need ereader for chinese

[summerholt]

I have a sony300 and I love it. I am looking for something just like sony300 but can read Chinese. I know there are hacks out there for sony505 but I'd rather have something that works right away. $200 and lower, cute, no need for internet connection.

I like that I can connect sony300 to my computer like an external harddrive and no file conversion is needed (hence no kindle). The ezreader seems nice but I like the look and feel of sony better, feels more solid and sleek, less plastiky.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

[Sylver]

I have Sony PRS 300, EZReader PocketPro, Astak Mentor, and Nook. And I mainly read Chinese. Of all these, Nook best suits my needs.

Two issues with PRS 300: 1) it does not natively support Chinese, so I need to embed Chinese fonts into PDF hence significantly increase the file size (double or triple a standard novel), and PRS 300 cannot be expanded by SD card; 2) Even if you can embed Chinese into the PDF, the title still cannot be recognized by the device, so you have to rename all the Chinese books to latin alphabets, such that 红楼梦 becomes "Dream of the Red Chamber" or "Hong Lou Meng", imagine you have 30 plus Chinese novel named that way, you cannot glance it quickly. Chinese hack on PRS 300 is not as easier as PRS505 or PRS600, as the internal memory is too small to load decent Chinese fonts. I do love the portability and the screen contrast of PRS 300. The other downside for PRS 300 is it takes forever to load an unformated .txt file (with normal Chinese novel lengths it's about 3mb) and takes forever to change the font size for a novel embedded in Chinese fonts.

The Astak Mentor has the same screen contrast as PRS300 which is very good, the e-ink rendering sometimes leaves more ghost effect than PRS 300, but it is 6", so gives you about 40% more real estate. However, though officially supports Chinese, it has the ugliest Chinese fonts I have ever seen, and you cannot load your own fonts. It also supports MP3 play back, but the earphone jack is not the standard 3.5mm. It does have nice folder structure wth huge icons showing the book coverart, however, the navigation is a little sluggish, and the page buttons sometimes do not respond as quickly and consistently as it should. It is probably the lightest 6" device but not as solid.

The EZReader PocketPro also is from Astak, PocketPro is 5" and they also have an EZReader 6" which they call basic (a new plus version is coming out soon, possibly end of July). Function wise, PocketPro is unbeatable, it loads books so fast, page turn is quick, supports Chinese natively, the built-in Chinese font is good enough, but you can add whatever Chinese fonts you want to the SD card, it has standard 3.5mm earphone jack for mp3 playback, it has text-to-speech features for both English and Chinese (the English TTS is kinda poor, the Chinese TTS is actually very good IMO). It has user replaceable battery, it comes with a free case and a 2gb SD card, it reads almost all file formats you will ever need including djvu, chm and other formats you won't usually need for a book reader (except proprietary formats from Amazon and B&N), it has customizeable logon and logoff screen (kinda like screensavers on kindle and the nook), it can rotate horizontally for files to read and can zoom in scanned PDFs. Above all, it is very very fast - the fastest among all ereaders I have seen. Everything is sooooo good except for one thing and that one thing I consider very critical: the screen contrast. Not only the contrast is not as sharp as the Sony or the Astak Mentor (the font is not dark enough and the background not white enough), but both the foreground and the background also have some greenish yellowish tint that I found annoying and unbearable for long time reading. If the screen can be fixed, I would say it is the best basic reader (without connection though which I dont mind at all) out there, but too bad, it's a shame to see such a nicely engineered (both processor wise and software wise) device comes with such an inferior screen.

Then finally the nook that I am very happy with. You must have read a lot about its specs, I think the wifi only version for $150 has very good value. For Chinese reading purpose, it is not as powerful and flexible of the EZReader PocketPro, it does not have text-to-speech and it does not support .txt file like PocketPro. But value wise, it is very good. The screen contrast is the best of all ereaders I have seen (beats Kindle or other and beats all touch screen Sony's, and is even a little better than the non-touch Sony PRS 300), also it is 6" reader, the design is elegant and the build solid. File management is easy (hook USB and just copy over the file to device), and it goes without saying that it supports PDF's and epub's embedded in Chinese fonts, and if you don't want to embed Chinese fonts into PDF or epub (to keep small file size), all you need to do is to convert .txt file to epub using Calibre with a customized style sheets (to use the built in android unicode fonts which natively supports Chinese). The android unicode fonts come with the nook look very good in Chinese novels (way better than the Astak mentor font which supports Chinese natively) and it supports both Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese characters elegantly - you won't see an line starts with an ":" or an "," sign; For firmware v1.3, the Chinese text in epub or PDF looks fine but somehow, some titles do not show properly on the library page, with firmware v1.4 update, all my titles now show properly on the library page. Let me make it clear, the support of Chinese does not require you softroot the nook, but if you opt to softroot the nook, obviously with the android system unleashed, it can be a very powerful device, with a 3G nook softrooted, even if you go to China, you can still use a local prepaid SIM card and browse the web on the nook, I have yet to see another e-reader that can achieve the same.

