Best Choice for International Readers

[Laura81]

Thanks for the link. I'm still liking the look and capabilities of the PP best.

[davebalme]

You may find it beneficial to check out the support forums for the Bebook Mini on their website (the Mini is the European release of the PP).

I am in much the same position as you in that I am looking for a new reader, having had a Cool-er that repeatedly went faulty. I had narrowed my selection down to the Cybook Opus or the Bebook Mini but having read of problems with them on this forum and elsewhere I have changed my mind to either the Sony Touch or the new Pocketbook 360 which is tested and reviewed quite extensively. I just don't want to be shelling out for something that has potential reliability issues.

[Ebiumn]

i have narrowed my first purchase after investigating for the last two months, to either the pocketbook 360 or the bebook mini

[KoopaOne]

Owning a Rocket Ebook, A Sony PRS-505, a Cybook Gen3 and now the PocketBook 360°, i know what a good Reader must have.
And even when i sound like a Fanboy now: The PocketBook has it all ... It can be definately seen that they do listen to their costumers and that the Software has been developed together with the Community.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by KoopaOne

The PocketBook has it all ...

... except the ability to read the overwhelming majority of commercially-sold eBooks, due to its lack of DRM support.

A firmware update to add Adobe ADE to the firmware (which will give it the ability to read DRM-protected ePub and PDF files) is due to be released this month; personally I'd prefer to wait for that to see the light of day before recommending the PocketBook to a wider audience.

[EowynCarter]

... except the ability to read the overwhelming majority of commercially-sold eBooks, due to its lack of DRM support.

On the other hand, adobe support for ePub is such a crap. And i don't buy i can't de-drm
I sure wish bookeen would drop adobe, and the mobi reader, to make thier own.
At least we could have both mobi en ePub.
Though you're right, that woudln't fit the avrage user. Ideal would be to be able to chose.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by HarryT

... except the ability to read the overwhelming majority of commercially-sold eBooks, due to its lack of DRM support.

A firmware update to add Adobe ADE to the firmware (which will give it the ability to read DRM-protected ePub and PDF files) is due to be released this month; personally I'd prefer to wait for that to see the light of day before recommending the PocketBook to a wider audience.

A well functioning Beta is already in our hands, so even if something catastrophic happens now, we will not be left without working solution for DRMed epub.

Great features have been promised for final version. We were told that the final version is at the moment being approved by Adobe. I know, I know ... . We should not rely on promises from a device manufacturer. I have been following development of PocketBook with keen interest for quite a long time and I DO trust this particular company.

I have been playing with PB 360 for a week and I am still discovering really cool features.

[Ebiumn]

I have also ordered and awaiting delivery of the pocketbook 360 after 2 months of checking out the product and companies, but it was a close run thing with the bebook mini.

[orwell2k]

Originally Posted by Laura81

Considering the price difference I'd definitely buy internationally. It's a huge savings to do so. Would you say the pocket pro is better than the 6" version? Anyway, I'll go over to astak and have a look at them.

Thanks for pointing this one out to me!

Great to see more Aussies getting into the eBook scene - welcome!

As has been stated, you will need to choose what suits your needs best. The following are my opinions only - take them as such. I would myself not buy Sony or Kindle:

(1) I would recommend against the Kindle, for personal reasons - the Kindle to me looks like crap, seems too large with the keypad, and is too locked into Amazon for my taste (I've posted plenty of comments on the forums about the frustration of being outside the US and trying to get eBooks, etc, and out of principle I will never buy Amazon Kindle or Sony, even though they are opening up their markets now).

(2) I also would not buy Sony, although their move towards ePub as the prime format may make their newer devices more useful. But again, their past record of not selling outside the US and not allowing access to their online bookstore outside the US has forever alienated me from their products. I believe their devices are the sexiest looking, but there are better performers around.

Now onto what I would buy:

(1) If you're happy with ePub as a prime format then there ar a number of great nw devices around - the CyBook Opus seems pretty neat, and the PocketBook360 looks awesome! The Hanlin V3 (6") and V5 (5") clones are also a good choice (BeBook, Astak, LBook, EcoReader, etc.) - the benefit here is a vast number of formats (although not all of them display that well, so I would say those are emergency use only) and the ability to mix and match your firmware to suit your needs.

I have a BeBook (6" Hanlin V3 clone from Netherlands) and love it - and to make my point on firmware, I am using the latest LBook firmware from Russia/Ukraine - they seem to make the best official releases. You can also us OpenInkpot if you prefer, although non-DRM only I believe. I'm interested in the V5 clones, as I would like a smaller reader - I understand the smaller display is no problem for readability, but the more compact device makes it very easy to carry.

