Elementary Writing

Electronic book reader

Electronic book readers aren’t useful because they replicate books, but because they add value to them.

If you are an avid reader, you may find it much more convenient to download books then trying to get them from the bookstore or library. However, sitting in front of a PC monitor to do your reading is usually frustrating experience. Furthermore, notebook and tablet computers are too big and bulky for this simple task, while the most PDAs have too small of a screen for convenient reading.

What we want is a hand-held, portable device that can read a variety of file formats, especially scanned, non-text PDFs. A large screen, long battery life, and good interface are other attributes of a perfect electronic book reader.

Portable Ebook Readers Technology

With its iPod, Apple has demonstrated that millions of people are willing to carry around digital devices with their favorite content. After music, why not novels and nonfiction?

Many experts are convinced that digital books, after plenty of false starts, are finally ready for takeoff. With latest product releases we have definitely went out the infancy stage as the present electronic book readers are stronger, better and more functional then their predecessors, and finally are offering a viable alternative to traditional books.

The most important step forward is introduction of “digital ink”. This innovative display technology also called “electronic paper” solved some key problems. By using a sophisticated method for arranging tiny black and white capsules into words and images with an electronic charge, this advanced technology makes the text on display looks just as sharp as ink on a printed page. Unlike a laptop screen, these screens are non-reflective: The more light that streams down on them, the better they look thus working fine in direct sunlight. At the same time, new technology also significantly reduced the buttery power consumption.

Amazon’s innovation, and it’s a brilliant one, is to use cellular wireless — specifically, a high-speed technology called EVDO that runs over Sprint Nextel Corporation’s nationwide network. This means that you can log on at will from almost anywhere in the country (and surely very soon from anywhere in the world). There are no access charges for using this network; you pay only for any content you download.

Electronic Book Reader – Pros and Cons

To help you decide whether this gadgets are worth your consideration and your money, let’s look at what you get and what you “loose” by opting for such an electronic reading device.

Main Advantages of Ebook Readers

The key of success: portable ebook readers do much more than simply replicating a traditional book.

• Ebook readers are great devices for sourcing books, the same way you are sourcing music or movies online.
• They let you downloaded books in less than a minute on to the device and take them with you wherever you go.
• With most of the devices, best sellers and new releases go for $9.99, meaning they are often significantly cheaper than even discounted hardcover print versions.
• Thanks to electronic book reader’s generous memory capacity, you may have your entire library of books and a dictionary available at all times, at hand, in your pocket.
• By implementing sophisticated technologies like E Ink and smart design, these portable reading devices closely mimics the size, weight, and feel of a book.
• You may experience new dimension of reading, much like surfing the Internet — moving from content to content as your moods and needs changed.
• They provide an convenient way of reading your favorite RSS feeds, or entire newspapers and popular magazines pages, or even to surf the web by using built-in Web browsers.
• An electronic book reader can also play music and other multimedia files you import from your computer.
• A wireless capability in some of e-book readers lets you access and purchase content remotely, wherever you are.
• Very nice feature of some readers like Amazon Kindle is free access to the online encyclopedia (e.g.Wikipedia.org), meaning that you can get follow-up information, in real time, on any person, place or concept you happen to be reading about.
• One substantial benefit of these reading devices is the ability to change the font size at will, for those who struggle with the font size used in many paper books.

Electronic Book Reader – Cons:

• Ebook readers use various schemes of Digital Rights Management that may restrict your choice to book formats compatible with your chosen device.
• For some users it is still not enjoyable to read from the reading device for any protracted period.
• Missing the plethora of a comfort and enjoyment of an actual book.
• The digital reader’s controls can be clumsy to use.
• Paying hundreds of dollars for a device that will then allow you to buy e-books for an additional cost.
• With real books, you can swap them with your friends or give them to charity shops when you’re finished with them. With electronic reading devices – you can not.

