Typical On the Fencer

[MaggieScratch]

Originally Posted by tsgreer

I love my Kindle, but it is pretty "out there" in terms of shape. The Kindle is better appreciated when you actually see and hold one. Pictures rarely do it justice.

I was one of the "IT'S FUGLY!" crowd, but one of my co-workers got one for Christmas and when I saw it in person, I said, "Oooh, it's CUTE!" It really is.

Another co-worker saw my Cybook and wanted to get an eInk device for her husband, who travels a lot for his job. He rarely re-reads books, and would want to use it for newspaper subscriptions, and isn't "techy" as she said, so I had no hesitation in recommending the Kindle for him. It will be perfect.

I was perfectly happy reading ebooks on my Treo, but my eyes did not respond well to extended periods of reading on a backlit device. Everything went swimmy after a while. eInk is fantastic for reading--but I haven't given up my Treo, either! And I still have eReader on it--what the heck, I paid for the Pro version--and it will do for situations where I don't have or can't carry the Cybook.

It's all about what will work for you. The Cybook was the best choice for me and I am very, very happy with it. But any of the eInk readers will give you a great reading experience--and many of the backlit models will, too.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by MaggieScratch

eInk is fantastic for reading--but I haven't given up my Treo, either! And I still have eReader on it--what the heck, I paid for the Pro version--and it will do for situations where I don't have or can't carry the Cybook.

Incidentally, eReader Pro is now freeware.

Former parent company Motricity, Inc. sold eReader to Fictionwise. Fictionwise is celebrating by making the reader freeware.

Now, if they are smart, they'll emulate what Mobipocket did after acquisition by Amazon, and make the ebook creator software free, too, to encourage folks to create content in eReader format.

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Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by radleyp

Dennis, the Kindle, which came as a surprise over the holidays, changed things for me in a way I did not expect. I had been carrying my MotoQ only, reading on it as well (I even read two full-length novels), but when I began reading on the Kindle, I quickly realized that I would never again read anything of even moderate length on a phone or pda (I had previously been using a T/X) and this for two reasons: there was no longer this annoying backlight

I've never found backlight annoying. And one of the pluses about the Zodiac is that I can turn backlight off, which makes it usable out of doors in sunlight.

and the screen was now a respectable size, so that I could actually judge paragraphing.

I just finished an essay by John Stuart Mill who writes in often paragraph-long sentences with paragraphs that can sometimes stretch to more than a page: it is impossible to get a feel for such text on any pda (the Zodiac included) that I know.

And judging paragraphs has never been an issue for me. Some folks do write run-on sentences, but reading those has more to do with leading and measure for me than screen size. In Mobipocket, for example, I use a converted 10pt Cambria serif font using Mobi's standard line spacing that I find readable. The Zodiac defaults to landscape orientation, and I get 15 to 17 lines at ten to twelve words per line (depending on whether I have the toolbar visible), which I find quite readable.

SO, now I carry the MotoQ (on which I sometimes read newspaper headlines) and the Kindle. And my phone must be email-capable.

I used to have a Blackberry that was an email capable phone, courtesy of my former employer. It pretty well defined how connected I didn't want to be. I never saw email that couldn't wait till I was at desktop or laptop to respond to it, especially since a lot of the business email I got were requests to do admin chores on servers that could not be done from the phone in any case.

There may be folks for whom it is critical to get all email instantly, regardless of where they may be and what they may be doing. I'm not one of them, and don't want to be one of them. Push email tends to blur the lines between work and private life, and there's a limit to how much blur I'll accept.

As it turns out, color on the reader is less important to me. So you and I will continue our search for the ideal device.

I've got a fair bit of stuff that began life as illustrated versions. I'm sorry, but there's no way I'll settle for Arthur Rackham or Ralph Caldecott illustrations in four shade gray scale.
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Dennis

[radleyp]

Dennis, I find the backlight OK for limited periods (say, 45 minutes - 1 hour), but after that I begin to see reflections, just as I do when I look directly into a bright light, and I must stop for a few moments. No such problem with eink. Paragraph formatting is critical for certain writers (Proust, Joyce, Mann, even dialogue-heavy writers like the great Dickens) and simply cannot be appreciated on 3-4" screens: poetry is still more of a problem and I remember trying to read Billy Collins (in ereader, which I have owned since it was peanut reader) on my T/X before finally giving up. Yes, color would be better, but for me reading in black (grey?) and white in eink is better than ereader on a pda. I don't need push email, but I need the ability to send text messages and emails when I have something (short, to be sure) to communicate and am not at my desktop. I don't have the perfect device yet, however, and probably never will have, so like you I'll just keep waiting and looking.

[hidari]

Well to chip in my two cents. I find Reading on a PDA to be fine. I use an Acer N311. I have mobipocket on it and I use mobi creator to convert my books to .prc. I use a black background and grey text color to make the reading easier on the eyes. Backlight issue- I have to agree that the backlight on some PDAs is too strong. In fact on my Acer n311 it is a bit stronger than I like. However, during the daytime and with enough light shining on the Acer it is not an issue. At night when I have low light I do have too much backlight from my Acer.

