eReaders

CeA has tested various ereaders for their convenience and ease of use.

http://www.ebookad.com/hiebook/

Tested by Rita Toews -- 2 December 01

I received a Hiebook for my birthday. I've become quite attached to it -- but I don't know if I'd recommend it to someone at the price it sells for right now.

Here's why:

The backlight isn't really crisp. A new OS that was introduced has made some improvement on the original backlight problem, but the edges of the letters are still not really crisp. I still tend to reach for my Palm Pilot for night reading.

The Hie comes with a leather case what makes it the size of paper back novel, so it can't fit in your purse. I've gotten into the habit of carrying my Palm Pilot around when I shop and if I stop for a cup of coffee I can sit with the Palm in one hand and turn the page with a flick of the thumb. With the Hiebook, it really is a two-handed read.

Screen size is great! And in everyday light it makes for a terrific reading device. It has a beautiful feel to it and a very attractive leather-like case with a strap. Unfortunately at the price my hubby paid for it, I'm almost afraid to take it out of the house in case I lose it or someone steals it. Shipping included, it came to $421.00 Canadian dollars.

The Ebookad.com spec site said it could be used with computers from Windows 95 and up. That was inaccurate. You need Windows 98 second edition so it can support the Hie's USB terminal. I had to upgrade my machine. The specs make it sound like you can just put your HTML files into the Hiebook. Wrong again. It's very fussy. Here's what you have to do before you can read a file on a Hiebook (if it isn't in .kml already):

	download a free program called Tidy and run the html through that.
	run it through Hibuilder to convert it to kml.
	pass it over to the Hireader in your PC
	then use HiSync to get it to the Hiebook.

That's four steps for HTML. The programs are all free and it only takes a minute but it's not a process for the truly non-computer literate.

The Hiebook has a great battery life between charges if used only as an ebook reader. But it's far from only an e-book reader. It can: play music, record voice messages, be used as a drawing screen or for hand- written notes, hold photos to take to friends while on vacation, read e-books, make notations on book pages, hold bookmarks, highlight text, etc.

I recently gave a talk on e-book devices at our library. For the show-and-tell portion of the talk I used a Franklin ebookman, my Hiebook and my Palm Pilot. When I returned the ebookman to the store, the sales people wanted to see how it worked since I had loaded a book into it. Surprise! I had removed the batteries and the ebookman was blank. Without batteries all the material in it was lost. Not with the Hiebook though. We're told that there's a small charge saved in the device, even when the battery runs out, that saves the files. Great feature!

Unfortunately, the Hiebook information is the pits. Their manual is on line only, in pidgin English and almost unreadable. On the up-side, there's a great Yahoo list with very helpful people on it. And I really needed their help! My Hiebook came with a loose battery and no matter how much I charged it, it wouldn't work. Finally, after two days, we figured out the problem and got it solved. Then, for 2 days I struggled with trying to get the Hiebook to work on my Windows 95. The site material said the USB ports were operable on Windows 95. They're not. Not even Windows 98 first edition. I had to upgrade to Windows 98, second edition.

THEN I couldn't load my ebooks that I had bought in HTML! (I guess a sensible person would have thrown in the towel at that point but I wanted this Hiebook for my library presentation!) Finally I cracked and sent an SOS message to the people on the Hie Yahoo list asking if someone would send me a book formatted in kml already so I could do the presentation. I got three books within an hour from different people!

I ended up sending one of my problem HTML files to one of the people on the list and he figured out that I needed to run them through the TIDY program. These people really went the extra mile for me! All this to say that I now know how to convert and read books on my Hiebook and I really like the gadget.

BUT--if you're in no rush I'd wait for the next version --after they clean up the backlight problem. The backlighting and cost are the only draw backs that I see with the Hie. I think the Palm Pilot is the next best thing for your money and ease of use. Why not get on the Hiebook list? Here's the address:

hiebook@yahoogroups.com

Read the archives and you'll see what's going on. A lot of the talk is from publishers trying to convert their books to Hie format (kml).

HP Jornada

http://www.hp.com/jornada/

Tested by Dee Lloyd -- 3 November 01

This is a very personal and limited set of instructions for the use of the Jornada. Although you could play songs recorded in MP3, WMA or WAV format, record voice memos, and send and receive e-mail messages on your Pocket PC, I have used mine exclusively for reading and editing ebooks.

Having had my Jornada 540 Series ereader for almost a year now, I can't imagine being without it. That is in spite of the fact that I use only the reading functions of the device.

It is small and light enough to fit into a pocket or even a small purse. The ereader has many features not available in a paper book and these are available from any book page on the Jornada.

If the ebook is in Microsoft Reader format, you can add notes or bookmarks, highlight text, search for words or phrases, copy text to use in other documents. The Reader Guidebook is pre-installed on the unit and comes in handy.

Books that you have downloaded in HTML can easily be translated to Microsoft Reader (.lit) files by using OverDrive ReaderWorks (a free program) then transferred from your desktop computer to the Jornada.

If you prefer, you can load the Word version onto your ereader. (ActiveSinc will automatically convert it to Pocket Word.) In that case, you can use all the Edit functions that you usually find in your word processor. That means you have many more sizes of print to choose from and, of course, you can Bold the type, Copy and Paste, or Find with Word also. In both formats, you can easily add typed or handwritten notes or drawings to the text.

I have not tested exactly how long one charge of the battery lasts, but I have read for as much as four hours at a stretch without any problem. I use the AC adapter a lot of the time when I am sitting in one spot reading submissions or simply for pleasure. However, when I'm away from my favorite chair, I use the battery function. I keep the Jornada in my purse to allow me to read in odd minutes on the subway, at a doctor's office, etc.

