I’m an avid reader. Kitti is always “mentioning” that we have too many books and not enough shelves. I also hate having to lug around a huge bag just so I can have a book (or books) that I’m reading handy.
Does anyone make a really good ebook reader? I found one that wasn’t terribly expensive, was capable of holding about 200 books with a 128 meg memory card, but it doesn’t support PDF format. The Sony one is higher in price, but I can’t find anything that says if it’s okay with ebooks not purchased from Sony’s CONNECT (I like to get stuff from Project Guttenberg).
I have a Sony MP3 player, and it’s okay with non-secure mp3 files that I transfer myself, but you can never tell, you know? All the FAQ and tutorial stuff seems to focusing on putting pictures on the ebook.
I used to use the Treo for reading, but the screen is way too small and it really kills the battery to read a book on it. The small screen size was the biggest problem, though. One screen of text would load and I’d already be ready to move on to the next page. I was hitting the down button about every 30-45 seconds.
I just want something that’s about book-size. I don’t need bells, whistles, mp3 capabilities, and all that nonsense. I just want to be able to carry a lot of books around with me all the time and actually be able to read them.
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Yep, I have the Sony ebook reader. Yes, it can display .txt, .rtf, .pdf check manybooks.net for free books (a few from Guttenberg) even those in the sony .lrf (a modified linux text file type) Since I subscribe to Baen, I download books in the .rtf format. (in .lrf and .rtf file formats, you can change font size!!) If you use it as a MP3 player, it sucks power, otherwise I can go for many days without charging. It’s decent, but looks to be designed for holding in the left hand. No real storage issue, since it uses either SD card or Memory Stick.
check the iliad from Irex Technologies, even though it’s about double what the Sony is, you can write and draw on tablet. it’s also more stand alone, having wireless builtin and with the hub it has a 10/100 ethernet connection.
Just be warned on the Sony reader, if you use a non .lrf file, it’s going to take longer for the Sony reader to format and the .pdf files are heck on text size, since most .pdf files aren’t usually formated for use with the Sony reader. (on some .pdf files, I just extracted the text and reformated to .rtf or something else.)
Which eBook reader were you using on the Treo? I have eReader on both my Cingular 8125 and on my TabletPC, typically I download books from http://www.ereader.com and read it on my pda while commuting and on the tabletpc at home. Vicky has the Treo 650, reads on there.
I’ve seen the iliad and I’ve seen the Sony. To be honest, I don’t care for the form factor or display on either. Both remind me of a first generation Philips Nino or CLIE. If you’re going to get something the size and weight of a tablet, you might as well get a tabletpc. (New run over $1200, eBay has used for $400+).
If something came out the size and weight of a paperback but with vibrant color screen, I’d probably get it. If Apple came out with a widescreen, multitouch iPod that also read eBooks, I think it would be heaven.
I doubt Apple would do that, though. I’ve talked with Sony about porting eBooks to the PSP. I got emails back from developers and engineers that it wasn’t in their business model or interest. I suspect Apple would rather focus on music, videos, and iPhone widgets.
I had tried a couple of ebook readers on the Treo and I wasn’t happy with any of them. Mostly because the display was too small.
I did look at the Iliad but it’s WAY too expensive. For the cost of it, I COULD get a tabletpc.
Sony doesn’t seem too interested in supporting their reader, either. They’re shifting more attention to the various game systems and mp3 players. Probably because “who reads books any more”.
I use Adobe Reader on the home computers, and I mostly use the notebook to read ebooks when I’m home (because for me reading often requires taking up the whole sofa and sitting at a desk is just not the same thing).
I don’t know anything at all about tabletpcs.