How much is a touchscreen worth? - Page 2

Sweetpea · 12-26-2010, 04:51 AM

If I were to buy a new reader, whether e-ink or LCD, I'd demand a touchscreen... It's worth that much to me.

Fastolfe · 12-26-2010, 05:11 AM

The Neonode touchscreen my Sony PRS-650 sports is brilliant. It's very precise and technically doesn't require touching the screen at all, although the detection gap is so small it's almost impossible not to. But the lightest brush is more than enough to register a solid reading.

The IR technology means the surface of the screen doesn't play any part in the detection, thus doesn't need to be glossy, sticky or glassy. The 650's screen is slightly granular and reasonably close to paper to the touch. As a result, it doesn't attract fingerprints so much. Provided I keep my hands clean, I never have to clean the screen.

To finish with, on a small device like this, it's better to have ad-hoc soft-keys and soft context-based menu buttons than physical keys. That way, it's smaller because there's no separate keyboard, and menu navigation is faster. Not to mention, sliders are nicer to navigate pages or zoom in and out.

I'm glad I paid more for the particular touchscreen in my Sony Reader, but if the touchscreen meant accepting a glossy screen, I wouldn't want any touchscreen at all. So I guess your question should be "how much is a GOOD touchscreen worth".

Sweetpea · 12-26-2010, 05:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fastolfe

So I guess your question should be "how much is a GOOD touchscreen worth".

True that... Naturally, the touchscreen should never detract you from reading.

Poppaea · 12-26-2010, 05:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

I would subtract $100 for a touchscreen. I can't stand the fingerprints! I have a 13 year-old whose fingers are never clean - can you imagine fingerprints made while eating Cheetos?

Maybe it is time to teach him about soap and water as you obviously haven't done yet!

@ItalianReader
I would never ever buy a device without a touchscreen anymore. From the very first moment on I wanted to turn the pages on my Italica with my fingers and not with a button and was tapping absent mindedly the screen all the time. Now owning a Sony PRS 350 it seems unnatural to button-turn on my beloved Italica. I would pay easily up to 80€ for that feature.

Regards
Poppaea

boxcorner · 12-26-2010, 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by italianReader

...how much would you pay to add a touchscreen to your e-reader ...

The difference between what I paid for my Sony PRS-505 and Sony PRS-650. With the latter, I like the way it automatically looks up a word in the dictionary, when I double-tap on it with my finger, and being able to swipe the screen to turn a page, without needing to press a button.

EowynCarter · 12-26-2010, 05:50 AM

It how much a touch screen is work strongly depends of the use you yourself and you have of the e-reader.
Such things as search, dictionary look-up, reader pdf, the touch screen will definitively help.
one the the fist time I though touch screen could be useful, was when seeing the video of the orizon. And browsing the menus with a few touch, rather than "clik clik clik clik clik clik select". It's convenient there too. Though browsing the menu isn't something you do very often.

viviena · 12-26-2010, 06:03 AM

I have to say that I was one of those people who used to scorn the idea of using a touchscreen-capable ereader. What about fingerprints?, I scoffed to myself. After all, my mobile phone, iPod, and Nintendo DS* collect prints easily enough, and fingerprints still greatly noticeable for me if the backlighting isn't bright enough. When I bought my 350, the touchscreen in itself wasn't an attractive enough reason alone to justify me getting one.

* (yeah, I know you're supposed to use the stylus)

I have to say though, the touchscreen technology that the new Sony Readers use though are great. The screens aren't glossy LCDs that show fingerprints easily, but some sort of matte surface, in which fingerprints aren't visible at all when the device is held at a natural angle for reading. Using the touchscreen is very natural for navigating menus, for annotating, and accessing the dictionary. I do use the buttons more than finger glides to turn pages though, and there's nothing wrong with that.

For a basic ereader, such as the niche that my Kobo currently fills, I might pay extra if the difference between the two models is minimal. For something more full-featured, such as my 350, I would definitely pay the extra, and I'm pretty sure the next device I get to replace the 350 will be touchscreen capable also. I expect that upcoming models from many different companies in the next decade or so will eventually have both wifi and touchscreens.

ItalianReader, I don't know what type of touchscreen technology the 90* use, but depending on how you use it, I'd think a touchscreen capable 903 is definitely worth it. Since you're getting a 9.7" PocketBook, I assume you're getting a larger-size ereader for specific reasons beyond 'just reading', and a touchscreen might or might not help for some of those reasons.

italianReader · 12-26-2010, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by viviena

ItalianReader, I don't know what type of touchscreen technology the 90* use, but depending on how you use it, I'd think a touchscreen capable 903 is definitely worth it. Since you're getting a 9.7" PocketBook, I assume you're getting a larger-size ereader for specific reasons beyond 'just reading', and a touchscreen might or might not help for some of those reasons.