5 Electronic Book Readers that Rules the Market – in Matrix

Here is an overview of the best 2nd generation e-book readers, all based on E Ink technology:

Brandname	HanLin eBook	Sony PRS-700BC	iRex	Amazon’s Kindle 2	Bookeen
Model	V3	PRS 700	Digital Reader 1000s	D00511	Cybook Gen3
Manufacturer	Jinke Electronics	Sony	iRex Technologies	?	Netronix
Picture
Dimensions	184 × 120.5 × 9.9mm (7.24″ × 4.74″ × .39″)	175 × 128 × 10 mm (5.11 × 6.77 × 0.41″)	268 × 217 × 12 mm (10.6″ × 8.5″ × .5″)	203 x 135 x 9mm (8″ x 5.3″ x 0.36″)	188 × 118 × 8.5 mm (7.4″ × 4.7″ × .3″)
Screen Technology	EInk Vizplex	EInk Vizplex	EInk Vizplex	E-Ink® electronic paper display	EInk Vizplex
Primary Display	(90 × 120mm) 6″ 600 × 800 pixels, 4 gray levels, 167 ppi	(90 × 120mm) 6″ 600 × 800 pixels, 8 gray levels, 167 ppi	(163×203mm) 10.2″ 1024×1280 pixels, 16 gray levels, 160 ppi	(90 × 120mm) 6″ 600 × 800 pixels, 16 gray levels, 167 ppi	(90 × 120mm) 6″ 600 × 800 pixels, 4 gray levels, 167 ppi
Secondary Display	n.a.	front light	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Touch Screen	n.a.	yes (finger or stylus)	yes (WaCom Pen, DR1000S & DR1000SW editions)	keyboard	n.a.
Full-screen Refresh Rate	0.9s	?	0.85s		0.9s
Power	Li-ion 950mAh (Nokia Phone battery)	Li-ion	Li-ion 1300mAh	Li-ion	Li-Polymer 1000mAh
Battery Life	9′000 pages	7′500 pages	claimed 24hrs(measured 8 hrs)	with EVDO: “4 days”, without: “up to two week”	8′000 pages
Weight	200g (7.05oz)	283g (10oz)	570g (20.1oz)	289g (10.2oz)	174g (6.13oz)
OS	Linux	Linux 2.6.23	Linux 2.6.24	?	Linux
Boot Time	16s	n.a.	50s		20s
SDK	yes	yes	yes		?
CPU	Samsung Arm 9 200MHz	Freescale i.MX31L (ARM1136JF-S core, 532MHz)	Freescale i.MX31L 400MHz?	?	Samsung S3C2410 (ARM920T 200MHz)
Memory	512MB, Internal 2M NOR Flash, 512MB SD Card included	128MB RAM, 512MB(NAND) Flash (~384MB user accessible)	128MB Ram + 1GB SD	2GB Flash (1.4GB user accessible)	16MB Ram, 8MB Rom + 512MB Flash
Expansion Slots	SD/MMC	MMC/SD/SDHC, Memory Stick Pro Duo	SD/SDHC	NONE	SD
Other Interfaces	USB 1.1, headphone	USB 2.0, headphone	USB 2.0 (charging), (1000SW only) WiFi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth	USB 2.0 (charging), headphone, EVDO/CDMA	USB 2.0 (charging), 2.5mm stereo
Supported Formats	PDF, TXT, RTF, EPUB, LIT, PPT, WOLF, DOC, CHM, FB2, PRC/MOBI, HTML, DJVU, MP3, TIFF, JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, RAR, ZIP	BBeB (LRF/LRX), PDF, EPUB, TXT, RTF, JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, MP3, AAC	PDF, HTML, TXT, JPG, BMP, PNG, PRC/MOBI	Kindle (AZW), TXT, Audible (formats 4, Audible Enhanced (AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; PDF, HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion.	OEB-XHTML, TXT, HTML, PDF (non DRM), PRC/MOBI, JPG, GIF, PNG, MP3
Supported DRM Formats	Wolf, MobiPocket	Marlin DRM (BBeB), Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF)	MobiPocket	AZW (Kindle only, USA only)	MobiPocket
Search functionality / Dictionary lookup	no	search using touchscreen	using touchscreen	using keyboard	Dictionary lookup (using menus)
Note taking / highlighting / underlining	no	using touchscreen	using touchscreen	using keyboard	bookmarks menu
Software	WOLF Maker, WOLF Printer	eBook Library, Adobe Digital Editions	Paperless iRex Printer & Mobipocket Java Reader		Bookeen® Multi-format eBook reader
Services	iStation, ReadMan	Sony CONNECT	iRex Technologies Delivery Service (iDS)	Amazon Kindle Whispernet. E-mail conversion of DOC, HTML, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP and PDF
Content Partners	MobiPocket	Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins	De Tijd, IFRA, Les Echos, NRC Handelsblad, MobiPocket	Amazon	MobiPocket, Ubibooks, Cluster21
Price	US$299	US$399	US$649	US$359	US$350
Release Date	Q3 2007	14 October 2008	mid-October 2008	Ordering began 02/09/08	Ordering began 28 Oct, 2007
Misc Info	Company has been selling e-book devices since 2000 (V2 and V8 not shown). V9 will have 9.7″ screen. Sold under other names worldwide: lBook V3, DigiBook Reader V3, Apolo-Hanlin V3, Walkbook, Papyre 6.1, BEBOOK, Astak EZ Reader.	Company has been selling e-book devices since 2003 (PRS-500 not shown). Originally only available in the US, now in Canada and the UK (PRS-505 only).	Company was established in 2001 as a Royal Philips Electronics spin-off. Base DR1000 without touchscreen, DR1000S adds touchscreen. DR1000WS adds WiFi and Bluetooth. Annotations only exportable to Windows (and perhaps only for PDFs).	Amazon pays for the wireless connectivity for Kindle so there are no monthly wireless bills, data plans, or service commitments for customers. Currently USA only. Annotations stored in plain text files.	Sold directly by Bookeen, by BooksOnBoard.com in the US & Canada, and via wholesalers. 3rd generation Cybook (1st with E Ink). Same hardware (EB-600) as STAReBOOK STK-101

