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Out of Her Dreams
Change of Plans
Ghost of a Chance
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LIBRARY IN YOUR HAND
-- Or Dee Lloyd’s Research on eReaders, PDAs and Pocket PCs
The long-awaited public awareness and acceptance of ebooks may be upon us. With the entrance of the big operators like Amazon and Sony into the ereader business, the media has begun to focus on reading electronically. Some columnists actually suggest, tentatively, that reading on a computer, a dedicated ereader, PDA, Pocket PC or even… a phone might be very much like reading a paper book. The stories and information on them are the same. Thanks to the promotion on Oprah's show, Amazon’s Kindles are now backordered
When I am not writing, I am reading. For years now, I’ve been reading on my laptop, but much prefer the easy portability of my ebookwise or my Palm Tungsten 3. Ten years ago I discovered handheld reading devices. I love being able to have at least 30 novels in my hand, my purse, my pocket. I read on the subway, in doctors’ offices, on buses, at the hairdresser, even at work.
I can do research wherever I am, read a mystery, romance, hot reads… anything I like. Nobody knows what I’m reading. (Sometimes that’s important.) I can see the book covers on my handheld device. No one else can.
For four years, I read almost exclusively on my HP Jornada 540. I kept telling myself I'd try a different PDA or Pocket PC when my Jornada 540 gave up the ghost. However, that lovely little handheld kept going strong and it got heavy use. I read novels, submissions, and edited my own books on it every day. I hasten to explain I thought of changing only because I wanted a screen that allows me to read in brilliant sunshine. I was disappointed to find that the Jornada 540 does not. When I took it on a Caribbean cruise a few years ago I had to do my reading on it indoors or in the deep shade. I don’t have that problem with my eBookwise. Its grayscale back lit display is great in the sunshine and in the dark of night.
I don’t own a Kindle or a Sony reader but am told that the electronic ink display can be read easily in bright outdoor light
I have also found the folding keyboards for the Jornada and the T3 handy and easy to use. Several other devices have this peripheral. I have done a lot of writing sitting at a table on my cottage deck in the summer, looking out at the lake.
I must hasten to tell you that I am not an expert on digital equipment. However, I am fascinated by dedicated ereaders, PDAs and Pocket PCs. I’ve coordinated conference workshops in which authors demonstrate reading on their own ereading devices and have admired some tempting pieces of equipment. I looked seriously at several of the other devices out there. This page is the result of my recent research.
As the demand grows, there is more competition in the marketplace and the hope of better prices in the offing.
I haven’t thought seriously about the Smart phones for myself although I know several avid readers who read on their iPhones and on the Palm Treo. This phone boasts a QWERTY keyboard and Bluetooth wireless technology as well.
Visor, Microsoft, Motorola and many others are getting into that field. These are wireless phones with PDA functions. They cannot offer the "speech to text" function required to listen to eBooks on a PDA.
Six years ago, after looking at dozens of product reviews, I succumbed to one of Palm's Tungsten series – the T3 (which they are no longer producing).
I love the expandable screen on my T3 for reading. The screen display is 50% larger than on any previous Palm branded device, and the soft input screen area provides a virtual Graffiti® 2 writing area. Of course you can use the keyboard if you wish. I bought a Targus folding keyboard and have used it a lot. I find its wireless connection a little tricky though and when I’m going to do a lot of writing tend to use the Jornada with its Stowaway keyboard.
With 64 MB, I could carry at least 50 novels in the little darling. If I wanted to buy an expansion card, I could carry many more.
The new hardware's operating system, Palm OS5, includes Bluetooth technology. I have to admit that So far, I have not bought the internet card, which would allow me to utilize the Bluetooth technology. However, I do my internet research and email on my laptop.
If I decided to use the media features, I probably would need that extra memory. However the 64 MB's of memory I have cope nicely with my voracious appetite for reading.
The Tungsten series is not cheap - but the price has come down some.
I have brought books in Palm, Doc, Mobipocket and html formats. I've loaded my own work in Microsoft Word and Excel onto it. It's nice to have that breadth of choice.
I use a folding universal keyboard so that I can do some writing, or at least jot down ideas, while I am on holiday and away from my desktop.
Two years ago, I bought myself an eBookwise 1150. This dedicated ereader has gray-tone backlit screen and is considerably larger than the Jornada and the T3. Because it is about the size of a paperback book and weighs about a pound, I choose to read on it when I am at home and carry the T3 with me when I am away from the house. I’m quite happy with this combination. But, I do realize that these treasures are becoming quite venerable in this fast-moving high tech world.
