Ebook Reader to Hand Out at Conference?

[saarkagan]

Hello,

A colleague of mine had a great idea!

She is in charge of organizing a very high-profile/prestigious conference held once a year and thought of using an e-book reader as a way of handing out the conference materials instead of paper. This would also act as a gift which the delegates would be able to keep, re-use, and enjoy.

My question to you the community is:

What e-book reader should she use? Which reader would provide a combination of quality and price (they would have to buy several thousand pieces). Also, the reader should be able to support the popular document formats (.doc?, .pdf?)

Finally, the most important thing is that the e-book reader should be able to receive live updates via some sort of wireless connection (802.11 ?) This way they can update the attendees with any last minute changes.... directly to their reader.

Please let me know what you guys think. We would both really appreciate your help and could definitely use the expertise of the community when making such a large decision.

Thanks,

Saar...

[zelda_pinwheel]

hello, and welcome to the forum. i'm sure you'll get plenty of advice here to make your decision ! i think the idea of giving ebooks out at a conference is a brilliant one, definitely.

it might be helpful to have more information though. for example, when will this conference take place ? for such a large order, you should try to order early, to be sure there will be enough supply. and if you order a large enough quantity directly from the manufacturer, perhaps you could get a discount.

also, where will this conference be held ? to my knowledge, the wireless connexion could be a bit problematic. kindle has a wireless connexion, so if you could create a guide with links (like the MR kindle guide available here) the attendees could simply download the latest version of the conference documents, however kindle might not be a very good option for other reasons. and i don't know whether it supports text formats like .doc.

another tip, pdf is not a good format for ebooks unless it is 1. formatted to the size of the screen, or 2. "reflowable". a better option would be .rtf (supported by several if not all devices) or html.

i am not sure whether other devices currently offer wireless connections, although i believe that will be coming soon on several of them.

don't hesitate to take a look around, you might find some useful info in some of the other forums ! you might want to start with the wiki and the comparison matrix.

please do keep us posted !

[Nate the great]

My first suggestion is that you format the PDFs to the screen size of whatever reader you end up getting. There are several devices that can handle PDFs, but they do a better job when the PDF doesn't have to be resized.

My second suggestion is that you hire a couple people (who already own a similar ebook reader) to run tech support just for the reader during the conference. You should probably hire them a week before the conference. If the 3k devices each require 10 minutes to set up then you are looking at 500 man hours of work.

I have a device to suggest.Your Wifi requirement is a killer. Very few readers have Wifi. If not for the Wifi, I would recommend the Hanlin V3. It has the broadest format support of any reader, and the manufacturer has been releasing regular updates. It even supports Powerpoint. Here is the product page, and here is a PDF spec sheet.

I also have an outside the box suggestion. If you want broad format support, and you want Wifi, then you might want to look at the Asus eee 701 running WinXP. The upside is that there is almost no format it can't read and it retails for $400. The downside is that it has a laptops battery life. (It is a laptop after all.)

[wallcraft]

If live updates are essential, then only the Kindle and the iLiad are candidates.

The Kindle will only work if the conference is in the US and at a location that is in range of Sprint EVDO. The updates could be via e-mail to Amazon for re-sending via Whispernet, or via clicking on a pre-built link in a MOBI ebook.

The iLiad has WiFi, but you may need some serious Linux expertise on hand (before and during the conference) to get the iLiads working smoothly in this environment. An advantage of the iLiad is that you can add custom applications.

Both the Kindle and the iLiad allow notes, the Kindle by typing on its (tiny) keyboard and the iLiad via a stylus.

On the Kindle the documents have to be MOBI (AZW) ebooks, but can have been converted from several document types. On the iLiad, PDFs formatted for the screen size would be best.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by saarkagan

Hello,

A colleague of mine had a great idea!

She is in charge of organizing a very high-profile/prestigious conference held once a year and thought of using an e-book reader as a way of handing out the conference materials instead of paper. This would also act as a gift which the delegates would be able to keep, re-use, and enjoy.

Sounds like she has a prestigious budget to play with. How many attendees are expected?

My question to you the community is:

What e-book reader should she use? Which reader would provide a combination of quality and price (they would have to buy several thousand pieces). Also, the reader should be able to support the popular document formats (.doc?, .pdf?)

Finally, the most important thing is that the e-book reader should be able to receive live updates via some sort of wireless connection (802.11 ?) This way they can update the attendees with any last minute changes.... directly to their reader.

Please let me know what you guys think. We would both really appreciate your help and could definitely use the expertise of the community when making such a large decision.

The biggest limitation will be the live update. As mentioned, your choices in dedicated readers narrow to Kindle and iLiad.

I'd be more inclined to go with a multi-function device like a Palm OS PDA, Windows Mobile device, or Nokia Internet Tablet. Updates will be easier and a broad range of document formats are supported. The downside is the smaller backlit screen.