[GA Russell]

summerholt, you might want to consider the Dr. Yi.

https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Dr._Yi

[Sylver]

I will never consider Dr. Yi an option, it has a reflective LCD which not only drains your battery so quickly but also hurts your eyes - if these two are not a concern, then just go to iPad. For prolonged reading, e-ink is still the way to go.

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by Sylver

I will never consider Dr. Yi an option, it has a reflective LCD which not only drains your battery so quickly but also hurts your eyes - if these two are not a concern, then just go to iPad. For prolonged reading, e-ink is still the way to go.

Hurts your eyes? How?

[Sylver]

Originally Posted by LDBoblo

Hurts your eyes? How?

Since the launch of the Kindle I've heard that E-ink is a much better display option for Ebooks because reading on it for an extended period would be less strenuous/tiring than reading for a similar length of time on an LCD/CRT display. Now each people may have different opinion as to exactly how less eye-tiring e-ink is vs LCD. Anyway, if I read books on LCD for more than 2 hours, my eyes do hurt, but I can read on a good e-ink device for 3 hours in a row without noticeable eye tiring. I am saying in general, it is true for most people that reading books on LCD hurts your eyes more than on an e-ink display (because of the reflective screen and the refresh rate), but your mileage may vary as some people find the page refresh behavior of e-ink more unbearable than the reflective screen on LCD. And it also depends on which particular e-ink or LCD display you are reading, I personally find Apple's LCD less strenuous on eyes than other brands LCD, and the nook pleases my eyes better than any other e-ink readers I tried. In the following thread, the lady said she could only read about 20 minutes each time because of the poor screen contrast of the ezreader pocketpro. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84644

[Sylver]

Here is the example of the nook library menu with Chinese books, the books titles/authors are actually in the ebook's properties metatag, not necessarily the file name.

[Sylver]

Here is a Chinese epub with the nook's default android font and size (small), you will need to use Calibre to convert .txt to .epub with very easy .css stylesheet change, it is not as good as supporting .txt directly (such as in ezReader), but the conversion only takes a couple of minutes and format is good.

[Sylver]

same file with large font, you can go extra large and extra extra large now with v1.4 firmware. notice how nicely the paragraph and each line breaks re-formatted.

[Sylver]

here is a pdf file embedded with Chinese font (in this case, Microsoft Yahei) displaying on the nook, you can embed any fonts you want, the downside is the file size gets bigger, and if you enlarge the font on the nook, the reflow will not format the book as nicely as the examples before.

[Sylver]

another example of a PDF embedded with Chinese fonts on the nook, this one uses a traditional Chinese font from Hong Kong.

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by Sylver

Since the launch of the Kindle I've heard that E-ink is a much better display option for Ebooks because reading on it for an extended period would be less strenuous/tiring than reading for a similar length of time on an LCD/CRT display. Now each people may have different opinion as to exactly how less eye-tiring e-ink is vs LCD. Anyway, if I read books on LCD for more than 2 hours, my eyes do hurt, but I can read on a good e-ink device for 3 hours in a row without noticeable eye tiring. I am saying in general, it is true for most people that reading books on LCD hurts your eyes more than on an e-ink display (because of the reflective screen and the refresh rate), but your mileage may vary as some people find the page refresh behavior of e-ink more unbearable than the reflective screen on LCD. And it also depends on which particular e-ink or LCD display you are reading, I personally find Apple's LCD less strenuous on eyes than other brands LCD, and the nook pleases my eyes better than any other e-ink readers I tried. In the following thread, the lady said she could only read about 20 minutes each time because of the poor screen contrast of the ezreader pocketpro. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84644

No, that's not how it works. You are misrepresenting the word "reflective". E-Ink is "reflective", as is the LCD in the Dr. Yi devices. They have no backlight, nothing that strobes, nothing that creates luminance disparity between the display and the surrounding environment. A reflective LCD is essentially the same thing as E-Ink (EPD) visually, with some minor differences (a bit better contrast with LCD, but slightly more limited in terms of viewing angle). You are thinking of an emissive display, not a reflective one.

There is nothing about the LCD in a Dr. Yi device that would tire the eyes any more than an EPD like E-Ink. Excepting color cast and viewing angle disparities, it would be very, very difficult to tell the difference unless looking extremely closely, where a reflective LCD should actually be superior at an equal resolution.

You make a fine point when you say the battery life is inferior. This is largely true. However, that you'd assume there to be eye discomfort or strain is simply ignorance of what an LCD actually is and how many different kinds there are.

