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What I want in an E-reader

Meadow337

Meadow337

Former Moderator
I have now been through a Sony, a Kindle, a Nook and e-reader app on a tablet and I have decided there are a few things I want and a few things I don't want.

I don't want a colour screen - paperwhite is less strain on the eyes and can be read in full sunlight. No colour screen exists that can handle even a small degree of natural light. I like taking my book outside and relaxing in the sun (getting my Vit D folks!)

I also don't want a colour screen or backlit screen because it chews battery (and the backlight is bad for your eyes). Recharging my battery every few hours (tablet) to every few days (Kindle) is only marginally improved on by the every other week the Nook needs. The Sony was the best. It went weeks without charging. And I'm a heavy reader.

I don't want a screen bigger than a paperback. It actually hinders reading. And it makes the device a pain in the rear end to hold comfortably.

I don't want internet, a browser, social media access, wifi, whatever other battery and memory consuming nonsense they come up with. It's a BOOK folks a BOOK! You READ it! Use your computer, phone, tablet whatever to do that stuff on.

Ditto for music, videos and all that stuff. Again say slowly with me - it is a BOOK!

I do want memory, lots of it and fast processor to go with it. I carry a small library with me and I don't want a noticeable lag in loading and page turning times because loading more than 5 books gave it indigestion.

I desperately want a sane sorting system. Dear Lord have mercy I want to sort my books. I want to sort them by genre, series, title, author. I want to jump to different parts of the alphabet easily so I can find the authors starting with Z like Roger Zelazny without scrolling through 2000 names to get there. Ditto for searching through titles. Yes I scroll through titles looking for something else to read - just like looking through the shelves in a library. While we are on the subject - I can read, I don't need to look at pretty pictures of the covers. Text is just fine. I looked at the cover when I bought the book, now I have it, and I just want to be able to find it.

I want integration with Calibre. If you have an ereader and don't have Calibre - go get it, its free and you will thank me. There isn't a better way to manage your books, some systems like the Nook and the tablet have issues with Calibre. And its not like their sorting and management software is so great that they can be forgiven for it.

I want a good dictionary. Not a small limited dictionary that hasn't heard of 90% of the words I want to look up. Some of us read books with words. Yes words, even words longer than 1 syllable. So please a GOOD dictionary.

Thanks!
 
I agree with you. A reader is a reader not a tablet or an Mp3! Sony is the best that I know of at sorting books but then the Sony I had, had memory issues and often had huge headache every time I added a few books. Sigh one just can't win sometimes! :)
 
I've heard it said here that diversity is what makes the world go round. So please don't take it amiss that I have totally the opposite feelings about my Kindle Fire. In addition to having (cheap) books It is a wonderful source of diversion.

I spend countless hours playing chess against an opponent I can defeat regularly. :)

I spend countless hours playing Freecell solitaire when my book bores me.

I can check my mail without getting up from the couch and walking to the other end of the house and logging on.

I can even look at BAR for recent posts. I hope that's not a bad thing. :D

I get accurate local weather reports anytime I want, especially to check on overnight freezing.

I can find out the names of stars currently visible in the night sky, and planets too.

I can browse books to my heart's content and find bargains.

I can and do read the NYT every morning, and The Guardian if I feel like it.

And I can even read books if I am so inclined.

Moreover, I can do any or all of this, from my couch, Starbucks, or my bed. or anyplace else with My-Fi.

I call it pure decadence, and I love it.

Wouldn't leave home without it.
 
Peder said:
I've heard it said here that diversity is what makes the world go round. So please don't take it amiss that I have totally the opposite feelings about my Kindle Fire. In addition to having (cheap) books It is a wonderful source of diversion.

I spend countless hours playing chess against an opponent I can defeat regularly. :)

I spend countless hours playing Freecell solitaire when my book bores me.

I can check my mail without getting up from the couch and walking to the other end of the house and logging on.

I can even look at BAR for recent posts. I hope that's not a bad thing. :D

I get accurate local weather reports anytime I want, especially to check on overnight freezing.

I can find out the names of stars currently visible in the night sky, and planets too.

I can browse books to my heart's content and find bargains.

I can and do read the NYT every morning, and The Guardian if I feel like it.

And I can even read books if I am so inclined.

Moreover, I can do any or all of this, from my couch, Starbucks, or my bed. or anyplace else with My-Fi.

I call it pure decadence, and I love it.

Wouldn't leave home without it.
Click to expand...

Lean over and pick up your space age giant size android device and do all that and leave my reader out of it :p
 
Sorry. Didn't realize I was infringing. I have a reader Kindle also, if I feel Luddish. You don't? o_O
 
Peder said:
Sorry. Didn't realize I was infringing. I have a reader Kindle also, if I feel Luddish. You don't? o_O
Click to expand...
no no you misunderstand me ... I was teasing you back! no infringing. You are more than welcome to want all the bells n whistles, however I just want a reader.

