dirty"


Amy

[paola]

you devils : I just bought two of them (black for him, ivory for me)!

[Farhad]

What do I like about my PB360? *Everything*! I explain some of it here. Let me add one small thing: the PB60 does not have a touchscreen which, for a pure book reader, is a huge plus.

[J.C.]

Originally Posted by Farhad

What do I like about my PB360? *Everything*! I explain some of it here. Let me add one small thing: the PB60 does not have a touchscreen which, for a pure book reader, is a huge plus.

Why is it a plus mate ? the brand is fairly new but seeing that every book I'm reading I press the 'down' button about a 1000 times does make me concerned about wear and tear (at least until the new SDK is released and hopefully I can have a comparable reading experience with the FB180).

I've been reading on my previous device the Palm TX for some years and managed to wear down the down button and even a small part of the touch screen (not a worry with a wacom style touch screen I suspect).

[Farhad]

Originally Posted by J.C.

Why is it a plus mate ?

its a personal preference. I tried many touchscreens and while I like that on a smartphone or tablet, I much prefer an immaculately clean screen on an ebook reader. also, tapping one button is easier as long as that button is well placed and well designed, which is the case on the PB360. but, of course, YMMV

[Kameli]

As everyone else I like the cover and size of it.

G-sensor isn't really useful for me. I quickly started using manual orientation change instead of that and now I don't do even that but always read it in same orientation. G-sensor for changing pages I tried but it was incredibly inaccurate and didn't really work well.

Some things that don't really bother me but anyone planning to buy it should know.
-Buttons are hard to press and they have not gone any softer after 50+ books.
-Buttons keep loud noise. If you read while someone tries to sleep I would get another reader. (g-sensor doesn't really work comfortably for changing pages.)
-In black PB360 there is raised silver colored part in lid that reads pocketbook 360. It very quickly gets scratched and loses silver coloring and shows ugly grey plastic under the silver. (Probably happens on other color too but I have black.)
-It does not save place in book if device goes shutdown when book is open. For example if I first read 20% of book, then leave book, go in again and read it up to 40%. Then I connect USB cable that has about even chance of booting the device. If it boots and I go back in book I will be at 20% mark. Same happens if you run out of battery while book is open. It can be avoided by exiting book before connecting USB. (I don't have newest firmware since this one has been stable, anyone know if this has been changed in newest?)

[J.C.]

Originally Posted by Farhad

its a personal preference. I tried many touchscreens and while I like that on a smartphone or tablet, I much prefer an immaculately clean screen on an ebook reader. also, tapping one button is easier as long as that button is well placed and well designed, which is the case on the PB360. but, of course, YMMV

The wacom touch screen is below the actual screen and detects the stylus, so no finger painting and the screen clarity isn't affected.

Having a touch screen doesn't mean disposing of the buttons (see 603/903 models), not every device has to look like an iphone.

That said, it is a matter of preference and purely when reading it is easier to push a button then use a stylus.

[Farhad]

Originally Posted by Kameli

-It does not save place in book if device goes shutdown when book is open. For example if I first read 20% of book, then leave book, go in again and read it up to 40%. Then I connect USB cable that has about even chance of booting the device. If it boots and I go back in book I will be at 20% mark. Same happens if you run out of battery while book is open. It can be avoided by exiting book before connecting USB. (I don't have newest firmware since this one has been stable, anyone know if this has been changed in newest?)

Definitely a firmware issue. Frankly, the firmware of the PB360 was botched and very buggy until the very latest release, the 15.3. This one is actually very nice with lots of improvements and its rock solid - no more spontaneous reboots like in the older ones. I urge you to install 15.3 which you can get here. It's easy to do and gives you a huge improvement. Cheers!

[Kameli]

Originally Posted by Farhad

Definitely a firmware issue. Frankly, the firmware of the PB360 was botched and very buggy until the very latest release, the 15.3. This one is actually very nice with lots of improvements and its rock solid - no more spontaneous reboots like in the older ones. I urge you to install 15.3 which you can get here. It's easy to do and gives you a huge improvement. Cheers!

Thanks. I bought SD card and installed new firmware. Is there list of improvements somewhere? Anything you feel specially worth mentioning?

[Farhad]

Originally Posted by Kameli

Anything you feel specially worth mentioning?

Well, for one thing it stopped crashing!!! The rest is minor stuff, better menus, screenshots, and the like. I would say that stability is really the biggie here. And your "page loss" issue is now settled too.

Cheers!