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Tygon
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 11:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looks good... but it seems like it's missing the same thing that all these readers are missing thus far: color.

I know that e-ink is really easy on the eyes, doesn't require backlighting and doesn't use much energy, but a lack of color to display pictures properly will always be an issue.

I do hope they will continue to work on these though. I very much agree with Michael Stackpole that they are the future of reading, not to mention publishing.

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anthony
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 11:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not certain about this one...

The screen is a 5" monochrome LCD, not e-ink or whatever that competitors use. (The Sony PRS-500 uses a 6" 'electronic ink' screen)
20Hours 'active usage' is claimed, but I assume that's NOT if also used as an .mp3 player.

How good is it at .PDF display?
The Sony PRS-500 is completely tits at the job, at least. It can barely 'zoom' and without reflow of the text, it's impossible to even read anthing from the Bookshelf as it's formatted for A4/Letter size.
(The PRS-505 is supposed to have it, either built-in or downloaded as a FirmWare upgrade depending on when you bought it)

And that cheap marketing trick, listing it with an old price of $299, and not displaying the new price before you click on the 'buy' button...
(It's $179, if anyone wonders. Why did they drop the price that much? Has it ever been sold at $299? )

And final insult to Non-Americans, sure they ship internationally, by DHL...

for me that would mean in addition to the cost of the unit, and the high shipping costs, I would also have to pay VAT(25%) and customs declaration($15) on not just the price of the unit, but on the shipping cost as well.**
Also, DHL insists on showing up at your home during working hours...
(First sign is a note in my mailbox saying they were there, but I wasn't home, and please call their representative to set up a new delivery... Only ONCE have I managed to gt them to show up at my office. )
So, yeah, I step away from anyone insisting on DHL or other 'fast speditors' as they cost too much and is a bl**dy inconvenience.

** Fast speditors like DHL ALWAYS handles the customs paperwork for any goods they ship. Stuff sent by Royal Mail/USPS is only declared if a bored employee spots it and decides that it looks expensive enough, or something... Small packages often slip by...
DHL once stiffed me on customs for goods that cost less than 200NOK($32 or so) even if the rules say that goods costing less than that is excempt. They just looked at the total cost.

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anthony
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 11:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There's another error in the blurb for this unit...

They say that electronic books are cheaper than their dead-tree equivalents. That's not often true...
And often, it's only because it doesn't have to be physically shipped out.

Frankly, the best 'ebook reader' I own is my Psion netBook.
Big 6" VGA 256Colour screen, full keyboardI(a good one, too), handles all the formats I need, .PDF, RTF, .DOC(with a conversion program I bought years ago), HTML(using Opera 4.13... OK it's an ancient version... ) .TXT...
Colur isn't really needed on a reader. It's nice, sometimes, but it usually means a slightly less crisp screen and much higher power consumption.

It handles CF and PCMCIA sized media(some other media can be used if there's a PCMCIA-sized adapter) and it reliably gives me 5+ Hours of active use.(It was 8+ Hours when it was new... in 1999)

Of course, it doesn't do .mp3... at least not in HW, and the software player someone wrote doesn't like Stereo, and it tends to lag everything else.

Did I mention that it can also PRINT? Using IRDa or FIR(Fast IR), or even through a PC when attached with serial cable...

One step forward, two steps back...

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tobi3B
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 12:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDyDP3gIGW0

The new Sony PRS-505 demo video

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Skazwolf
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 1:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

To be honest, I'd get this over the Kindle just to get away from the DRM.

Tygon wrote:
Looks good... but it seems like it's missing the same thing that all these readers are missing thus far: color.

I know that e-ink is really easy on the eyes, doesn't require backlighting and doesn't use much energy, but a lack of color to display pictures properly will always be an issue.

I do hope they will continue to work on these though. I very much agree with Michael Stackpole that they are the future of reading, not to mention publishing.


That's pretty much the entire reason for using electronic paper, adding color would bring in a those issues. But if the Jetbook is already using LCD, I don't see why not.

Mike Regan wrote:
Flash and Glitz but no real meat. They don't say anything, only show some guy 'flipping pages'.

Also another thing one should have is a standard USB port since CF and SD chips seem to be on the way out in favor of thumb drives. Thumb drives now are getting to be like cell phones, everybody has one.


SD and CF cards are a lot smaller than a USB port though, and who wants to read with a USB drive sticking out of their book? They shouldn't get rid of the cards, but me, I'd only use the USB port just to load books onto it from my computer and not directly read from it.
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anthony
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 1:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thumb drives are not taking over for SD and similar cards...
(I have about a dozen of them, ranging from old 128MB to 4GB, so I'm 'familiar' with them)

Just look at the Sony...
It can actually take both SD and MS cards...
(I thought Sony had a policy of not supporting anything but their own formats... but they're now supporting SD... )

A USB-port is big...
A SD-slot is much smaller. And when you go mini or micro, we're talking ridiculously small.

There's also the fact that people are idiots, and will leave the thumb-drive in the port when they stuff the reader in their pocket/bag/whatever, and will break the port.
Trust me, it WILL happen...
(I do PC support, and some of our users have portables... broken USB-ports happen... Also the occasional 'run over by a SUV', but that's another story... )

People will also try to plug in other devices...
'Why won't this thing recognise my printer?'
'I plugged in a wireless network adapter, so why can't I access my homeshare with it?'
And so on... and on and on...

At the moment, the 'best' ebook readers are ASUS or ACER(or whatever is your favorite) mini notebooks.
They can handle just about any format thrown at them, most storage devices, too, and even play your .mp3 files. And if you want to download the latest files from a certain bookshelf on a saturday morning, guess what, Wireless networking is built-in.

