First Reader, best for 'only' reading?

[hammyali]

Hi All,

I am looking to buy a reader before 17th March when I go to Scotland. Live in the Uk and I have listed the devices below that are my choices, with notes as to why maybe they are not suitable. Obviously being in the Uk makes the choice slightly less than some places. Also, I have no need for drawing, writing, making tea, doing the washing up.....i just want it to display a book to read, that simple. Screen size is an issue as I feel 6" is too small, would love to have something slightly bigger. Any feedback would be brilliant.

Kindle 2 - Screen looks good, but tied into amazon books only, and the keyboard is hideous.

Bebook Neo - Looks good, but glare from screen being a touch type device? Also, even though it is out in the UK there seems to be not one review of it anywhere that I can find, so it could be rubbish for all we know?

Sony - Touch edition 600 looks great but screen resolution is poor due to layer for touch function, 505 seems very plain and not nice to look at, 900 not great reviews and screen again a problem?

iREX 800 - Looks great, perfect screen size (8") but again worried about the screen due to touch function, and some sites give it a panning

Kindle DX - Looks too big, but difficult to visualise as I can't see one

Elonex (Borders) - Bad reviews pretty much everywhere

Cybook Gen 3 - Not great reviews most places

iRiver Story - Some sites say it is poorly made and seems quite flimsy

Cooler - Bad reviews everywhere

Cybook Opus - Good reviews everywhere pretty much, but 5" screen which is too small

It just seems like the ideal reader is completely eluding me. It almost seems like instead of making the absolute best screen reading experience there possibly can be, they sacrifice that for 'gadgetness' with a ton of functions that I don't want, I just want to read a book on a machine that actually looks like a book!

Getting frustrated, but need to make a choice soon. Any feedback people can give me that might help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Hamish

[The-eBook-Reader]

Hi hammyali, welcome to Mobileread!

It looks like you've done a fair bit of research. One thing that I'll mention first is that not all touchscreens suffer from a reflective display, just the Sony touchscreens, (and a few others not on your list so we won't go there).

The BeBook Neo and iRex both have fantastic screens that use Wacom Penabled tablets. I personally reviewed the iRex and it is a good unit (so far) but is lacking in the feature department, which doesn't bode well with its high price.

Initial reports of the Neo are favorable, but nothing that blows anyone away. The problem with BeBook is that they refuse to send out any units for review so that's probably why you can't find any. I'd check the Onyx Boox if I were you. It is the same hardware but comes with a cover and sells for about the same price, although I believe they are on back-order until next month, unless you want to pay more.

The Elonex you are thinking of is no longer sold (as far as I know). They have a new one at Waterstone's for 129 pounds that is very highly rated but is a 5-inch screen.

I'd suggest trying out a 5-incher in person; they screen size really isn't that small.

I'd consider the PocketBook 301 instead of the Cybook Gen 3 or Cooler. Again, same hardware but users tend to like PB's firmware the best.

If you wait a few more months there should be several devices with 8 and 9.7 inch screens coming onto the market, if the larger screen is something that's really important to you.

Bottom line: I'd suggest doing some research on the types of ebooks that you intend to buy. Amazon gets a bad rap for their DRM, but they do have a wide selection, about 340,000 for the UK.

UK ebook sites like Waterstone's and WHSmith don't have anywhere near that many titles, but they may have more of the titles that you like, so the best thing to do is to research now before you buy a reader because regional restrictions are a pain in the arse.

[wallcraft]

The Wacom touch on the Neo and DR800S is behind the screen, but it requires a pen.

If you can afford it, the DR800S is now the best of breed for "just reading" ePubs and if the promised firmware upgrade works well it will be good for PDFs too. It is possible to read ePubs without using the pen. I don't think the DR800S is good value for the money, but it has no competitors yet.

The Onyx Boox 60 gets good reviews and the Neo is identical.

I suggest also looking at the BeBook 1. This is a Hanlin V3, which is an old design (about as old as the Cybook and Cool-er hardware design) but a rock solid basic reader.

[Yar-PocketBooker]

PocketBook 360)))

[Dulin's Books]

or 301

[ikan kona]

Iriver story

I updated to the 1.61 and like the reflow and really dislike the corner zoom, but from a developers point of view, I understand the problems.

Most of mine ebooks are pdf, and if I can use reflow on them it really works nice, but there are really big problems.

Problems to consider:

1. The Zoom with the four steps, should be possible to customize in settings, so I would be able to have it on medium/sec.medium/high as my own customized standard.

2. Zoom in both versions does not work in landscape mode. Why?

3. The corner Zoom has to be easier in functionality, (sorry but to 80es software engineer loves his idea)

4. When I have a book on my SD card and read in it, the Story does not save my Reflow and Zoom settings, this means that i every time I read a book from my SD card have to inter the settings once more. (sorry but that's really crappy)

5. Why does the Story not recognize any book in the book section when i only have my books on a SD card, should recognize them. (have my books on diffrent SD cards, categorized)
This means that each time re-inter another SD card it shall remember where i was in the book and what Reflow/zoom i had, otherwise it wont be real to call it an expansion possibility.

