902 Pocketbook 902: first impressions and questions

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by Billi

mtravellerh, are you sure it already works? Can you advise the exact steps to do so? Thanks.

Yes, I am sure, because I helped our dutch partner to get dutch on his devices as TTS. I'll do a tutorial later today or tomorrow.

[Billi]

Super.

[parkher]

Thanks, mtravellerh.

Another issue:
I have read that somebody had problems with > 5 GB of stuff on his card.
Even reset was not working until he removed the card.
But with the same card with less than 5 GB on it - everything was fine.

Anyway, I now tried with 8 GB SanDisk, put on it well over 7 GB of books and sheet music and everything is working fine, so far.
Anybody tried with even larger cards? Can I risk buying 16 GB?

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by parkher

Thanks, mtravellerh.

Another issue:
I have read that somebody had problems with > 5 GB of stuff on his card.
Even reset was not working until he removed the card.
But with the same card with less than 5 GB on it - everything was fine.

Anyway, I now tried with 8 GB SanDisk, put on it well over 7 GB of books and sheet music and everything is working fine, so far.
Anybody tried with even larger cards? Can I risk buying 16 GB?

The problem may have been a slow card. Take care to get at least a class 4 card when you put a lot of books on it.

[dpayment]

Hi everybody, I'm lovin' the PocketBook forum, great tips for customizing and using the ereader. I got the surprise of my life yesterday (Sunday 12 December) when the doorbell rang. When I opened the door, there was the guy from Canada Post with my PockeBook Pro 902 and a bill for $45 HST. Paid him as quickly as I could and dove into the box with the 902 and started to play. I've only had about 3 hours to play with it so far, and from what I see, it appears that the battery life is pretty darned good, but I was wondering if anyone has any numbers on it?

Also, with my old Sony ereaders, I found that power consumption increased even in standby mode if there was a memory card installed. Has anyone checked to see if this happens with the 902?

With the exception of the margin issue already mentioned elsewhere in the forum, I'm extremely happy with the 902 so far. Since the 902 accepts so many different formats, I now only have to worry about converting a few ebooks for it. I love the costumizability of it, the fact that I can make any button do almost anything I want is just terrific.

[parkher]

Originally Posted by mtravellerh

The problem may have been a slow card. Take care to get at least a class 4 card when you put a lot of books on it.

HM, I thought this is not like recording 1080p video in real time.

Anyway, I now have several libraries on 8 GB cards, SD profiles on cards working fine.

A single 16 GB class 4 card could cost 2-3 times more than two 8 GB (= 16 GB) class 4 (or even class 6) cards. So it is very cost-ineffective but more convenient.
I would like to get a positive confirmation from someone about a specific 16 GB card used with PocketBook 902 before I risk buying it.
The only 16 GB micro SD cards I found in the local supermarket were class 2 anyway (still one such card costs almost the same as three 8 GB class 4 cards).


As to the FBReader margin issue, 902 is the 1st 9.7" PocketBook device, and I suspect that PocketBook did nothing specific for it, they are using software designed for 5-6" models.
With 5-6" devices, wide margins is an unaffordable luxury, with 9.7" - a very reasonable requirement. So I hope PocketBook will address this issue in the future firmwares.

As to the Adobe Viewer margin issue, often there are no margins at all. It is a bug, not an inheritance from the 5-6" era.

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by parkher

As to the Adobe Viewer margin issue, often there are no margins at all. It is a bug, not an inheritance from the 5-6" era.

Well, it was developped specifically for the 6" readers and margins were as reduced as possible. So no bug, it was created thus.

[parkher]

Exactly. We need 9.7" specific settings !!!

mtravellerh, or somebody?
Can you help me?

I need to know this: if 902 is switched off, can it be switched on by the reset (in the hole)?

My on/off button just stopped working, otherwise everything seems to be ok.
For now, I disabled auto switch off. But if I allow it to switch off after, say, 10 minutes,
will I be able to switch it on with the reset hole?
Can reset be performed on a switched off device?

