Topic: e-readers are amazing! (Read 19272 times)

Toba · « **Reply #200 on:** 10 Apr 2011, 06:18 »

I made a thing.

Nerds who know *nix: this lets you put files you write onto your Kindle, without a bunch of rubbish. If you use Linux and really like reading on your Kindle, this is a thing you want.

markdown-kindle is the thing I made!

Toba · « **Reply #201 on:** 11 Apr 2011, 09:15 »

I got one of the oberon design kindle covers, this one, in saddle[/ur] in the mail today and it is AWESOME.

kozmonaut · « **Reply #202 on:** 27 Jun 2011, 06:54 »

Hey guys, i have a website all about e-readers if you are looking to compare what is out there and stuff.

http://goodereader.com/blog/

latest reviews are the nook simple touch, amazon kindle special offers and kobo touch.

Rizzo · « **Reply #203 on:** 27 Jul 2011, 06:07 »

Hmmm, I've had a read of the various reviews all over the place and I'm having a hard time deciding between the various e-reader factions. I can't say I've looked at Sony, Bebook or any of the smaller companies very seriously.
Kindle looks nice but I don't like the proprietary formats.
Kobo touch sounds good but is hard to get in Australia.
Nook sounds fine but I haven't seen anyone seriously praising it.

Does anyone have any definite recommendations? I'm pretty much down to those three. I've tried all of them and they all seem good in their own regards.

nekowafer · « **Reply #204 on:** 27 Jul 2011, 07:50 »

I love all three nooks, but they're not really meant for use outside of the US. So that could give you some issues. I had the first generation nook and loved it. The touch screen could be a little wonky sometimes. I prefer the Nook Simple Touch - it's the perfect size, and easy to use. You can also borrow from the library with nooks.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #205 on:** 28 Jul 2011, 04:49 »

My dad has something called Calibre, which removes the proprietory formatting apparently and does lots of other fancy things. I haven't tried it yet but it might solve the problem for you.

If you do get a Kindle, I heartily recommend the Kindle covers, because I just got one and it's really good!

nekowafer · « **Reply #206 on:** 28 Jul 2011, 07:56 »

Calibre can convert lots of different file types to lots of other file types. It's been very useful for me. It just can't remove DRM.

LTK · « **Reply #207 on:** 09 Oct 2011, 08:37 »

It seems I find myself in a similar situation as Barmymoo a few pages ago. I'd like to make myself better-read, so I was thinking of buying either an e-reader or one of the more popular (and more expensive?) tablet pc's. It would also be useful for college textbooks and scientific journals; a lot of my study material is in the form of pdf articles I have to download from a library that the university has a subscription to. A quick look at the available e-readers makes the Nook stand out as nice to have because of Android and WiFi, but since I live on mainland Europe it'll be impossible to get without jumping through some hoops (namely, the Atlantic). So, would I be better off getting a Kindle, or something that's easier used as a computer, or something else entirely?

ackblom12 · « **Reply #208 on:** 09 Oct 2011, 12:40 »

Assuming you got the e-reader and not the tablet, I'd say Kindle since PDFs are a big thing for you. You can root the Nook Touch pretty easily (Still trying to decide if I will rot mine or not) and get all those functions anyway, but it's native for Kindle and doesn't require voiding the warranty. Of course, you can unroot android devices and ignore the warranty problems, so that's not really an issue. With the availability of Calibre I'd say it's mostly a matter of consumer principle which one you choose since they are both quite good at what they do.

When it comes to the tablets they have, I'm not quite as sure. They all have decent note taking tools on them now, though the tablets are a little more intuitive with it. I haven't had a chance to use the Kindle tablet yet, but if you plan to do a lot of actual book reading as well, then I'd still suggest the dedicated e-readers. From what I've seen of the Kindle Fire, it's not going to be that much different from the Nook tablet outside of giving you streaming services if you are a Prime member. The e-ink screens are just a ridiculous step up from reading text on an LCD and I can't really recommend the tablets for that.

I guess if a full browsing experience is important to you, the tablets are a good choice as they'll also give you the full color pdf and slightly better note taking capabilities, but personally I'd go the wi-fi Nook Touch/Kindle touch and download Calibre immediately either way.