[Sylver]

Originally Posted by LDBoblo

No, that's not how it works. ..However, that you'd assume there to be eye discomfort or strain is simply ignorance of what an LCD actually is and how many different kinds there are.

I didn't pay much attention to the particular LCD screen of Dr. Yi, and most LCD readers are backlit which causes eye-tiring. I didn't know Dr. Yi's LCD is implemented differently, but by just glancing at the demo picture they posted, the screen contrast doesn't look good, not sure if it is just the photo or the real LCD issue. But it's an interesting find. Still, I will opt for an iPad if I can stand such low battery performance. How does Dr. Yi's screen perform in outdoor lights? I am interested in still looking for an alternative screen technology to e-ink. The nook has the best screen contrast among all the e-ink devices that I have seen, but still, the background "paper" is not as white as I wish and the foreground font "ink" is not as black as I would like. It's a marketing hype to say e-ink screen is paper-like, to my eyes, the cheapest paperback look better than the best current generation e-ink screens. It does look Dr. Yi's LCD offers an interesting alternative, but judging from the picture on the linked site, the contrast looks very poor.

[summerholt]

Originally Posted by Sylver

I have Sony PRS 300, EZReader PocketPro, Astak Mentor, and Nook. And I mainly read Chinese. Of all these, Nook best suits my needs.

Then finally the nook that I am very happy with.
"and it goes without saying that it supports PDF's and epub's embedded in Chinese fonts, and if you don't want to embed Chinese fonts into PDF or epub (to keep small file size), all you need to do is to convert .txt file to epub using Calibre with a customized style sheets (to use the built in android unicode fonts which natively supports Chinese)."

"Let me make it clear, the support of Chinese does not require you softroot the nook, but if you opt to softroot the nook, obviously with the android system unleashed, it can be a very powerful device, with a 3G nook softrooted, even if you go to China, you can still use a local prepaid SIM card and browse the web on the nook, I have yet to see another e-reader that can achieve the same."

Thank you Sylver for the detailed answer and the pictures! I really appreciate it!

I am a ereader newby and don't understand the quoted parts from your reply. For example, what does it mean to embed Chinese in a pdf file? How do I know whether a Chinese pdf file that I have already has embedded Chinese or not? How do I embed Chinese font myself? Does Calibre provide a stylesheet or do I need to provide it myself when I convert a .txt files?

I just want to have some off the shelf solution that does not require me to be tech-savvy. Does the nook inherently support Chinese?

Thanks!

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by Sylver

...How does Dr. Yi's screen perform in outdoor lights? I am interested in still looking for an alternative screen technology to e-ink. The nook has the best screen contrast among all the e-ink devices that I have seen, but still, the background "paper" is not as white as I wish and the foreground font "ink" is not as black as I would like. It's a marketing hype to say e-ink screen is paper-like, to my eyes, the cheapest paperback look better than the best current generation e-ink screens. It does look Dr. Yi's LCD offers an interesting alternative, but judging from the picture on the linked site, the contrast looks very poor.

Dr. Yi device screens do the same thing in bright sunlight that E-Ink does. They reflect the light off the back of the screen and into your eyes. That's why it's called a reflective screen. You read a Dr. Yi device in the same lighting conditions that you read E-Ink in. Generally speaking, the more light around you, the better. Outdoors in bright sunlight is ideal.

The disadvantage of reflective LCD is the limited viewing angle. Contrast drops off when looking at it too far off-axis, but when looking straight-on, its contrast is equal to or higher than that of E-Ink...with the majority of that contrast difference being invested in the darkness of the text, IIRC. I'm not a big fan of either E-Ink or reflective LCD because both are significantly inferior to printed text (enough so that I get a headache when reading Chinese on my PRS-505), but they are roughly equal, with a couple of tradeoffs.

I'm cool with people not wanting reflective LCD devices because of their more limited battery life (though 20 hours is still twice that of the iPad, and good for more than 1000 pages of reading for most people I know--and I've never gotten close to the advertised battery life on my PRS-505), but any kind of claim that presupposes that LCD is bad for the eyes because it's LCD is simply wrong. LCD is one of the most flexible technologies available, and can be developed with backlights (emissive displays--the ones that people blame for eye strain and inability to read outdoors), ones without backlights (reflective displays--which come in many different quality ranges from those on pocket calculators to digital watches to e-paper screens like Dr. Yi and the jetBook), and hybrids of the two (transflective displays, like the mythical Pixel Qi and some PDA screens, which are not particularly high quality).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZQm9xWQJCU
I don't like that video or the presenter in it, but at least at the very end they show what a reflective LCD looks like in bright sun next to an emissive one (the iPad).

I'm not saying you should get one. I'm just saying that it's a good idea to know what the technology actually is before holding a bias against it.