Best E-reader on the market?

[jehane]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

This really depends on how many books he has to convert. I would think that the optimal situation would be to not have to do a conversion at all.

Indeed, but if you have a look through other threads you'll find an awful lot of people recommending Kindles to people who have a stated epub preference! Even when they want to borrow library books they are told just to break the DRM and convert.

Anyway, I do agree that given the OP's preferences the larger Kindle is most suitable. Whether it's a sufficient improvement over the Cybook to justify a new purchase only s/he can decide.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by SolRaven

You're talking about the Sony 600 & 900. The 350, 650 & 950 Sony models don't have a layer of any sort over the eink screen, so they're just as crisp as a non-touch pearl screen. What they do use is infrared technology, which you can't see at all.

Actually, I was talking about all e-readers that I've heard of with touchscreens. I wasn't aware that any used infrared technology to enable touch. I sit corrected. If the new Sony models don't have that extra layer, then I don't suppose there'd be a difference of that sort.

But yeah, there's still the matter of the MOBI files. All else being equal, for the OP's purposes, that's the impediment to going with an ePub device.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

Actually, I was talking about all e-readers that I've heard of with touchscreens. I wasn't aware that any used infrared technology to enable touch. I sit corrected. If the new Sony models don't have that extra layer, then I don't suppose there'd be a difference of that sort.

Devices with Wacom touch screens (eg the BeBook Neo) also don't impact screen clarity. The screen's electronics are BELOW the eInk layer.

[Leyor]

Thanks alot for all the valuable feedback, I really appreciate it.

It seems to me from hearing you that the page turn on all newer devices are comparable. And the biggest difference between the Sony and Kindle DX is screen size, touch capability and format. I have around 722 books (Thank you Baen) in Mobi so far, but with Calibre I don't think conversion will be an issue.

Seeing as the best reading experience is my main priority, I think I'll go with the Kindle DX as it'll give me a better and bigger screen with faster page turns, without the drawbacks I invisioned of clunky button placement and slow page turns.

Thanks alot for helping me out community (If anyone has upgraded from a 2nd gen device like my Cybook to either the Kindle DX or Sony Touch, I'd still really like to hear from them about the experience).

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

Actually, I was talking about all e-readers that I've heard of with touchscreens.

You have been mislead. I've only heard that w/ the Sony touchscreens (and from owning a Sony 600 touch) but the Wacom's are quite excellent.

Originally Posted by HarryT

Devices with Wacom touch screens (eg the BeBook Neo) also don't impact screen clarity. The screen's electronics are BELOW the eInk layer.

I didn't realise that was why. How brilliant of them.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by SolRaven

You have been mislead. I've only heard that w/ the Sony touchscreens (and from owning a Sony 600 touch) but the Wacom's are quite excellent.

Wacom touchscreens provide the best accuracy of any touchscreen technology. Their down-side is that they only work with the special stylus - you can't operate the screen with your finger.

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Wacom touchscreens provide the best accuracy of any touchscreen technology. Their down-side is that they only work with the special stylus - you can't operate the screen with your finger.

I wonder what kind of screen is going on the Kno tablet. It has a powered stylus, but you can use your finger to touch as well.

[HarryT]

That's interesting. I don't know off-hand of any touch-screen technology that works that way, but there are so many around these days that it's easy to lose track of new developments!

[Dulin's Books]

Wacom pen and touch. capacitive plus digitizer for the stylus.

There is also Hanvon's version which is used in their new 9.7 inch black and white and color eink readers.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

Wacom pen and touch. capacitive plus digitizer for the stylus.

There is also Hanvon's version which is used in their new 9.7 inch black and white and color eink readers.

You mean it has both a capacitive touch screen for the finger, AND a Wacom touch screen for the stylus? Or is this a new Wacom thing which does both?

[SolRaven]

So this is how Sony's new readers do it. It's pretty interesting....



