Considering buying my very first e-reader. Here are my thoughts. Please advise

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by droopy

Thanks so much, rcentros for your helpful post. Just to minimize any potential misunderstanding, I'm open to an 8-inch eReader or larger. Does that expand my choices? (Maybe you thought I wanted 8-inch, and not any larger.)

I would sound a note of caution and say that the larger the screen, the poorer the performance of front-lighting (due to the physics of light diffusers). They work pretty well up to around about 7", significantly less well for anything much larger. If you don't plan to read PDFs, there's really no need for a larger screen.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I would sound a note of caution and say that the larger the screen, the poorer the performance of front-lighting (due to the physics of light diffusers). They work pretty well up to around about 7", significantly less well for anything much larger. If you don't plan to read PDFs, there's really no need for a larger screen.

A matter of opinion, surely? Even if you personally don't need a larger screen, perhaps others might need, or just want, a larger one?

I find my 7.8" Aura One to be just about perfect in terms of size and have no issue with the light. It's certainly not "significantly" worse than on smaller devices. I was (and am) happy with my 6.8" H2O, also, but the Aura One is better still, and significantly so.

I think device bias affects us all, but we need to guard against it!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by issybird

A matter of opinion, surely? Even if you personally don't need a larger screen, perhaps others might need, or just want, a larger one?

It's certainly true that the larger the screen, the worse the performance of the light diffuser. "Ye canna beat the laws of physics!", to quote "Scotty" . Whether or not a given device has acceptable lighting is of course a matter of personal taste.

[droopy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I would sound a note of caution and say that the larger the screen, the poorer the performance of front-lighting (due to the physics of light diffusers). They work pretty well up to around about 7", significantly less well for anything much larger. If you don't plan to read PDFs, there's really no need for a larger screen.

Hi HarryT, I appreciate very much your interacting with my posts and am thankful to learn that larger screens may not be as well lit as smaller ones. I guess it has to do with the fact that e-readers, unlike smartphones and tablets, are not lit up in each pixel, but are lit up on the edges of the screen.

Yes, I don't plan to read PDFs. I just thought a larger screen meant less "next-paging". I like seeing more stuff/text at one time. To share an anecdote, I feel I'm more productive when I'm on a desktop computer with two 20-plus-inch monitors as opposed to when I'm working on a 15-inch laptop.

Again, I'm thankful for your helpful comment that larger screens suffer from poorer illumination than smaller ones. That's something I should keep in mind in my shopping.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by droopy

Hi HarryT, I appreciate very much your interacting with my posts and am thankful to learn that larger screens may not be as well lit as smaller ones. I guess it has to do with the fact that e-readers, unlike smartphones and tablets, are not lit up in each pixel, but are lit up on the edges of the screen.

Right. I'm absolutely not saying that there's anything wrong with the lighting of any of the 7-8" devices currently available, but there are very few illuminated 9.7" devices, and nothing at all larger than 9.7" has a frontlight (to the best of my knowledge).

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Right. I'm absolutely not saying that there's anything wrong with the lighting of any of the 7-8" devices currently available, but there are very few illuminated 9.7" devices, and nothing at all larger than 9.7" has a frontlight (to the best of my knowledge).

there are now 10.3" from Boyue only that have frontlights. The BOYUE Likebook Note was first and only at the time. Now the BOYUE Likebook Mimas as well. But the devices are not as even a light as others.

Dale

[droopy]

Originally Posted by rcentros

The LifeBook Mars is available for $239 from Amazon.

(You may not like this one as it's basically an Android tablet with an eInk screen.)

There are more "big-screen" Android, eInk eReaders. Probably best to go to the Android sub-forum to find out more about those.

What are the downsides of an eReader running Android?

[droopy]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Modern eink devices don't have slow page turns (unless you mean PDF documents). I have had Kindles since 2011 and page-turning was far from slow even back then.

Originally Posted by rcentros

As Sirtel mentions, dedicated eReaders (especially modern ones) don't have slow page turning. Not ideal for PDFs, but with .mobi and .ePub reading there will be no "stuttering."