[parkher]

Seems like the button is protruding less, so perhaps it is mechanical.
But it still feels like it is working, not sure, maybe soldering.
I hope I will be able to unscrew the cover and take a look at it

Another thing: the battery indicator. I had 2 black bars remaining.
So after the on/off button stopped working, I tried to reset the device to see if it helps.
After that the device stopped reacting at all (main menu screen).
I removed the SD card, tried to reset - still nothing.
Then I connecting charging. Immediately, the device rebooted and started working again.
(no on/off button still). Then I inserted the SD card (previously I used to insert it into switched off device) - the SD card was recognized immediately, the profile switched automatically.

But back to the battery level: perhaps the device did not reboot, because it ran out of juice? Perhaps 2 bars are too low to reboot?
However, after starting charging, the indicator almost immediately went to 4 bars. Which is strange. And after a few more minutes (well, perhaps 10 or more, not sure) - it went to 5 bars. So this indication is very imprecise, or the capacity of the battery is very low.

[OphReader]

Originally Posted by mtravellerh

Well, it was developped specifically for the 6" readers and margins were as reduced as possible. So no bug, it was created thus.

Wait a minute: the fact that I cannot reduce the margins on the 902 is in fact a feature?

I think that is very strange indeed and I would ask to please remove this "feature" as it prevents me enjoying reading pdf files. Thank you.

[Logseman]

Wait a minute: the fact that I cannot reduce the margins on the 902 is in fact a feature?

In a 6'' reader, it is a feature. In a 9.7'' one, it is a problem.

[Dulin's Books]

Originally Posted by OphReader

Wait a minute: the fact that I cannot reduce the margins on the 902 is in fact a feature?

I think that is very strange indeed and I would ask to please remove this "feature" as it prevents me enjoying reading pdf files. Thank you.

parkher is asking for a LARGER margin when a pdf is reflowed not a smaller one. you can very easily reduce the margins using normal zoom or fit to width as described earlier in this thread including screen shots posted my me.

[parkher]

Yes, absolutely. I am asking for wider margins after re-flowing.
I am also asking for wider margins in FBReader.
Actually, I want custom-defined margins.
I want to be able to write myself into the cfg file the values (in mm) for small, medium and large margins.


On another matter.
Now firmware 2.0.3 final is available.
I already hear some bad feedback about 2.0.3 CIS version.
I have installed a few days ago 2.0.3 EURO BETA (from 2010-12-06).
Now I have downloaded also 2.0.3 EURO, 2.0.3 CIS and 2.0.3 NA (North America).

Currently I am using:
sw_current_902_EURO_2.0.3_PocketBook902

I have also downloaded:
sw_20101214_902_CIS_2.0.3_user
sw_20101214_902_EURO_2.0.3_user
sw_20101214_902_NA_2.0.3_user

Here are the sizes of the corresponding SWUPDATE.BIN files:

EURO BETA: 182,191,104
EURO: 182,846,464
CIS: 183,174,144
NA: 183,174,144

The sizes of CIS and NA are the same, but the contents is not.
Still, I assume they are basically the same.

What are the differences between those firmware versions and which one better to use?
Any ideas?

[Dulin's Books]

I had the euro beta on my devices and I have the NA release on their now. I dont know the differences honestly.

[0utis]

Originally Posted by parkher

What are the differences between those firmware versions and which one better to use?
Any ideas?

Euro beta vs Euro final at a first glance: the process of updating the firmware was way longer with Euro final, pretty different to Euro beta. New screensaver. Going back to the last read page finally works. I can't be positive about it, but I think pdfviewer wasn't included in the Euro beta. The browser is more polished in Euro final, you get shortcuts for forward, backward, down and up - that or they didn't work for me in the beta version. I can see *some* stored notes where I couldn't find any before. Page turning in FBreader is incredibly fast.

Glitches? The dictionary in adobe viewer is still working weirdly, as it did in beta. I have posted it about it here https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...0&postcount=91. Plus, if you assign a shortcut key for the dictionary, any key, the device hangs in adobe viewer. My linux system still takes a few tries before it can recognize the reader. The library is not ordering books by author or date yet.