Now I have an ebook reader. Ho ho ho.
Mar. 1st, 2010 11:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiIf you happen to read the website Book Room Reviews, you might have noticed that the winner of their Sony Pocket Reader giveaway was named Adam L.
You might also remember that my first name is "Adam" and my last name begins with "L."
These facts are not unconnected.
Last Friday, my Sony Pocket Reader arrived (yes, it's the silver model, and yes, Amazon sells it for $40 less than Sony does).
Naturally, I started playing with it*. I loaded a bunch of books onto it (there aren't a lot of non-public-domain freebies at the Sony store, but they did have books by Tim Dorsey and Kim Harrison), as well as downloading the latest issue of Expanded Horizons in ODT format to test Calibre's conversion process**
So, after a weekend of playing, my initial take:
I like it.
The reader really is pocket-sized, in the sense that it can (even with its cover) fit into my pants pocket***. Of course, the trade-off is that the screen is also tiny.
That said, it's big enough for my needs. When reading in bed (when I read without my glasses), the smallest text size provides plenty of material on the screen. When reading with my glasses on (on the bus, etc), the smallest is readable when I hold it at about a foot's length, and I can bump the text up one size for longer distances. In call cases, the text is crystal clear.
The page transitions are just like the Kindle's, and you get used to them very quickly. I think that the transitions are faster on this one, but I'm not positive.
The interface itself is basic and easy to navigate. The reader remembers my place in multiple books, remembers what I was last reading when I log off, and allows me to easily choose from a number of books to read very quickly.
Of courses, with four PW books sitting in the house to read for review, I'm not planning on doing a lot of e-reading this week, but I'll be playing with it more. It's certainly easy to use and a good reader for someone looking for an e-ink device without breaking the bank.
*I actually need to play with e-readers for work, and will likely have a Nook to play with in the near future as a result. That said, I get to keep this one, which gives me a little more investment in it.
**Mixed results. The text converted fine, but for some reason, Calibre tagged it with the author name "Bogi Takacs," Also, Calibre has a user interface that that's a cross between Note Bene for DOS circa 1988 and getting kicked in the teeth by a drunken mule.
***That said, it's large enough that it barely fits in that pocket, making it likely that someone might ask, "is that an ebook reader in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" At which point I'll be obligated to note that e-readers are not phallic in shape****, nor is my pants pocket that close to my crotch.
****Yet.
You might also remember that my first name is "Adam" and my last name begins with "L."
These facts are not unconnected.
Last Friday, my Sony Pocket Reader arrived (yes, it's the silver model, and yes, Amazon sells it for $40 less than Sony does).
Naturally, I started playing with it*. I loaded a bunch of books onto it (there aren't a lot of non-public-domain freebies at the Sony store, but they did have books by Tim Dorsey and Kim Harrison), as well as downloading the latest issue of Expanded Horizons in ODT format to test Calibre's conversion process**
So, after a weekend of playing, my initial take:
I like it.
The reader really is pocket-sized, in the sense that it can (even with its cover) fit into my pants pocket***. Of course, the trade-off is that the screen is also tiny.
That said, it's big enough for my needs. When reading in bed (when I read without my glasses), the smallest text size provides plenty of material on the screen. When reading with my glasses on (on the bus, etc), the smallest is readable when I hold it at about a foot's length, and I can bump the text up one size for longer distances. In call cases, the text is crystal clear.
The page transitions are just like the Kindle's, and you get used to them very quickly. I think that the transitions are faster on this one, but I'm not positive.
The interface itself is basic and easy to navigate. The reader remembers my place in multiple books, remembers what I was last reading when I log off, and allows me to easily choose from a number of books to read very quickly.
Of courses, with four PW books sitting in the house to read for review, I'm not planning on doing a lot of e-reading this week, but I'll be playing with it more. It's certainly easy to use and a good reader for someone looking for an e-ink device without breaking the bank.
*I actually need to play with e-readers for work, and will likely have a Nook to play with in the near future as a result. That said, I get to keep this one, which gives me a little more investment in it.
**Mixed results. The text converted fine, but for some reason, Calibre tagged it with the author name "Bogi Takacs," Also, Calibre has a user interface that that's a cross between Note Bene for DOS circa 1988 and getting kicked in the teeth by a drunken mule.
***That said, it's large enough that it barely fits in that pocket, making it likely that someone might ask, "is that an ebook reader in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" At which point I'll be obligated to note that e-readers are not phallic in shape****, nor is my pants pocket that close to my crotch.
****Yet.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-01 05:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-01 05:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-01 05:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-01 07:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-01 07:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-01 07:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-01 11:12 pm (UTC)A patient, on the other hand, told me that when I saw her reading her Kindle at the hospital, that it was the fourth one that she'd had, and that she liked it, when it worked.
I think that maybe they've underengineered the ruggedness of the technology, considering it's supposed to be able to go out into the field with you.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-02 05:55 am (UTC)She's one of the people who works on the site and she does the downloadables. ^_^
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-02 07:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-02 04:56 pm (UTC)I am Bogi Takács, and this is deliberately left in the metadata, since I make the downloadables. I am quite open about my public identity, I link EH on my personal website and vice versa, etc. This is not a case of identity leak. :]
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-02 06:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-02 08:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-02 08:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-04 11:16 am (UTC)www.greenreader.co.uk