Honestly I will get a bigger device mainly because I need something to read technical books, i don't care very much about other things. Anyway in my particular case another drawback of the touchscreen model is that it's (a little) heavier.

rhadin · 12-26-2010, 09:29 AM

I never thought a touch screen would be particularly useful or wanted. I had my Sony 505 and it was (and still is) great -- without either wireless or touch screen.

BUT I bought a Sony 950 (I preordered it so I got it within days of release) and can tell you that I would never buy another reader unless it had a touch screen like the Sony touch screen. Everything is easier and fingerprints aren't seen. With the Sony touch screen, you don't actually have to touch the screen to get it to work (or if you do have to touch the screen it is so light that it seems as if you are not touching it). Once a month I clean the screen, but I did that with my 505 as well, because the screens catch normal dust and no matter how careful I was with the 505, I would occasionally touch the screen.

The 950 was $100 more than what I could have bought a Kindle for and $150 more than what I could have bought a nook for, but I consider the difference well worth paying. (Of course, within 2 weeks of my getting my 950, they were being discounted by $50, which would have made my decision to buy the Sony a no-brainer.

To answer the question: touch screen like Sony's implementation of it is well worth spending more money for.

Jack Tingle · 12-26-2010, 10:00 AM

I've used both kinds over the years. A good, unobtrusive touch screen is a "nice-to-have", but if there is any drawback to the particular technology used, I don't want it. For a good implementation, I'd pay maybe $10 extra. For an insanely great one, maybe $20.

Mind you, this is on an ereader. On other types of devices, touch screens are important-to-mandatory.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

Boston · 12-26-2010, 10:45 AM

Count me amongst the "Did not want a touch screen until I got a Sony PRS-#50".

I love the new sony touchscreen over buttons...for me, it allows me to hold the reader in a more natural position..not that I ever minded the buttons

(except I did need to replace my PRS-505 when a couple of the buttons stopped working

)

SeaBookGuy · 12-26-2010, 11:45 AM

I read a lot of non-fiction ... how do folks without touchscreens do footnotes? I use that feature a lot more than the occasional dictionary lookup.

krish · 12-26-2010, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by italianReader

Honestly I will get a bigger device mainly because I need something to read technical books, i don't care very much about other things. Anyway in my particular case another drawback of the touchscreen model is that it's (a little) heavier.

After my experience with Sony PRS-950, I would never buy any reader without touchscreen. Especially for technical books / pdfs, I would recommend to go with touchscreen model. It would be very useful to scroll / pan around the page.

suncor · 12-26-2010, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

I read a lot of non-fiction ... how do folks without touchscreens do footnotes? I use that feature a lot more than the occasional dictionary lookup.

I just read a book with footnotes on my 650. You just tap the number, and it takes you to the footnote. You tap the number at the footnote, and it takes you back to where you were.

SeaBookGuy · 12-26-2010, 04:34 PM

I have a 650, too. I wanted to know how folks who dislike touchscreens so much handle footnotes on their devices?

12-26-2010, 10:45 AM	#26
Boston Fanatic Posts: 555 Karma: 40032 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Boston :) Device: Kindle, Kobo Aura H20, Pixel XL	Count me amongst the "Did not want a touch screen until I got a Sony PRS-#50". I love the new sony touchscreen over buttons...for me, it allows me to hold the reader in a more natural position..not that I ever minded the buttons (except I did need to replace my PRS-505 when a couple of the buttons stopped working ) Last edited by Boston; 12-26-2010 at 11:48 AM.

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12-26-2010, 04:51 AM	#16
Sweetpea Grand Sorcerer Posts: 9,707 Karma: 32763414 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Krewerd Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6	If I were to buy a new reader, whether e-ink or LCD, I'd demand a touchscreen... It's worth that much to me.

12-26-2010, 05:11 AM	#17
Fastolfe Bookworm Posts: 98 Karma: 55796 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Sony PRS-650	The Neonode touchscreen my Sony PRS-650 sports is brilliant. It's very precise and technically doesn't require touching the screen at all, although the detection gap is so small it's almost impossible not to. But the lightest brush is more than enough to register a solid reading. The IR technology means the surface of the screen doesn't play any part in the detection, thus doesn't need to be glossy, sticky or glassy. The 650's screen is slightly granular and reasonably close to paper to the touch. As a result, it doesn't attract fingerprints so much. Provided I keep my hands clean, I never have to clean the screen. To finish with, on a small device like this, it's better to have ad-hoc soft-keys and soft context-based menu buttons than physical keys. That way, it's smaller because there's no separate keyboard, and menu navigation is faster. Not to mention, sliders are nicer to navigate pages or zoom in and out. I'm glad I paid more for the particular touchscreen in my Sony Reader, but if the touchscreen meant accepting a glossy screen, I wouldn't want any touchscreen at all. So I guess your question should be "how much is a GOOD touchscreen worth".

