9 ms·
Still 6 inches. I'm not sure why ebook readers standardized on that size, it feels too small at least to me. Finally bought one last year and ended up choosing
by paol 11y ago
Still 6 inches. I'm not sure why ebook readers standardized on that size, it feels too small at least to me.
Finally bought one last year and ended up choosing the Kobo H20 partly because of that - it's 6.8" which is not bad, but I suspect the sweet spot would probably be somewhere between 7 and 7.5.
Edit: for people looking for big readers (for technical books and such, where 6" is quite useless), the ones I'm aware of are the 8" Bookeen Cybook Ocean and the inkBOOK 8 (the later was still vaporware when I looked into it, not sure if it's available now).
- desireco42 11y agoI am like you, here is my money, just get me a larger format kindle, or kobo for that matter. You can't read comic books or magazines in such small edition. Kobo honestly looks better. There must be some technical challenge to issue something 7-8" sized.
- pawelkomarnicki 11y agoWho would read comic books on a monochromatic display? :D There're tablets for that :P
- benologist 11y agoComics can be black and white - I grew up reading one called The Phantom decades ago printed in b&w, and more recently I read The Walking Dead comics that are b&w too.
- zyxley 11y agoAlso, most manga is 90+% percent black and white, with many series having at most maybe one or two colored splash pages per issue, or the occasional promotional or plot climax issue that's all color.
- riffraff 11y agoPlenty of the popular comics in Italy are published in b&w too, color was only used for premium/special editions.
- kevinSuttle 11y agoI bet iPad Pro + Comixology =
- desireco42 11y agoThat is definitely sick combination. And very pricy. :)
- adamgray 11y agoI use an older iPad and it does great for comics, but there are lots of monochromatic comics out there, just not necessarily the popular cape stuff.
- virmundi 11y agoPersonal theory from watching Nook shoppers, ebook readers are for book readers. I'm not being glib, they are for people who read paperback books. That is the market. I've seldom seen a person go from Nook to the magazine displays. The same is true from Nook to larger format book sections like bookmaker or tech books. The remaining market probably, and this is just my opinion from watching tech conversations, is to small to support with existing margins the cost of a larger form factor with the larger resolution screens. I haven't even seen a Kickstarter for such a device. The screens exist. The ability to get the other parts exist. The market for such a product does not, apparently.
- ghaff 11y agoAgreed. For reading (primarily) flowing text, I find the Kindle Paperwhite just about perfect. Really light to hold in one hand, great battery life, easy on the eyes. If I'm reading a graphic novel or a technical book with illustrations, code, etc. I much prefer my full-size tablet--which I don't like as much for just reading. The issue with the larger screen I suspect is that you're now competing with full-size tablets with a much more specialized device that that would probably be judged inferior to its smaller sibling by many people for plain reading. It feels like a very slim market. ADDED: I actually forgot that there used to be a Kindle DX. Given that format doesn't exist any longer, I'm pretty sure that it didn't sell well.
- deong 11y agoThe DX was also super expensive though -- like $450 if I remember correctly.
- ghaff 11y agoRegular Kindles weren't cheap initially though. I forget when the DX came out but I paid something like $300 for my second gen Kindle.
- WalterBright 11y agoAmazon ran a promotion on the DX at one point for $250, when I got mine. I'm glad I did.
- jcslzr 11y agoa color ebook reader for comics would be like a gaming console for kids
- zyxley 11y agoThe basic problem with that is that comics these days are too expensive. $4-$5 for 26 pages? Yeesh.
- aidenn0 11y agoThere is basically a single supplier for eInk displays. If they thought they could do volume at a larger size, I bet they would do it. However the number of people who want large black & white e-readers is probably quite small.
- dcchambers 11y agoI like to think they stick with the 6-inch size because it's roughly the same size as a mass-market paperback book, which everyone is used to holding and reading from, and they fit in just about any size bag.
- dkersten 11y agoIts just a little too big to fit in my pocket and just a bit too small to be really comfortable to read. I still love my paperwhite though.
- jamespo 11y agoYes, I'd like a larger screen option too. Tech books often have the preformatted code sections wrapping which is horrible and only sometimes eliminated in landscape.
- mrec 11y agoI'd actually prefer something smaller - I still use my ancient Sony PRS-350 just because it fits conveniently in a pocket. I suppose that size has too much competition from smartphones to be viable any more. 6" does seem an odd compromise, though. Too big to be convenient, too small to be nice.
- ZenoArrow 11y agoIf you've got an iPhone, you might be interested in this: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/popslate-2-smart-second-screen-for-iphone#/ https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/popslate-2-smart-second-s... Alternatively, if you'd prefer an Android device: https://yotaphone.com/gb-en/ https://yotaphone.com/gb-en/
- mrec 11y agoI don't have a phone at all, so neither of those really applies...
