PocketBook 360° - new 5" ebook reader

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

I understand budget issues.. and I understand choosing according to what is most important to you. Certainly if you are reading A4 sized PDFs and other documents where a large format is desirable, then 5" and even 6" ebook readers would be just too small. But, if like me, you are interested in reading mostly novels and other almost wholely text based books, I think there are enough advantages of a 5" inch reader to outweigh the disadvantage of the smaller screen. That being said, if you prefer the 6" screen, more power to you. All I am arguing against is the proposition that some are advancing which is that 6" is the smallest reasonable size for a dedicated ebook device. I honestly feel that a 5" screen is a wonderful size for an ebook reader.

--
Bill

I am really sort of surprised that folks would get in an argument over 5" vs. 6". What do people think that everyone in the world has to have what they happen to like. It would be a sad state of affairs if we only had one choice for each thing IMHO. I am glad to see some variety and with exactly the same resolution available in both screen sizes there should be no difference in the number of pages a book takes up so long as you are young and can read the smaller print .

Dale

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by snipenekkid

I am still thinking that Mentor is going to have the most innovative, diverse and actually available family of ereading devices out there. I really like this look of this none. I like it not just because it has that campy look from the old Woody Allen movie Sleeper combined with 70s, ahem, style, but if the buttons function as I am hoping this would be a great recreational reading device. And a sub $200 price is imperative in that type of reader. Ideally sub-$150 would be the sort of device that people, even today, would impulse buy or buy as a gift for people who they know who are readers.

Like all current reading devices, a breakable glass layer over the display is the primary reason I would pass on one. Though my PDAs are all glass but a lot stronger simply because the size of the display allows for less flex in the display.

Nice device for sure.

the glass is actually the bottom layer of the display, not the top. A 5" should be more rugged in this regard than the current 6" devices.

Dale

[cerement]

Originally Posted by tompe

Well, an old rule of thumb for optimal readability is that a line should be around 60 characters (8-10 words). And that is what the random mass market paperback I just checked had.

Ideal is approximately 2-1/2 alphabets (65 characters) for a serifed text face. Electronic readers are limited by resolution, readable point sizes, horrifically bad hyphenation, bad font choices, and a whole host of other design problems forced on them by bad software designed by manufacturers, not readers.

5" is perfectly acceptable IF the software implements decent design choices. If the resolution is high enough, a readable typeface, left-justified (not full-justified), proper line spacing, etc., etc., etc.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by cerement

Ideal is approximately 2-1/2 alphabets (65 characters) for a serifed text face.

Yes, this is one way writing this (but I have seen 2 alphabets most often) but I think it is strange since different languages have different number of characters in the alphabet.

Yes, Bringhurt's Element of Typographical Style is a very good book.

[cerement]

Originally Posted by tompe

Yes, this is one way writing this (but I have seen 2 alphabets most often) but I think it is strange since different languages have different number of characters in the alphabet.

"2 alphabets" is more common when dealing with sans-serifed typefaces and/or left-justified/ragged-right text.

Bringhurst makes it very clear that he is referring to English and that other languages will have very different needs simply because of differences of word and sentence length and hyphenation (he also provides plenty of examples of integrating other languages within English copy).

One of the things that both Bringhurst and Knuth agree on is that hyphenation is extremely language specific.

[Amalthia]

you know, I think guys need to start carrying purses. (Then it really wouldn't matter if the screen is 5 inches or 6 inches.) I keep hearing about stuffing these readers into pockets and I keep thinking how do the screens not get cracked.

[Tom Tang]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Editor's Note: The following links go to webpages that are not in English. If you need them to be translated, Google has translation tools here.

PocketBook is a Ukraine based Netronix distributor similar to Bookeen. The reader software they ported is FBReader, and they just announced that they will support an open source project called PocketBook Free.

They've been selling the PocketBook 301 for some time now, and recently announced a new 5" reader called the 360°. Technical details are sparse, but you can find pictures here, and a brief writeup here. All I know so far is that the device probably has an accelerometer.

Dear Sir,

This is Tom of Netronix, the general manager. We have to ask for your help & understanding to remove this 5" reader from this thread. Because this is not the design for Pocketbook. Please kindly understand and remove it accrodingly right away to avoid the misunderstanding. Thanks for your understanding & cooperation. Any question, please kindly e-mail me. Here's my e-mail address for your reference. tom.tang@netronixinc.com

Regards,Tom

[kacir]

Originally Posted by Abelturd

@ Kacir
Stop tempting me!!
Like my craving isn't big enough as is.

You seem to know your stuff, please, can you tell me if it supports Czech, Slovak an Polish?

I found another nice article about the PocketBook 301 (the 6 inch device) and its legendary software here (with Google translation to English)
http://translate.google.com/translat...75&sl=ru&tl=en

They say the device can be reflashed very easily, has some un-bricking facility in place. They also say that no special fonts are needed. Just drag & drop some windows font.
So, to answer your question, I see no problem with reading Czech, Slovak and Polish texts "natively"

Sorry, I can't stop tempting you, I just HAVE to mention that the software supports directories/folders

Disclaimer: My Russian is quite rusty. Especially when it comes to written text

[Ice]

kacir
Furthermore, the software is coming together with free SDK!
Free PocketBook

That means everyone can implement any feature he wants Or at least there is a rather big chance to see the desired feature in the future (implemented by somebody else who is not so dependent on the company policy as the staff-developers)

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I have to agree that 5" is too small and 6" should be the minimum size.

I have to disagree. 6" is too big and 5" should be the perfect size for many people.

[Polyglot27]

I'm one of those who would not mind a 5 inch screen. I have read many books on my old Psion Series 3 with it's eBook software. I have also read many books on my Cassiopeia PDA running Mobibooks in Win CE. They both have small screens. The point is, I agree with Harry T and others that portability is important and as long as the font size is adjustable, what's wrong with pressing the page turn button a few time more often?
It would be good to have an A4 size screen at home too of course. Nothing wrong in that. It's just that I need a small one on me at all times.
As a photographer I had a Nikon SLR and a Minox compact. The Minox fitted in my pocket and I had it on me all the time. Guess which camera took most of the pictures I have?

[astra]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

I have to wonder how much real experience you have with a 5" screen?

Lets start with the fact that ebooks got started on PDAs and cell phones, often with 2.4-3.0" screens. I will grant that such small screens are not conducive to long stretches of reading.. but many people have and continue to read on them. Certainly the iPhone and iPod Touch with their 3.5" screens have become a major factor in the ebook world.

It started with 2.4" and that's why I never bought it.
The first reader I bought was Sony Reader PRS-500:
- No backlit display.
- Acceptable battery life
- The smallest acceptable screen size.

Even 6" is a bit too small.

[MaggieScratch]

I started reading ebooks on a Palm Tungsten E2 and then a Treo. I never minded the screen size--only the backlighting, which really bothered my eyes after an extended period of reading. I love my Cybook and while it is pretty portable it is not as portable as a PDA, especially if I want to carry a small handbag. An eInk device with a 5" screen seems to me to be the best of both worlds.

[keng2000]

I use 6" for reading Novels
8" for taking Note.
10" for Journal reading and present the text book on screen for students.

5" , No thanks, I can stick with IPhone.

[Kris777]

5" or 6" screen? This topic was discussed before:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32848