Best Manga E-Reader?

[ManBearWaffle]

I'm considering selling my manga collection and switching to e-books because it's getting very expensive and I'm running out of space for them. What e-reader do you recommend? Can you explain where/how I can get manga for the e-reader? Thanks!

[Logseman]

Sources are quite easy to find if you happen to download scanslations. Official sources are unknown for me though.

MangaHut is a great source for scanslations, as it has a small subscription fee which allows you to access to their whole catalogue.

As for readers, you'll be better making a huge sale because you're going to need some cash. Considering the normal manga page 8 inches in size, something below that is something you shouldn't consider. You could look for the iRex series, concretely the more recent DR800 and DR1000, the whole 9,7 inch pack (iPad if you're not a hardcore reader, Kindle DX, and some which will come later)... and that's all for now, I guess.

BTW if you don't mind selling to foreign countries, we could discuss some of your catalogue in private ^^

[ManBearWaffle]

The iRex series seems way too expensive ($869). The Kindle is also kinda pricey, but I might get it if it'll definitely work without any issues. I considered the iPad, but I think a backlit screen would make my eyes hurt after a while. Is there anything special I have to do to the images to make them usable with an e-reader or can I just put the images on it without any problems?

Selling to foreign countries seems like a hassle :P. Besides, my collection isn't anything that amazing. I've only been collecting for about a year, but I have about 40 books.

[Over]

If your main objective is to read manga, buy a large screen ereader (>9,7"). The KindleDX handles manga very well.

It reads image files. It can even read those images from a zip file (or CBZ, which is the same).

[lilman]

Originally Posted by Over

If your main objective is to read manga, buy a large screen ereader (>9,7"). The KindleDX handles manga very well.

It reads image files. It can even read those images from a zip file (or CBZ, which is the same).

I have a Kindle DX and can verify that manga does look great on it. Although the DX can read image files, it tends to render the pages rather slowly (meaning every time you change the page it can take a few seconds for the next page to load). Pdf manga, on the other hand, works better on the DX. Pages load very fast, and you can jump to a page number (can't do that with images). You can use my free program to process manga scans for the Kindle DX (output properly formatted images, image zips, and/or pdfs): https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75628

The iPad also works well for manga if you don't mind the lcd screen. Manga pages still look better on the DX, but the added functionality of the iPad (pinch to zoom, organize by comic, color for those few manga pages that have color, zero load times between pages, and of course all the functionality of an iPad like a web browser). There is an iPad edition of my manga processor here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79004

Having both a Kindle DX and an iPad, if I could only keep one it would be the iPad.

[ManBearWaffle]

Are there any e-readers that you recommend for around $200-$300?

The Kindle DX and the iPad both sound good, but I don't think I'd be able to decide which to get.

The iPad has a lot more features and I could probably use the iPad fine if I lowered the brightness, however, I live in NYC and the iPad isn't exactly something I would feel comfortable taking out on the subway (which is where I do most of my manga reading).

The Kindle DX sounds like a great solution for me, except that it's almost the same price as the iPad. I feel kind of stupid paying $480 just to read books, when I can pay $499 to do so much more.

[PhishStyx]

If $200 is your limit, then you need to look hard at used devices and hope you'll come across something.

[ManBearWaffle]

It's not that $200 is my limit. It's what I said in my last post.

I feel kind of stupid paying $480 just to read books, when I can pay $499 to do so much more.

What about the Sony Reader Daily Edition or the Kindle 2?

Do the images HAVE to be optimized for the Kindle DX/iPad? I don't have access to a PC so I can't use your program.

By the way, I'm a Mac user so I need an e-reader that'll work with my OS.

[lilman]

Originally Posted by ManBearWaffle

What about the Sony Reader Daily Edition or the Kindle 2?

You don't want anything smaller than 9.7" for manga. I tried a Sony PRS-505 at first (6") and although the screen was beautiful it was too small for manga... I was getting eyestrain trying to read the tiny text bubbles on it.

Originally Posted by ManBearWaffle

Do the images HAVE to be optimized for the Kindle DX/iPad? I don't have access to a PC so I can't use your program.

By the way, I'm a Mac user so I need an e-reader that'll work with my OS.

For the DX you really should. Processing not only resizes the images for the DX screen, it also trims the white space (so you don't waste screen space), rotates portrait images to landscape, converts color images to grayscale, and outputs pdfs (and trust me, on the DX you want pdf manga).

For the iPad you don't have to process but it sure makes the experience nicer... especially if you don't already have your manga collection in cbz format.

By the way, my processing program was written in java and uses ImageMagick for the actual image processing, both of which are available on all os's (including Mac). You would have no problem running the manga processor... the only thing you should worry about is which reader to get

[exapted]

If you're considering a tablet, then you might consider this one, because it will use a transflective LCD called "3Qi" by Pixel Qi. I haven't seen it in person, but at least I think it should be better than an iPad when in the presence of sunlight, and there should be plenty of apps available related to image rendering and document viewing. I am quite sure it won't be as good as e-ink in terms of contrast and eye comfort, but it will be color and there will be many more software options available. It won't really matter what OS you are running on your main machine, unless you absolutely must manage all of your media through itunes.

[Dellaster]

Originally Posted by lilman

You don't want anything smaller than 9.7" for manga. I tried a Sony PRS-505 at first (6") and although the screen was beautiful it was too small for manga... I was getting eyestrain trying to read the tiny text bubbles on it.

Indeed, there's no substitute for size. Unfortunately, it's hard for people to visualize the difference between e-ink screen sizes (e.g. - going from 6" to 8.1" isn't something like a +30% increase in screen area, as one might think, given the same aspect ratio it's +80%). Using the dimensions (making 1mm=1 pixel in my paint program) listed at the MobileRead Wiki, I came up with this comparison.



Notes:

• The manga page had no whitespace and it was reduced maintaining the same aspect ratio (i.e. without distortion) and fit to the screens so that nothing got cut off. This meant whitespace was created in most cases because of the difference in aspect ratio.
• The Sony PRS-900 has a tall & skinny aspect ratio that limits a manga page to the width, which isn't all that much bigger than the 6" devices.
• All the other screens below 9.7" are wider than necessary for a typical manga page and show whitespace on the sides.
• 9.7" (140 × 203mm) screens have exactly the correct aspect ratio (no whitespace).
• In practice, the screen area will be reduced and the aspect ratio changed due to status/menu bar(s) on the top and/or bottom of the screen.

I hope this helps. Personally I find the DR800 big enough for most manga pages (Kolenka's CBZ viewer is great). But size really does matter. If you can get something bigger that fits all your needs in other areas as well, go for it. I'll probably be reading most of my future manga on the eDGe, either in the Droid Comic Viewer on the 10" LCD side or converted to PDF on the 9.7" e-ink side (the DPI is much higher there - 160 vs 72 I think). Unless I want the manga on something more portable, and then it'll be the DR800.

[ManBearWaffle]

I went with the iPad. I'm loving it so far!

[xKurzx]

i have gtab

[jorlin]

The Bebook Club also displays .cbz-files.
It's a 6" reader, but the Cowboy Bebop series was certainly readable to me.
When you are reading manga in Japanese however, it's a different story.
To read small complex kanji, you will need a big screen.
Simple manga like Yotsuba are not a problem, unless you need the furigana.