Hi Sirtel ard rcentros,

Thank you very much for helping me in my shopping research.

cvkemp says that a February 2019 firmware update on his Kindle made book opening and page turning faster.
Just to be clear, I'm not interested in a Kindle device, since I'm more of an ePub reader. But perhaps what is said of Kindle devices (i.e., page turns were slower and are now made faster) applies also to other eReaders.
Or am I wrong? One way we can harmonize what you two are saying with what cvkemp is saying is this: Kindles are slow, but ePub readers are relatively faster (even back in 2011).
Another way I can understand all of this information is that you two are just patient with page turns and book opens, perhaps because you are comparing your more recent experience with that of your very first (older) ereader devices?

Would love to hear the thoughts of all.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by droopy

What are the downsides of an eReader running Android?

Poor battery life compared with a dedicated reader.

[droopy]

Originally Posted by droopy

What are the downsides of an eReader running Android?

Originally Posted by HarryT

Poor battery life compared with a dedicated reader.

Thanks. I guess that eliminates all OnyxBook devices. That's a pity -- they have several large devices, but all run Android.

If anyone has a list of 8,9,10,11-inch-or-larger dedicated ereaders (i.e., not running Android), I'd love to know. I know that one is the eight-inch Kobo Forma, which barely squeaks into my minimum threshold.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by droopy

Thanks. I guess that eliminates all OnyxBook devices. That's a pity -- they have several large devices, but all run Android.

Depends what you want, of course. Do you want a dedicated reader, or do you want a device that can run other apps as well?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by droopy

Hi Sirtel ard rcentros,

Thank you very much for helping me in my shopping research.

cvkemp says that a February 2019 firmware update on his Kindle made book opening and page turning faster.
Just to be clear, I'm not interested in a Kindle device, since I'm more of an ePub reader. But perhaps what is said of Kindle devices (i.e., page turns were slower and are now made faster) applies also to other eReaders.
Or am I wrong? One way we can harmonize what you two are saying with what cvkemp is saying is this: Kindles are slow, but ePub readers are relatively faster (even back in 2011).
Another way I can understand all of this information is that you two are just patient with page turns and book opens, perhaps because you are comparing your more recent experience with that of your very first (older) ereader devices?

Would love to hear the thoughts of all.

All modern readers have fast book opening and page turn times. Way, way faster than the first generation of eInk devices. It's simply not a factor in device selection. The one exception to this being PDFs, but presumably you're not thinking about PDF files, are you?

[droopy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Depends what you want, of course. Do you want a dedicated reader, or do you want a device that can run other apps as well?

Hi Harry.
I most certainly want a distraction-free device. So a device that does not run other apps is a upside for me! A big upside! I want a device that does just one thing: lets me read my ePubs.

Originally Posted by droopy

Hi Harry.
I most certainly want a distraction-free device. So a device that does not run other apps is a upside for me! A big upside! I want a device that does just one thing: lets me read my ePubs.

Then get a Kobo Clara, H20, or Forma and be done with it. You search is over.

[droopy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

All modern readers have fast book opening and page turn times. Way, way faster than the first generation of eInk devices. It's simply not a factor in device selection. The one exception to this being ODFs, but presumably you're not thinking about PDF files, are you?

Nope, not thinking about PDFs or ODFs (I had to look that up. OpenOffice Document Format) I just want ePubs.

As someone who's never had or used an e-reader, please indulge me: What do you make of what cvkamp says of faster page turns and faster book opens with this month's firmware update on his ereader? Isn't faster better? I'm trying to understand you and rcentos and sirtel.... Are you folks simply patient, half-glass-full folks? For me, even half a second between page turns is a lot.

I mean, if we're talking about an electric kettle, I wouldn't go gaga if Electric Kettle 2019 can boil water in 45 seconds as opposed to ElectricKettle2018's 55 seconds. Why? Because I would step away from the kettle and do something else. But when it comes to reading, it's different. The half a second between turns may be too much for me.

Just to be clear, I'm more forgiving with book openings, since that doesn't happen as often as page turns.