I would point out that I think the Russian/Ukrainian backed devices are the way to go (Hanlin clones, PocketBook360, etc.) because they seem to do the best firmware support for my uses. I have been into eBooks since about 2003 (reading on an Acer n10 PocketPC) and have been using the FB2 format almost continuously since then. If you have a little computer skill it is very easy to remove DRM and convert most eBook formats to FB2. And I am yet to see any format rendered as well as FB2, or with as many display options, on any device (my opinion only!). As FB2 is a Russian invention, their is massive support in terms of books and firmware for those devices supportd in their region, hence my preference for them.

But if you only want to buy a book, download and read, then it seems (perhaps unfortunately) that ePub is the new fad, so you will want a reader that does a decent job with that - Cybook Opus, Hanlin clones, PocketBook360, Cool-ER, etc. (Note: I am also seriously considering the Cool-ER, as it does an excellent job with ePubs and also supports FB2).

You should look at the Wiki matrix to see what devices support what format, but I would get one that can handle ePub, PDF, Mobi, FB2, HTML, TXT. All other formats (like MS LIT) can be easily converted to one of these, so it's not worth getting a reader that does that.

Just my $0.02 worth - feel free to ask any questions or PM me if you want more detailed info on some points.

Welcome to the world of e-Reading!

[Laura81]

Thanks for your opinions orwell2k I mainly want a reader that can read PDF and text well as I download a lot of ebooks and these are primarly the formats I find for download.

[orwell2k]

Originally Posted by Laura81

Thanks for your opinions orwell2k I mainly want a reader that can read PDF and text well as I download a lot of ebooks and these are primarly the formats I find for download.

Fair enough - as I said, you need to assess your needs then see what devices are available. Most of them can handle PDF and TXT - each device may have their quirks but in the end they seem to be quite similar for capabilities.

TXT of course is the simplest and has very little in the way of formatting options on most devices - what you see is what you get, no special formatting for titles, etc., no TOC, and so on. But the text itself is what you want in terms of reading an eBook, so fair enough.

PDF is always a hot debate - depending on the page size of the PDF it will be presented to varying degrees of success in a 5" or 6" device - i.e. an A4 age obviously won't look "great" in a small screen device. But most of the devices now offer some kind of reflow for PDF, and if you have any input to how the PDF is created, you can tailor it to suit a smaller screen. Additionally, if the PDFs are specifically or eReader devices then they may already be in a smaller page size (say 9 x 12cm or something like that, instead of A4). And of course there are some tools around to regenerate your PDF.

You may want to consider that, with a little effort, you can take simple TXT and PDF sources and generate quite nice eBook formats that will enhance your reading experience on a device. Calibre is one tool - check out the forum for more info. It offers a lot of output format options. In addition, Sigil is quite a nice tool for generating ePub books, and there are many others. And for FB2 you can use the quite nice Book Designer 5 (and Calibre, and even the command line Calibre eBook conversion tools), plus a few others.

So there are a lot of options, even if you're only looking at one or two sources the initial eBooks. As you get into using the eReader you may wish to try some other formats and convert your books. For that reason I would advise considering devices that handle a variety of formats, like the Hanlin V3 clones. Of course, if you want to focus on one particular format, like ePub, then another device with support for fewer formats may suit you more.

Best of luck!

[Laura81]

Thanks again. I went ahead and ordered a Pocket Pro which reads lots of different things. I currently have an ebookwise, hence wanting something else. I want something that I don't have to sit and convert every PDF doc I have to txt format. Not to mention I have found problems with converting PDF docs. Most times the transfer looks like crap. I tried calibre to convert and got a crap conversion with that as well. So it will be great to finally have a device that just reads them. Which I'm hoping from what people have said about the PP it reflows the PDF's so should be ok.

[orwell2k]

Originally Posted by Laura81

Thanks again. I went ahead and ordered a Pocket Pro which reads lots of different things. I currently have an ebookwise, hence wanting something else. I want something that I don't have to sit and convert every PDF doc I have to txt format. Not to mention I have found problems with converting PDF docs. Most times the transfer looks like crap. I tried calibre to convert and got a crap conversion with that as well. So it will be great to finally have a device that just reads them. Which I'm hoping from what people have said about the PP it reflows the PDF's so should be ok.

Yeah, should be good. And as you have chosen a Hanlin V5 clone you are free to try a lot of different firmwares to get the one with the best PDF capabilities. The LBook ones are often quite good, and I guess the Astak is also good. I don't like the BeBook versions as much anymore because they seem to be behind the other developers in getting the firmware releases out.

Good choice - enjoy!

BTW - was it a good price - if you don't mind telling, how much to down under with the shipping? I'm thinking of ordering one as a gift for my aunt in Perth.

[Laura81]

Don't mind at all. All up it was $257AU. The unit itself was $199US and the shipping was $40US.

[orwell2k]

Originally Posted by Laura81

Don't mind at all. All up it was $257AU. The unit itself was $199US and the shipping was $40US.

Great price - well done! I'm also thinking of ordering one, because at the moment I'm in Europe and with the strong Euro it will be about 160 Euros incl. shipping. I'd be interested in hearing your experience with the reader once it arrives. Cheers!