12-26-2010, 05:50 AM	#21
EowynCarter Wizard Posts: 4,337 Karma: 4000000 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Paris Device: Cybooks; Sony PRS-T1	It how much a touch screen is work strongly depends of the use you yourself and you have of the e-reader. Such things as search, dictionary look-up, reader pdf, the touch screen will definitively help. one the the fist time I though touch screen could be useful, was when seeing the video of the orizon. And browsing the menus with a few touch, rather than "clik clik clik clik clik clik select". It's convenient there too. Though browsing the menu isn't something you do very often.

12-26-2010, 06:03 AM	#22
viviena Evangelist Posts: 412 Karma: 520610 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Canberra, Australia Device: Currently Kobo Clara HD and Aura One, iPad	I have to say that I was one of those people who used to scorn the idea of using a touchscreen-capable ereader. What about fingerprints?, I scoffed to myself. After all, my mobile phone, iPod, and Nintendo DS* collect prints easily enough, and fingerprints still greatly noticeable for me if the backlighting isn't bright enough. When I bought my 350, the touchscreen in itself wasn't an attractive enough reason alone to justify me getting one. * (yeah, I know you're supposed to use the stylus) I have to say though, the touchscreen technology that the new Sony Readers use though are great. The screens aren't glossy LCDs that show fingerprints easily, but some sort of matte surface, in which fingerprints aren't visible at all when the device is held at a natural angle for reading. Using the touchscreen is very natural for navigating menus, for annotating, and accessing the dictionary. I do use the buttons more than finger glides to turn pages though, and there's nothing wrong with that. For a basic ereader, such as the niche that my Kobo currently fills, I might pay extra if the difference between the two models is minimal. For something more full-featured, such as my 350, I would definitely pay the extra, and I'm pretty sure the next device I get to replace the 350 will be touchscreen capable also. I expect that upcoming models from many different companies in the next decade or so will eventually have both wifi and touchscreens. ItalianReader, I don't know what type of touchscreen technology the 90* use, but depending on how you use it, I'd think a touchscreen capable 903 is definitely worth it. Since you're getting a 9.7" PocketBook, I assume you're getting a larger-size ereader for specific reasons beyond 'just reading', and a touchscreen might or might not help for some of those reasons.

12-26-2010, 09:29 AM	#24
rhadin Literacy = Understanding Posts: 4,833 Karma: 59674358 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: The World of Books Device: Nook, Nook Tablet	I never thought a touch screen would be particularly useful or wanted. I had my Sony 505 and it was (and still is) great -- without either wireless or touch screen. BUT I bought a Sony 950 (I preordered it so I got it within days of release) and can tell you that I would never buy another reader unless it had a touch screen like the Sony touch screen. Everything is easier and fingerprints aren't seen. With the Sony touch screen, you don't actually have to touch the screen to get it to work (or if you do have to touch the screen it is so light that it seems as if you are not touching it). Once a month I clean the screen, but I did that with my 505 as well, because the screens catch normal dust and no matter how careful I was with the 505, I would occasionally touch the screen. The 950 was $100 more than what I could have bought a Kindle for and $150 more than what I could have bought a nook for, but I consider the difference well worth paying. (Of course, within 2 weeks of my getting my 950, they were being discounted by $50, which would have made my decision to buy the Sony a no-brainer. To answer the question: touch screen like Sony's implementation of it is well worth spending more money for.

12-26-2010, 10:00 AM	#25
Jack Tingle Punctuation Fetishist Posts: 557 Karma: 1070000 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: The Bluest Commonwealth In East America Device: Kindle PW, Nexus 7 (2013), Galaxy S5 phone, Galaxy Tab 4 8.0	I've used both kinds over the years. A good, unobtrusive touch screen is a "nice-to-have", but if there is any drawback to the particular technology used, I don't want it. For a good implementation, I'd pay maybe $10 extra. For an insanely great one, maybe $20. Mind you, this is on an ereader. On other types of devices, touch screens are important-to-mandatory. Regards, Jack Tingle

12-26-2010, 11:45 AM	#27
SeaBookGuy Can one read too much? Posts: 2,029 Karma: 2487799 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Naples, FL Device: Kindle PW 3, Sony 350 and 650	I read a lot of non-fiction ... how do folks without touchscreens do footnotes? I use that feature a lot more than the occasional dictionary lookup.

12-26-2010, 04:34 PM	#30
SeaBookGuy Can one read too much? Posts: 2,029 Karma: 2487799 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Naples, FL Device: Kindle PW 3, Sony 350 and 650	I have a 650, too. I wanted to know how folks who dislike touchscreens so much handle footnotes on their devices?

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