- thallian 11y ago6'' does fit perfectly into the leg pocket of the cargo pants I'm always wearing. I do not think that was the intention but I really love it.
- roywiggins 11y agoKobo used to sell an itty bitty e-reader (4 or 5 inches?) that would slip into a pocket. Seemed perfect for travel, but I never ended up buying one.
- Nzen 11y agoThey sold a 4.3" reader. I've seen it come up on woot a couple of times. No reviewer claimed to have liked it. http://computers.woot.com/forums/viewpost.aspx?postid=5883823&ref=cp_cnt_odet_jtd http://computers.woot.com/forums/viewpost.aspx?postid=588382...
- 11y ago
- j_s 11y agoAny input from lurking Kindle DX owners? Sounds like they are available around $200. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=kindle+dx http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=kindle+dx
- audi100quattro 11y agoI've had one from amazon warehouse deals for a while (around $200 ~2 years ago too). Completely worth it for the screen size when working, studying and for fun. Wish they had a touch screen version and thin bezel. I bought it specifically for reading pdf papers, and haven't been disappointed. Can't complain about the free 3g, and occasional browser use either if you flash it to 3.2.1 or higher from the kindle keyboard.
- m52go 11y agoMy Kindle DX is one of the best device purchases I've ever made. I got mine for $299 right before it was phased out and still enjoy using it to disconnect from the digital world. PDFs are especially great on it...you can enjoy the original fonts, design, and layout in the original (often larger) size. EPUBs are the weakest because (1) they're not officially supported and (2) converting leads to huge fonts. There's probably a way to fix (2) but I haven't bothered as I find my phone a better medium to read EPUBs.
- maxxxxx 11y agoI would get one if I was sure that Amazon would keep supporting it. I would be nervous about it being locked out from the Kindle store soon.
- Compulsion 11y agoI had a DX. I found the PDF support to be useful, but too slow. It was difficult to use it as a reference device, but it worked ok for linear reading. I migrated to iPads once the iPad 2 came out and never really looked back.
- peatmoss 11y agoSame experience--PDF rendering was too slow even for a lot of linear reading. I remember once opening a statistical text (Springer has a lot of freely downloadable content if you're at a university). I think it was a Bayesian text with a plot showing model convergence. Because the graphic was a vector plot containing lots of line segments, the page would take several minutes to render. I loved the screen though. I'd love to have a DX sized reader with even the processing power of a raspberry pi. Actually, I'd love something with a keyboard cover that let me do emacs in the sunshine, but that's an altogether different story.
- torgoguys 11y agoBuy a used Kindle DX perhaps? That was 9.7 inches, same as an iPad.
- bryanlarsen 11y agoFor a counter-point, I find that 6 inches is too big. A phone screen allows much easier one-handing, and reduces eye-scan. Combine that with the fact that an AMOLED screen is much superior than anything backlit for night reading, and my ebook reader collects dust.
- ajford 11y agoI'd love a 4ish inch ebook reader. My pet peeve with my Kindle is that it's not something I can take with me without carrying my bag. I'd love something I could stick in my back pocket or cargo pocket and read while I'm killing 5 minutes. Right now, I tend to use my phone, but I don't enjoy reading off an LCD nearly as much as I do my eink Kindle. The Kobo Mini [1] looks promising, but since it's discontinued you only seem to find them used on eBay. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobo_Mini https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobo_Mini
- encoderer 11y agoI have no problems slipping my paperwhite into my back pocket, but of course ymmv.
- cmdkeen 11y agoJacket pockets - for those of us in countries where the temperature goes low enough. I spend most of the year wearing some form of clothing that has a pocket that comfortably carries a Kindle - I don't have to specifically shop for the size, it just fits. That means I always have my Kindle on me when I find myself sitting on public transport, when I arrive somewhere early or through lunch. It becomes the alternative to social media on your phone - and broadens your mind.
- aaco 11y agoAgreed. I wouldn't buy anything larger. My Kindle fits perfectly in my coats' inner pockets and also in my backpack's otherwise unused CD pocket.
- dave2000 11y agoThat doesn't explain why the screen is 6 inches. The bezel on kindles (Paperwhites and below) are quite large and you could imagine a same sized device having a larger screen quite easily.
- rifung 11y agoI imagine the bezels are there partly so you have a place to hold it but I could be wrong
- shogun21 11y agoI think it's trying to match the average size of a novel. I would love a larger one for comics and textbooks.
- collyw 11y agoThe problem is that the kindle form factor is similar to many books, but the screen size is smaller because of all the plastic at the edges.
