My video mini-review of the Cybook Gen3

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DutchBoy

To address the issue of the grey background: I think you definitely need a light source for (indoor) reading, would you agree?

I find that the Gen3 can be comfortably read in the same light levels I'd need to read a paperback book. The background may be grey rather than white, but the text is "blacker" than in many paperbacks, so the contrast is excellent. One thing you can do (which you can't do with a paperback book) is increase the text size in poor light.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

But what meaning would page numbers have, given that they would be different for every font and font size? Your page 100 in a given book would almost certainly not be the same as my page 100. Given that I read a book at different font sizes to suit the lighting conditions, my page 100 in the middle of the day wouldn't even be the same as my page 100 in the same book in the evening. It really is an almost meaningless thing to display!

It would have meaning. You will soon learn how long it takes to read a specific amount of pages in a specific font size. You can also note not down "page 234/4" which would for me mean page 234 in size 4. I am really missing the page number and the total number of pages and will be extremely disappointed if they are not available in the coming firmware update.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I find that the Gen3 can be comfortably read in the same light levels I'd need to read a paperback book. The background may be grey rather than white, but the text is "blacker" than in many paperbacks, so the contrast is excellent. One thing you can do (which you can't do with a paperback book) is increase the text size in poor light.

I do not think that is true if you read in the same font size. I had to get a better light for my Cybook. It might be that I had a spotlight before and that a spotlight will not light the screen good due to how you are holding the Cybook and the fact that it is not flat.

[Ortep]

Originally Posted by tompe

It would have meaning. You will soon learn how long it takes to read a specific amount of pages in a specific font size. You can also note not down "page 234/4" which would for me mean page 234 in size 4.

I think the easy solution would be: No page numbers but a percentage. That works for any size book for any size font. You are at 'position' 54.3

For a lot of books that will be more acurate than page numers. Only if you have more than a thousand pages you can be one page 'off'

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Ortep

I think the easy solution would be: No page numbers but a percentage. That works for any size book for any size font. You are at 'position' 54.3

Only percentage does not work for me. I need the total number of pages also. The information I am missing is how long is the book, how long will it take to finish it, and where am I in the story and since the structure of the story depends on the total length you need to know it to know where you are in the story.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by tompe

I do not think that is true if you read in the same font size. I had to get a better light for my Cybook. It might be that I had a spotlight before and that a spotlight will not light the screen good due to how you are holding the Cybook and the fact that it is not flat.

I do indeed increase the font size reading in a room lit by artificial light, but the CyBook makes that so easy to do that it's not a problem. ie, it's easier to increase the font size than to get more light, for me personally.

[Ortep]

Originally Posted by tompe

Only percentage does not work for me. I need the total number of pages also. The information I am missing is how long is the book, how long will it take to finish it, and where am I in the story and since the structure of the story depends on the total length you need to know it to know where you are in the story.

That is exactly what you get when you use a percentage. The book is always 100.0 % long. So when you are at 73.1% you still have 26.9% to go

Page numbers don't give you this information. You also need to know the last page. So when you are on page 300 you will have to know that the book is 900 pages to know how far you are in the book. And 33.3% gives you that information.

Because if you change the font size or font type because it is a bit darker in te room you can suddenly end up at page 400 (of 1200), and be at the same spot in the story. The 33.3 % will not change.

Page numbers are not fixed but a function of font type font size and screen size. If we get adjustable margin sizes it will even get worse.

Your page 400 almost certainly will not be mine. But the percentages will be identical.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I do indeed increase the font size reading in a room lit by artificial light, but the CyBook makes that so easy to do that it's not a problem. ie, it's easier to increase the font size than to get more light, for me personally.

If I increase the font size the readability will decrease due to too few word on the line. So I want to avoid that. I am now reading with Lucida Sans and the font size is the fourth smallest and I get 50 characters per line which is OK.

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by Ortep

That is exactly what you get when you use a percentage. The book is always 100.0 % long. So when you are at 73.1% you still have 26.9% to go

Page numbers don't give you this information. You also need to know the last page. So when you are on page 300 you will have to know that the book is 900 pages to know how far you are in the book. And 33.3% gives you that information.

Actually, one would need both page number and percentage (or total pages) to have all the information. Sometimes I want to know how far into a book I have read (percentage), sometimes I want to know how many pages I still have to read to finish (page x of y), or better yet, to reach the end of the chapter. The "pageometer" is a nice feature, but I still miss page numbers (even if they are variable).

This is why in the PDFs I create I add all this information (check this one, for instance).

[Dr. Drib]

I love it when you're first opening the box and you take out the small plastic wrap just prior to taking out the box that the ebook is in. There's this slight hesitation of your hand. I can almost hear you thinking: "Huh, what is this doing here?"

It really seems to be much thinner than my Sony PRS-500 and the book cover looks really nice.

I would actually like to buy one of these, plus a Kindle, plus a newer Sony. Unfortunately, no one wants to give me money at the moment. Go figure...

Congratulations on your reader!!

Don

[Ebook lover]

I recently bought a Cybook, and the overall experience is great.

But like someone mentioned earlier, page numbering or percentage of where I am is important when I am reading an e-book. As being mentioned, I need to know how much more there is to read before I am finish.

I hope Cybook will upgrade its firmware soon. It is a great device and look forward to its update

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ebook lover

But like someone mentioned earlier, page numbering or percentage of where I am is important when I am reading an e-book. As being mentioned, I need to know how much more there is to read before I am finish.

Why can't you get that information from the position bar at the bottom of the page? That shows you graphically how far through the book you are.

[Justy]

Originally Posted by Ebook lover

But like someone mentioned earlier, page numbering or percentage of where I am is important when I am reading an e-book.

It shouldn't be too hard to get the page numbers added, Cybook already recalculates the number of pages each time the font is changed. In the "Go To..." option, when you click on "Page..." the screen does show you the total number of pages at the current font.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Why can't you get that information from the position bar at the bottom of the page? That shows you graphically how far through the book you are.

Yes, but it does not give you how much there is to read until you are finished. Also the meaning of being for example 50% is different depending on the total length of the book.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by tompe

Yes, but it does not give you how much there is to read until you are finished. Also the meaning of being for example 50% is different depending on the total length of the book.

That's true, but you can get a reasonable idea from how fast the bar advances during your reading session. I'd be in favour of showing a page number, but not at the expense of losing screen "real estate" to do so, unless it was optional. The current status bar is a very efficient way of showing your reading position in only a few vertical pixels.