2 questions for large e-reader users (9+")

[HarryHutton]

Hey! I've got an M92 and use it a fair bit for reading journal articles and textbooks on. It seems to be quite a niche to do this, with most people just reading off monitors or tablets. Hoping to get a bit of feedback to to spur some new design in this area - I'm a product design student myself.

1) What are the things you like about your e-reader?

2) What are the things you dislike?

If you have any suggestions for how an e-reader of the future should work, would also love to hear it, thanks!

[ManDay]

About the M92 design (software deficiencies aside) I like it's fairly large screen compared to other readers which allows me to read PDF one page at a time. I like the stylus for annotations and sketches. I also like that the stylus is passive. Changing batteries is a no-go for me.

I do not like the rather cheap and fragile joystick. I do not like the bezel around the screen, I'd rather a plane surface like that of a tablet. The lack of a touch input is also mediocre. Also, I had to build my own pen from the casing of a real pen, because the original one was very inconvenient.

I'll not buy another 9.7" reader. Only >12" devices for academical reading and 6" onces for casual reading.

[Jmirko]

Originally Posted by HarryHutton

Hey! I've got an M92 and use it a fair bit for reading journal articles and textbooks on. It seems to be quite a niche to do this, with most people just reading off monitors or tablets. Hoping to get a bit of feedback to to spur some new design in this area - I'm a product design student myself.

1) What are the things you like about your e-reader?

2) What are the things you dislike?

If you have any suggestions for how an e-reader of the future should work, would also love to hear it, thanks!

Hi Harry,

Glad to hear that my M92 ended up in the right hands!

I think your research will reveal that although e-ink reader users are indeed a "niche" compared to tablet users, they have very diverse needs and preferences.

I am definitely a "niche within a niche" user - I don't have a lot of time to read books, I mostly read online content on my smartphone, tablet, and laptop. What I have been searching for is the perfect e-ink reader for taking handwritten notes in meetings at work.

I think that this is a very underrated functionality which, if implemented correctly, could bring large e-ink devices into the mainstream. The price would need to be right, of course, but this is closely tied to production quantities due to economies of scale.

Here is a short list of attributes of my dream e-ink device:

1. Must have's:
a. 10-inch screen - large enough to read A4 pdfs (without margins), small enough to carry around and handle comfortably
b. Electromagnetic screen - to allow handwriting, as in Irex and Hanvon devices, the Asus EeeNote), or your Onyx Boox M92
c. Microphone - I use this to record meetings in case I miss something
d. External storage - audio files can take up a lot of space
e. Open Android or support for efficient note-taking workflow (minimum number of clicks to create, rename, open, close, save, search, edit and back up notes). I find this to be the Achilles-heel of most e-readers - it's surprising how poorly thought-out the software is, even if the hardware would support handwriting.
2. Nice to have's:
a. Capacitive touchscreen - allows using the device without the stylus, while allowing random access to functions - much faster than using hardware buttons which allow only sequential access (e.g. scrolling through options). I am only aware of the Hanvon E920, E930, and the Sony DPT S-1 that has both electromagnetic and capacitive, so this is a fairly unique technology for e-ink.
b. Glassless screen - sometimes called "flexible", but the point is not actually bending the screen, but the increased durability and reduced weight that comes with not using glass in the screen. The Sony DPT-S1, the Wexler FlexOne, and the Boyue C61R are constructed this way.
c. Frontlight - the Hanvon E930 is the first 10-inch reader to incorporate a front light. I don't know how good it is - the larger the screen, the more difficult to achieve uniform distribution of the light.
d. Large stylus - I agree with the previous poster, the usual tiny pens are useless for writing, they are only good for pressing on-screen buttons. It's fairly easy to convert a ballpen into a sheath for the thin stylus, but why should we need to do that?
I have heard people say that the stylus should be housed in the device itself, to save you from losing it. I don't agree with this: if you have a decent stylus, it will be too thick to insert into the (hopefully thin) device. Hanvon found a nice-looking solution to this with the E930, but I think it increases the size of the device unnecessarily. Besides, you should always use a cover to protect your reader, so why not just keep the stylus attached to the inside of the cover, with an old-fashioned elastic loop?
e. Flush screen: yes, it does look and feel nicer than a recessed screen, and it's easier to press objects near the edge.

Are you planning to design an e-reader, or are you just interested in the topic?