The eReader Megathread: Yes, all publishers hate Canada

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > The eReader Megathread: Yes, all publishers hate Canada

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

Cael posted:

So I had what's probably a stupid question: can the Nook Color change orientation on the fly by turning it as an iPad would? I see all the things Calibre has for converting CBR/CBZ files which makes me excited to read comics on it. But I wondered if anyone has actually had some hands on experience with this feature. Mainly, if I get to a splash page am I able to turn the Nook and have it fill the screen or am I stuck with a really small image that I can't get a look at it because the top/bottom of the screen are just black.

Trig Discipline posted:

My experience so far has been that it does this with pdfs but does not seem to do it with epubs or Nook books.

And their magazines but I assume those are just DRM'd PDFs.

Hope you like converting all your CBZs to PDF because the Nook Color can't run apps and won't view zips or even folders full of images sequentially.

Why not just wait for a real Android tablet and use Droid Comics Viewer on it?

# ¿ Nov 30, 2010 01:27

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 07:05

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

Withnail posted:

Also, I wonder how long until someone comes out with a tablet an e-ink reader on one side and a color lcd on the other.

It's been done.

Amazon might be doing the same for the next Kindle too

bull3964 posted:

It can actually. It's been rooted and you can sideload android apps now.

So, you could easily run Droid Comic Viewer on it now assuming that it deals with the screen res ok.

So it has, thanks. But so far no one has run Droid Comic Viewer on it successfully.

Note: Droid Comic Viewer can handle the 1024x600 resolution on the Galaxy Tab after you use Spare Parts to turn off compatibility mode, but no guarantee that works for the Nook Color.

Assepoester fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Nov 30, 2010

# ¿ Nov 30, 2010 17:03

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

Archos is determined to have the worst naming convention in the history of technology, creates "70b eReader"

quote:

Specs include 802.11b/g WiFi, a USB jack, stereo speakers, an SD card reader, and support for Adobe Digital Editions DRM making it compatible with the Google eBookstore launched yesterday. And because the 70b eReader is built around what looks like a 7-inch color LCD, it also support video and image playback in full color.

Well at least it supports Adobe DRM.

# ¿ Dec 7, 2010 10:16

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

Fuzzykinz posted:

As seen in the tablet thread, I'm not a huge Archos fan.

But do we know anything about this devices pricing yet?

No, nothing at all.

Ara posted:

Sorry, Bookeen Cybook is by far the worst. Every time I see it written I think it says "Broken Cybook." Somebody in this thread posted "I have a bookeen cybook" and I seriously thought "No wonder it's broken, I've never even heard of the thing" before re-reading it.

I meant the worst naming convention across their entire product line, not the worst single product name.

Archos has:

Archos 7 (several models in fact)
Archos 7 Home Tablet
Archos 70
Archos 70b eReader

Thanks for not confusing your customers Archos!

# ¿ Dec 8, 2010 00:58

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

Trig Discipline posted:

It seems like all of the Youtube videos I go to on my NC are displayed with ultra-lovely resolution, even those that have decent resolution when viewed on a PC. I think that Youtube thinks my NC is a cell phone. Do you know of a way to fix it by any chance?

The official Youtube app maxes out at 480p.

You want a tablet instead of just an e-reader? Come visit one of the tablet threads.

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3281154
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3379915

# ¿ Jan 9, 2011 05:34

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

Priz posted:

Considered picking up a Nook Color so I went down to B&N to play with one. The interface seemed a bit... sluggish. Reading text wasn't so bad, but just the overall experience didn't seem smooth.

I have used an iPad in the past so maybe I was spoiled on that, but does rooting it and adding stuff help speed it up? I'm on the fence right now, so before pulling the trigger I figured I'd come on and ask for other opinions/suggestions.

