Author Topic: 2014-2015: Best tablet specs for ebook reading (Read 44342 times)

Innuendo · « **Reply #25 on:** March 15, 2015, 12:23 PM »

Nice find Nod5, that Sony Digital Paper looks very close to ideal for reading academic pdfs.. Too bad the price is so insane ($1000).
-mouser (March 15, 2015, 07:45 AM)

It's even more insane than that. If you read the comments, most Sony resellers will only sell to corporations after a lengthy interview process. There's only one vendor who is selling to individuals and they've marked the price up to $1499.

I see the potential, but the techie part of my mind is shaking its head at only 1600x1200 resolution and PDF-only support. No MOBI, EPUB, DOC or TXT file support at all.

mouser · « **Reply #26 on:** March 15, 2015, 12:32 PM »

No MOBI, EPUB, DOC or TXT file support at all.

yeah that's just plain stupid.

sounds to me like the device must be more of a publicity/prototype than a real product.

Nod5 · « **Reply #27 on:** March 15, 2015, 03:50 PM »

Nice find Nod5, that Sony Digital Paper looks very close to ideal for reading academic pdfs.. Too bad the price is so insane ($1000).
-mouser (March 15, 2015, 07:45 AM)

Yeah, I think they target corporate markets. I haven't seen the Sony Paper in real life but it looks to beat all other eink devices out there. But while probably great to simply read on one drawback that it shares with other einks on the market is that it AFAICT also has its own special format for highlights, annotation and so on. I suspect it'd be a hassle to move files back and forth to Windows and access and modify the highlights/annotations there. That is what I like with using a Windows machine for active reading: you can seamlessly copy and paste bits from the pdf viewer into a word processor or note tool, link the file to some reference manager, do advanced online lookups quickly while reading and archive and search the file with the best tools for the job. The bookshelf type catalog apps on the eink devices I've tried (Kindle, Nook) get messy fast when the number of files grow I think.

What I'd really like to see is a big, light eink screen like the Sony Paper (ideally even thinner) that only act like a stupid wireless (bluetooth) extra screen for a host Windows computer or when on the go an Android smartphone. It would send touch/pen inputs back to the host which then updates the image. All files are stored and processed on the host. These prototypes show something like that, though far from finished and with a few somewhat gimmicky features.
https://www.youtube..../watch?v=81iiGWdsJgg

xtabber · « **Reply #28 on:** March 15, 2015, 04:20 PM »

Sony has been selling the Digital Paper directly to consumers in the U.S. since last summer through their online store, but I'm not sure they are still making the device. It's currently listed as "back-ordered" on the site.

Sony pulled out of the e-book market late last year and said they would not be making readers any more. Whether that includes the Digital Paper is an open question.

Nod5 · « **Reply #29 on:** March 16, 2015, 01:04 AM »

Sony seem to want to distinguish ebook readers and the ebook market strongly from the Digital Paper, pitched as a pdf reader tool for organizations. But the price is insane. I wonder what the material production cost is for the bare screen.

ewemoa · « **Reply #30 on:** March 16, 2015, 08:32 PM »

Very interesting device, thanks for sharing.

Interesting to see if anyone manages to "extend" or "modify" the system that ships with it...

wraith808 · « **Reply #31 on:** March 16, 2015, 09:36 PM »

Very interesting device, thanks for sharing.

Interesting to see if anyone manages to "extend" or "modify" the system that ships with it...
-ewemoa (March 16, 2015, 08:32 PM)

From the way that they're marketing it, and the 'interview' process and the reasoning behind that, I don't know if it will get into the hands of someone that would do that.

ewemoa · « **Reply #32 on:** March 16, 2015, 10:40 PM »

It does seem less likely, but perhaps after a certain amount of time...

On a related note, below is a thread with more detailed discussion including mention of alternative devices:

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213019

ewemoa · « **Reply #33 on:** April 19, 2015, 07:48 PM »

From the way that they're marketing it, and the 'interview' process and the reasoning behind that, I don't know if it will get into the hands of someone that would do that.
-wraith808 (March 16, 2015, 09:36 PM)

Looking at:

http://store.sony.co...onyClickHere:DPStore

somehow I'm getting the feeling one can be obtained in a fairly straight-forward manner. May be things have changed? The price seems to have dropped a fair bit

FWIW, I came across that link via:

http://pro.sony.com/...paper-reseller.shtml

where I saw the following:

All Other Professions
Sony Direct-to-Customer Sales invites professionals and all interested parties to call our Concierge team to learn more about Digital Paper. Please call us at 877-723-7669, or click below to buy online.

IainB · « **Reply #34 on:** April 20, 2015, 10:28 AM »

Sony has been selling the Digital Paper directly to consumers in the U.S. since last summer through their online store, but I'm not sure they are still making the device. It's currently listed as "back-ordered" on the site.
Sony pulled out of the e-book market late last year and said they would not be making readers any more. Whether that includes the Digital Paper is an open question.
-xtabber (March 15, 2015, 04:20 PM)

That's an interesting find, thanks. This is kind of what I have been looking for for some time.

I seem to recall that someone (I don't recall it being me) did a post on DCF a while back about some research on something similar to this sort of device, but I can't find the post in a site-wide search. I think it was just research though. There wasn't anything actually produced and on the market at the time.

ewemoa · « **Reply #35 on:** May 30, 2015, 08:49 AM »

The pain in my eyes convinced me to order one...

Not noticing xtabber's informative posts had nothing to do with my eye pain

ewemoa · « **Reply #36 on:** June 01, 2015, 09:31 PM »

Forgot to mention that it was only close to checkout that I realized there is an additional (close to) USD 70 tax involved...

