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Old 11-12-2011, 08:16 AM   #1
Hamad_Spider
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Which one should I buy? I've never seen a book reader closely, before.

Hi everybody.
This is my first post to this blog.
I read a lot of posts, and thanks to everybody, your posts are so useful.

I have to read a lot of technical papers for my university projects. So it is not easy to print all of them. In the other hands, reading them on my laptop makes my eyes tired.
So, I decided to buy a book reader. But I have never seen one closely! And none of my friends have book reader. The only resource for me is Internet and for buying, I prefer to tell one of my friends in other countries to buy it for me (because in contrast to tablets which are available in each store, book readers are not easily available in my country and where they are available, they are so expensive).

To choose a model, I read a lot of blogs and saw many websites. But after all, I'm so confused! May you help me in making this decision, please?


My needs:

1. Displaying technical PDF files which contain heavy vector-based illustrations.
2. Reading books in Persian (right to left languages).
3. Good quality and working for at least 2 years without any hardware problems.
4. I usually use PDF copies from my laptop and can't buy from online shops using a device.
5. Ability to download papers by googleing directly on the device is a good idea.
6. I can listen to mp3s on my cell-phone, so having it on the book reader is not important for me!
7. Having WiFi on the book reader and its ability to use the Internet and check mail.
8. A good dictionary.
9. Ability to taking notes and highlighting text.
10. Good software support and firmware update.
11. I may use softwares like calibre to convert books.
12. I considered spending less than 200$ for it.
13. The book reader should be available in Finland, so my friend can buy it for me.

I found out that Nook simple touch, Kindle, Sony PSR-T1, Kobo and Pocketbook are good readers. But can't decide which is better, according to my needs.
Should I consider other brands?

Please help me.
Thank you.

Last edited by Hamad_Spider; 11-12-2011 at 08:52 AM.
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Old 11-12-2011, 09:13 AM   #2
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They are good readers. But. All are 6". Reading technical PDF on an ereader you will need a larger screen (9"). Check out Pocketbook's 9xx series. They will release a new FW soon and people seem to be happy with the RC pre-releases (annotation function improved).
I don't know about the support for right-to-left writing, but PB is known for it's openness. There are fonts, which support a very wide range of glyphs.

No reader will do email, maybe through the web browser, but not natively. Unless you get an Android based reader (nook, PRS-T1) and root it. Then you can install mail clients.

Ultimately, PDF with embedded graphics will be your goal. You could ask someone in the Pocketbook forum to check a file for you, if it displays all right. PDF is the worst format for ereaders and are a bit of a challenge to all of them.
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Old 11-12-2011, 09:21 AM   #3
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Hi Hamad_Spider, welcome to MobileRead! Let me comment on some of your points:

- If most of your reading consists of technical pdf-files then you should consider a 9,7'' device as there are Pocketbook 902/912, Onyx M90-92 and KindleDXG.
- If your papers in Persian are all pdf-files then they will pose no problem to any device. But if you have them as epub or mobi or even doc-files then I assume you can only display them with a Pocketbook reader but you must copy a Persian fontset to the Pocketbook.
- The Pocketbook 912 meets most of your other needs, too (I'm not sure about the dictionary, maybe use can ask this in the Pocketbook subforum) but you will have to spend (much) more than 200 Dollars for it.
- The readers you've mentioned are all good readers but they have only a 6'' screen. This may be too small for displaying pdf-files conveniently. It is possible, especially in landscape mode, but it's not clear how readable your files will be. Maybe you can post a typical file here and ask us to post you screenshots back.

Last edited by Billi; 11-12-2011 at 09:23 AM.
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Old 11-12-2011, 09:57 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hamad_Spider View Post
Sony PSR-T1, Kobo and Pocketbook are good readers. But can't decide which is better, according to my needs.
Should I consider other brands?
I have a Sony PSR-T1 and wouldn't recommend it for any kind of heavy duty pdf work. I'm an academic, and the SONY is pretty useless for my work purposes. I love it otherwise, though (but it's pretty new, only had it for a week).
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Old 11-12-2011, 10:02 AM   #5
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As others have said, you really need a large-screen device for PDFs; no 6" screen will display them in a satisfactory manner.
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Old 11-12-2011, 01:10 PM   #6
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Old 11-12-2011, 01:11 PM   #7
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Old 11-12-2011, 01:13 PM   #8
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Thank you for your quick and useful replies, guys.
Nine Inch devices, specially Pocketbook, are so expensive. But paying for something that you can't use (I mean buying a 6" device and finding out that it has no use for you), is more expensive!
As you say, 6" devices won't work for me.
I wonder, why Pocketbook does not reduce its prices while Kindle and Nook are getting very cheap.
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Old 11-12-2011, 05:12 PM   #9
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Jetbook with color eink and 9.7 screen will be released in a couple of weeks and is touted as being great for PDFs. It will also have speech recognition.

http://www.jetbookk12.com/jetbookcolor/
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Old 11-13-2011, 01:55 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Billi View Post
Maybe you can post a typical file here and ask us to post you screenshots back.
I made a PDF by merging pages of some other academic PDFs.
It is attached to this post.
May you please test it on your reader and tell me the result?
Taking screen-shots is highly appreciated.

Thank you.
Attached Files
File Type: pdf Challenging.pdf (4.85 MB, 248 views)
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Old 11-13-2011, 02:00 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KindleChickie View Post
Jetbook with color eink and 9.7 screen will be released in a couple of weeks and is touted as being great for PDFs. It will also have speech recognition.

http://www.jetbookk12.com/jetbookcolor/


So, new e-book reader generation is coming.
This new generation may break the prices.
I may be patient and not buy a reader till new color ones come to markets.
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Old 11-13-2011, 02:24 AM   #12
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My suggestion is to get a tablet.
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Old 11-13-2011, 02:54 AM   #13
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My suggestion is to get a tablet.
Thank you.
But tablets have the same problem as laptops: using LCD or LED to display. It makes eyes tired and not suitable for long time reading.
It is the reason of my decision to buying a book reader.
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Old 11-13-2011, 06:32 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hamad_Spider View Post
I made a PDF by merging pages of some other academic PDFs. It is attached to this post.
May you please test it on your reader and tell me the result?
Taking screen-shots is highly appreciated.
Here are three pages of your sample like they appear on the Pocketbook 902.
Attached Images
File Type: bmp scr0004.bmp (487.6 KB, 237 views)
File Type: bmp scr0005.bmp (487.6 KB, 196 views)
File Type: bmp scr0006.bmp (487.6 KB, 180 views)
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Old 11-13-2011, 07:08 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Billi View Post
Here are three pages of your sample like they appear on the Pocketbook 902.
Thank you, Billi.

They look so good. Actually, I didn't see any differences between these pictures and reading the PDF in computer.

I have some questions:
- Is there any differences in speed of rendering these pages in comparison to normal pages? Does it take a long (annoying) time?
- What does zooming do with PDFs? It works just like computer or destroys the formatting?
- What about 6" devices?

Last edited by Hamad_Spider; 11-13-2011 at 07:26 AM.
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