Thoughts on eBook readers

rustyblade · Post by **rustyblade** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 7:00 pm

jww wrote:Lots of issues with ziplock bags and the Kobo Touch

Something that a simple addition of a next page button would have solved. Going 100% touch was utter stupidity for an e-ink reader.

jww · Post by **jww** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 4:48 am

rustyblade wrote:
jww wrote:Lots of issues with ziplock bags and the Kobo Touch
Something that a simple addition of a next page button would have solved. Going 100% touch was utter stupidity for an e-ink reader.

Yeah, for whatever reason, the industry/marketing guys decided that button-less was the way of the future ..... My wife and I just bought a couple of Proporta BeachBuoy cases so we can read worry-free outdoors - and especially at the beach.

Seamaster · Post by **Seamaster** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 12:37 pm

jww wrote:
rustyblade wrote:
jww wrote:Lots of issues with ziplock bags and the Kobo Touch
Something that a simple addition of a next page button would have solved. Going 100% touch was utter stupidity for an e-ink reader.
Yeah, for whatever reason, the industry/marketing guys decided that button-less was the way of the future ...

I was never convinced. I think the cheap non-touch Kindle is still the pick of the litter.

jww · Post by **jww** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 1:54 pm

My Proporta BeachBuoy came in today. It's a great product, and I can read easily and navigate around without impact on the touch screen whatsoever. Using ziplock bags results in the bag sticking to the screen and registering multiple touches which messes up your bookmarks immeasurably.

Shiny poly cover though -- so it will likely glare in direct sunlight -- will have to be conscious of the angle I hold the reader at - but I think it will be worth it to provide utmost protection outside.

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 4:19 am

a tiny bit off topic, but may be of interest:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/ju ... ian-barnes

clive

jww · Post by **jww** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 11:14 am

Quite the contrary, Clive -- thx for posting.

GA Russell · Post by **GA Russell** » Sun Aug 05, 2012 9:04 pm

News relevant to the UK:

For every 100 print books sold (that's hardbacks and paperbacks combined), Amazon UK now sells 114 Kindle eBooks.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/au ... sfeed=true

rustyblade · Post by **rustyblade** » Mon Aug 06, 2012 5:34 am

GA Russell wrote:News relevant to the UK:

For every 100 print books sold (that's hardbacks and paperbacks combined), Amazon UK now sells 114 Kindle eBooks.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/au ... sfeed=true

There is something nice though about reading a good quality trade paperback with a good typesetting... Paper is great too if there is a diagram or glossary at the beginning or end of the book and you can easily flip to it.

That said, my e-reader is most certainly convenient and to be able to buy books on it pretty much anywhere there is 3G...

jww · Post by **jww** » Mon Aug 06, 2012 8:24 am

rustyblade wrote:...

There is something nice though about reading a good quality trade paperback with a good typesetting... Paper is great too if there is a diagram or glossary at the beginning or end of the book and you can easily flip to it.

That said, my e-reader is most certainly convenient and to be able to buy books on it pretty much anywhere there is 3G...

+1 --- Love the e-reader for convenience, etc. but still will pick up a trade or regular paper back on occasion as well.

jww · Post by **jww** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 11:47 am

New Kobo e-readers to be released --- the Kobo Mini presents a very interesting option in portability, I think. Love the size, which makes it so unbelievably more portable than the typical e-reader.

The Glo simply follows Barne's and Nobel's lead with what they have recently done with the Nook. A lighted e-reader is a great idea -- and kind of supplants entirely the LED portable light-for-e-readers market. Good idea for sure.

The Touch remains .... well, untouched

The Vox is replaced by the Arc -- in an attempted run at the Google Nexus tablet perhaps?? Not sure it will be successful as a tablet -- the VOX issues have been well documented -- as a tablet it's slow, cumbersome and just plain yucky to use. As an ereader, it's only sub-par because of the colour screen and speed issues, not to mention battery life.

I am thinking I might like to try a mini when it comes out -- stuffing it in a jeans pocket is a cool idea, just not sure that the screen size will do it for an e-reader although the video demo at Chapters.ca is pretty impressive. One thing that doesn't impress me with Kobo is their social networking features --- this notion of e-reading awards is just plain dumb in my mind - but that's my opinion, ymmv on that point.

GA Russell · Post by **GA Russell** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 12:26 pm

Three weeks ago Newegg got in a new supply of jetBook Lites and also the original jetBooks.

The Lites are only $56.95, so I got another as a backup.

There are limitations as to what it can do, but I'm not aware of a reader which can read more formats than the jetBook/Lite, and I'm not aware of a reader that will operate on flashlight batteries other than the Lite and the jetBook Mini. That's important to me because the rechargeable flashlight batteries are easily replaced when they eventually wear out. The lithium batteries of all the other readers eventually lose their lives even if not in use, so the clock is ticking on them. And when they are no good, you have to replace the device.

jww · Post by **jww** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 2:02 pm

I just watched this video on the Kobo Arc from the announcement event. It actually looks pretty slick --- especially with the ways it has a focused reader experience with full Android OS -- with full upgrade paths (e.g. from ICS to Jelly Bean). Looks actually quite interesting. Could actually be an option for the Google Nexus Tablet.