Looking for a next generation eb1150

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by aapezzuto

This forum is actually funny to me, because I am trying to make the plunge towards and e-ink device, because I want to have weeks of battery, at the same time my wife has kept me awake by the eerie glow of her reb1100. She clings to this literary night light, as if it will grant her some magical power... She is in med school, about to give birth to twins, has been in the hospital for a little over 7 weeks (so the doctors can watch the twins in her belly) and she is keeping up a decent mood, so maybe it has.

I don't think anyone needs back light, but some light would be about at the top of my list if i ever want to pry that outdated brick from her amorous claws, and replace it, once it has eventually died of course. I think the real sad part of all of this is that no one in industry has realized that this is a MUST have feature for some people. I think that the other niche the 1150 fills right now is a sturdy ebook reader, at a reasonable price.

A few things I would like to see introduced by SOME vender:

• parallel batteries (only needs one to work, but you can add a second, and take out the first, no problems)
• reasonable low light lighting (even decently low back light is REALLY bright... still not as bad as a lamp.)
• reasonable glare resistance (because sometimes we venture into the garish light of day... egads!)
• a SDK to develop support for new formats, and alternate UIs
• something (like an old palm) that can read e-books, even poorly for 50-75$ so we can start handing them out like free samples of crack! (please make the screen 5.5"-8" at least)

That last request is completely separate from the others, but if there was a standard format between the 2, or if you could "link" your accounts and download to each of them... wow! get the magazines to give out the little one with a 2yr subscription. The offer the e-book only version at half price for renewal... they would still make lots of money, and have much less in the way of costs.

Ok, I've communicated all that is relevant, and im about to get into my why am i the only sane person in the world... do you have to be crazy to get any power speech.... and this is not the time, and based on thread topic, its not the place either.

I think you made some excellent points and captured the idea of an inexpensive ebook reader (Most are not!) that has the features people need. That is exactly the sentiment I was trying to achieve when I started this thread.

Dale

[mogui]

aapezzuto, good luck with the babies. It is a long time to lay in bed. I hope she has enough to read.

The idea of parallel batteries is a new one to me. Usually the batteries are chosen to provide the right level for the logic in the reader. One cell give about 1.5 volts so, for example the old Palms use two celsl to achieve 3 V. This method would entail having twice the number of batteries thus twice the weight. Alternatively they might use a charge pump circuit to enable use of only one cell. Interesting idea. I suspect though, that using one battery at a time vs using both at once will give you the same amount of reading time.

I prefer to be able to replace common AAA cells, and to use rechargables if I wish.

As for backlighting vs eInk and a lamp, my accommodating Chinese wife doesn't mind if I use a lamp to read in bed. She says, "You like? You do." I think that is the best solution

[aapezzuto]

When using batteries in series the voltages add, when in parallel the current available is doubled. So having two batteries in parallel with no other electronics involved would cause them to balance their charge (one would charge the other) and then they should drain at a similar rate. My general idea was that one battery would be used before the other one, I'm pretty sure this is done with the power flow of one being used to control the use of the second through a transistor or two. But as far as reason and thinking... the reason why there are D cells and not just AAA is because sometimes you want a device to run longer or draw more power than a AAA battery can support.

If you are using a standard high end cellphone battery, the device is usable with just one, but if the person wants to buy 4 of them, and swap them out, quite literally more power to them. I believe that you would get the most use out of a battery in a slow discharge, because I know that standard NiCd batteries only yeald about 60% of their maximum mAh (miliamp hours) in a 3 min discharge (research I did for a friend who built a lightweight battle bot). But the ability to know what battery needs to be replaced when would be valuable. In fact using the segmented e-ink display from the lextor memory stick might be the perfect battery life indicator.

What I was trying to address with the suggestion was a way to make the device have variable power life, and the user could decide how much money to sink into it.

ok my brief stint into almost complete off-topicness is over!

[ColdSun]

To answer the silly question of how we read books before we had backlights....

How did you manage without your e-Ink devices? You read paper books. Some of you with a light on. Well, so did we. Pretty obvious answer for a sarcastic question again from JSWOLF.

The fact is, we now read e-books on devices and it is our preferred method of reading. I don't need to go over the reasons WHY we read ebooks when they have already been discussed a million times elsewhere.

I think several of us have made it very clear why we ask for a backlight on an ebook device. So you folks have the device and technology that pleases you. That's great! According to 50% (at the time of this post) of the people who have answered the poll, most of us want a backlit device. Bringing up irrelevant questions about what we did before ebook devices were created does not further the discussion. The fact that the need remains in this market for a device with a backlight is obvious. Most of us are willing to charge the thing more often. Its simple. You walk over and plug it in. Personally, I think it is ridiculous that a reading device does not have at least some type of light attached. Many of us read in bed at night and use that feature on devices that are now old technology. You say, "Turn a light on." I say - put a light IN. Seriously, I am glad you folks are happy with e-ink technology - it really is a huge step ahead for people that read, but a large number of us are not happy with it unless it has a light. You can accept that or keep trying to find excuses to throw us back into the paper market.

[Xenophon]

From my point of view, a front-light of some sort* for my eInk device would be nice but its lack is not a show-stopper. But then, I hardly ever read in bed.

*This seems like a perfect application for a Lightwedge-like device. I've never understood how anyone who reads quickly could possibly use a lightwedge on a paper book. After all, switching the bloody thing from one page to another 3 or 4 times a minute would get old really really quickly. On the other hand, with eInk underneath it'd just be another push of the next-page button. But I digress...