I read several hours a day on my Jornada and find the screen quite easy on the eyes. The brightness and contrast are easily adjusted to the lighting of the room. I have no difficulty in reading indoors, day or night. However, I was disappointed to find reading out of doors in brilliant sunshine to be almost impossible. The glare on the screen sent me into the deepest shade I could find.

The ClearType of Microsoft Reader is just that - clear. I tend to use the smaller of the two font sizes within this program because I read quickly and like more words on the page than the larger print affords. However, when I was demonstrating the unit at a Hands-on Workshop at the Romantic Times Readers' convention, I had several people exclaim that they really liked the larger, darker font.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE JORNADA POCKET PC

After you have purchased and downloaded your book to your computer (desktop or laptop):

DOWNLOAD THE BOOK ONTO YOUR HANDHELD DEVICE.

	On your hard drive find the My Documents folder. Click it open.
	Click open the My Library folder inside. This is where you will put all of your MS Reader ebooks. The books must be in this folder so your MS Reader application can find them.
	Plug in your Pocket PC (either by placing it in its cradle or by a sync cable directly to your desktop computer).
	A Microsoft Active Sync box will open on your desktop. Click the EXPLORE button at the top of the box. Another box will open showing the contents of your Mobile Device. Now that your reading device is connected with synchronized files enabled, the eBook will automatically be transferred to your device.

It will then show up in the Mobile Device Box and also on your handheld reader in the My Library file.

It's that easy. You now have your novel on your Pocket PC.

NOTE: The Hewlett-Packard Jornada comes with MS Reader software already installed. OR you can drag and drop Microsoft Word files into the Pocket_PC My Documents folder which is on your desktop. ActiveSync will convert these to Pocket Word and transfer them to your Jornada.

TO READ:

	Turn on the Jornada, pressing the button below the screen.
	Using the stylus, tap the Reader icon. This will take you to the LIBRARY where all your novels MS Reader novels are stored.
	Or you can tap the WORD icon which will take you to your Pocket Word files.
	Detailed reading instructions are always available by clicking the Reader icon which takes to the library. Click on a title, then on Guidebook which is at the bottom of the page.

Palm Pilot

http://www.palm.com/

Tested by Eva Kende -- 15 December 2001

The Palm is the best known handheld PDA, but there are several others that use the Palm OS, namely the Handspring, Sony, IBM, SUPRA, Franklin Covey, Symbol, TRG, Kryocera and Epocrates. Since the operating system is the same, the comments here apply to all of the others as well.

The memory at 8MB is ample in my opinion. The system and programs take up very little space. Presently, I have loaded 2 books in .pdf and 10 converted from .html or .txt. I have a number of memos, newsletter-type long emails, many date book entries and still have over 70% of the memory free.

Battery usage of the 2 AAAs is very low. There is a battery level indicator on the Main menu. The reference guide claims that the batteries will last about 14 days with careful use. I find that I need new batteries about once a month, but it is imperative to choose the very best high performance ones for the job, otherwise strange power related fading might occur. I believe the reason for this battery economy is that I don't need to synchronize daily as someone who uses the PDA more for current activities and organizing.

Careful usage, according to the manual, means using the contrast wheel, handily located on the side, to turn down the contrast. I haven't bothered to turn the contrast down, because I wanted to read at the optimum visibility for me, adjusting the wheel to my comfort level. The back-light is only useful in a totally dark situation, so I haven't tried it much, and don't know what its power usage is. The unit does not use the batteries while idle. It automatically turns itself off if there is no activity for a set amount of time. I found the 2 minutes setting to be optimal for me. It would be nice to have an AC adapter for when an outlet is readily available.

If I turn off the unit in the middle of a passage, it will display the same page when turned on again, often making book-marking unnecessary, although most applications, especially the ebook reading ones, come with a bookmark function. The general "Find" function works very well, looking at all applications for the term requested, quickly. All ebook readers have their own find function to locate a specific passage when necessary within the text that's being read.

Each application when you call it up opens at the spot where you left off the last time you used it.

The screen is sharp, clear, and very readable without enlarging the font size or using bold, but those functions are available for those who need it. The sharpness is easily adjusted with the contrast wheel to optimize the screen for the prevailing light conditions. I could read for hours without eyestrain.

The Palm reads ebooks quite well, although a larger screen would be welcome. There is an annoying glare off the glass in direct light, but from what I understand, this happens to all ebook readers. It's easy to use and very intuitive to learn. The little gadget is also very useful in getting rid of the many little reminders on my desk. Having an address list, calendar with alarm, to do list, my book to demo and the novel I am currently reading all in one small unit is definitely very convenient.

I must add that before converting books for reading on the Palm, you must make sure you are not in violation of copyright. Free public domain books can be converted without permission. Ebooks produced by most of the major print publishers are usually locked to your computer or device, often without the option to even print a paper copy for your own use. They can't and shouldn't be converted. The fact that they are encrypted signals the publisher's desire to control what the reader may do with his/her book. Most independent epublishers don't mind if you move their book from one platform to another to better fit your lifestyle, but you should check to make sure. It's best to order the book in Palm format to start with, so that the book looks the way the publisher intended. However, many of us have a huge "to be read" pile of honestly-acquired ebooks in a variety of formats languishing on our PC that we never get time to read as long as they are tethered to our desktop computer.

This is an abstract of a much more detailed version, which can be downloaded free from my homepage at http://www.telusplanet.net/public/ekende