- iheartmemcache 11y agoI'm an e-reader fanatic, having bought a total of six for myself and friends/family over the years. I have 3 Kindles - one third gen for reading novels in one hand (I don't have particularly large hands but I can palm the 6" while using my thumb to move to the next page by clenching my hand), one PaperWhite for night reading, and one Kindle DX from ~5 years ago that I still use for PDF's. Believe it or not there's a huge scene for people who love the 8-9" form-factor. A NIB DX runs 500ish on ebay. I was waiting for this release for ages, but I see no reason to buy it. It looks like you're paying an extra $100 just to get back the side-buttons the Kindle fanatics demanded (it feels way more natural to press a button than make a slide motion, to the point where you don't even realize you're pressing the button after a few pages of immersive reading, unlike the slide action which breaks the continuity -- the same reason why I keep my 3rd gen around). For $100 more, the Onyx BOOX N96[1] is definitely the best buy out there right now for that larger form factor. You get the same Paperwhite tech, the ability to jot notes down with a stylus, and a significantly bigger screen. I don't have one but I've heard nothing but good things about support from Onyx and let's be honest making an e-reader isn't the most complicated thing out there so odds are you won't need much tech support (you can buy a DX 9.7" replacement screen for ~65 and drive it with a uC almost trivially easily). [1] http://www.ebay.com/itm/Onyx-BOOX-N96-ML-9-7-E-Ink-Pearl-Display-FrontLight-E-book-Reader-w-Google-Play-/281957799590?hash=item41a5fe96a6:g:CP0AAOSwmmxW3eKN http://www.ebay.com/itm/Onyx-BOOX-N96-ML-9-7-E-Ink-Pearl-Dis... edit: http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Cybook_Ocean http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Cybook_Ocean 8" for 179$ (not "genuine" e-Ink(tm)) http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/PocketBook_InkPad http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/PocketBook_InkPad 8" eInk Pearl with front-light for $250 (I've heard great things about this company too)
- samdoshi 11y ago> it feels way more natural to press a button than make a slide motion, to the point where you don't even realize you're pressing the button after a few pages of immersive reading, unlike the slide action which breaks the continuity You probably know this already, but on my PW1, you only need to tap the right hand side of the screen to go forward a page, and similarly, you tap the left hand side to go back a page.
- davnn 11y agoThere is a 13" Sony DPT-S1 reader that is made for technical documents. The only use case is reading somewhere outside for me, I would else prefer a tablet.
- andrepd 11y ago+1 for the Kobo H2O. Weather resistance is something I value a lot in my products.
- WalterBright 11y agoThe sweet spot for me is a paperback book size for the display.
- dave2000 11y agoAlso, if it could be really cheap; say £7 or so. And rather than charging it you'd just get another copy of it once you'd read one. And when you were finished you could lend or give it to someone else. You could get second hand ones cheap, and there'd not be a central store of all the ones you'd read for a hostile government to data mine, and no company would be able to remove them from you, like, say you were in the middle of reading 1984 about a dystopian future where your every move was monitored by a dicatorship.
- WalterBright 11y agoYes, I'd like to see them so cheap they are sold on a wire tab in the supermarket, like calculators. I'd buy a bunch as throwaways!
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- e12e 11y agoRegarding your edit, there's still the Sony device (for AFAIK PDF only): http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Paper-DPT-S1-Japan-Import/dp/B00H7MWD0O http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Paper-DPT-S1-Japan-Import/dp/B... I'm still hoping more manufactures will release bigger devices, but I assume there are still cost issues with larg(er) e-ink displays. I'd love to have something big enough to work for graphic novels and books with illustrations/diagrams. Even if only black and white. I suppose if none are released, I'll just have to bite the bullet and consolidate on something like the Microsoft Surface Pro 4, or a Lenovo Yoga. Still not convinced that even the new high-dpi screens will work for ~12-14 hour reading sessions, though.
- tetraodonpuffer 11y agoapparently there's this http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/good-e-reader-is-launching-a-13-3-inch-e-reader http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/good-e-reader... that will be coming out at some point
- e12e 11y agoFor those interested, there's one day left on the IndieGoGo - 13.3" e-reader running Android for ~700USD. Sadly, it's a little too steep for me right now :-/ https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/13-3-inch-android-e-reader#/updates https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/13-3-inch-android-e-reade...
- mabbo 11y agoI have a Kindle DX. It's... big. Too big for typical usage like novel reading. Works better for things like PDFs or other things that need a bigger space, but not if I'm just sitting around reading some fiction.
- kovek 11y agoFrom my experience, uploading a PDF file to your Kindle account destroys the presentation of the content as you would usually see it on Desktop clients, like Adobe Acrobat Reader. On desktop, every A4 page can be zoomed in an out. I wish it would be possible for Amazon's ereaders to display a page at full width and allow the display to scroll down, instead of reformatting the page. I /think/, I am not sure, that if you move a pdf file onto your ereader, you can achieve this. However, in this case, you lose your sync functionality. Anyone has any ideas on how to deal with this?