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anthony
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Colour, the mortal enemy of batteries...
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Leonato
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

But for some time now, they have been working on getting E-Ink in color. It would have the advantage of drawing no power unless it was changing (like with regular E-Ink). They are even holding out plans, once they can get the multiple color thing figured out, that they will be able to do e-ink based photo frames.

It does seem however, that for the near future, e-ink will be monochrome only. Though I must admit, as far as eye-strain goes.... E-Ink is the clear winner, be it monochrome the way it is.

ANYway, that is my 2c Wink

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Leonato

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Kellan Meig'h
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:38 pm    Post subject: My 0.02 USD worth Reply with quote

CF and SD cards aren't dead by a long shot.

I don't think cameras will ever ship USB thumb drive only. I could just see that drive, hanging out there, begging to be snapped off, not to mention the damage to the camera when that happens.

I will state that a e-book is nothing without the ability to load from your own computer and be able to read .txt, .rtf and .pdf formats. I gave up a long time ago on html for my stories because too many people were complaining that they couldn't read my html 4.0 compliant work. That's why I use .pdf format.

Need to check out this .fb2 format, though. I might see a need to support this in the future.

Still waiting for an e-book reader that makes sense (but This ECTACO and that Acer mini w/ the hdd, $299 @ Costco is looking better and better),

Kellan

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Rabbit
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I love my Kindle, which will read (most) PDF's as well as works in _many_ other formats. Kindle only charges for conversion if you use the cell-phone system to send the files, which is reasonable since this service isn't free to Amazon, either. (If you want to convert your files for free, you simply physically plug the Kindle into your computer.)

Many people read the Kindle directions poorly or incompletely-- they come across something they don't personally approve of, like the charges for converting files, then get angry and don't read the next paragraph where it explains how to accomplish the same thing for free with slightly more effort. They then spread the misinformation all over the place, where it is accepted as the truth.

I read 77 novels and other works on my Kindle the first year I owned it, plus many newspapers and magazines I didn't keep track of. My cost savings vis-a-vis paper books was easily enough to pay for the device (not including travel costs to and from the bookstore) and I was able to buy titles I'd _never_ have found in stock anywhere. I carry it with me wherever I go, and have to say that no gadget has in recent years brought me so much satisfaction and joy.

Currently I'm at a furcon, where I'm giving writing panels. Tomorrow, at a panel on publishing, I intend to urge aspiring furry authors to Kindle-publish their works. I'd already have done so, if I were more tech-savvy and able to do so myself. This, or something very like it, is IMO the future of the written word. I've nothing bad to say about it.
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Tygon
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 3:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mike Regan wrote:
Not get rid of the others but add USB to them.

And Tygon, as for color, how many paperbacks are there that contain color graphics aside from the cover? If they have any graphics at all they will be BW line drawings to save money. If you put out the same book and jsut change to color graphics the cost to print goes up ten times and really is not necessary for most works unless you are talking comics.


Because people will WANT color before they accept this. If they have something with a screen they will want to put pictures on it.

For that matter, why mp3 support? A paperback doesn't have sounds either but this jet thing has mp3 support. It's the very same reasoning.

BTW, I didn't notice that it had an LCD screen, I assumed that it was e-ink.

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Skazwolf
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 6:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tygon wrote:
Mike Regan wrote:
Not get rid of the others but add USB to them.

And Tygon, as for color, how many paperbacks are there that contain color graphics aside from the cover? If they have any graphics at all they will be BW line drawings to save money. If you put out the same book and jsut change to color graphics the cost to print goes up ten times and really is not necessary for most works unless you are talking comics.


Because people will WANT color before they accept this. If they have something with a screen they will want to put pictures on it.

For that matter, why mp3 support? A paperback doesn't have sounds either but this jet thing has mp3 support. It's the very same reasoning.

BTW, I didn't notice that it had an LCD screen, I assumed that it was e-ink.


MP3 players exist. E-book readers exist. Why not put them together for an easy marketing gimmick? Besides, when would a color screen be absolutely critical for a book? The primary function of it is to read books, and few books I've read had color illustrations.
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Tygon
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 8:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Valhalla_Wolf wrote:
MP3 players exist. E-book readers exist. Why not put them together for an easy marketing gimmick? Besides, when would a color screen be absolutely critical for a book? The primary function of it is to read books, and few books I've read had color illustrations.


Did you read my post at all? It's not a matter of it being necessary, it's a matter of people wanting it.

Oh, and color screens exist too? Why not put one in an e-book reader so people can look at digital photos too? Same marketing gimmick.

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Tygon
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 8:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mike Regan wrote:
Well, if all writers are being encouraged to go Kindle and not paper, there is something to consider there. Looks like the days of new paper and ink books are coming to an end. All publishing will be solely via people like Amazon and there will be no place for traditional publishers and printers in the next few years. It may be time to get out of the business and leave it to the 'Big Boys' to decide who gets published.


That's in part what Michael Stackpole things will happen.

I say in part, because paper books will never disappear. However, the face of publishing books will change. He suspects that the paperback book will decline dramatically. Instead, for those who still want to read actual books hardcovers will be made. The techniques to make these have become dramatically cheaper in the recent years.

Also, he thinks there won't be such 'Big Boys' anymore, and the weight will shift towards self published authors. It is rather easy to make a PDF or a similar file of a book if you already have it as a text document. Of course, the Kindle doesn't lend itself very well to that idea, but I doubt that it will be the only e-book reader out there.

All just speculation, of course.

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Syrius
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 3:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

*Loads Bookr on his PSP*

*Loads PSP with PDF and TXT files*

*Lives a long, happy, prosperous life*

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