FWIW, someone on the mobileread forums claims to have gotten a refurbished one for around USD 600 via:

https://www.cdw.com/...EM-BSTK/3704285.aspx

( see http://www.mobilerea...42&postcount=216 )

mouser · « **Reply #37 on:** June 02, 2015, 02:03 PM »

please tell us how it is when you get it!

ewemoa · « **Reply #38 on:** June 02, 2015, 05:56 PM »

Sure -- may be a few weeks before I get to interact with it though

dr_andus · « **Reply #39 on:** June 02, 2015, 07:09 PM »

I shouldn't just say that I'm looking for a tablet for e-book reading. What I should say is that I'm looking for a tablet to read full-page-at-a-time textbooks and 8.x5x11 pdf journal articles.
-mouser (November 25, 2014, 04:34 PM)

This might become a possibility soon: for PDFs, combining the forthcoming ASUS Chromebook Flip with Notable PDF Viewer and Annotation App to read in tablet mode. For ebooks there is Play Books or Kindle Cloud Reader (and possibly others).

The advantages of this option would be that one could quickly switch between reading and annotating mode by simply unfolding the device and using the keyboard. And with Notable PDF the notes would be instantly synced across devices and platforms.

And it would be a multi-purpose device (tablet alternative), as it is of course a fully functional Chromebook.

The downside is that in Notable PDF you can't (yet?) change the colour scheme for the background and the fonts (although the brightness can be controlled via the Chromebook).

But with Play Books (as it is run in the Chrome browser) it is possible to use some dark or night styles with the Stylish for Chrome extension, as a workaround to make it easier on the eyes.

P.S. I also just realised today that in Play Books it's possible to select viewing the scanned version of the ebook, thus having a PDF-like experience, and seeing the actual page numbers, which are important in some cases (such as academic work).

wraith808 · « **Reply #40 on:** June 02, 2015, 08:31 PM »

I'm (hopefully) getting my computer tomorrow... if he's open to that Flip, then there are a *lot* of options that weigh in at a similar place. It's a little heavier than the Flip, but not so much as the old days to be unusable in that configuration.

ewemoa · « **Reply #41 on:** June 02, 2015, 09:28 PM »

In researching alternatives recently, I noticed that there are now some 10.1 inch tablets that are noticeably lighter than the Galaxy Tab 10.1 - 565 g (1.25 pounds) - he he, just me being out of touch

Some noteworthy ones:

  Sony Xperia Tablet Z - 494 g (1.09 pounds)
  Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 - 477 g (1.05 pounds)
  Sony Xperia Tablet Z2 - 439 g (0.97 pounds)
  Sony Xperia Tablet Z4 - 389 g (0.85 pounds) - supposedly to be released this month (2015-06)?

For comparison, the Sony Digital Paper is apparently around 358 g (0.79 pounds).

xtabber · « **Reply #42 on:** June 08, 2015, 07:51 PM »

A 10.1 diagonal screen is approximately 5.5 by 8.5 for the side dimensions.

To approximate a letter size page, you need a 13.3 diagonal, which gives you approximately 8.2 by 10.5 for the sides, assuming a standard aspect ratio.

For ebook reading, including PDF, you really don't need more than 10.1, as long as the resolution is at least full HD (1920x1080). Higher resolution is better, of course. For a 13.3 tablet to be used mostly as a reader, I'd really look for 2K (2560x1440). Unfortunately, high resolution translates to high price.

ewemoa · « **Reply #43 on:** June 09, 2015, 05:11 PM »

Have used a 10.1 inch tablet for some years now and am still not quite happy with A4 / Letter -sized (both? one or the other?) viewing. Suspect that some of it has to do with the seemingly extraneous whitespace (e.g. from margins). The cropping feature in some readers seems to help sometimes but also leads to awkward experiences at others.

Hopefully the upcoming 13.3 inch experience will further enlighten

Mark0 · « **Reply #44 on:** June 12, 2015, 03:47 PM »

Speaking of big tablet, this is kinda interesting:

MobileTechReview - HP Pro Slate 12 Video Review - 12" Android Tablet with Pen

wraith808 · « **Reply #45 on:** June 12, 2015, 04:13 PM »

I'm (hopefully) getting my computer tomorrow... if he's open to that Flip, then there are a *lot* of options that weigh in at a similar place. It's a little heavier than the Flip, but not so much as the old days to be unusable in that configuration.

-wraith808 (June 02, 2015, 08:31 PM)

I got my computer ... and forgot to post it in this thread also.

My unboxing photos of my inspiron 7000. I'm satisfied with the upgrade.

http://imgur.com/a/5YvIs#0

mouser · « **Reply #46 on:** June 12, 2015, 04:57 PM »

That hp pro slate looks pretty neat.

ewemoa · « **Reply #47 on:** June 15, 2015, 08:48 AM »

Got to try the Sony Digital Paper (DPT-S1) today. Hope to post more after more experience.

Current impression is "quite impressed" -- with usual caveats regarding speed of redisplay.

mouser · « **Reply #48 on:** June 15, 2015, 08:55 AM »

awesome! can't wait to hear more about it

xtabber · « **Reply #49 on:** June 15, 2015, 07:00 PM »

That hp pro slate looks pretty neat.
-mouser (June 12, 2015, 04:57 PM)

Unfortunately, the 12.3" HP Pro tablet has only 1600x1200 resolution, which means that text is going to look pretty jagged on screen.

Interestingly, the 7.9" version has 2048x1536 resolution, which is the same as the iPad Mini. The small version has the same pen and OCR software as the big tablet, in addition to much higher resolution, but it is too small to work well as a writing pad.

I just don't get what the folk at HP are thinking.