And I'd shy away from PDF as the format, unless you can custom create PDFs sized for the display on the device you choose.
______
Dennis

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

As others have pointed out, WiFi connectivity is tough... it's just not widely done yet. You might want to consider putting your files on something like a USB key or an SD drive that your desired device can read (which gives your clients the added benefit of being able to view your material on other devices like PCs, laptops, etc, when not actively using the reader.

Here's another idea: Look into the UMPCs, like the Asus eeePC. Those devices can do wireless, can read DOCs, PDFs (I believe... you'd have to download the Acrobat Reader), and accept USB keys. And compared to some e-book readers (well... actually all of 'em), the eeePC would be a bargain.

[saarkagan]

Hi guys,

Thank you for all your responses!

To answer some of your questions: The conference is almost a year way (so plenty of time for planning), it is expected to have close to 3,000 attendees (so 3,000 devices), and it is not being held in the United States (so no wireless for Kindle).

I hear you loud and clear about the .pdf format. I've read similar things... that it doesn't size well and it is hard to read. So I'm thinking either html or rtf. I'm leaning more towards html because of its flexibility and ability to include pictures.

I've considered the Asus eee as an alternative to an e-book reader but like you said the battery life is problematic. Also, it kind of looses the coolness of the "ebook reader as alternative to paper handouts" concept but still worth considering.

Nate, thanks for the Hanlin recommendation. According to the comparison matrix it's only $60 cheaper than the Kindle. Is there any reason not to just get the Kindle? (Assuming we're giving up on the wireless thing?). Also the eee pc starts at $400... is that cheaper than most e-book readers?

Finally, there is a product on the Netronix website called the EB-611 6" Wireless Electronic Book http://www.netronixinc.com/product_e-book.htm
It seems to have what I'm looking for. Anybody know how much it is? Or where I can find more information? Their site is not very helpful.

Thanks and again for all your help and well thought out responses.

Cheers,

Saar...

[Nate the great]

I recommended the Hanlin V3 because you wanted this to be as easy as possible for the attendee. The V3 reads many many formats without any need for conversion. The Kindle does not.

As for the Netronix EB-611, it hasn't been released yet. That is why I didn't recommend it to you. But since it runs Windows CE, it should be able to support a broad selection of formats. All the ones you might expect to read on Windows should be accessible. Unfortunately, we won't know if this is true until the device is released. The manufacturer might have tweaked the OS in such a way as to make the third party software unusable.

[saarkagan]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

I recommended the Hanlin V3 because you wanted this to be as easy as possible for the attendee. The V3 reads many many formats without any need for conversion. The Kindle does not.

As for the Netronix EB-611, it hasn't been released yet. That is why I didn't recommend it to you. But since it runs Windows CE, it should be able to support a broad selection of formats. All the ones you might expect to read on Windows should be accessible. Unfortunately, we won't know if this is true until the device is released. The manufacturer might have tweaked the OS in such a way as to make the third party software unusable.

Any idea when it will be out?

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by saarkagan

Any idea when it will be out?

Almost certainly before the end of September.

[pshrynk]

I don't have any suggestions, but i want to go to that conference!

[JSWolf]

If you can do reflowable PDF, wait until the new formware for the Sony PRS-505 is available. That way, you can find out if that would work for what it is you want. The 505's new firmware is supposed to be supporting reflowable PDF and in that case, that would make it easy to create and support.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

..i think the idea of giving ebooks out at a conference is a brilliant one, definitely.
...when will this conference take place ?
...where will this conference be held ?

... and how do I get past security

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by saarkagan

I've considered the Asus eee as an alternative to an e-book reader but like you said the battery life is problematic. Also, it kind of looses the coolness of the "ebook reader as alternative to paper handouts" concept but still worth considering.

...Also the eee pc starts at $400... is that cheaper than most e-book readers?

The Asus EeePC is in the same cost ballpark with the Sony reader and Kindle (they are $300 and $350, respectively, and the Sony may be had for less at some outlets... but I'm sure, in the numbers you're looking for, that someone will give you a deal). And it may not be a dedicated e-book reader, but I think it would still provide a good deal of "cool factor," not to mention still being greener than paper.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by saarkagan

Nate, thanks for the Hanlin recommendation. According to the comparison matrix it's only $60 cheaper than the Kindle. Is there any reason not to just get the Kindle?

The most obvious reason not to go with the Kindle is that Amazon won't sell it outside the U.S. You could probably manage to sneak a few units by when the weren't looking, but 3k is a bit much.

Since you have a year to play with, and you want such a large block of units, you might consider contacting Netronix directly and telling them you're interested in about 3,000 units. They might be able to work something out for you, even if they aren't quite released yet. At a minimum, that level of interest ought to persuade them to talk with you about the matter.