John Lewis pitches 80-quid colour e-book reader If Samsung's 7in Galaxy Tab is too big for you - let alone Apple's 9.7in iPad - then how about this 5in "colour e-book reader" that the middle classes' favourite retailer, John Lewis, will be offering this Christmas? Out under the name of UK electronics supplier Sovos, the SVEBK5-B has a 480 x 800 LCD and measures a neat 149 x …
with e-paper and and 30 *days* of e-book reading on a single charge.
While this may make a fair compromise device if you are interested in watching video, if your primary concern is reading then the LCD screen is a major problem. It is harder on the eyes, will perform poorly in bright light and the display and backlight sucks the battery dry in a few hours.
I was initially sceptical about e-ink, until I tried it. I can read a Kindle for hours without any eye strain, whereas I can barely manage 30 minutes on an LCD before I'm rubbing my eyes and blinking.
"I was initially sceptical about e-ink, until I tried it. I can read a Kindle for hours without any eye strain, whereas I can barely manage 30 minutes on an LCD before I'm rubbing my eyes and blinking." Your PC monitor is LCD and u read that for HOURS with no trouble whatsoever. It was the e-ink inventors that started the LCD eye strain myth.
I think the real benefit of E Ink screens is actually the lack of a glossy front, not the display technology per se.
It's the reflections that makes you average (glossy) LCD less pleasant to read for long periods. Otherwise, I'd have LCD's generally higher resolution and certainly higher contrast over E Ink any day.
The kindle e-ink screen also has a slight sheen, but no different to my Dell Latitude (a sort of "silk" finish, so it certainly isn't that). The discomfort I feel with extensive LCD use is certainly real, and doesn't occur with the Kindle. Given the similar "sheen" to the two screens, I can only put it down to the backlight and, possibly, the flicker associated with the screen refresh on the LCD.
I do have a particular hatred for the current fad for shiny LCD screens, these do make the eye strain problem worse, but it certainly isn't the whole story.
I *look at* my monitor for a few hours at a time before taking a break for lunch or a cup of tea. I have read a book on the monitor and it was a very unpleasant experience.
Hardly anyone actually reads at their LCD screen for hours at a time and I'd venture a guess that most of them do have trouble.
Monitor LCD != tablet LCD. Reading for long periods on a monitor isn't pleasant, I agree, but I think that's more to do with overall bodily comfort.
Spudding out on the sofa with, say, an iPad and I can read novels and comics for hours without discomfort.
I suspect that many folk who claim LCD isn't good for extended reading bouts have only done so at a desk or with a laptop.
you don't read your PC screen for hours you sausage. You look away, you type, you glance here and you glance there. That isn't like reading a book.
I have a scientific experiment called "me" because nobody knows my eyes better than me. e-ink affects my eyes like real paper. i.e. it doesn't. A backlit screen does. That's it .End of story.
It may surprise you to know that I actually *do* know that my PC monitor is an LCD screen.
When I use my LCD computer screen, it isn't for intensive reading. I have downloaded a few books onto my laptop and find reading them very tiring, but normal work, where I keep looking away from the screen every minute (or less) is OK, though, by the end of the day, I've had enough.
The e-ink on the kindle isn't backlit and doesn't flicker. In fact, apart from the slight "sheen" it is identical to regular paper. I can read it for hours, continuously, with no eye strain.
"iFad"? Never used one of those. But I've read plenty of novels using the Kindle app for my iPad. Hell, I've read a couple on my iPhone 4 too.
I'm a night owl, so an e-ink screen is wasted on me: I do a distressing amount of reading at night and there's no socket anywhere near my bed for a table lamp. A backlit display saves having to buy a separate lamp.
The Kindle 3's e-Ink display is perfectly decent—I've used a Kindle 3; I'm a firm believer in doing some solid research—but only within a very specific usage context.
Commercial e-Ink displays cannot do colour, animation, or video. An LCD-based tablet can. For textbooks and reference materials, my iPad wipes the floor with a Kindle, Nook, or any other e-Ink reader. It's not even a contest.
But why and when would you ever want to carry around £80 of paperbacks anyway?
I would presume that most people are happy with carrying maybe two or three when going on holiday. And to my mind, using devices such as these kill any appeal of spending an hour or so browsing through a library or a branch of Waterstones for the next good read.
For myself, I'll forego browsing in bookshops. Almost without exception, bookshop stock is poor thanks to allowing any spotty herbert in off the street to leaf through their stock with greasy paws.
Borders UK - now deceased - has a lot to answer for.
I'd rather buy online and get a pristine copy, thanks. Which is, of course, why Borders UK went bust.
Still, no DJVU. And I need that, a lot. Might as well shell out 150UKP for one that does do DJVU, then. Also a bit low on battery life. But for commuting probably good enough. Smartphones and laptops _still_ also have a pitiful battery life, and I see little enough complaint there. Just hope you can charge it while reading in bed, instead of needing a cradle or other.
Only 15 pounds extra for the privilege of local retail and warranty handling is probably well worth it, though, so I think this retailer has found a nice little christmas niche market.
Hmm, clever marketing, but is it really more of a basic tablet?
I see it has a TFT display and TFTs don't generally have comparable battery life or contrast ratios to screens on Ebook readers like the Kindle etc. With a TFT screen however it does have the potential to double up as a photo album/frame which is I think, more of a killer app with much broader appeal, than as an E-book reader. There is a big gap in the market here, but also an opportunity for Tablets. Yes a real use for a tablet... I don't think tablets are at the right price point for this sort of mass market application yet though (£80 is OK). Also many people will prefer the simplicity of something aimed at a more vertical market.
I will be interested to see a review to find out whether Sovos have spotted the potential for this, it doesn't seem to be being marketed as such.
Robin Penny
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