Here are some devices to look at. This is by no means a complete list and, as you know, the information is changing constantly. Do let me know at dee@deelloyd.com if you use and would like to recommend a product that isn’t listed here.
The devices covered below include:
Handspring Visor
Palm VX
Palm V1X
Palm IIIc
Palm TX
Hewlett/Packard Jornada
Tungsten T
Tungsten T3
EBookwise-1150 eBook Reading device
Compaq iPaq
Astak Mentor
Amazon Kindle
Sony Reader
But now, I am looking into the Amazon Kindle and the Sony reader. Here’s what I’ve learned about them.
Amazon Kindle
This wireless device has a lot going for it. Its screen is highly readable even in brilliant sunlight. It uses gray-scale electronic ink technology, which replicates reading on actual paper. As its 6-inch screen is not back-lit, you can't read in the dark as you can on the ebookwise.
It weighs only 10.3 ounces and can store over 200 titles in its built-in memory. You can add even more if you utilize an optional SD memory card.
It comes with a dictionary and Wikipedia encyclopediaIt can handle audiobooks (through audible.com) and MP3s using a USB transfer.
It has a qwerty keyboard below the screen.
We are told the Kindle Store has over 90,000 books from all major publishers, at $10 apiece. You can also subscribe to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and other publications.
You can also e-mail your own documents and pictures to your Kindle. For ten cents an attachment, Amazon converts them to their proprietary Mobipocket so they can be read on the device. Mobi/.prc files are compatible with Kindle
and for sites that don't offer those formats, you can use MobiPocket Creator
(a free program) to convert the .pdf and .html files to .prc files.
They tell me it’s easy to use.
You can also read word files so if you can turn a reader file into
a word file, you can then read it on your kindle.
Where wireless connection is available, Kindle does not require a PC connection. Amazon's Whispernet wireless network lets you fetch content from the Kindle Store in under a minute. Using Ev-Do, the technology used in some cellphones; you pay no fees. If you're not in Ev-Do coverage, Kindle uses a slower network.
With wireless on, Amazon says you must charge the device every other day. While off, you can go a week or more between charges.
The major drawback to the Kindle, as I see it, is the price, $359. And I find its white, rather bulky shape less than attractive. Its functions, however, are very appealing. |
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Sony Reader
Sony Reader Portable Reader System PRS-505 is non wireless.It also uses a six inch, non-back-lit screen and gray-scale electronic ink technology. It is perfectly readable in bright sunlight.
It weighs nine ounces and can store about 160 books. The memory can be expanded by slots for SD and Memory Stick Duo cards. It can handle MP3s but not audiobooks.
The Sony Connect eBooks Store has more than 20,000 titles. You can also use the Sony to view Adobe PDF documents, Microsoft Word files and other formats. You can take a file from your PC to an SD or Memory Stick™ media card and read on it…TXT, ,RTF, PDF (Unencrypted), BBeB (Encrypted and Unencrypted), JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG, MP3 (Unencrypted), AAC (Unencrypted).
To download ebooks, you connect the device via USB to a Windows XP or Vista PC (not compatible with Mac), then drag and drop purchased content from the Connect store onto the Reader. You can read books on the computer.
The Sony Reader comes in dark blue sangria red or silver, is lighter in weight and is decidedly more stylish. Sony states you can turn 7,500 pages per charge.
Drawbacks for the Sony Reader, in my opinion, are still price (although it costs $300 as opposed to $359 for the Kindle) and the smaller number of books available for the device. Some may but I personally don’t find the lack of wireless and the need to drag and drop files using a USB a problem.
Here are some devices to look at. This is by no means a complete list and, as you know, the information is changing constantly. Do let me know at dee@deelloyd.com if you use and would like to recommend a product that isn’t listed here.
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Here’s an intriguing new reader that’s due out soon:
Astak Mentor EZ Reader
The EZ Reader is an Americanized name for the Hanlin V3. This was 8 years in development by Jinke of China. This is certainly one of the most PROVEN machines on the market. At 7.2 inch long and 4.7 inch wide and .4 inches thick, it feels really good in your hand. Weighing 7.8 ounces, The E-Ink, E-Paper screen makes for reading with no eye strain… and it uses NO power while you read… only while turning pages or listening to your stored stereo MP3 music. At 800 by 600 pixel, it has a Vizplex screen that is very high resolution… reading well in low light. It reads 8,000 pages of text on a single charge… either thru the included USB cable or thru the included power adapter.Astak have confirmed it will begin shipping as of November at which point it will compete directly with Amazon’s much hyped Kindle. Mentor will come in three sizes: 5 inch, 6 inch, and 9.7 inch. They all use E-ink technology and have stereo headphone/earbud jacks. You can do slide shows on them. WiFi (802.11g) and Touchscreen will be options. Resolution is 800 x 600 pixels. All will have SD card slots expanding the memory up to 4GB. The 5 inch is projected to sell at about $159.
