In defence of PPC/PDA/Nokia tablet: ebook readers

[hidari]

congrats on the ipaq 3115. How are the specs? screen? can you use mobipocket on it?

Originally Posted by AdamGott

I have been contemplating an e-reader purchase to replace my Palm Tungsten T2 but settled on a used IPAQ 3115 instead. $100 on EBAY and it has wireless internet (802.11b) and lots of other bells and whistles that the e-readers still don't have.

Eventually I will get an e-reader but they are too much for my tastes still.

[AdamGott]

240x320 16 bit color, standard size for the era. Yes mobipocket works on it and I actually like it better than micro-read (uread or whatever, I don't know where the micro key is and I don't want to look) on this device as I can completely get rid of margins on all sides and it almost seems that there is a whole page to read there.

The big reason for the upgrade for me (from an IPAQ H3635 pocket PC that is really old) and my PALM TUNGSTEN T2 was the wireless internet and better screen (and easily replacable battery). It's kind of fun going out around town and seeing how many unsecured routers are pumping out a free wifi hotspot! The screen is much better than the old pocket pc which was not backlit but front-lit but not much better than the Tungsten.

I have successfully installed a packet sniffer and am now trying to get youtube playing on it. That is supposedly possible.

It was a hundred bucks well spent and I got a case and a couple of memory cards for that same hundred bucks.

I have been able to successfully download books wirelessly to the device (from fictionwise) but I have been kind of dissapointed at how little direct download software is available. I seem to have to use my PC a lot to install programs right now but I would guess that will eventually happen less and less.

If I can ever get my wife into the e-book thing I may give this to her eventually and look for a PPC with a VGA screen next.

[hidari]

Thanks for the information. Sounds like you are happy. Well I have a VGA screen and would recommend it if you are looking for a new ppc one day.

Originally Posted by AdamGott

240x320 16 bit color, standard size for the era. Yes mobipocket works on it and I actually like it better than micro-read (uread or whatever, I don't know where the micro key is and I don't want to look) on this device as I can completely get rid of margins on all sides and it almost seems that there is a whole page to read there.

The big reason for the upgrade for me (from an IPAQ H3635 pocket PC that is really old) and my PALM TUNGSTEN T2 was the wireless internet and better screen (and easily replacable battery). It's kind of fun going out around town and seeing how many unsecured routers are pumping out a free wifi hotspot! The screen is much better than the old pocket pc which was not backlit but front-lit but not much better than the Tungsten.

I have successfully installed a packet sniffer and am now trying to get youtube playing on it. That is supposedly possible.

It was a hundred bucks well spent and I got a case and a couple of memory cards for that same hundred bucks.

I have been able to successfully download books wirelessly to the device (from fictionwise) but I have been kind of dissapointed at how little direct download software is available. I seem to have to use my PC a lot to install programs right now but I would guess that will eventually happen less and less.

If I can ever get my wife into the e-book thing I may give this to her eventually and look for a PPC with a VGA screen next.

[AdamGott]

I will definitely go with VGA the next time. It kind of sucks that I just bought this thing, we just got a surprise $4000 bonus at work today which means I could have spent some more money on my newest PPC.

Oh well, this 3115 is pretty nifty compared to what I was using. I absolutely love the wireless internet feature on it. I had a cell phone data package before but that was crap - slow and a pain to browse on my phone. The PPC still isn't great for browsing conventional sites and I can't get access anywhere I want but I am kind of surprised how much access I do find using 802.11b.

[hidari]

I love the wireless as well. are you using the mobile websites when you are surfing with your ppc?

Originally Posted by AdamGott

I will definitely go with VGA the next time. It kind of sucks that I just bought this thing, we just got a surprise $4000 bonus at work today which means I could have spent some more money on my newest PPC.

Oh well, this 3115 is pretty nifty compared to what I was using. I absolutely love the wireless internet feature on it. I had a cell phone data package before but that was crap - slow and a pain to browse on my phone. The PPC still isn't great for browsing conventional sites and I can't get access anywhere I want but I am kind of surprised how much access I do find using 802.11b.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by AdamGott

I will definitely go with VGA the next time. It kind of sucks that I just bought this thing, we just got a surprise $4000 bonus at work today which means I could have spent some more money on my newest PPC.

Should I take this to mean that you have a TFT screen on your device, or something else?

I just bought an iPaq 110 with the 320x240 TFT screen, and it is worlds better than my old Toshiba's screen, for text and graphics. With both of the devices, enabling the ClearType option vastly improves text readability, and makes the difference between comfort and eyestrain.