6. The Reflow display some pdf, very weird, exampled under:

Fred is fat and lives in a shel
ter while eating fish with his toes, and usually he sleeps with fresh herring under his pillow.
Unfortunate for the other resi
dents in the shelter, he is resisting any fish related arguments.

So it breaks the lines in some words, this is really not acceptable, please fix it.

7. Must agree with critics that it is cheap not to deliver a cover with the story.

8. There should be a possibility to set the story, to re-inter directly into the book you just read last time, so you dont have to g0 through the menu every time.

9. I can not bookmark pages in pdf's.

10. Recent book, should be resent books, if you are reading several at the time.

[neilmarr]

Hello there, Hamish. Good to have your company.

Even though you've not got your reader yet, why don't you take advantage of the special deals around for Read an Ebook Week and stock up on reading by downloading into a library (like Caliber) so that you're ready to go.

Lots of free or generously discounted books around from MobileRead's own members. Check out the link in my signature below, for instance, and scroll down for twenty-five novels on a pay-what-you-like (or free if you prefer) basis.

Happy reading. Your move to Scotland makes me feel a wee bit nostalgic. Slainte. Neil

[Dellaster]

Hi Hamish. I had similar criteria to you when I was discussing with a couple people what would be my ideal e-reading device. My reading is nearly 100% long-form prose (novels), so what I wanted was something that presented that re-flowable text in the best possible manner while being easy to hold and operate.

The list of essentials I came up with was surprisingly short, but seemingly unlikely to appear on the market. Roughly in order of importance:

1. Screen Size - 7-8 inch. An 8" reader would be closer to the size of a book page; it's about 78% greater area than a 6" screen (depending on relative aspect ratio). Larger screens (9-inch and up) run into unavoidable conflicts with #3 below.
2. Readability - contrast/non-glare at least as good as the Kindle 2, which is close to the limit for my eyes, for long reading sessions.
3. Form Factor - not much, if any, bigger or heavier than the Kindle 2. For holding the thing during long reading sessions. Should be able to hold one-handed for extended periods of time.
4. ePub - I like Mobipocket well enough, but ePub appears to be the future. And it's an excellent format for re-flowing text.
5. Controls - page turn buttons on both left and right sides like the Kindle 2. So I can swap which hand I'm using during long reading sessions.

Things not essential:

• PDF Support - Never use 'em. Any long-form fiction in PDF can be easily converted to a re-flowing format like ePub. (Barring unbreakable DRM, that is.)
• Wireless - loading the device over USB from my computer is plenty good enough.
• Dictionary - I have never, ever used dictionary look-up on my Kindle 2. If it's in English, I can read it just fine.
• Annotation - I have never made notes in the long-form prose books or ebooks I've read.
• Other Bells & Whistles - I like silence while reading, so an mp3 player is a waste; no need to view image files; etc.

At that time I had yet to hear of the Sony 900 or the iRex 800. I was pretty stoked when I did. Unfortunately, the Sony fell down on essential point #2 (readability). The iRex, with the Wacom touch sensor behind the e-ink screen (subjectively, I think it looks a bit more readable than the Kindle 2), doesn't fall down until essential point #5, my least essential desire for the perfect e-reader. The flip-bar control is only on the left side.

Good enough, I decided, so I bought the iRex. I'm very happy with my decision so far. I would like to be able to turn the pages with my right hand, but I've found that I can live without that ideal feature. The flip-bar is far, far better than the Cybook Gen3's 5-way button, at least.

Something closer to my ideal may come out in the future, but at the moment iRex's DR800 is much closer to that ideal than anything else out there.

[GA Russell]

Welcome Hamish!

I have a 5" jetBook Lite. I too felt that the 6" and the 5" screens were too small when I first saw them in the store. But I went ahead and bought a 5" screen anyway because so many folks here assured me that the screen size does not present a problem.

I have found that I am happy with my jetBook Lite, and I suggest that you not rule out a device with a 5" or 6" screen if it meets your other criteria.

[IndecisiveMe]

I'll second the Pocketbook 360. I researched for months, always thinking 5" would be too small to read on. I finally decided to give the 360 a go, thinking that if I didn't like it, I could always sell it and buy another reader with a bigger screen later in the year when more of the new models are out.

I am extremely impressed with the 360 (no, I don't work for them!), and I've been reading in lanscape mode very comfortably. It's very lightweight, looks fantastic, comes with its own hard protective case and is a pleasure to read with. So far most of my files are HTML and they look brilliant on the 360.

Good luck with your decision, I know how hard it is to make that final decision!

[HarryT]

For me, the Pocketbook 360 is the ideal "travelling" reader; it's small enough to put into a coat packet and take anywhere, and the "snap on" cover provides great protection.

My favourite "use at home" reader is currently the BeBook Neo (also sold as the Onyx Boox 60). It has a Wacom touch screen, and excellent screen clarity.