Show us your ebooks!

[ak_aramis]

Originally Posted by Archangel Beth

The question with all these other new tablets is -- what will their charge lifespan be? The iPad, with about 10 hours of life when not plugged into the wall or a computer, is already criticized as a reading device by eInk-device-users, who get a few days.

If using only occasionally, I can get 4-6 hours of reading after a week sitting on my Sony PRS600... And I've gotten over 20 steady hours reading. (Post-surgery... read almost the entire Vorkosigan series on one charge).

There should be some larger screens coming out soon. Larger as in 7.5x10" view area or bigger; the company which makes the screens is working on a full 8x10.5" one (rumored for Sony).

Color eInk has been announced by the developer; it should be in use by end of 2011, and can support 8-10 FPS.

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by ak_aramis

Color eInk has been announced by the developer; it should be in use by end of 2011, and can support 8-10 FPS.

That's a fast enough refresh rate for an e-book, IMHO... I think I can wait a year for one of these gadgets.

[demonsbane]

Originally Posted by Archangel Beth

The question with all these other new tablets is -- what will their charge lifespan be? The iPad, with about 10 hours of life when not plugged into the wall or a computer, is already criticized as a reading device by eInk-device-users, who get a few days. (...)

Thank you for answering. I understand your points: battery lifespan is very important for these devices and it has an impact on competence (no one seems to provide better or equal battery capabilities) and multitasking (more battery use).

Regarding the other posts, I think there are, too, some useful remarks to me.

[panton41]

Originally Posted by Archangel Beth

The question with all these other new tablets is -- what will their charge lifespan be? The iPad, with about 10 hours of life when not plugged into the wall or a computer, is already criticized as a reading device by eInk-device-users, who get a few days.

Many of these are effectively netbook PCs that happen to be in the tablet form factor, which probably means a battery life similar to a netbook

I would suggest knowing what one's battery lifespan requirements are, and assessing the stability of these other tablets, before going out and getting one. The iPad may not have some things -- but thus far, mine has been extremely stable. (It also awakens from sleep pretty much instantly, while I gather some of the prototype tablets require 30 seconds or so?)

Windows at least is pretty darn stable these days and has been for about 10 years now. Android I've heard less than flattering things about stability, but my iPod Classic is pretty crash prone compared to any cell phone I've ever owned.

Waking from sleep any device should be almost instant. Taking 30-seconds is called Hibernation or simply being turned off. Actually turning off your iPad (or Kindle) and rebooting it will probably take quite a while.

Basically, if possible, play with tablets before purchasing.

If it's possible. It's not unreasonable for them to not be on display. I tend to find checking several trustworthy review sites (i.e. not Tom's Hardware or most blogs) a good substitute for hands-on if you're going to mail order something.

[chewie]

GURPS Space on a T-Mobile G1 w/Adobe PDF Viewer and hacked Cyanogen Mod 6.0-rc1 is usable, though the screen is a bit too small to be considered an entirely enjoyable experience. In Fit to Screen or Continuous Scroll viewing mode, the multi-column layouts make it unsuitable for anything under a 7" viewing screen. However, if you flip over to Reflow Text mode, Adobe does a reasonably good job about pulling those multiple columns into a single column, and making it readable! Flip the phone to landscape, and it works even better.

VuDriod, another reader available on the Andriod Market, performs too slowly with page loads and screen painting. If you're using an Andriod device, and if the Adobe Reader is available, I highly recommend using it over any other application.

There are other readers on the market, and some are relatively good. YMMV.

[mehrkat]

Just got the new $139 Kindle 3 with WiFi only with a 6 inch screen. If you can afford it I can definately tell that the DX version kindle would be worth it. I don't think I remember anyone discussing the bottom of the line Kindle.

The 6 inch screen in portrait format is too small but it looks beautiful just a little too small for comfortable reading. I found switching to landscape a much better experience and will probably be my replacement for pdfs I want to read while on the bus but don't want to print.

I tried converting to kindle format and as expected that was a disaster but I had to try it. I even tried taking a SJ games pdf putting in in word to try to convert that instead. That didn't work very well either.

I also tried increasing the size of the font which works just fine but as a brand new user I can't get the screen to flow to the next part of the text. That will be a periodic experiment.

Overall, I'm satisfied but if there were a way to write the pdfs in a way that allowed for better reflow when resizing. I'll try to find a way to get some photos and show them to the egroup as I got a lot of help from this discussion

[Þorkell]

Originally Posted by mehrkat

The 6 inch screen in landscape format is too small but it looks beautiful just a little too small for comfortable reading. I found switching to landscape a much better experience and will probably be my replacement for pdfs I want to read while on the bus but don't want to print.

I think you meant to write portrait instead of one of the landscapes above.

[JMason]

I recently got a few of my GURPS books on my wife's Nook Color, and they look GREAT! I don't think I'll get any shots up before we leave for our Christmas trip, though.

[demonsbane]

Originally Posted by JMason

I recently got a few of my GURPS books on my wife's Nook Color, and they look GREAT! I don't think I'll get any shots up before we leave for our Christmas trip, though.

Lucky you.

A question: are you able to read comfortably GURPS PDFs in a 7" screen?

I guess that the trick is using zoom and tactile displacement . . . Still, how much zoom and page displacements do you actually need for reading an entire GURPS PDF page in such display?

[JMason]

Originally Posted by demonsbane

Lucky you.

A question: are you able to read comfortably GURPS PDFs in a 7" screen?

I guess that the trick is using zoom and tactile displacement . . . Still, how much zoom and page displacements do you actually need for reading an entire GURPS PDF page in such display?

I mostly read holding the nook length-wise (landscape), which gets about 1/2 of the page at a time. There was more scrolling this way, but it was very easy on the eyes. I am able to read with the full page, but it was a little to small to be comfortable for me.