Yes absolutely. The truth is you cannot judge any android tablet right now based on what they come with in store, especially if the come with some custom interface you have to root/flash to get rid of. The G-Tablet for example is much faster than an iPad hardware-wise but the stock Tap-n-Tap interface makes it appear slower than Windows Vista with 256MB of RAM.

Even the stock Android launcher/homescreen/shell is slower than Launcher Pro or ADW Launcher since it doesn't use hardware acceleration.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2011 09:55

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

FidgetyRat posted:

Yes, in a sense it does. But it has some uses, like allowing all these mega-ultra-all-in-1 devices to use eInk instead of LCD.. so users can read with the standard e-ink benefits, but also watch their youtube crap and play games on the side.

I personally wouldn't buy one. Here's hoping Amazon sticks with it's trend of keeping the Kindle primarily a reader and not an iPad clone.

Amazon rolling its own Android store means only one thing and you know what that is.

# ¿ Jan 28, 2011 16:12

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

Centipeed posted:

If this is your plan is there any reason to buy a Nook rather than a Kindle?

I think he means the Nook Color, and the reason would be that Amazon's own Kindle Android Tablet isn't out yet.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2011 12:03

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

Sporadic posted:

I don't get it.

Are people really that hard up for money that they will accept ads, for as long as they own the device, so they get $25 off the top?

You can probably just hack them off. Then bam, you've saved $25 and VISA is out whatever they paid Amazon to do this.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2011 00:24

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

Sporadic posted:

This is the biggest problem with ebooks today. (I noticed this while putting together recommendations for my Dad while browsing my archive)

That makes sense. Why wouldn't the price of a book, that was released 24 years ago, double in price over the course of a year???

Ara posted:

That $1000 is on the Amazon Marketplace, not the actual Amazon price.

I still want to know what the gently caress is up with those marketplace prices for both Hardcover and Mass Market Paperback though.

# ¿ May 4, 2011 17:24

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

Kobo just kicked Amazon and Sony's rear end

rangipetur posted:

I don't know about the reader, but I actually use the Kobo bookstore to buy books for my Sony Reader, as it works outside the US, Canada and UK, unlike Sony's own bookstore, Waterstone, B&N and so on.

No physical page turn buttons is a downside though

# ¿ May 23, 2011 18:28

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

bull3964 posted:

http://thisismynext.com/2011/05/24/barnes-noble%E2%80%99-nook-hands-on/

The hands on is up. There are physical page turn buttons which has pretty much sold me now.

Yep, sorry Kobo, but B&N has just stolen all your thunder. Physical page turn buttons and android-based make it far and away superior

# ¿ May 24, 2011 18:08

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

KingEup posted:

The page refreshing 'flash' has always put me off e-readers so it's good to see some progress in that department. Has the resolution been improved in this new nook too?

No, it's still 800x600. The company that makes the e-ink screens for both of them has not improved on pixel density yet, so if you want more resolution you will have to get a Kindle DX.

# ¿ May 26, 2011 21:39

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

A Fistful of Owls posted:

The fact that the Kindle Fire doesn't have a microSD slot is really dumb. People are saying that you'll be allowed to use the amazon cloud which is all well and good unless you're like me and you're in places without wifi quite a bit.

I can't wait to see what B&N announces for the Nook Color 2.

You won't have to wait for the Nook 2

The $200 7" Android Tablet is becoming A Thing

http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/19/kobo-quietly-launches-vox-android-tablet-with-7-inch-display-gi/

"Canadian retailer Future Shop gave us an accidental sneak peek at the tablet last week, but now Kobo is making Vox official, complete with a 7-inch 1024 x 600 resolution AFFS+ display with multi-touch, a 7-hour battery and 8 gigs of internal memory with support for up to 32GB of SD storage. The $200 tablet is running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and is powered by an 800 MHz processor and 512MB of RAM. There's also a built-in speaker and 3.5mm headphone jack, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and a variety of pre-loaded apps (naturally you'll have access to Android Market as well). Vox is listed as in-stock on Kobo's online store, though you'll have to wait until October 28th for yours to ship. It'll also be available at Best Buy and Fry's Electronics stores in the U.S., and Best Buy, Future Shop and Indigo in Canada."