I know people want multi-functional devices but my issue is that it is always at the cost of functionality. Like cameras in phones - yeah its convenient but a good camera it is not. Ditto using the internet on the phone, even though android has revolutionised browsing and improved it considerably there are still any number of sites that don't display properly, browsing is slow, search results are for some reason different and more limited.... so again it is convenient but at the expense of functionality.

Ditto for all the services on an e-reader and really unfortunately what suffers is the features / functionality in reading and managing your books. Focus on the primary purpose / function and get that the very best it can be, then add other things without compromising the purpose of the device.

Most people have multiple devices anyway so maybe we can get back to some simplicity of function and do it really well, instead of having devices that do too many things at once, and none of them truly excellently.
 
Meadow337 said:
I know people want multi-functional devices but my issue is that it is always at the cost of functionality. Like cameras in phones - yeah its convenient but a good camera it is not. Ditto using the internet on the phone, even though android has revolutionised browsing and improved it considerably there are still any number of sites that don't display properly, browsing is slow, search results are for some reason different and more limited.
Click to expand...

Cameras in smartphones are pretty good these days especially the iphone and for those of us that used to use compact everyday film cameras, far more functional.

I would also argue that phones make the Internet more functional rather than less. I use my phone as a telephone directory, a map and an information guide even abroad. Browsing is fine in cities where you can get free wi-fi hotspots not quite as fine in towns or the country where you have to rely solely on 3G in the UK anyway.
 
While phone cameras have improved considerably they do not match a dedicated camera in function, even if it is a point and shoot.

Of course browsing from a phone is convenient for many things ... I'm on my ph answering this msg ... but I specifically referred to functionality on the net itself with how sites work, how they are viewed, what search results you get etc.
 
Somehow, I cannot stand the idea of single function devices (unless they were very cheap, or very good at what they do, or both).
An e-reader with a processor (a fast one at that!) is a computer [and expensive]. Why would you limit it to a single function when it has the capability to do so much more? (And I want a colour screen so I can highlight text).

I'm sorry to say that an e-reader that was just an e-reader would not sell (especially these days when we are so used to multi-functional devices, and with so many of them on the market). I know the marketability of such an e-reader is not up for question here... but really, no one would buy such a device except avid readers such as yourself who carry small libraries and probably read a shelf-worth of books a day.

I generally agree with everything else.
 
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Dmitri Dmitriev said:
Somehow, I cannot stand the idea of single function device (unless they were very cheap, or very good at what they do, or both).
An e-reader with a processor (a fast one at that!) is a computer [and expensive]. Why would you limit it to a single function when it has the capability to do so much more? (And I want a colour screen so I can highlight text).

I'm sorry to say that an e-reader that was just an e-reader would not sell (especially these days when we are so used to multi-functional devices, and with so many of them on the market). I know the marketability of such an e-reader is not up for question here... but really, no one would buy such a device except avid readers such as yourself who carry small libraries and probably read a shelf-worth of books a day.

I generally agree with everything else.
Click to expand...

yeah look if they remembered the primary function of the device when adding all the stuff it wouldn't be so bad. You buy a reader to read, store, carry books. You buy a phone to make calls. You buy a camera to take photos. You buy a computer to do computer stuff on. The INSTANT they have to take function away from the primary purpose they should stop and rethink it.

I can browse this forum on my phone, but as soon as I want to reply more than a few sentences I come to the computer because typing anything beyond that on a phone is a major pain in the rear end. I take quick low res snapshots on my phone to share on whatsapp, but as soon as I want to take a serious photo I go to my Canon thank you very much.

My reader especially annoys me. It seems the fancier they get they worse they are at doing what they are primarily supposed to be. Multi-function devices are, in some limited way, useful BUT I will always go to my camera, my computer, my phone, to do what those devices are created to do. I don't take prize winning photos on my phone. I don't make calls on my computer. And all I want is a reader that does what it is supposed to properly, which is read, store and sort books.

And don't talk to me about 'cloud' and whatnot. You can't access that stuff away from first world connectivity, which astonishingly is still most of the rest of the world.
 
I agree mostly with the OP but I do want WiFi and Data on my e-reader. Everything else I can do on my phone.
 
Wifi I want just so I can load a book from most anywhere without connecting to a PC.

Other than that, spot on OP.
 
Sneezy said:
Wifi I want just so I can load a book from most anywhere without connecting to a PC.

Other than that, spot on OP.
Click to expand...

The reason I couldn't be bothered with wifi is that it is very limited to those places that have it, and again this might shock some folks but a good part of the known universe doesn't have such things.
 
Nonsense. WiFi is what gives a Reader his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.
 
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