PocketBook Era Lite — 7" B/W on Amazon, $200

[Desertway]

Originally Posted by Geese1

So far I've been really enjoying the experience on it. Loaded up some books, but mostly been trying out some manga files since it can easily handle .cbz file types. It's been working really well for that, and the size (which is comparable to a standard manga volume) hasn't been an issue for the most part. And if I do run into a part with smaller text, it does feature pinch-to-zoom so I can increase the size.

The only real negative I've found so far is that the UI is incredibly slow. It's probably the slowest interface I've found in an e-reader in recent memory. Moving through the book is fine, but everywhere else in the interface: opening books, changing settings, etc. is glacial compared to any other reader I've used, even my Glowlight 4+, which I used to think was pretty slow until I got the PocketBook.

That being said, since I don't interact with the system much once I'm in a book, it hasn't really affected my enjoyment of it. I supposed I could try loading up something like KOReader to see if that ran faster, but I remember not caring that much for that system when I tried it out a while back on my Kobo, so for right now I'm going to stick with the stock UI.

Overall, I've been really happy with the device. It's great having buttons back, and I've no complaints about the screen quality. Looking forward to spending some more time with it to get some further thoughts.

I'm glad you're enjoying it. I've got some old readers around and a slow UI is usually not a deal breaker as long as the actual reading experience is good. Do you mind confirming that there is no way to change the font weight? I'm assuming not, as there never has been. But one can dream.

[Geese1]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Is using the dictionary or searching inside a book slow too?

Haven't tried using those functions yet, sorry. I'll open up a regular e-book later tonight and try out the dictionary function. However, I've never used the function to search within a book on any of my devices so I wouldn't know where to start. I'll see if I can figure it out and report back.

[Edit] Tested out the dictionary and it seems to work well enough, although it is a two step process. First, you have to hold your finger on a word for a beat or two, then when you lift it off it will show you some options, one of which is the dictionary. Only once you tap that does it give you the definition. Not sure if this is how it works on other readers, but on compared to the Kobo and the Nook it is an extra step.

Searching within the book also seems pretty quick, although as I said I've never used this function on other readers so I have nothing to compare it to. Using it here though, I wouldn't have any issues with the speed.

It seems like functions within a book seem to work pretty quickly, as does switching between books after the initial open. From what I can tell it is things like going into the settings, changing options, etc. that really seem to be on te slower side. Since these are areas I don't find myself adjusting too often (other than turning the frontlight on and off), I really don't notice it in regular use.

[Geese1]

Originally Posted by Desertway

I'm glad you're enjoying it. I've got some old readers around and a slow UI is usually not a deal breaker as long as the actual reading experience is good. Do you mind confirming that there is no way to change the font weight? I'm assuming not, as there never has been. But one can dream.

Unfortunately, no option to change the font weight from what I can see. The only option I see is to bold a font, but any of the fonts I've looked at have that option greyed out so even that may be of limited use.

I believe if you install KOReader you'll have that ability, so if you're okay doing that, it is an option.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Geese1

Unfortunately, no option to change the font weight from what I can see. The only option I see is to bold a font, but any of the fonts I've looked at have that option greyed out so even that may be of limited use.

I believe if you install KOReader you'll have that ability, so if you're okay doing that, it is an option.

Thanks for all the reports. If you use the dictionary a lot, you'll probably want to upgrade. If you're in the U.S. and speak English natively, the Webster's 3rd New International Dictionary Unabridged is good. I'm not sure where, but I found the link for it here on MobileRead. (I can try to find that link again, if you're interested.) With my first PocketBook, I was able to buy the Oxford Dictionary (like on the Kindle (and now) Kobos), but they don't sell it in PocketBook format anymore. I would have moved it over to my new reader, but its license is exclusively attached to the serial number of the PocketBook reader you install it on.

As for fonts, I just found a nice dark font (Constantia) and it works well for me on my Touch HD 3.

I'm really happy to hear the screen is good. There were issues with the original Era (at least on some of them) that kept me from buying it.

Again, thanks for the reports on the Era Lite.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Geese1

Haven't tried using those functions yet, sorry. I'll open up a regular e-book later tonight and try out the dictionary function. However, I've never used the function to search within a book on any of my devices so I wouldn't know where to start. I'll see if I can figure it out and report back.

[Edit] Tested out the dictionary and it seems to work well enough, although it is a two step process. First, you have to hold your finger on a word for a beat or two, then when you lift it off it will show you some options, one of which is the dictionary. Only once you tap that does it give you the definition. Not sure if this is how it works on other readers, but on compared to the Kobo and the Nook it is an extra step.

Searching within the book also seems pretty quick, although as I said I've never used this function on other readers so I have nothing to compare it to. Using it here though, I wouldn't have any issues with the speed.

It seems like functions within a book seem to work pretty quickly, as does switching between books after the initial open. From what I can tell it is things like going into the settings, changing options, etc. that really seem to be on te slower side. Since these are areas I don't find myself adjusting too often (other than turning the frontlight on and off), I really don't notice it in regular use.

Thank you.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Thanks for all the reports. If you use the dictionary a lot, you'll probably want to upgrade.

I would probably install KOReader anyway, because I definitely want the ability to adjust font weight. So I wouldn't use any built-in dictionaries (I know the default English dictionary on Pocketbooks is basically from the Stone Age).