The Least Obtrusive Light

[Prestidigitweeze]

The thing I miss most about my stolen 350's official case is its incomparably slender and sinuous light. The stem and LED were the perfect size and in the perfect place for the 350: More than anything, it was that light which made reading as magical as watching a silent film.

Other lights I've tried seem awkward and spotty by comparison. They make the screen reflect focal points as distractingly as a balding relative's skull.

Is there any other light as slim and efficient? If so, please link.

If not, then those who dislike their official covers should think of me whenever they decide to sell.

I'm not thrilled with the construction and durability of the case itself, but I crave that integrated light. Nothing's more evocative in darkness than perfectly lit eInk and a slightly archaic font.

[vxf]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

The thing I miss most about my stolen 350's official case is its incomparably slender and sinuous light. The stem and LED were the perfect size and in the perfect place for the 350: More than anything, it was that light which made reading as magical as watching a silent film.

Other lights I've tried seem awkward and spotty by comparison. They make the screen reflect focal points as distractingly as a balding relative's skull.

Is there any other light as slim and efficient? If so, please link.

If not, then those who dislike their official covers should think of me whenever they decide to sell.

I'm not thrilled with the construction and durability of the case itself, but I crave that integrated light. Nothing's more evocative in darkness than perfectly lit eInk and a slightly archaic font.

Amazon has the pink one in stock now. Not cheap, but worth it. I fully agree with you, it's a great gadget.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by vxf

Amazon has the pink one in stock now. Not cheap, but worth it. I fully agree with you, it's a great gadget.

I think I speak for a lot of men on this board when I say this: even if I could stand looking at a pink cover, I wouldn't want to have to decline daily invitations to some really spiffy fistfights.

Of the two alternatives, blue is the only one I can pull off (or want to pull off, really).

[Phogg]

Dye.
hidden word

[Prestidigitweeze]

I choose life.

Tsurisly, Volks, I thought about dyeing while typing that previous response but decided the solution would be a wee Hank impractical.

Riddle me this, Riddler: If dyeing actually worked, then why has no one on mobileread ever gushed all over the Sony forum boasting of their success, h-m-m-m-m?

Decal Girl ought to offer a skin for the Reader cover as well as the Reader itself.

Until then, if anyone finds they absolutely can't stand their official Sony cover, please PM me, email me, or perform some other activity indicated by a verb that is also a noun.

Do not, however, guitar me under any circumstances. I absolutely refuse to be guitared.

[issybird]

I have a pink one I've never used. Baby steps. First get used to using your marbled red 950 cover in public, and then maybe you can step up to pink for your 350.

Victorian times, pink was the color for baby boys and blue for baby girls. Sometime in there it got swapped. You've cited a certain Edwardian style, maybe you just have to push it back a monarch.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Victorian times, pink was the color for baby boys and blue for baby girls. Sometime in there it got swapped. You've cited a certain Edwardian style, maybe you just have to push it back a monarch.

Yes, I emailed an article about that very thing --the arbitrary gendering of pink and blue -- to a gay friend who was simultaneously empowered and embittered. Yet it's amazing how tenaciously certain cultures cling to the synthetic tropes of masculinity.

For example, in NYC (which is far more provincial than many of my fellow citizens want to believe), people in the street actually voice their anger when a man who is not walking with a woman carries pink bags or accessories. Last time I was at my laundromat on Hudson, I was offered two bags in which to carry my clothes and chose the larger of the two, which happened to be pink. This incensed the woman behind me, who declared, "Zat ees *not* a bag for a man. I cannot be-*live* you chose zee pink wan!"

Having just worked for twenty hours straight, I found the bon mots were not flowing and walked out saying "It was *larger*!"

On the way home, I reflected on the encounters I might enjoy if I carried a pink reader with me and read it at a bar in Loisada.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Yes, I emailed an article about that very thing --the arbitrary gendering of pink and blue -- to a gay friend who was simultaneously empowered and embittered. Yet it's amazing how tenaciously certain cultures cling to the synthetic tropes of masculinity.

For example, in NYC (which is far more provincial than many of my fellow citizens want to believe), people in the street actually voice their anger when a man who is not walking with a woman carries pink bags or accessories. Last time I was at my laundromat on Hudson, I was offered two bags in which to carry my clothes and chose the larger of the two, which happened to be pink. This incensed the woman behind me, who declared, "Zat ees *not* a bag for a man. I cannot be-*live* you chose zee pink wan!"

Having just worked for twenty hours straight, I found the bon mots were not flowing and walked out saying "It was *larger*!"