Edit: Also, keep in mind if you are seriously looking at the tablets, the Kindle Fire is almost a year newer and has a dual core processor, so it is likely going to be a bit snappier and more capable with multi media services.

LTK · « **Reply #209 on:** 09 Oct 2011, 01:39 »

Thanks for the advice, but... "mainland Europe" sadly means that the Nooks, Kindle Fire and Kindle Touch are out of my reach. There's possibly the option of using an intermediate shipper, but that might cost me more than I save on the exchange rate. International options are limited to Kindle, plus keyboard, plus 3G, or DX. I'm not sure how widespread other kinds of e-readers are in my area, so it's a rather limited selection.

Edit: Hmm, there seems to be one e-reader maker that's based in the Netherlands: Icarus reader. Doesn't look too bad.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #210 on:** 10 Oct 2011, 06:28 »

I use my Kindle for reading PDF articles too, and find it very helpful because if I highlight something or write a note on it, I can come back to it very quickly by going to an index page of my own comments. So much quicker than if I were to try and find the same note on a piece of paper and then relate it to the physical page of a book! I can't comment on other methods because I haven't used anything else but my Kindle is perfect for studying - especially since I prefer to make notes on paper than on my laptop, so I can get completely away from the temptation of the internet.

Irony: I am currently supposed to be reading an article that I didn't bother putting onto my Kindle, so I've got distracted from reading it on my laptop by this forum.

LTK · « **Reply #211 on:** 10 Oct 2011, 03:46 »

Good to know! Did you get your Kindle from amazon.fr? I'm bordered by the German, French and British Amazon stores, but none of them allow me to deliver it to the Netherlands, and point me to the international orders instead. The good news is that it saves me a bit on the dollar/euro exchange rate, but the bad news is that there's a €30 import fee which completely negates this.

So I'm currently looking at either this Kindle, released in 2010, plus import fees, or, as ereaders.nl recommends, a 'Sony Reader Touch PRS-T1', releases right here in a week for the same price, has a touchscreen, card reader, and Android. Choices, choices.

Scandanavian War Machine · « **Reply #212 on:** 10 Oct 2011, 05:39 »

i highly recommend getting the 3G version if you can afford it and its available in your area

it's only a little bit more expensive and honestly i've used the 3G to check my email and download books far more often than i've used the wi-fi for the same

then again, if you are in a more urban environment and there's wi-fi flowing every which way then i guess it wouldn't matter, but for me the 3G is indispensable

Barmymoo · « **Reply #213 on:** 11 Oct 2011, 01:46 »

I ordered my Kindle from the British site and had it delievered to my mum's house, and then picked it up when I went to visit. Now that I'm back at uni (in the UK) I've got wifi but I'd agree that if you can afford it, the 3G is useful sometimes. Then again, I'm fundamentally opposed to being emailable at all hours of the day and night! If I'm reading a book, I'm reading a book and emails can wait.

LTK, if you have friends/family in German, France or Britain who might visit you or you might visit some time soon, maybe you could order it to them and have it brought over/collect it? But it might be simpler to just order it from the International one. Quite annoying that you'd have to do that - you then have to buy books from Amazon.com, right? Or are you not actually tied to it? Does anyone know?

LTK · « **Reply #214 on:** 11 Oct 2011, 08:37 »

Man, I'm really just considering to get the Sony reader and forgo all the hassle with Amazon. 3G is nice to have but why buy an outdated product when a new release is just around the corner?

Barmymoo · « **Reply #215 on:** 12 Oct 2011, 04:54 »

Why reject a perfectly good product purely for the novelty factor?

LTK · « **Reply #216 on:** 12 Oct 2011, 12:20 »

Hmm, yeah, good point.

But Sony's reader has a couple more things going for it aside from 'it's new'. Features aside, I can easily return it if it's not to my liking, and then get a Kindle (or something else) instead. So I'll put in the pre-order and see what that gets me!