It will also have support for TXT, PDF, RTF, HTML/CHM e-Book formats supplemented by BMP, JPG, GIF image file format support and MP3 audio capabilities, with the Pro Mentor (specifically) coming with 4GB NAND flash memory and 64MB SDRAM
Sounds really good to me. I especially like the price. |
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HEWLETT-PACKARD JORNADA
HP Jornada 540 is a Pocket Pc from Hewlett-Packard. It has 16 MB ROM and 16 MB RAM (HP Jornada 540/545). The HP Jornada 548 has 32 MB RAM. Both have LCD color display, Microsoft® ClearType® display technology and a touch-screen.
Reading ebooks: Microsoft Reader for Pocket PC. Will also read MS Word documents and HTML. The Jornada's built-in Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery gives eight hours of battery life
Connections: Infrared port, RS232 serial port, or USB cradle Its memory can be expanded with a Flash Type I card slot. For sound it has an earphone jack, audio speaker and microphone. Its dimensions are 2 x 3.1 x 0.6 in Its weight: 9.1 oz with battery.
Software: PocketPC software (Pocket Word, Excel, etc).
To check latest information and prices check HP
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COMPAQ iPAQ 3100
The Compaq iPAQ 3100 has a memory: of 16 MB Flash ROM, 32 MB RAM Its display is grayscale (15 shades) with a touch-screen Reading ebooks: Microsoft Reader for Pocket PC. Its built-in Lithium-Polymer rechargeable battery has a battery life of 14 hrs.
Connections :IrDA infrared port, RS232 serial port, USB cable/cradle. For expansion of memory, "Expansion Jackets". Stereo earphone jack, audio speaker and microphone. Its dimensions are 5.11 x 3.28 x 0.62 in. Its weight: is 5.76 oz with battery.
It comes with PocketPC software (Pocket Word, Excel, etc.).
The HP (formerly Compaq iPaq) iPAQ runs Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system. Some even have a SD card slot, a PC card slot, built-in Bluetooth, wireless LAN and fingerprint recognition security. The price reflects these extra features… $600.00-plus.
However, the new HP iPaq h1935 pocket PC is advertised on their site for 199.99 after rebate.
To check latest information and prices check HP website
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HANDSPRING VISOR
The Visor Deluxe has 8 MB of memory which can be expanded with a Springboard Expansion Module. Its display is 2-bit monochrome touch-screen. Two AAA batteries. Listed battery life: 2 months. Connections: Infrared port and USB cradle Its dimensions are 4.8 x 3.0 x .7 in. And it weighs 5.4oz with battery
Included software: Handspring Enhanced Palm OS software (DateBook, Calendar, Memo, etc.).
Reading eBooks: uses Palm Reader, Microsoft Reader
For more information visit the Handspring website at www.handspring.com
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This is a sampling of the ever-expanding Palm products. You can check their latest at
PALM VX
The Palm Vx's dimensions are 4.5 x 3.1 x .4 in and it weighs 4 oz with battery. It has: 8 MB of memory It has touch-screen Its battery is Lithium-ion rechargeable. Connections:Infrared port, Serial cradle, Palm.Net Wireless It comes with Palm OS software (DateBook, Calendar, Memo,etc.). Reading ebooks: It uses ebook reading software compatible with Palm OS devices. (Palm, Mobipocket, etc)
PALM VIIX
It has 8 MB of memory. It uses 2 AAA batteries. Listed battery life: 2 months. Its connections are Infrared port, Serial cradle, Palm.Net Wireless The Palm VIIx dimensions are 5.25 x 3.25 x .75 in and it weighs 6.7 oz (with battery).
PALM IIIc
The Palm IIIc has a memory of 8 MB. Its battery is a built-in Lithium-Ion rechargeable. The listed battery life is 2 weeks. It can be connected by Infrared port or Serial cradle Its dimensions are: 5.06 x 3.17 x 0.67 in and it weighs 6.8 oz with battery.
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TUNGSTEN T HANDHELD
The Tungsten T Handheld is a newer product for Palm. It's features include a reflective TFT color screen with brightness control, 5-way navigation designed for one handed navigation control, SD/MultiMediaCard Expansion Slot, Palm T Universal Connector, Integrated BlueTooth radio and antenna, stereo headphone jack, infared port, HotSync cradle and a USB Cradle with power supply [120 VAC, 60 Hz]. You can record and listen to voice memos -- has a speaker.
