Tag Archives: Pocketbook

Water-resistant and dustproof ebook reader products for travelers

2019-04-22

When a book lover is planning to take a vacation, the inevitable question is: which books to take along, and which device to use for reading? Fortunately, the number of books that can be packed in a suitcase is almost irrelevant because even the cheapest ebook reader, phone or tablet can store hundreds of books. More important question is where and how you intend to read them. If it is on a beach, by a pool, in a camp site, or on a boat, you might consider a water- and dustproof e-reader device.
Kobo Forma.

Here are the water- and dustproof ereaders that are available in the main markets of the world in 2019.

Kobo Aura H20
The Kobo Aura H20 features a 6.8 inch screen in waterproof body. This makes it a bit larger than your average six inch ebook reader, but the Aura H20 display is sharp (265 ppi, pixels per inch). List price starts from 180 euros.

Kobo Forma
The Kobo Forma ereader comes with a waterproof 8 inch E ink screen. The size of the screen makes it possible to read PDF documents and ebooks as well. A design choice encourages people to hold the device horizontally, or in one hand. Priced at 280 euros.
Kindle Oasis.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
For people who have invested in Amazon Kindle ebooks, the Kindle Paperwhite is often ranked as the favorite e-reader. Only the latest Paperwhite is waterproof, so check yours before taking it to the sea. Six inch E ink screen in high 300 ppi resolution. Prices start from 130 dollars.

Amazon Kindle Oasis
The Kindle Oasis is the flagship ebook reader product from Amazon that is also waterproof. The Oasis has a couple of differences compared to the other Kindle devices: the screen is larger – seven inches in size, and the device is not symmetrical.
Pocketbook Aqua 2.

Here are two products that are available in select markets only.

Pocketbook Aqua 2
The Pocketbook Aqua 2 is a compact six inch ereader with basic features, but it is water-resistant. Its availability is limited, but for instance Amazon lists the product. It is also one of the most affordable water-resistant e-readers.

Tolino Epos
Tolino is an ebook and ereader brand that makes products primarily available in Central Europe. The Epos is waterproof e-reader with 7.8 inch screen.

Is this a rugged ereader?

The Kobo Forma may have not been designed primarily as a rugged device, but because of its design choices, it is more durable than many other large screen ereaders.

First, for an eight-inch ereader, the Forma is light. In fact, it is lighter than many smaller ereaders.

Second, plastic components have been used in the product to keep the weight down and to make it less prone to fractures. Even the screen, consisting of the E ink Mobius technology, is made of plastic.

Third, the device has a bit of flexibility. This is why the Forma can take some knocks without instantly breaking apart.

It is also possible to get a waterproof case for an ereader. Some of the cases are transparent bags that let you read with the ereader sealed in the bag. Other solutions can be found as well, like cases that protect the device from bumps.

Pocketbook Inkpad 3 ereader can read ebooks aloud to you

2018-02-19

Ereaders with larger than six inches displays made a breakthrough in 2017, and we expect the trend to continue developing further. Ereader vendor Pocketbook already has a few large-screen models available, but the Inkpad 3 comes with sharp E ink display, advanced frontlight features, and a text-to-speech facility.

The greyscale screen of the Pocketbook Inkpad 3 is 7.8 inches in size with 300 dots per inch (DPI) resolution, making it a sharp display. The 7.8-inch size seems to have become quite common, for instance, Kobo is using the same size in some of its e-reader models.

Advanced features in the display include a frontlight that automatically can adjust the level of light so that it is pleasant for reading. It can also adjust the temperature of the light. You may rely on the automatic settings, or tune all the features of the frontlight to your liking.

Audiobooks are likely to find new friends along with a feature included in the Inkpad 3: the ereader can read aloud all ebooks you have already downloaded (and, of course, all the new ones). You don’t have to buy and download large audiobook files, but you can tell the ereader to read any ordinary ebook (EPUB) to you. The difference with traditional audiobooks is that a person is not reading the text, but a computer. The quality of computer voices have greatly improved, and, for instance, I can today listen to it comfortably (a couple of years ago, I couldn’t).

The Pocketbook Inkpad 3 comes with Wi-Fi connectivity that lets you access a number of cloud services, like Dropbox. This feature makes it more convenient to download ebooks because every file doesn’t have to go through a computer.

The ereader is light – only 210 grams. Its dimensions are 195 mm x 136 mm x 8 mm.

8 GB storage space for ebooks and other files is located inside the device, and more space can be added by inserting a microSD memory card (up to 32 GB) into a card slot. The Inkpad has 1GB of RAM and a Dual Core (2×1 GHz) processor.

The features of the Pocketbook Inkpad 3 indicate that it won’t fit into the lowest price category of ereaders. Product pricing and availability can be checked at Amazon and at company’s web page here.

Here is an article that introduces a number of other large screen ereaders.

Via Klaava.fi.

Pack a Budget Ereader in Your Bag for a Holiday Trip

2015-06-03

Many people have collected a stack of books that they are going to read during their vacation. Today, it makes sense to store those books on an ereader for saving space and weight. If you worry you might damage or lose your tablet or laptop while reading at a pool, airport, beach or at an outdoors café by a busy market square in Vienna, carry a low-cost ereader along for your trip.

Here are some budget ereaders to choose from.

Sony PRS-300 – a compact and light ereader. Sony doesn’t manufacture ereaders anymore, so you’ll be shopping for refurbished products for as low as $20. You can purchase ebooks from any bookstore apart from Amazon, and read them on the Sony ereader.

Onyx Boox Classic is a touch screen, Wi-Fi enabled ereader for about $70. The manufacturer sells products directly their web site and delivers globally.

Pocketbook Basic 2 – Pocketbooks are primarily marketed in Europe, but can be purchased elsewhere as well. The basic model for about $80.

Bookeen Cybook Muse Essential – Cybook is a popular ereader brand in Europe. The Cybook Muse Essential is currently priced around $90.

Amazon Kindle – you can’t go wrong with the Kindle – even the entry level models are highly usable devices. The price varies, today this basic model was $79. The Paperwhite model with front light was $119. The only thing to remember is that you can read ebooks purchased only from Amazon on the Kindle.

Energy Ereader has a selection of few low-cost ereaders as well.

One more thing: the latest hot trend in technology are smartwatches and smart wear. It is (theoretically) possible to read an ebook on a smartwatch. More details in this article.

The ebookreader.com published the original listing that we complemented with additional products.