How comfortable are 10" eReaders to hold

[masterz87]

I currently have a Kobo Aura H20 and it feels like it's about time to upgrade as it can't handle large(as in file size) pdfs all that well.
Further I'm going to get an eReader that runs android this time around(again) solely because a lot of my course materials are all digital and they come via either a mobile app, a windows app, or the web browser and I'd like to be able to read them on something other than an LCD.

So that just leaves the chinese readers(since the companies won't give me an EPUB that's using ADE or whatever overdrive is using for their DRM).

I was just going to get the 7.8" ereaders but I don't feel like they'd be large enough(as some of the ebooks seem to be PDFs since they lack the standard options on my phone).

More-or-less I need to know how well a 10.3" ereader feels to hold for extended periods of time. I believe it'd be similar to the size of a hardcover(or thereabouts). I know that obviously with a screen that large I'm giving up the ability to ever pocket it anywhere as I currently can with my h20.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by masterz87

So that just leaves the chinese readers(since the companies won't give me an EPUB that's using ADE or whatever overdrive is using for their DRM).

Can you properly explain this?

[masterz87]

All of my course materials require a Cengage Unlimited subscription. They don't give you epubs. You _must_ use the android app or read on a computer through the browser if your main OS isn't Windows. Windows I think has an app. My Nursing class books are all through Vitalsource. Which Kobo doesn't support since they don't, they only have an android app. The books are Epubs in those courses though.

It's the IT course, the book is Cengage ones.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by masterz87

All of my course materials require a Cengage Unlimited subscription. They don't give you epubs. You _must_ use the android app or read on a computer through the browser if your main OS isn't Windows. Windows I think has an app. My Nursing class books are all through Vitalsource. Which Kobo doesn't support since they don't, they only have an android app. The books are Epubs in those courses though.

It's the IT course, the book is Cengage ones.

That is odd that there is no iOS app.

[MarjaE]

I have a Kindle Dx. Which is probably on the big side for 9.7". Before Corona, I would often read it while walking, when away from traffic, dogs, etc. I have other frustrations with it, but not with its size.

[masterz87]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That is odd that there is no iOS app.

There is an iOS app. I just forgot to include it in my typing. They have an Android/iOS app. A windows application,(i think) a Windows Store application, and the web browser.

But either way having an e-reader that has the play store will help me be able to read better. Since I already utilize google's text-to-speech functionality to have the books read to me since I can't stand to read long-form content on an LCD(can't explain it properly but it makes my eyes tireder faster, even though I do program for a few hours at a time and that's sorta OK).

Originally Posted by MarjaE

I have a Kindle Dx. Which is probably on the big side for 9.7". Before Corona, I would often read it while walking, when away from traffic, dogs, etc. I have other frustrations with it, but not with its size.

OK then I guess I'll be going with the 10.3" one then, now I just need to decide if having a sd card is important enough to justify dealing with android 6.0 on the boyue likebook(with the supposed promise of 8.0) or going with the Onyx Boox.

I am leaning towards the Boox since it already has android 8.0 and 7.0 introduced a lot of behind-the-scenes improvements to the performance of apps.

[Skydog]

I can recommend the Boox Nova2 which ships with Android 9.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Skydog

I can recommend the Boox Nova2 which ships with Android 9.

It's off-topic because it's does not have a 10.3" screen.

[masterz87]

Originally Posted by Skydog

I can recommend the Boox Nova2 which ships with Android 9.

I was previously looking at the Boox Nova2 but I don't think 7.8" will be large enough. If you've read textbooks via Vitalsource on the Boox Nova2 then I can be alieved and I'll go with the 7.8" model. I was going to go with it but after looking at what size hardcovers are and doing the math I don't know if a 14% larger screen is enough to help me enough.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by masterz87

I was previously looking at the Boox Nova2 but I don't think 7.8" will be large enough. If you've read textbooks via Vitalsource on the Boox Nova2 then I can be alieved and I'll go with the 7.8" model. I was going to go with it but after looking at what size hardcovers are and doing the math I don't know if a 14% larger screen is enough to help me enough.

Have a look at the iPad Air if possible. It has a 10.5" screen. Also look at the iPad Mini that has a 7.9" screen. I think you'll end up going for the larger screen.

[Marinolino]

Originally Posted by masterz87

I was previously looking at the Boox Nova2 but I don't think 7.8" will be large enough. If you've read textbooks via Vitalsource on the Boox Nova2 then I can be alieved and I'll go with the 7.8" model. I was going to go with it but after looking at what size hardcovers are and doing the math I don't know if a 14% larger screen is enough to help me enough.

We can comfortably read paperbacks & hardcovers (the page width about 5-6 inches) either in the portraite mode (margins cropped) or in the landscape mode (it takes two or three screens per page) because 8" screens are approx. 6" (16 cm) wide in landscape, and for the wider hardcovers (7 or 8 inches page width) we can also use landscape mode together with a crop function or a similar empty-margin reducing mode.

I can comfortably read a lot of my A4 b/w documents on 300 dpi 7.8" Aura because many of those are either two-column pdfs (using two-column mode or panning or reflow mode) or are single-column A4 documents but with the text width at about 16 cm (6 1/2 ") instead of 17-18 cm (over 7"), using landscape mode, margins completely cropped.

[hobnail]

Originally Posted by masterz87

So that just leaves the chinese readers(since the companies won't give me an EPUB that's using ADE or whatever overdrive is using for their DRM).

The Chinese ones, e.g., Onyx, seem to be somewhat dodgy when it comes to support. What about the Pocketbook?


https://www.newegg.com/p/0VG-00FH-00004


https://www.pocketbook-int.com/int/p...specifications

[masterz87]

Originally Posted by hobnail

The Chinese ones, e.g., Onyx, seem to be somewhat dodgy when it comes to support. What about the Pocketbook?


https://www.newegg.com/p/0VG-00FH-00004


https://www.pocketbook-int.com/int/p...specifications

The issue is that they don't have the playstore. And as I said previously in the thread I have to have *something* that supports vitalsource's book platform. If they'd give me standard DRMed books I could do that but they won't. The issue has to do with the fact that it has to be running android since all of these companies have partnered with Vitalsource for their ebooks and those files are VBKs which is a custom encrypted version of an epub or a pdf that only their software can open. It's vendor lockin but it's not like I have much of a choice in the matter.

Because the teachers use the products that come with the books to do assignments. So either way I'd have to pay the fees to access that software to do homework so I just went with their plan deal as it was the most economical way of doing things.

[Quoth]

10" is tiring. Oddly the old Kindle DXG is about the same outside dimensions as 10" gadgets but much heavier.

I couldn't read for hours with either in my hand.

However PDFs and technical books and magazines need 10" minimum at 200 dpi and ideally much better. The DXG, though a brighter screen than the DX, is the far too low a resolution at 167 dpi approximately. I found it useless for most technical books, PDFs and magazines.