Recommend me a reader

[juancarlosleo]

Yo te recomiendo cualquiera, excepto el Iliad. Su Soporte Técnico no existe.

[adc89]

Double post sorry. Trying to edit seemed to delete the post then it came back...

[adc89]

Thanks for all the replies.

I placed an order for the iLiad but now I'm thinking I might be better off with one of the smaller readers. I cut some cardboard to the dimensions of the smaller screen and read the books on my LCD through it. The text was a bit small but perfectly legible, especially when rotated. I assume it would look better on the real thing. If need be I could always convert them.

Without margins they seem to be around 6x9". Here is a sample page. Would that be legible?

$400 for a larger screen seems like a lot. I don't think I'd use the pen at all.

[wallcraft]

The experience with PDFs on the 6" screens has been mixed, and seems to depend most on individual pain thresholds. There seems general agreement that pre-processing with image enhancement software is typically needed, and there are several packages to do this at this site.

Everyone agrees that the iLiad 8.1" 16-level grey scale (and higher resolution, 768x1024) screen is better for PDFs, but not everyone agrees that even this is good enough. There are far fewer reports of a need to run pre-processing software on PDFs before reading them on the iLiad than on the smaller screens.

Another option is to wait for more large screen E-Ink options next year. But price and availability is uncertain.

[adc89]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

The experience with PDFs on the 6" screens has been mixed, and seems to depend most on individual pain thresholds. There seems general agreement that pre-processing with image enhancement software is typically needed, and there are several packages to do this at this site.

Everyone agrees that the iLiad 8.1" 16-level grey scale (and higher resolution, 768x1024) screen is better for PDFs, but not everyone agrees that even this is good enough. There are far fewer reports of a need to run pre-processing software on PDFs before reading them on the iLiad than on the smaller screens.

Another option is to wait for more large screen E-Ink options next year. But price and availability is uncertain.

I think I will wait for more large screen options. I suspect a large portion of the extra cost is the stylus and, like I said, I don't see myself using it much. So it makes little sense to pay for it.

Until then I think I'll get a little one to tide me over. It seems it's between the Cybook and the Sony Reader. Are there any reasons to go with the Sony reader besides pictures and price?

[HappyMartin]

What is expensive anyway? For me the iliad was very cheap, not because I am wealthy (I live in a third world country) but because it has provided me with so much pleasure. If anything happened to my iliad I would replace it immediately.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by adc89

I think I will wait for more large screen options. I suspect a large portion of the extra cost is the stylus and, like I said, I don't see myself using it much. So it makes little sense to pay for it.

Until then I think I'll get a little one to tide me over. It seems it's between the Cybook and the Sony Reader. Are there any reasons to go with the Sony reader besides pictures and price?

Some reasons to go with the 505 vs. the Gen3....
The Sony has better conversion tools overall. pdflrf, libprs500, and Book Designer. I know Book Designer also outputs Mobi format, but it does a better job with LRF output. The 505 is cheaper and since you plan on getting another eink device later on, you'll be spending less money now only to replace it later with something else. There are more free LRF format book here then any of the other formats.

If you want to make sure that any of the books you purchase now can still be read on your future device, you can purchase in MS Reader, strip the DRM, use lit2lrf to convert and you will have the DRM free LIT to convert to the new device if you want to use it to read your books.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Some reasons to go with the 505 vs. the Gen3....
The Sony has better conversion tools overall. pdflrf, libprs500, and Book Designer. I know Book Designer also outputs Mobi format, but it does a better job with LRF output. The 505 is cheaper and since you plan on getting another eink device later on, you'll be spending less money now only to replace it later with something else. There are more free LRF format book here then any of the other formats.

If you want to make sure that any of the books you purchase now can still be read on your future device, you can purchase in MS Reader, strip the DRM, use lit2lrf to convert and you will have the DRM free LIT to convert to the new device if you want to use it to read your books.

On the other hand, buy a Sony and you're stuck with a single company, who may not be in the eBook business at all in a few years time. Mobipocket is the de facto industry standard - you can be pretty certain that in 5 years time you'll still be able to buy a bookreader which will support Mobi; I wouldn't say that about Sony. Using MobiPocket I can read the same books on my Smartphone, my PDA, my CyBook Gen3, my iLiad and my Desktop PC; no other book format even approaches it in terms of widespread device support.

Sure, you COULD download 1000 books for the Sony now, and then have the pleasure of converting them all into a different format in a few years time when you replace your reading device, but do you really want to?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

On the other hand, buy a Sony and you're stuck with a single company, who may not be in the eBook business at all in a few years time. Mobipocket is the de facto industry standard - you can be pretty certain that in 5 years time you'll still be able to buy a bookreader which will support Mobi; I wouldn't say that about Sony. Using MobiPocket I can read the same books on my Smartphone, my PDA, my CyBook Gen3, my iLiad and my Desktop PC; no other book format even approaches it in terms of widespread device support.

Sure, you COULD download 1000 books for the Sony now, and then have the pleasure of converting them all into a different format in a few years time when you replace your reading device, but do you really want to?

A lot of people download ebooks where they can remove the DRM and convert to the format that their device handles. So in these cases, it matters not what format the device reads be it BBeB or Mobipocket. Purchase these books and convert and you have books you can read on many different devices.

But, consider that the OP wants to eventually get a reader with a larger screen good for PDF. We cannot say what format(s) that device will read and we do not know who will make it. The Sony is the cheapest option that will do the job in the mean time. For all we know, the interim device may be relegated to closet status or given away.

I know Mobipocket can be read on more devices. But there are a lot of people like myself who don't have the need for more then one device. The only portable reading device I have is the 505. I don't own a PDA or smartphone. I have a nice simple cellphone that does one thing very well.. be a cellphone with good battery life. I can read LRF/LRX books on my computer and my 505.

[HarryT]

Absolutely, Jon; everything you say is absolutely true. All I'm saying is that one needs to consider the options based on one's personal requirements. There is no one machine which is absolutely the best for everybody - I think that that, at least, is something that we can all agree on.

[JSWolf]

What I think we need to do is get Mobipocket to allow Sony to use their reader software. That way we can have an even better reader with even more options.

[allen.gotwald]

I own a Sony 505. While I'm thrilled with it I recognize that pdfs really don't read well on it since it's like looking at a photo with no enlargement capability. I found that all of the texts I had in either Word or PDF already exist in Sony reader compatible LRF and BBeB formats through Gutenberg.net documents that had been converted. Plus the reader came with 100 free classics (which I like). I wanted a reader. I have an MP3 player and I read the news for free on-line whenever I want. So I'm thoroughly satisfied with the Sony product. So far (at 1 1/2 books per week) I have enough material to keep me reading for 3 years by which time there'll be software upgrades and/or new products on the market plus the Sony Connect site has all the books I've looked for so far. So the Sony is fine for me.

[JSWolf]

If you do have PDF you want to read without trying to convert it to LRF, try pdflrf. I've used it and it's very very good for making your PDF more readable.