My experience with various readers (including the REB1100!) has led me to care most about DPI and contrast. I'd kill (metaphorically speaking) for a reader with 4x better contrast than the Sony Reader and 600+ DPI! (Or more on both fronts, of course.) Physical ergonomics come second, with slickness of software UI a close third. Lighting is well down the list from there. Your mileage may vary, of course.

[JSWolf]

This thing is, a lot of people are complaining because eink devices cannot have a backlight, yet they bought one anyway. If we were to have a light wedge type add-on for our eink devices, I'd want it to run it's own battery. Would you like to see your device cut in 12 (maybe) if you turned on the light?

If a light source is that important, then don't buy a device that doesn't come with one r do what others have done and purchase a book light and use that.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If a light source is that important, then don't buy a device that doesn't come with one....

I thought that was kind of the point of this thread.

Thread title

Looking for a next generation eb1150

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by NatCh

I thought that was kind of the point of this thread.

Thread title

I know.. But it's silly to see people complaining about a light source AFTER the purchase.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I know.. But it's silly to see people complaining about a light source AFTER the purchase.

But ... nobody on this thread is doing that, JSWolf (I had to look back to be sure). They're discussing the prospect of an updated device that incorporates the features they prized in the EB1150 -- including its backlight. They don't seem to care whether it has e-ink or not next to the greater consideration of the light. That evaluation is certainly theirs to make for themselves.

Those of us participating who already have e-ink devices aren't really the target demographic for the thread, and I'm not sure we're actually being all that helpful.

Come to think of it, that probably sheds some light on the poll results being weighted more toward considering a light to be vital: most of the folks on this thread are here because they want a modern device with a built-in light.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by NatCh

But ... nobody on this thread is doing that, JSWolf (I had to look back to be sure). They're discussing the prospect of an updated device that incorporates the features they prized in the EB1150 -- including its backlight. They don't seem to care whether it has e-ink or not next to the greater consideration of the light. That evaluation is certainly theirs to make for themselves.

I take the view that you can add lighting to an eInk screen very easily, but you cannot improve the quality of a "pre-lit" LCD screen. It seems like a sensible choice, therefore, to go for screen clarity over lighting when it comes to selecting built-in funtionality.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I take the view that you can add lighting to an eInk screen very easily, but you cannot improve the quality of a "pre-lit" LCD screen. It seems like a sensible choice, therefore, to go for screen clarity over lighting when it comes to selecting built-in funtionality.

True enough but one thing the eb1150 has going for it is that it is 1/3 to 1/2 the price of any of the e-ink devices. You have to already be a dedicated reader to spend the price of e-ink for a reader you are not too sure that you will like. You can't main stream any of the current shipped units to the mass market or get market acceptance, lighting not withstanding.

With regard to lighting.Some of the front lighting add ons look fairly good but I have not heard of a single reader that has added one of those and found them to be as good as what the 1150 has.

There has to be a cheap solution to legitimize the market and so far this is not e-ink. Besides the light situation there is no touch screen and it is not clear how easy it is to annotate, bookmark, add notes, do dictionary look up, search etc. which the eb1150 excells at (although returning to a bookmark could be improved). Don't forget cheap in the equation.

Dale

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

There has to be a cheap solution to legitimize the market and so far this is not e-ink. Besides the light situation there is no touch screen and it is not clear how easy it is to annotate, bookmark, add notes, do dictionary look up, search etc. which the eb1150 excells at (although returning to a bookmark could be improved). Don't forget cheap in the equation.

Nobody would call it cheap, but the iLiad can do all those things. It, though, is basically an "eInk Tablet Computer" rather than a dedicated bookreader, and has a price to match.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Nobody would call it cheap, but the iLiad can do all those things. It, though, is basically an "eInk Tablet Computer" rather than a dedicated bookreader, and has a price to match.

There are lots of devices available if money is no object. The iLiad is actually pretty limited as tablet computers go. As I said "don't forget it has to be cheap"

Dale

[ColdSun]

If the poll is squewed because only folks interested in the topic would come to the thread and vote, then perhaps all polls on this website are squewed for the same reason?

Personally, I think the poll shows that there is a high percentage of people who want a backlight. Even if the numbers were reversed, with those who say it doesn't matter to them being the higher percentage, it is still quite obvious that a large segment of ebook readers want the backlight feature. Now, if the "I require a backlight" number was where the "Its not a dealbreaker" number was, then I would say that those of us who want a backlight might be a minority here. The poll says it all if you ask me. A backlight is requested by a large percentage of e-book readers who have visted this thread. Manufacturers should pay attention to this fact.

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by ColdSun

If the poll is squewed because only folks interested in the topic would come to the thread and vote, then perhaps all polls on this website are squewed for the same reason?

Yes, all the polls on this website (and, for that matter, any website) are skewed in a number of ways. They are probably still worth noting as possible directions to research, but I wouldn't consider basing product development plans on any of these polls. I know too much about the fallibility of polls, particularly in a self-selecting environment like an enthusiast website.

That being said, I think the request for self-lighting in a reading device is common and understandable, particularly in customers of the eBookwise 11xx line, who are used to this functionality. I expect the next generation of e ink readers to include a self-lighting option of some kind (probably a light diffuser like the lightwedge). But I don't think e ink in its current form will ever be all that popular as a screen technology, due to its cost and slow refresh rate. I like it, I use it, but I think it will be replaced by either improved e ink or other technologies (e.g. bistable LCD) rather soon.