I'm in Aussieland and need some help deciding on an eReader

[kgn]

Originally Posted by F_r_a_n_c

In todays catalog officeworks are selling:

6" 'Stash' W950 reader (colour ) $129
6" Pico W960 E-Ink reader for $238
6" Pico BK 6001 Ebook reader for $297

No idea how they are like, haven't had time to check them out as I just got the catalog (Ive been looking myself)

I just bought a Stash - and read with it in bed last night. I have ordered a Pocketbook 302, but that will not be here for weeks. So got this one just to tide me over.

I do NOT recommend the Stash. The other OW units look ok, if a bit basic. The Stash has one problem - the screen is simply too dim. I went to 2 stores, and checked out (opened the boxes) on 4 units before I found one barely usable. The store demo was unreadable. Anyway, you can only use it in a darkened room, and even then you have to get the angle just right. This angle thing is a bit awkward if you are reading in bed of course.

I will be giving my Stash to my daughter the minute my Pocketbook arrives!

[Katdragon]

Hi everyone,
I picked up my Kobo from Borders today and it's looking very speccy.
My question is, do I need a screen protector? It comes with a bit of plastic over the screen which I assume is to protect it during transport which makes me think that it needs protection - but will a screen protector decrease the reading quality?

If I do need a protector, where can I get one? (Google has not been helpful).
Thanks

P.S. I've just noticed that I have used the word "protector" many times in this post. My brain is fried with excitement.

[Solicitous]

If you decide to get a protector Amazon have them for the Kobo(http://www.amazon.com/Gizmo-Dorks-Sc...5908740&sr=8-1) not sure where else though.

[tvpupsik]

Originally Posted by kgn

I have ordered a Pocketbook 302, but that will not be here for weeks.

I would say for a couple of weeks maximum

[Katdragon]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

If you decide to get a protector Amazon have them for the Kobo(http://www.amazon.com/Gizmo-Dorks-Sc...5908740&sr=8-1) not sure where else though.

Oooh, and they also have a complete care pack http://www.amazon.com/Gizmo-Dorks-Ex...outThisProduct.

But they only ship to America

Still...if it's worth getting I could probably ship it to a cousin of mine in America and have them send it on. I guess the question is, will I be wasting the money?

[Soph94]

I just was in JB HiFi (Elizabeth St, Melb store) in my lunch break and saw they now have 4 (yes 4!) different ereaders on display - 2 Hanvon models, the iRiver story and the Pico. Great if you actually want to pick up and play with one.
I would've liked to do that with my Opus but thankfully it turned out to be exactly what I wanted when it arrived anyway.

[nomesque]

Originally Posted by Soph94

I just was in JB HiFi (Elizabeth St, Melb store) in my lunch break and saw they now have 4 (yes 4!) different ereaders on display - 2 Hanvon models, the iRiver story and the Pico. Great if you actually want to pick up and play with one.
I would've liked to do that with my Opus but thankfully it turned out to be exactly what I wanted when it arrived anyway.

Do they actually let people pick them up and play with them? I've seen the iRiver in JB Hifi, but in a locked glass case with no free staff in sight (but that was a weekend, and that store is NUTS on weekends).

[Soph94]

yeah they were out on display for anyone to pick up - I had a bit of a play with one of them, all the staff were busy so I was free to do what I wanted (except run out the door with it since it had one of those security thingys on it). Don't think all of them were fully charged though.

[nomesque]

Originally Posted by Soph94

yeah they were out on display for anyone to pick up - I had a bit of a play with one of them, all the staff were busy so I was free to do what I wanted (except run out the door with it since it had one of those security thingys on it). Don't think all of them were fully charged though.

Thanks.

Hmmm... maybe I should try to get it there during the week sometime. I'm not looking for another ebook reader just yet, but I'd like to check out the various options.

[SneakySnake]

Originally Posted by F_r_a_n_c

Hi, Just subbed to this forum so I could post to this thread -

In todays catalog officeworks are selling:

6" 'Stash' W950 reader (colour ) $129
6" Pico W960 E-Ink reader for $238
6" Pico BK 6001 Ebook reader for $297

No idea how they are like, haven't had time to check them out as I just got the catalog (Ive been looking myself)

Click through this thread to Nate the Great's review...

pico reader

[BenLee]

Originally Posted by SneakySnake

Click through this thread to Nate the Great's review...

pico reader

Ah, good review. Thanks.

[Chris Gray]

Thought I'd shed some light on the W960: I bought one a few weeks back and returned it five days later. I've blogged about the experience so people can get a better idea of what the reader is like.

I really liked the look and feel of it, but the software and awful battery life ruined it, amongst other things.

[Ramothgirl]

Originally Posted by mikebliv

Too many models coming out from now to christmas. Probably better to wait although that stash from officeworks is tempting. Does it open DRM from borders and fictionwise?

Hi mikebliv
This is my first post to this forum. I have bought the stash ereader from OW because I wanted to see how the ereaders worked before committing to better models. It is very basic and the epub versions I have are free of DRM. It loses the odd letters off the right handside of the screen (see:http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum...m/1458451.html) and it is not good for reading when there is lots of bright natural light -although it is good for night reading given that the screen is backlit. It also doesn't reflow pdfs, and although it supports pdf, it is very hard to read (maybe that was the pdf i was trying to read).
Unfortunately it doesn't support DRM versions and the only way to get these to work is to remove the DRM and reconvert using a program like calibre. I thought I was fairly tech savvy - until I read a post on how to remove DRM The calibre conversion is easy though!! For an introduction to ereaders I like it, but will be wanting to upgrade to a e-ink version soon - just continuing my research into which model I should get.

[mikebliv]

Thanks Ramothgirl. It looks like it is better to wait, or at least go with some of the better known models such as the kindle or kobo. I'm not sure if the nook would be appropriate for us here since we don't have a barnes and noble around. I'm getting tempted by some of the cheap android-based tablets around (US$100) but I'm quite sure even better specs are just around the corner.

[jankrix]

Hi guys, another aussie looking for ereader here, been thinking to get kindle for a while but don't really like the DRM matter, my preference for ereader is rather simple:

1. able to read ebook: ePub, TXT, PDF
2. able to bookmark
3. price under AU$200, I don't mind go a little further tho
4. a good vendor which constantly offer updates in functionality and bug fixes
5. support for aussie

optional:
6. able to read images in jpeg or png, I know eInk is not probably not a good option for images, but what I read is simply a non-colored scanned manga so as long as it can read jpeg, with reasonable performance, I'm happy.
7. able to highlighted and save them

I bought a magazines yesterday, PC User, July 2010...they have ebook reader section, they sort of recommend kindle and pioneel dreambook W95 which supprisingly for me is just like Office Works Stash W950, however when I check to pioneer website, it's abit different, the link is here. The other product that attracts me is android devices chinese made ePad, and the last one is KOBO.

It's too bad that Kindle or Nook is restricted by region, although the case is different for Kindle, but I didn't like the DRM stuff there....thinking to buy Nook but I read elsewhere that I can't really get it or use it outside USA...

anyone have any idea?