Which Portable Ebook Reader is Best for Me?

All of these metrics, references and decisions… Let’s try to put it in plain English

If you read a lot of current books the ebook pricing is the best through Amazon (and you can buy content directly through the device). This is the biggest single advantage of Kindle as its bookstore is without doubt the most comprehensive of any.

The Cybook may be a better choice than the Kindle when it cams to a font style and size customization. The Kindle has one font and 6 font sizes. The Cybook has more sizes, and a larger maximum size. With Cybook, your can read in the font of your choice.

On the other side, Kindle is the only electronic book reader with a keyboard. It provides searching and annotation features that the Cybook and other readers doesn’t have. The Sony PRS-700 uses an on screen virtual keyboard where you have to click one letter at a time.

Another issue with short inches: Some PDF computer-books cannot open, crash or have too small print to read on readers with 6 inch screen like Sony, Hanlin and Cybook. (but a majority are readable)

If you prefer writing notes and annotations in your own hand writing, you should consider moving up to the iRex device, which has a digitizer pad that allows you this functionality.

Also, while the Sony PRS-700 has a highlight and note function, It has been reported that the Sony suffers dramatic slowdowns once you add more than a few annotations to a book.

Another advantage of Kindle 2 is in-line look-up to one dictionary (Oxford American dictionary is included), which is fast enough to be used routinely. It’s easy going from one word on the page to another and seeing the definition updated at the bottom of the page as you do so.

On Kindle’s downsides – It does not support PDF at all! It has to be converted to Mobi format (which the Kindle does support) – a process which may or may not work well.

The Sony does not have a backlight. An eInk screen is opaque, and hence cannot be backlit. What it does have is “side lighting” and a light diffuser over the screen which, inevitably, degrades the image quality somewhat, as does the touchscreen too.

Finally, you should be well aware of the warranty and accessibility issues before your opting. If you, for instance, buy a Sony in Australia, you will effectively be buying it with no warranty! In this case you should go for Kindle, Hanlin or CyBook.

Where Can I Buy It?

The Prospect of The EBook Readers Market

Digital book market is ignited. The critical mass of content is accomplished and you’ve got attractive hardware. Google is scanning millions of books from five of the world’s largest libraries and is about to make the contents searchable online. Amazon.com is moving aggressively into digital books, too. It sells digital versions of most of its titles, available for download instantly. With its Kindle 2.0 wireless reading device, you are a seconds away of your preferable reading wherever in the world you are.

After a few weeks of use, you may find yourself using the electronic book reader in ways you didn’t anticipate. Instead of reading a book all the way through, you are jumping around the content on the device, reading a newspaper on the train, a book during lunch, a Word file at work, a reference title when a question came up — whatever best fit the moment.

Finally, the electronic book readers pass the most crucial test for any gadget: The more you use it, the more useful you find it.

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