[sydneycat1999]

I've finally received my HP iPAQ 212 last week. And I'm really happy with it. I can read both my .lit & mobipocket books on it. Hubby thought that it would still be too small to read a book on. Actually, the fonts are not that small or bigger than a physical book. The difference is, that you could always adjust them But I've realised that with an ordinary book you tend to skip some lines throughout the book & miss the finer details. But with the iPAQ or other similar PDA because of the fewer lines in each page you end up reading every single line Hence, I've been through quite a few "That's why, Hey I missed that before" moments when rereading a book

[leandroide]

Hi!

Congratulations for your new child!

One question: do you use it to read in the darkness? If so, what can you say about the brightness of the screen?

I ask this question because I have an Axim X51V and an Acer N311 (they have the same screen) an both are a little too bright even with brightness at its minimum.

Thanks in advance,

L.

Originally Posted by sydneycat1999

I've finally received my HP iPAQ 212 last week. And I'm really happy with it. I can read both my .lit & mobipocket books on it. Hubby thought that it would still be too small to read a book on. Actually, the fonts are not that small or bigger than a physical book. The difference is, that you could always adjust them But I've realised that with an ordinary book you tend to skip some lines throughout the book & miss the finer details. But with the iPAQ or other similar PDA because of the fewer lines in each page you end up reading every single line Hence, I've been through quite a few "That's why, Hey I missed that before" moments when rereading a book

[sydneycat1999]

Originally Posted by leandroide

Hi!

Congratulations for your new child!

One question: do you use it to read in the darkness? If so, what can you say about the brightness of the screen?

I ask this question because I have an Axim X51V and an Acer N311 (they have the same screen) an both are a little too bright even with brightness at its minimum.

Thanks in advance,

L.

Thanks. Actually this is my first PDA so can't really compare to others. Before this I only read on my notebook, even in bed But screen brightness is always an issue for me so am glad that the iPAQ screen's is not too bright either. I've adjusted the brightness to minimum of course on device itself, & chose enable cleartype as option for fonts on mobipocket.

At night I read with white fonts on blue background & during the day especially under direct sunlight black fonts with white background. I've read with it in the car at night (hubby driving of course ) still no problem.

So, now I'm just going to get the extra memory, fancy cover & maybe an extra battery & I'm ready for those long flights

[hidari]

Congrats on the Ipaq. i THINK reading on a ppc is great and not a problem at all. as for too much light at night or low light...wear a pair of sunglasses..that is what i do to solve that problem.

Originally Posted by sydneycat1999

Thanks. Actually this is my first PDA so can't really compare to others. Before this I only read on my notebook, even in bed But screen brightness is always an issue for me so am glad that the iPAQ screen's is not too bright either. I've adjusted the brightness to minimum of course on device itself, & chose enable cleartype as option for fonts on mobipocket.

At night I read with white fonts on blue background & during the day especially under direct sunlight black fonts with white background. I've read with it in the car at night (hubby driving of course ) still no problem.

So, now I'm just going to get the extra memory, fancy cover & maybe an extra battery & I'm ready for those long flights

[hidari]

for the bright:coolness problem ,I have it too with my ACER. i wear a pair of sunglasses... then the problem is solved.

hidari

Originally Posted by leandroide

Hi!

Congratulations for your new child!

One question: do you use it to read in the darkness? If so, what can you say about the brightness of the screen?

I ask this question because I have an Axim X51V and an Acer N311 (they have the same screen) an both are a little too bright even with brightness at its minimum.

Thanks in advance,

L.

[leandroide]

Originally Posted by hidari

for the bright:coolness problem ,I have it too with my ACER. i wear a pair of sunglasses... then the problem is solved.

hidari

Mmm... Japanese are wise people!

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by hidari

for the bright:coolness problem ,I have it too with my ACER. i wear a pair of sunglasses... then the problem is solved.

You just have to make sure that your sunglasses are not polarized... and/or that the natural polarization of the display screen isn't perpendicular to your view! I had to give up polarized sunglasses years ago, because the polarization would render certain of my devices (my LCD watch, my PDA) to be completely black in my view... unless I turned them 90 degrees on their side, whereby I couldn't read them anyway!

[leandroide]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

You just have to make sure that your sunglasses are not polarized... and/or that the natural polarization of the display screen isn't perpendicular to your view! I had to give up polarized sunglasses years ago, because the polarization would render certain of my devices (my LCD watch, my PDA) to be completely black in my view... unless I turned them 90 degrees on their side, whereby I couldn't read them anyway!

Well... my sunglasses are polarized. When I wear them if I look to my PDA screen the background gets tinted. In portrait mode the tint is yellow-red (not uniform) and in landscape the tint is blue-green. Kind of psycodelic!

L.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

That can be a cool effect! Yours is likely 45 degrees out of phase with your glasses, to be able to see it in portrait and landscape orientations. If you turn it diagonally in one direction, it could become completely clear... and in the other, it could go black.

(There may be levels or types of polarization, or screen types, that mitigate this effect.)