Basically it looks just like the Kindle Fire but it has an SD card slot and Android buttons. On the downside the processor is unknown and clocked slower.

# ¿ Oct 19, 2011 16:19

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

Now that ReadItLater has changed to Pocket, does the website still work ok with the old Kindle Keyboard browser?

# ¿ May 17, 2012 12:35

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

If I use http://delivereads.com/ @free.kindle.com with a 3G Kindle it will only download over WiFi and thus never charge me for downloading over 3G right?

big scary monsters posted:

Anyone tried an iRiver Story HD? No wireless connectivity, but they look pretty nice and the price isn't bad.

It doesn't sound so great from reviews, slightly higher dpi screen notwithstanding...

http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/19/iriver-story-hd-review/
http://reviews.cnet.com/e-book-readers/iriver-story-hd/4505-3508_7-34850148.html
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/ereaders/iriver-story-hd.aspx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXWKOoy20Rs

The big issues being the higher dpi not really being noticable and the poor wifi reception and the annoyance of having to go into the settings everytime you want to read sideloaded books. On the other hand it's now only $85 at Overstock.com which makes it comparable to the $80 basic Kindle with offers.

At least it's nice someone is making a Google Books reader.

# ¿ May 28, 2012 11:57

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

Apparently the Kindle Touch 3G (with special offers of course) is $109 at Wal-Mart (in stores only) this week, which is a whopping $40 off!

http://slickdeals.net/f/4691550-Kindle-Touch-3G-109-at-Walmart-B-M-possible-84-at-Staples-with-PM-and-coupon

Anyone know why/how it's so cheap? Is this a special Wal-Mart model with lower specs? My Wal-Mart didn't have any so I wasn't able to check.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2012 04:14

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

I wonder why cheap chinese e-reader manufacturers are so ahead of the curve on adoption of USB-C compared to kobo and amazon

# ¿ Sep 13, 2021 22:32

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

Rudeboy Detective posted:

My guess is that they're closer to the supply chain than Amazon/Kobo and that it's just simply cheaper to use the newer connector.

Amazon/Kobo might be after some kind of continuity, or something.

Foxtrot_13 posted:

Also the likes of Amazon and Kobo have product development teams, have to actually support the device and have a mapped lifecycle with electronic compliance testing. Plus Amazon and Kobo make the money on content and not hardware.

Some where along the line an MBA is going to ask how much putting a USB C connector on an existing product is going to cost Vs the likely increase in sales.

Now the Chinese makers rely on selling hardware so need a new USP to sell you a new device as often as they can.

Amazon already moved to USB-C on their cheap Fire Tablets so clearly the cost isn't high at all, an MBA clearly looked at the price and decided it was worth it and there were no problems with electronic compliance testing. So what's the holdup on their similarly priced and even more expensive Kindles?

And I have no idea what software support teams would have to do with the charging connection.

# ¿ Sep 14, 2021 18:57

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

Humerus posted:

I'm pretty sure Amazon loses money on every e-ink Kindle so even a modest increase in price from the move to USB C would be impactful. Maybe the price has come down enough on the tablet Kindles and the next round of e-ink ones will get it next.

Pretty sure they're not making money on $80 fire tablets either, especially when they go on sale even more often than the kindles. But maybe their lockscreen ads are more profitable? Either way the arguments about cost aren't really borne out here.

# ¿ Sep 14, 2021 22:46

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 07:05

Assepoester: Jul 18, 2004; Can't post for 10 years!; Melman v2

If they saw the page before it was supposed to go up I consider that to be confirmation enough.

Finally we have USB-C!

# ¿ Sep 21, 2021 14:34

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > The eReader Megathread: Yes, all publishers hate Canada