Solution: simple. I wear a pair of sunglasses.


I find reading Joyce, Poets, Proust and others on my PDA no problem. I have a 3.7 inch screen and find this quite sufficient to read ,most material as DMcCunney stated above. Granted when a SMALL eink Reader comes out I will be first in line to buy. I am waiting for the Erikson/Seiko ereader which seems to be the size of a Pocket PC.

I realize that many on this site like the larger Screen of the eink reader type as it is more like a real "book" experience. For me, though the digital age and the ebook call into question what a "REAL" ebook reading experience should be. I think many are happy reading literature, poetry and such on many types of devices from Notebooks, to PDAs and Mobile phones. Otherwise they should change the name of the site to:

Mobile E-ink Read

Originally Posted by radleyp

Dennis, I find the backlight OK for limited periods (say, 45 minutes - 1 hour), but after that I begin to see reflections, just as I do when I look directly into a bright light, and I must stop for a few moments. No such problem with eink. Paragraph formatting is critical for certain writers (Proust, Joyce, Mann, even dialogue-heavy writers like the great Dickens) and simply cannot be appreciated on 3-4" screens: poetry is still more of a problem and I remember trying to read Billy Collins (in ereader, which I have owned since it was peanut reader) on my T/X before finally giving up. Yes, color would be better, but for me reading in black (grey?) and white in eink is better than ereader on a pda. I don't need push email, but I need the ability to send text messages and emails when I have something (short, to be sure) to communicate and am not at my desktop. I don't have the perfect device yet, however, and probably never will have, so like you I'll just keep waiting and looking.

[Taylor514ce]

Since this is my initial foray into reading eBooks, I'm using the devices I have at hand while I wait for some price breakthrough on the Sony Reader. I have a Blackberry, which was fine during a recent 20-minute wait I had to endure (hospital waiting room). I'll be flying to Boston next week, lots of airport time, which should give the BBerry a good workout.

I have an old Palm m505 that I used heavily and is now retired to life as a digital stopwatch (I do a lot of public speaking, and it's handy to set on the podium). The issue with it is that it will only charge/sync through a "charging cradle" which I'm not packing around with me, so it isn't what I consider truly portable. Its surface is too reflective, and the backlight drains the battery very quickly. Would something in that form factor work if it had an eInk screen? It just might! I never thought of holding out for a SMALLER eInk device. That's food for thought, hidari.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by radleyp

Dennis, I find the backlight OK for limited periods (say, 45 minutes - 1 hour), but after that I begin to see reflections, just as I do when I look directly into a bright light, and I must stop for a few moments. No such problem with eink.

Understood. I've never found backlight to be a problem, but everyone's vision differs. If it is an issue for you, eInk is an apt solution.

Paragraph formatting is critical for certain writers (Proust, Joyce, Mann, even dialogue-heavy writers like the great Dickens) and simply cannot be appreciated on 3-4" screens: poetry is still more of a problem and I remember trying to read Billy Collins (in ereader, which I have owned since it was peanut reader) on my T/X before finally giving up.

This is far more subjective. I haven't found that to be an issue at all, though I can see where poetry might present a challenge. I don't read that much poetry, and read that in paper editions when I do so. Some formatting really doesn't adapt well to smaller screens, particularly when lines may be wrapped by the viewer in ways that interfere with what the formatting was intended to do.

Yes, color would be better, but for me reading in black (grey?) and white in eink is better than ereader on a pda.

One of the nice things about the technology is that there are a wide range of solutions. If reading on a PDA doesn't do it for you, you have other options like eInk.

I don't need push email, but I need the ability to send text messages and emails when I have something (short, to be sure) to communicate and am not at my desktop. I don't have the perfect device yet, however, and probably never will have, so like you I'll just keep waiting and looking.

I don't need that ability, though I have it in a pinch. Should I be in that position, I'll think hard about how I got into it, and how to get out of it again. (At my former employer, the IT folks used IM to communicate. I stated that I would install an IM client only when given a direct order. I got quite enough interruptions, thank you, without adding that one. The issue finally went away when a co-worker in a conference call said "The nice thing about Dennis is that if he's at his desk and you call him, he picks up first ring. If he doesn't pick up, he's not at his desk, and you won't get him in IM, either!" Bless you. co-worker. No further nags about not being on IM...)
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Dennis

[JSWolf]

I used to have a 500 and when I went to the SonyStyle store to take a look at the 505, I decided I liked the new Vizplex screen, and the changes to the buttons turns out to be quite good. I did think the cover would be an issue since I was used to the 500 where it folded under and lined up in the right side. The 505's cover sticks out on the right side when it is folded back. But that turns out to make it easier t hold with my right hand. I can hold the 505 with one hand (left ot right) easier then I could with the 500.

All that plus the 505 looks sleeker and more streamlined. Anyway, I do think the 505 looks better then the Kindle (from what I've seen in photos). Plus you don't have to worry about bug page turn buttons getting in the way.