E-reader for knitting patterns

[Quoth]

Indeed printing a book isn't practical. That's why ereaders and originally Mobi was developed. A pattern is only a few pages.

[Pajamaman]

On topic note: if the OP wants an Android reader, I believe Onyx has retail distributors in NYC so you can look at tbwm. If you want to install apps, you'll need a bigh version Android. The poke pro has v.6. But it sucks battery. I don't reccommend it for you. The Likebook is v6 and on Amazon. I know nothing about it. But high version Android ereader battery life is not good.

Alternately a kobo with koreader would work with pdf. You can also install kofeader on a jailbroken kindle. Maybe koreader on kindle will also stop the screensaver, but why not just also press the power button? Forgetful?

Off topic. I tried to add a few vids to an ipad for a friends and the ipad wouldn't let me because the format was incompatible. I think vlc would play them but the ipad wouldnt let me put the files on. I would call that closed and inflexible. I presume a veteran user could get round it, but I gave up after an hour or so. The files were not esoteric. I think they were mkvs.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

Off topic. I tried to add a few vids to an ipad for a friends and the ipad wouldn't let me because the format was incompatible. I think vlc would play them but the ipad wouldnt let me put the files on. I would call that closed and inflexible. I presume a veteran user could get round it, but I gave up after an hour or so. The files were not esoteric. I think they were mkvs.

That illustrates a fundamental lack of understanding of how iPads work. Files are associated with particular apps on an iPad, so you can't load files that the device doesn't know what to do with. If you want to load and play mkv files, you need to install an app which knows what to do with them. Just go to the App Store and search for "video player" - there are lots to choose from. I use one called "AVPlayerHD" which will play virtually any audio or video format.

[Quoth]

Unlike just about any non-Apple gadget, which will let you use storage as storage for anything, even if no LOCAL app can use it. Or let you add files and later add an application. Even the locked down Archos PMP will let you use the 160G HDD as USB storage.
I do understand exactly how iPads work. Which is why I don't currently have one. Anyone want a pristine Apple 4s with 32G storage?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by FrustratedReader

Unlike just about any non-Apple gadget, which will let you use storage as storage for anything, even if no LOCAL app can use it.

Indeed. A fundamentally different approach to managing data. Not necessarily better or worse, but different.

Interesting to note that the latest versions of Android are also adopting a fairly similar system of having data "owned" by apps. It's a method which has many benefits from a security perspective; no app is able to "snoop" on another app's data.

[davidfor]

I really don't know if I want to make this suggestion, but...

Kobo devices use the first page of an epub or PDF as the cover. This can be displayed when the device is sleeping or powered off. It can be full screen with no extra text.

Now, if the knitting pattern was a one page PDF, opening and putting the device to sleep would display the pattern and use hardly any power.

For multi-page patterns, you could split the PDF into single pages and open each as needed. It would be a pain to manage, but it would work.

But, honestly, I think that turning the WiFi and light off and turning the sleep off, or setting it a lot longer, should be enough. Any of the e-ink devices should be able to sit like that for many hours. You would want to recharge when you get home, but, unless you are away from home and knitting for a lot of hours, it should work.

You can also wake a sleeping device with a magnet. Depending on the device, it might be easier to wake it that way rather than picking it up and finding the switch or closing and opening the cover. Probably not practical unless you could attach a small enough magnet to the end of the knitting needle and tap the screen with it when needed.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

Off topic. I tried to add a few vids to an ipad for a friends and the ipad wouldn't let me because the format was incompatible. I think vlc would play them but the ipad wouldnt let me put the files on. I would call that closed and inflexible. I presume a veteran user could get round it, but I gave up after an hour or so. The files were not esoteric. I think they were mkvs.

Why not install VLC on the iPad? There are other apps as well but VLC has been my go-to video players for going on 2 decades.

As for being esoteric? Matroska is not a video format. It is a container allowing you to package video, audio and subtitle files. Over the years, I've seen damn near every video and audio format stuffed into an mkv container. Is the video h.264? h.265? .mov? VP8? HEVC? Is the audio MP3? MP4? Ogg? flac? wav? AAC? Then we get into the subtitle formats. And remember container? The video, audio and subtitle files do not need to be the same format. You can get a file where part of the video is VP8 and another part is a .mov file (that one that I ran into when looking at an anime file my daughter downloaded).

I've seen mkv's where I unpacked and recoded them to get the contents to play when I did not want to install a mega-codec pack (see paranoia, justified) in hopes of being able to play the original file.

[Fribble]

I know this is a bit older and you have probably already chosen a reader. But as a knitter who had some of the same questions I can now answer some I could not before.

I just received my Nova Pro and installed the android version of Knitcompanion on it. It works fairly well, though it did take a bit of playing with settings to finds out the best way to accommodate the eink. I would not use it for intricate color work or really complicated charts but basic charts and to keep track of where you are in the PDF it works fine. And honestly intricate things like those are not the type of projects I would want to travel or move around with anyway so I don't really see that as a downside. For me it will work perfectly well as a mobile copy that I will be less likely to lose and can sync my progress across devices.

I did tweak the sleep settings, and turned bluetooth and wifi off and had the chart open for over an hour with no drop in the battery (granted the lights were off) and unlike the kindle when you close the cover it will go into sleep mode.

There is also the option with the Pro version of the Nova to just make notes on the PDF itself.

This was not in any way the deciding factor in choosing the Nova, but I will say it is a nice bonus.

[Quoth]

Later Kindles do have a sleep mode. Certainly the cheap cover for my 2015 PW3 (Kindle bought last year) works.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by FrustratedReader

Later Kindles do have a sleep mode. Certainly the cheap cover for my 2015 PW3 (Kindle bought last year) works.

I think the previous posted meant that if you disable sleep on a Kindle it won't go to sleep if you close the cover - you have to press the power button to put it to sleep. All Kindles have of course always had a sleep mode!

[Quoth]

In fact, perhaps Kindles ONLY have a sleep mode; "Off" may only blank the screen, though you can force a reboot. So I was assuming the person was referring to sleep covers, which the older ones don't have.

It comes on "instantly" no matter what you do. My Nook, two Kobos and Sony all seem to have a "real" power down, or at least something very like it. I've tested about 7 Kindle models over the years. They only seem to show signs of booting after a "power off" if the battery has gone very flat.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by FrustratedReader

In fact, perhaps Kindles ONLY have a sleep mode; "Off" may only blank the screen, though you can force a reboot. So I was assuming the person was referring to sleep covers, which the older ones don't have.

It comes on "instantly" no matter what you do. My Nook, two Kobos and Sony all seem to have a "real" power down, or at least something very like it. I've tested about 7 Kindle models over the years. They only seem to show signs of booting after a "power off" if the battery has gone very flat.

Did you try holding the power button down for longer than 10 seconds. That should turn it completely off requiring a reboot.

Dale

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Did you try holding the power button down for longer than 10 seconds. That should turn it completely off requiring a reboot.

Dale

No, that just puts it to sleep with a blank screen. There is no way to turn off a Kindle. You can reboot it, but you can’t turn it off.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Did you try holding the power button down for longer than 10 seconds. That should turn it completely off requiring a reboot.
Dale

I also researched it. The clue is the instant start compared with selecting "Restart" (reboot) either by menu or button.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by FrustratedReader

I also researched it. The clue is the instant start compared with selecting "Restart" (reboot) either by menu or button.

Exactly. Confusingly, Amazon do actually call this "turning off the device", but it's plainly not - it's just sleep mode with a blank screen - because, as you say, it wakes up instantly. When it reboots you get the "boy reading under a tree" screen with the progress bar.