4 ms·

A dead simple, cheap 8.5x11 e-ink device with no wifi or touchscreen or anything like that. Just the ability to page through my already owned pdfs. Some of them

by terragb 18y ago

A dead simple, cheap 8.5x11 e-ink device with no wifi or touchscreen or anything like that. Just the ability to page through my already owned pdfs. Some of them are scanned images, not text so no text conversion. Even if the only way to get the docs on it was via some kind of virtual printer driver I'd be happy. I'd basically like a way to read stuff on e-ink as if it had been printed.

moe 18y ago
Seconded. Just today I looked at ebook reader devices again because I really want one - but the prices are ridiculous. $359 for a kindle? Come on, that buys me about 35 physical books - close to 2 years of reading material. Give me the kindle and 20 books included, then we might be talking.
- Scriptor 18y ago
  Some flexibility would be nice here. I'm sure there'd be a few books I'd like to read in the future, so maybe 10 books with the reader and 10 free ones I can choose later would be nice. Still, the XKCD on the Kindle made me really want to try one, if only because of sentimental reasons.
  - moe 18y ago
    In fact, since the kindle is a closed platform, feel free to lock me into amazon until I have bought enough books to pay it off. I would immediately order a kindle for $0 that forces me to buy the first 100 books at amazon (as long as the pdf function is not crippled). $100 / 50 and other combinations would also work. I do consider myself an early adopter. But the current asking price is too steep.
reduxredacted 18y ago
Agreed ... Foxit's e-book reader "appears as though" it's getting a little closer. For me it's not about page size but price. It seems like there'd be a market for a "light on features" ebook reader for those of us who don't care about whispernet, touch screens or wifi. Though I don't know that I would be willing to skimp on everything (like a reader with just forward and backward buttons). When I read PDF files on my screen, I regularly use the search features to zero in on things. Your statement of "as if it had been printed" is intriguing. So the device would have to have something that you can at least plug a page number into (kinda like thumbing to somewhere that you think might be the location you're looking for). At the right price, I'd give up search if it had this as a minimum.
- terragb 18y ago
  The reason I say "as if it had been printed" is because converting things to "kindle format" sucks and tends to not work correctly unless it is just plain text. My printer never has this problem. Also it seems like this would reduce the complexity of the device and with that hopefully the price. Furthermore, searching will only work if you have only text which is one of the problems... You're definitely right about needing page numbers though.

by terragb 18y ago

moe 18y ago

Seconded. Just today I looked at ebook reader devices again because I really want one - but the prices are ridiculous. $359 for a kindle? Come on, that buys me about 35 physical books - close to 2 years of reading material. Give me the kindle and 20 books included, then we might be talking.

Scriptor 18y ago
Some flexibility would be nice here. I'm sure there'd be a few books I'd like to read in the future, so maybe 10 books with the reader and 10 free ones I can choose later would be nice. Still, the XKCD on the Kindle made me really want to try one, if only because of sentimental reasons.
- moe 18y ago
  In fact, since the kindle is a closed platform, feel free to lock me into amazon until I have bought enough books to pay it off. I would immediately order a kindle for $0 that forces me to buy the first 100 books at amazon (as long as the pdf function is not crippled). $100 / 50 and other combinations would also work. I do consider myself an early adopter. But the current asking price is too steep.

reduxredacted 18y ago

Agreed ... Foxit's e-book reader "appears as though" it's getting a little closer. For me it's not about page size but price. It seems like there'd be a market for a "light on features" ebook reader for those of us who don't care about whispernet, touch screens or wifi. Though I don't know that I would be willing to skimp on everything (like a reader with just forward and backward buttons). When I read PDF files on my screen, I regularly use the search features to zero in on things. Your statement of "as if it had been printed" is intriguing. So the device would have to have something that you can at least plug a page number into (kinda like thumbing to somewhere that you think might be the location you're looking for). At the right price, I'd give up search if it had this as a minimum.

terragb 18y ago
The reason I say "as if it had been printed" is because converting things to "kindle format" sucks and tends to not work correctly unless it is just plain text. My printer never has this problem. Also it seems like this would reduce the complexity of the device and with that hopefully the price. Furthermore, searching will only work if you have only text which is one of the problems... You're definitely right about needing page numbers though.