On the way home, I reflected on the encounters I might enjoy if I carried a pink reader with me and read it at a bar in Loisada.

I have the pink reader with a Decal Girl apocalypse red skin,



Which matches the custom Skinit skin I designed for my Streak.

Perhaps you might get the pink cover and get it silk screened...



That should pass muster.

[Prestidigitweeze]

It's an interesting predicament: The more I say I'm not interested in pink, the more people insist I must have pink. I hadn't really expected that sort of insistence.

It isn't as if specifying that I want a non-pink case is some sort of prejudicial chromo-centrism. It isn't as if putting myself into embarrassing situations and frustrating my sense of aesthetics would do humankind any good. All that buying a pink case would do is annoy me. I'd end up never using it.

It isn't even as if aggressively contradicting a color choice is the norm for the Sony forum. If someone says, I must have a red 650 because black won't do, do people say, you absolutely must have black? I haven't seen that happen.

Perhaps it's just more fun to try to talk an uneasy male into accepting pink than it is to discuss solutions he might actively pursue.

[ScalyFreak]

I wouldn't be caught dead carrying a pink device or accessory, and I have been female since before I was born. The only pink you'll ever see me wear is as a part of my make-up, and even that is rare in the extreme. For me it has nothing to do with wanting to avoid ridicule or fist fights, pink is simply an ugly color and that is all there is to it.

That said, is this the case? I don't have a 350, so I don't know exactly what the official case is supposed to look like, but that link is what Google found. Pricey little bugger.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

It isn't even as if aggressively contradicting a color choice is the norm for the Sony forum. If someone says, I must have a red 650 because black won't do, do people say, you absolutely must have black? I haven't seen that happen.

Perhaps it's just more fun to try to talk an uneasy male into accepting pink than it is to discuss solutions he might actively pursue.

Ya think?

My personal long term plan is to find someone local with a machine shop to make me several brackets using the one in my stock sony cover as a model. It will be slightly longer at the tab folds to account for the thickness of the leather, and holes along both sides to accomidate stitching. Then I will send them to Josh at HM Curriers and have a custom tooled leather one made.

You want a light and you want one now, so I was trying to make your limited options seem palatable. Did you replace the unit that was stolen then?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Perhaps it's just more fun to try to talk an uneasy male into accepting pink than it is to discuss solutions he might actively pursue.

Aww, Presti, it's all in good fun, but I can see where it gets tedious. I'm sorry--as it happens, I only have a superfluous pink case with light. I don't have another suggestion.

[Ripplinger]

I absolutely love the Sony cover with light as well and use it most of the time (mine is blue though, I'm not a pink person at all and wouldn't use a pink one no matter how bad I wanted the lighted cover). However, now that it's hot weather, too hot for even a vest with lots of pockets, I'm forced to use a small purse and sadly it's too narrow for the lighted cover. So I now use this Verso light that I love until it's cold weather again and I get back to my big pockets. This light is small so it also fits in my tiny purse when I think I'll be out reading when it's dark, and I just slip it on when I need it. It's actually a very good light also, lights up the screen on my 350 very nicely and pretty evenly, no glare spots at all. And it's rechargable, no batteries to deal with. It lasts just about as long as the Sony cover between recharges.

http://www.lightwedge.com/Shop/E-reader/Verso-Arc-Light

[Prestidigitweeze]

Scaly:

My girlfriend isn't a fan of pink either, but I doubt people would pick fights with her if she were. Justifying arbitrary color preferences by gender seemed necessary after saner arguments failed to take effect.

Sadly, that case fits the 300, not the 350, or I'd be (as men in blue often say) all over it.

Phogg:

That's a rather involved master plan, but I'm with you. The absence of the wee light is the one thing keeping me from having Josh make me a case.

And yes, I was able to find a cheap 350 at Radio Shack -- the last one in five stores, just as my 950 proved to be the very last new model at any Best Buy in New York City.

I'm using a TuffLuv multi at the moment, which I bought with a few stray credit card points. It's versatile, but I hate it. My 350 has gone from something special aesthetically to an oversized pocket calculator in a black case from a stationery store in Chinatown. And I don't mean an inadvertent hipster case emblazoned with phrases like Happy Driver, either.

Issybird:

I understand. And I congratulate you on picking the least expensive option for the most efficient case. Since you like the color, so much the better.

Ripplinger:

That's the sort of suggestion I was looking for. It appears the light might create shiny spots on my 350, but as you say it doesn't, I'll have a leer. I love the fact it's said to work with the Pocket Edition.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Hooray! I'm glad you were able to find another 350!