Capacity -- 4MB/16MB RAM -- 14MB actual storage capacity -- see Palm site for more details. Requires an ISP account and compatible data-enabled phone or modem, or a Bluetooth Network Access Point [not included].
Height 4 inches closed, 4.8 inches open. 3 inches wide and 0.6 inches thick. Weighs 5.6 oz. with stylus.
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TUNGSTEN T3
The Tungsten T3's dimensions are 4.3 x 3.0 x .4 in and it weighs 5.5oz with battery. It has: 64 MB of memory. It has touch-screen Its battery is Lithium-ion rechargeable. Connections: Infrared port, Serial cradle. Palm operating system 5.2.1. Net Wireless
Reading ebooks: It uses ebook reading software compatible with Palm OS devices. (Palm, Mobipocket, etc) It is also compatible with Word and Excel
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eBOOKWISE-1150 eBOOK READING DEVICE
About the size of a paperback book, weighing about a pound the eBookwise-1150 has a backlit screen with Adjustable brightness and contrast controls which allow reading anywhere, even in the dark.. You can turn pages and change the text orientation just by pushing a button. By simply touching the screen, you can enlarge the text size, bookmark pages, highlight passages, make notes, search for key words, look up definitions from preloaded dictionaries and hyperlink to other parts of the book. Note: the eBookwise-1150 is compatible and equivalent to the popular GEB-1150 device formerly made by Gemstar.
The eBookwise-1150 can display content from eBookwise.com, including best-sellers from major publishers or your own personal content in the following file formats: plain text (.txt), rich text format (.rtf), Microsoft Word documents (.doc), HTML (.htm or .html), and Rocket eBook Editions (.rb).
Memory: It has 4MB RAM; 8MB internal Flash for program and content storage; expanded content storage on SmartMedia Memory Cards, up to 128MB. Enough internal memory to hold approximately 15 to 20 eBooks at a time, depending on length. With optional SmartMedia Memory Cards, hundreds of eBooks can be stored on the device.
The rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery on my eBookwise lasts about 14 hours and takes less than an hour to recharge.
The price is $109.95 without a memory card; $139.95 with a 64 megabyte SmartMedia card (which will allow you to load over a hundred books).
I enjoy reading on mine.
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Palm T X
The Palm T X uses Wi-Fi Technology. It has a large, 320x480 color screen. You can view web pages in landscape mode, then flip to portrait for your schedule and Word documents.
You can check your email, download, read, and edit a Word or Excel report, send a photo or listen to your MP3 files.
With Documents To Go® can view, edit, and create Word, Excel, and PowerPoint compatible files. It has 128MB5 non-volatile, flash memory.
With it's larger screen and pocket size, at $299, this one is very tempting. |
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LINKS WITH eREADING/WRITING INFORMATION
The best place, to gather information about handhelds. of course, is each company’s website, but the following are helpful:
The BEST Format Comparison Chart I found is eBookMall -- and they have free downloads of Microsoft Reader, Mobipocket and CspotRun software. http://www.ebookmall.com/aboutebooks.htm
The submissions page at Awestruck Books is one of the most comprehensive I have found, with tons of advice for first-time e-book submitters on formatting, copyrighting and general techniques for writing romance.
http://www.awe-struck.net/submissions.html
Preditors & Editors maintains a warning listing of publishers, agents and editors. It reports any complaints and makes recommendations.
http://www.invirtuo.cc/prededitors/pubwarn.htm
EPIC is the Electronically Published Internet Connection. www.epicauthors.com It is truly the voice of electronic publishing. The website contains invaluable information. Most important is its model contract with Red Flags to avoid.
FictionWise -- http://www.fictionwise.com/help/ReadingDevicesfaq.htm This page has quite a comprehensive list of reading devices and formats.
Overdrive Readerworks -- the program which converts HTML and some others to Microsoft Reader .lit files which can be read on Pocket PCs like the Jornada. Choose the Standard version -- it’s free
ZD Net -- Excellent, up-to-the-minute information on the newest developments in handhelds at ZD Net. http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/handhelds/
The Baen free library is unique. These books are actually free. Check it out. http://www.baen.com/library/
Project Gutenberg, is the first producer of free electronic books. There are over 25000 free books in the Project Gutenberg Online Book Catalog. ... www.gutenberg.org/
Then , of course, there’s the LIBRARY IN YOUR HAND page on my website. http://www.deelloyd.com
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