Scandanavian War Machine · « **Reply #217 on:** 12 Oct 2011, 04:58 »

good luck!

definitely let us know what you think of it, i'd love to hear some trusted reviews of things besides Kindles for my own future reference if and when my Kindle eventually craps out

Toba · « **Reply #218 on:** 13 Oct 2011, 08:27 »

I like the dedicated reading nature of my Kindle because I end up reading instead of the 9000 distractions that I would have on a computer or tablet.

Also: e-ink \o/

Scandanavian War Machine · « **Reply #219 on:** 13 Oct 2011, 10:14 »

e-ink is so fucking awesome

it's hard to understand exactly how awesome it is until you are actually looking at it with your own eyes

imagist42 · « **Reply #220 on:** 13 Oct 2011, 10:57 »

I really hope they develop color e-ink soon because I really want the new tablet-esque readers but don't want to deal with the disadvantages of an LCD screen.

LTK · « **Reply #221 on:** 13 Oct 2011, 11:36 »

There is actually a method of combining e-ink with a coloured overlay, but apparently no one uses it because it effectively halves the screen resolution, reduces brightness and makes colors look washed-out. I came across this article(from 2009) about it. The fact that two years later, neither the Nook Color or the Kindle Fire uses color e-ink, indicates that they don't have high hopes for it.

When you think about it, it's actually a bit strange that, with all of recent history's amazing technical advancements, no one managed to make a quality color display that you can comfortably read in the sunlight so far. I think that's the first time I've seen an indication of the physical limitations of consumer electronics.

Coincidentally, this article about uses of e-ink outside of e-readers just popped up. An e-ink-based dynamic camouflage pattern, whaaaaaat.

pwhodges · « **Reply #222 on:** 13 Oct 2011, 11:58 »

Quote from: LTK on 13 Oct 2011, 11:36

it's actually a bit strange that, with all of recent history's amazing technical advancements, no one managed to make a quality color display that you can comfortably read in the sunlight so far

Don't be so impatient! I remember when the engineers in my company got hold of their first 5-character liquid crystal display. You had to look at the right angle, the contrast was pathetic, the updating was slow, and it had a short useful life. OK, I'm ancient, but it still wasn't that long ago.

Oh, and this.

LTK · « **Reply #223 on:** 20 Oct 2011, 08:29 »

Typing this on my e-reader right now. Using it for web browsing doesn't work bad at all. Keyboard responsivity is good, but it takes a while before the screen catches up.

Calibre was the first thing i tried to download, but this thing apparently didn't like it, said it failed to download because it's unsupported. So i'll probably end up rooting it. The good news is, people are already busy making how-tos.

Oh, and the only words in its dictionary are SONY and Reader. Useful!

Welp, looks like the first book I'll be reading is the 632-page EULA.

Looks like it's easy to plug it in via USB and transfer files to it. So what's the first thing I put on? That's right, screensavers!

A bunch of those can be found on nook-look.com , some of them are really classy. You can just ignore that they're made for Nooks, what's important is that they're 600x800 and monochrome.

LTK · « **Reply #224 on:** 23 Oct 2011, 07:07 »

There you have it. Not a wallpaper, I can really read QC on this! And it's sharper than it looks on this crappy photo. Reading books is better though. It's incredible how you can have access to humanity's greatest literal achievements on something no bigger than a trashy romance novel.

LTK · « **Reply #225 on:** 08 Dec 2011, 03:02 »

If anyone is still interested, I have now hacked the reader with some Russian software. It runs a bog-standard Android OS now, which is cool. Only I don't own any other Android devices, so I'm not quite sure what to do next...

bicostp · « **Reply #226 on:** 11 Dec 2011, 08:57 »

Run The One Android Game, of course!

Or install the Kindle client and Adobe Reader for redundancy's sake.

Do you have access to the Android Market? That opens up a lot of options.

LTK · « **Reply #227 on:** 11 Dec 2011, 11:31 »

Mmmyeah-nope. Non-adapted, this e-ink screen reaches between 1 and 2 FPS, so anything animated is pretty much out. I'm glad the hack came with AWDLauncher, because it has a mad number of options to disable all that wooshy crap.

The Android Market tells me I need to link the device to my account, and when I try to do so, the reader crashes. Instead I'm pulling apps from 4shared.com, which is the next best thing!

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Author Topic: e-readers are amazing! (Read 19272 times)