Any other e-book reader in the same price range

[Mycropht]

This thread has nothing to do with the following devices (for a specific reason ):

# Amazon Kindle 2
# Sony Reader PRS-700
# Sony Reader PRS-505
# Bookeen Cybook Gen3
# Endless Ideas BeBook 1
# Ectaco jetBook

Now, if you don't want any of those, but are willing to spend up to $350, what is left? What would be your choice? Why?

[Sweetpea]

I'd wait till this fall. And see what the Textr will be like.

[emellaich]

It's difficult to comment, because I don't know why you ruled out those choices. Some other choices use the same e-ink screen. Others use the same manufacturer, etc.

If you wanted to buy something now, and you didn't want those I would point you in one of three directions:
1) Astak (from Frys Electronics) their ezreader
2) iphone or ipod touch
3) Any used pda, palm or windows CE from ebay

[Mycropht]

Originally Posted by emellaich

1) Astak (from Frys Electronics) their ezreader
2) iphone or ipod touch
3) Any used pda, palm or windows CE from ebay

Thank you both for the advices. The devices mentioned in my first post were "disqualified" simply because I want a bit more or something else in case of any of those devices. With the exeption of Kindle 2 and PRS-700 I think they do not belong to the latest generation. I dislike Kindle 2 mostly because I believe it is not open enough and its' main advantage is not really working in Europe (Croatia) where I live. I would not buy PRS-700 knowing they sacrified some of the screen quality because of the light and the touchscreen.

IMHO, the 6" is the smallest screen I could live with (7" would be optimal) and the devices having the actual generation of LCD screens are out of the question. That takes care of 2) and 3).

The Txtr is definitely an interesting device but the Astak could be even more interesting as robertb (Astak's ambassador on the MR forums) mentioned some negotiations with Pixel Qi.

I believe the PRS-700 with the screen quality of PRS-505 or Kindle 2 would be an absolutely acceptable choice for me.

[emellaich]

How soon do you want to buy?

RobertB is a good guy, and I like his approach, but my personal guess is sometime in Q1 2010 or even later for any Pixel Qi/Astak product.

There is a lot of really good stuff on the horizon, but I have watched this market for years and it will take a while to shake out at least six months and maybe a year. At that point, expect an entire new generation of new stuff just around the corner.

Here is the real question, IMHO: are you a serious reader? I believe that a several hundred dollar device at today's state-of-the-art is too expensive if you don't read much. However, if you are a heavy reader (like I am) then the technology is more than ready to go today. There will always be tradeoffs, but its good now. Furthermore, each new paper book that you buy while you delay buying a reader is money invested in an obsolete library.

So, if you are a serious reader I would say buy something now and begin building your electronic library. If you aren't happy with any of the current choices then go with something cheap so that you can afford to upgrade later. Something like the Etaco Jetbook or the ipod Touch.

If you are only a casual reader, the get an ipod touch or wait until an epaper device with multi-function capabilities is available (mp3 player plus book reader plus pda plus ...)

The two situations where I would definitely consider waiting are if you mainly read pdf's or if you need to annotate (two closely related needs). For pdf's you are pretty much limited to the DX (extra difficulties outside of US) and the IREX (costly). None of the e-ink devices or even the other units (ipod, Etaco) are that great about annotation yet.

[Mycropht]

Originally Posted by emellaich

How soon do you want to buy?

That is a complicated question and the answer depends on the complicated formula involving availability, features and financials.

Am I a serious reader? I would say that periods of casual reading are mixed with periods of heavy reading. I am not in shopping frenzy or anything. The paper books are available and I am not in any abstinent crisis.

My main issue is that I believe that e-reading should be a level above paper reading. I want to be able to search, without a special effort, the read portion of the book, to look up a word and, why not, to briefly investigate any subject on the Internet. OK, the Internet thing can wait.

Btw, this SmartQ 7 device (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48934) with a Pixel Qi's 3Qi screen would be perfect - if the 3Qi screen turns out to be what almost everyone on the MR is hoping for.

[emellaich]

The reason I asked those questions, is because for someone who reads a lot, the basic features of any reader are good enough and are reasons to switch now. There is no perfect device that has long battery life, seamless internet connection, touch screen, easy on the eyes screen, inexpensive, easy-to-use, etcetera. Furthermore, you will probably be waiting for quite some time before such a device exists.

So, if you are most interested in basic book-reading features I'd recommend you either relook at your original list or consider a cheap option like the Jetco or even a used PDA. If you want the perfect device then I would agree that its not here yet, and probably won't be here for some time. You'll need to wait awhile longer.

[sassanik]

The eb1150 by Ebookwise, yes its one of the cheapest readers out there. But it works very well for what it was designed for, reading books. Yes you have to do conversions more frequently than other readers, but I think that those of us that have one can tell you how much we love ours!

The Cool-er is supposed to be out by the end of the month, its an e-ink and they say its going to be $250.

I think ereaders are very person specific, kinda like cell-phones. What features you like in one, might be totally different than what I like.

Amy

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by sassanik

The eb1150 by Ebookwise, yes its one of the cheapest readers out there. But it works very well for what it was designed for, reading books. Yes you have to do conversions more frequently than other readers, but I think that those of us that have one can tell you how much we love ours!

The Cool-er is supposed to be out by the end of the month, its an e-ink and they say its going to be $250.

I think ereaders are very person specific, kinda like cell-phones. What features you like in one, might be totally different than what I like.

Amy

The eb1150 can't be bought in Europe... I know, I've tried (unless you want to ebay it)

[Mycropht]

Originally Posted by emellaich

You'll need to wait awhile longer.

Yes, I believe I will wait and this thread helped me to decide and to be comfortable with the decision.

From the past experience I can say that I was in most cases unhappy when I have purchased what I could instead of stretching a bit and paying more for something I really wanted. On the other hand, I was quite happy with most of the stuff that was too expensive but I have bought anyway.

Paper books will be good enough for me until an e-book reader comes along that I simply must have.

Thank you all for the advices!

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Mycropht

Yes, I believe I will wait and this thread helped me to decide and to be comfortable with the decision.

From the past experience I can say that I was in most cases unhappy when I have purchased what I could instead of stretching a bit and paying more for something I really wanted. On the other hand, I was quite happy with most of the stuff that was too expensive but I have bought anyway.

I know that feeling When I wanted to replace my old PDA, I was looking at something that was about 100 euro cheaper than what I finally got. And when I saw that device I was first looking at (a colleague had one), I was glad I spent those extra 100 euro!

Originally Posted by Mycropht

Paper books will be good enough for me until an e-book reader comes along that I simply must have.

You'll start to think differently once you really start reading electronically, you don't want to turn back again!

[JSWolf]

Forget the EZ Reader. It's basically the same as the BeBook. The iPod Touch is not a nice reader. And anything with a smaller then 6 screen is not going to do well. That said, I do recommend at least a 6" screen on whatever device you choose.

[Kris777]

5" is the right screen size for eBook reading

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Kris777

5" is the right screen size for eBook reading

Still waiting for the 5" BeBook Mini to come out...