Electronic paper, also called e-paper or electronic ink, is a display technology designed to mimic the appearance of regular ink on paper. Basically, light is reflected on the display, and no power is used to display a page.
The pros of this technology is that it is very easy on the eyes. LCD screens can cause eye strain and e-ink does not (in theory). It also uses very little power to turn pages.
Cons of this technology? Currently it is black and white only, it will eventually be available in color but that is a few years off. The screen will “flash” when you change pages, it will go all grey and then the text of the next page will appear, there is a slight lag when this happens. Some people find the flash to be very annoying. I found it relatively easy to get used to and eventually ignore.
Currently e-ink is the type of screen that is being used on most ereaders, there are a few that have LCD screens, but the vast majority uses this technology.
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Friday, November 13, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
How many books will my ereader hold?
I find this question somewhat amusing. My little ebookwise 1150 only holds about 10 books (I don’t have the expanded memory for it) and my Cool-er has 1 gigabyte of book storage and is expandable with a SD card.
Ebook files take up very little space. The ones on my machine are roughly an average of 500kb in size. What does that mean exactly? They are pretty darned small. Books with more pictures will of course take up more space, and ones with more special formatting will also take up more space.
Data Storage conversion
• 1 byte = 8 bits
• 1 kilobyte (K / Kb) = 2^10 bytes = 1,024 bytes
• 1 megabyte (M / MB) = 2^20 bytes = 1,048,576 bytes
• 1 gigabyte (G / GB) = 2^30 bytes = 1,073,741,824 bytes
• 1 terabyte (T / TB) = 2^40 bytes = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes
• 1 petabyte (P / PB) = 2^50 bytes = 1,125,899,906,842,624
So most ereaders will hold literally thousands of books, without having to use an expansion memory slot.
The reality? How many books do you plan to keep on your ereader at any one time?
I keep maybe 100ish books on my Cool-er, I do not keep my whole library on it.
Why not? Frankly sort options are currently not terribly good. So trying to find the book you want to read can be a real challenge. Many ereaders don’t have very good folder support, or they don’t have folders at all.
So when people say that a ereader ONLY has 1gig of space for books I smile and nod. Thinking who really carries a thousand books around on their reader at one time? Now if I was going to be in the middle nowhere with no internet access I could see having a thousand books on my ereader, but in general I don’t think most users will have more than a few hundred books on their ereaders at one time.
Ebook files take up very little space. The ones on my machine are roughly an average of 500kb in size. What does that mean exactly? They are pretty darned small. Books with more pictures will of course take up more space, and ones with more special formatting will also take up more space.
Data Storage conversion
• 1 byte = 8 bits
• 1 kilobyte (K / Kb) = 2^10 bytes = 1,024 bytes
• 1 megabyte (M / MB) = 2^20 bytes = 1,048,576 bytes
• 1 gigabyte (G / GB) = 2^30 bytes = 1,073,741,824 bytes
• 1 terabyte (T / TB) = 2^40 bytes = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes
• 1 petabyte (P / PB) = 2^50 bytes = 1,125,899,906,842,624
So most ereaders will hold literally thousands of books, without having to use an expansion memory slot.
The reality? How many books do you plan to keep on your ereader at any one time?
I keep maybe 100ish books on my Cool-er, I do not keep my whole library on it.
Why not? Frankly sort options are currently not terribly good. So trying to find the book you want to read can be a real challenge. Many ereaders don’t have very good folder support, or they don’t have folders at all.
So when people say that a ereader ONLY has 1gig of space for books I smile and nod. Thinking who really carries a thousand books around on their reader at one time? Now if I was going to be in the middle nowhere with no internet access I could see having a thousand books on my ereader, but in general I don’t think most users will have more than a few hundred books on their ereaders at one time.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Don't you dis our EB1150
So a user on Mobileread was saying how out of date the little EB1150 is and wondered why anyone would want to get one.
Now most users of the ebookwise 1150 (also known as EB1150) are extremely happy with their device. Five people jumped forward to say why they love their little EB1150 and why even though its old it is a good little device.
So don't dis our little ereader! It might be older but that does not mean that it is as out of date as some might expect!
Now most users of the ebookwise 1150 (also known as EB1150) are extremely happy with their device. Five people jumped forward to say why they love their little EB1150 and why even though its old it is a good little device.
So don't dis our little ereader! It might be older but that does not mean that it is as out of date as some might expect!
Is an ebook reader right for me?
This is a very good question. I love and adore my ereader and I would hate to give it up!
Do you read more than a book a week? If you do not, I do not recommend a ereader at this time. For the heavy book reader they work wonderfully, but the price for the devices is prohibitively high for the more casual book reader at this point.
Currently ereaders run from $200 and up, with the exception of the ebookwise 1150 which is currently $80, you can also find Sony PRS 505 on clearance at some stores for less than $200, such as Target.
When the price of ereaders come down I think that they will work fine for the people who do not read as heavily.
If you are going to be gone for a long period of time where getting books in your primary language is difficult or impossible to find, a ereader is a very handy device. You can load a ton of books up and then charge the device with a solar charger.
My favorite thing about my ebooks and my ereader is the amount of space I save! I currently have 700+ books on my computer harddrive. Think how much space 700+ books would take up if they were paperbacks?
Do you read more than a book a week? If you do not, I do not recommend a ereader at this time. For the heavy book reader they work wonderfully, but the price for the devices is prohibitively high for the more casual book reader at this point.
Currently ereaders run from $200 and up, with the exception of the ebookwise 1150 which is currently $80, you can also find Sony PRS 505 on clearance at some stores for less than $200, such as Target.
When the price of ereaders come down I think that they will work fine for the people who do not read as heavily.
If you are going to be gone for a long period of time where getting books in your primary language is difficult or impossible to find, a ereader is a very handy device. You can load a ton of books up and then charge the device with a solar charger.
My favorite thing about my ebooks and my ereader is the amount of space I save! I currently have 700+ books on my computer harddrive. Think how much space 700+ books would take up if they were paperbacks?
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