Infrared
An infrared touchscreen uses an array of X-Y infrared LED and photodetector pairs around the edges of the screen to detect a disruption in the pattern of LED beams. These LED beams cross each other in vertical and horizontal patterns. This helps the sensors pick up the exact location of the touch. A major benefit of such a system is that it can detect essentially any input including a finger, gloved finger, stylus or pen. It is generally used in outdoor applications and point-of-sale systems which can't rely on a conductor (such as a bare finger) to activate the touchscreen. Unlike capacitive touchscreens, infrared touchscreens do not require any patterning on the glass which increases durability and optical clarity of the overall system.

[Dulin's Books]

sorry for not being clear Harry.

Wacom has had pen and touch for a few years now. That's capacitive plus stylus digitizer. I've seen it used in a few tablet devices and of course in Wacoms own devices.

Hanvon makes their own capacitive touch and stylus digitizer touch tech. The color and b+w eink devices they've just shown at CES have Cap PLUS digitizer on bord. When you pull the pen to use it the device even turns off the Cap to save power AND to ensure their are no false inputs (from errant palm or finger touches) while writing with the stylus. The newest version of their stylus tech is even pressure sensitive.

The ereader version is single touch but they use a version on their B16 tablet which is multi-touch cap plus digitizer

http://www.hanvon.com/en/products/to...chpad_F10.html

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

sorry for not being clear Harry.

Wacom has had pen and touch for a few years now. That's capacitive plus stylus digitizer. I've seen it used in a few tablet devices and of course in Wacoms own devices.

Hanvon makes their own capacitive touch and stylus digitizer touch tech. The color and b+w eink devices they've just shown at CES have Cap PLUS digitizer on bord. When you pull the pen to use it the device even turns off the Cap to save power AND to ensure their are no false inputs (from errant palm or finger touches) while writing with the stylus. The newest version of their stylus tech is even pressure sensitive.

The ereader version is single touch but they use a version on their B16 tablet which is multi-touch cap plus digitizer

http://www.hanvon.com/en/products/to...chpad_F10.html

Wow! That sounds fantastic! I'd love to try such a touch screen out.

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

sorry for not being clear Harry.

Wacom has had pen and touch for a few years now. That's capacitive plus stylus digitizer. I've seen it used in a few tablet devices and of course in Wacoms own devices.

Hanvon makes their own capacitive touch and stylus digitizer touch tech. The color and b+w eink devices they've just shown at CES have Cap PLUS digitizer on bord. When you pull the pen to use it the device even turns off the Cap to save power AND to ensure their are no false inputs (from errant palm or finger touches) while writing with the stylus. The newest version of their stylus tech is even pressure sensitive.

The ereader version is single touch but they use a version on their B16 tablet which is multi-touch cap plus digitizer

http://www.hanvon.com/en/products/to...chpad_F10.html

Wow... I can't wait to get my reader and check this stuff out. I wish I could find info on the Kno's full specs.

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's interesting. I don't know off-hand of any touch-screen technology that works that way, but there are so many around these days that it's easy to lose track of new developments!

Found it! I think this is the touchscreen & stylus that they're using. They didn't even change the style of the pencil looking powered stylus. This article is from last May; I wonder if any screens are on the market yet.

N-Trig DuoSense article

Not quite a year ago, N-Trig showed off their DuoSense touch digitizer with option to add pen input later via battery-powered pen. Well, the pen is finally coming to market and to clearly differentiate it from the battery-less pen that comes with pen+touch systems, they’re calling it their Digital Pencil.

The gist of the DuoSense system is that vendors can opt for either a pen+touch system or a touch-only system, as seen on the Lenovo T400s. The pen+touch system includes a pen that works without batteries, like the Wacom system. The touch-only option leaves out a coil in the digitizer to recognize pen input.

But if you’d like to add pen input later, the Digital Pencil has the necessary hardware built into it to replicate the effects of the pen digitizer. Per N-Trig’s website, the pen uses a standard AAAA battery (which I may have never seen in my life) that can last up to 18 months. The downside is that the battery should add a bit of heft (though that might improve the feel for some people), and your notebook, not being designed for pen input, probably lacks a pen garage. One minor quibble: Digital Pencil but no digital eraser on the end? I would have gone with Digital Marker.

Press release below. Hat tip to PC World and Engadget. BTW, I heartily suggest reading Engadget’s take on the news. Classic.