All boils down to one: How good is X1 as an ebook/pdf reader? - XPERIA X1 General

Wow, it's been almost 5 years since I used a windows mobile device. Still, can't help it now that HTC Touch Pro and SE Xperia X1 bombards the scene like bat out of hell and I decided to pick either one.
Anyway, since I read stellar reviews between both devices, it just boils down to one thing...
I'm an avid ebook reader, as such I'm looking for a capable device that allows for convenient ebook reading experience. I search prior postings and basically they just talk about which application is best to use, which is the third thing on my list.
The first point is how the device is used to read those ebooks. I used to own Sony Ericsson M600, and reading ebooks/pdf files is a heaven with the jog dial navigation. Now the X1 has the optical sensor, and every video review I saw showcases navigation with sensitivity... Now my big question is, can the optical pad navigation be used to scroll an ebook/pdf reader? What I mean is to literally move the whole page with the pad when I slide my finger on the pad, not just using a pointer to drag a scroll bar. If can, I don't want to touch the screen at all because I have an extra greasy fingers and I prefer not taking out the stylus.
The second point is how the screen handles text? With such high pixel density ratio, would it just kill the font sizes? Sure I can just zoom in but would it have any adverse effects?
Pardon these silly questions, it's just that I have been to long out of touch with windows mobile scenes. The X1 is a heart stealer, but a friend offered me his Touch Pro used for US$600, although not quite a steal, it's still US$200 less than the money I already prepared for the X1... So it's basically boils down to one

I too am an extremely avid book reader, and like you the ability to read books on my phone was a huge thing...
Point no.1 - with ms reader you can use the optical to navigate and it works well... I also use ubook and for that one you can go back a page quite well but to go forward it seems to enable the auto scroll (that could be a setting I need to change somewhere, still working it all out), I also use ae button to change the volume up and down to page up and down on one click which works a treat....
point 2... imho the text handling is freaking awesome... not only is it very very clear with small size text in English, its the same in Chinese (which was a huge deal maker for me).... making text larger just makes it bigger and I havent noticed any adverse effects yet...
your other point re readers, I use ms reader alot for my huge collection of .lit books but have found that ubook reader (by gowerpoint http://gowerpoint.com/uBook_down.html ) is pretty good for some file types, you can also get mobi pocket reader http://www.mobipocket.com/en/HomePage/default.asp?Language=EN and tiny ebook reader http://classic.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=10380 which are ok... it seems that it is really really difficult to get a book reader that can read all the different file types e books come in.. shame really...
to sum up, reading on the x1 is awesome...

Shadowdh said:
to sum up, reading on the x1 is awesome...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That my friend... Is a deal maker.
But what about text handling in term of zooming in and out? Is it possible to use just the hardware button to do it? The side volume buttons seems awfully fit to have that description... If possible I'm not touching the screen at any time.

TBH I am not sure if the hardware buttons can do the zooming, I guess they probably can (esp if you use ae button or similar to map them) but I havent got that far in the tweaking of my baby yet...! And to tell the truth I have found that I have not had to zoom yet as the text is very readable...

The X1 is rather heavy and the screen is quite small.

Well I've read 6 novels so far on my X1 using mobipocket.
The optical joystick is too sensitive (I use the d-pad)
Other than that this thing is excellent for reading on (This comes from someone who was primarily reading on a sony 505 eInk reader)
I do like to set the background to blue and the text to white though, find it easier and less straining than black on white

ivanlwk90 said:
The X1 is rather heavy and the screen is quite small.
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Click to collapse
It's better than the other device that the OP is considering, however.
If I had to pick between the Touch Pro and the X1, it'd be the X1.

ivanlwk90 said:
The X1 is rather heavy and the screen is quite small.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont find this at all... in fact its smaller and lighter than my Kaiser/TyTN II/MDA Vario III but the screen is easier to read and much clearer...

i think my x1a is rather heavy (in a good way for me) and the screen is small tho the resolution is sharp.
if you like to read on a small screen then i say go for it. as i mentioned, the screen is small but sharp, only thing i find is that its hard to read when my eyes are tired.

Agree .. the screen is small, but otherwise good. Touch HD would be better. But then you can have problems with turning pages.
I use Halli reader.
As for PDF .. is there anything better then Adobe ?

Shadowdh said:
And to tell the truth I have found that I have not had to zoom yet as the text is very readable...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I want to hear especially from a user, and I think it's all set I guess, X1 it is... Now to search for that uncrackable batch...
Oh, and about how small the X1 screen is, the Touch Pro would be lesser joy to have then.

Related

Is it just me or is real VGA more trouble than it's worth?

Like a lot of people here I had been waiting rather impatiently for the real VGA hack for my Jasjar. Now that it's here and I've been using it for a week or so, I'm definitely beginning to see why MS didn't make this an option from the beginning, and I'm also beginning to wonder how much it's really worth.
Real VGA has two big benefits for me... it allows me to shrink the size of the bars on the top and bottom of the screen so I get more usable screen space, and it allows Pocket IE to run without it's stupid pixel doubling 'feature'... that's a big one for me.
Unfortunately it's got a lot of disadvangages too... it makes the bars on the top and bottom of the screen so small that they're difficult to use normally, and all but impossible to use while driving. Like I said above, making them smaller would be an advantage, but it's simply way too small. A lot of applications don't work well in real VGA mode... including the phone dialer, the calculator and others. The font size can't be changed for a lot of things... the start bar, the caller ID info screen, and others. This makes a lot of the information displayed quite difficult to read... again, especially while in a car.
As I've been thinking about it more and more, I realized that the only thing that I really need is for PocketIE to work without pixel doubling... then I'd be quite happy in non-VGA mode. While I doubt that will ever happen hopefully we'll get some third party browsers that will work nicely in non-VGA mode. Until then I think I'm going to be using non-vga most of the time and I'll just switch to VGA mode when I need to do a lot of browsing.
Anyone have any other thoughts on this?
Brett
I think that makes sense. We need dynamically switching VGA really. For day to day use, the thumb is just too fat for VGA. It's barely ok to use for QVGA driving/walking etc.
But for browsing, VGA is great. But it's too much and too tiring all the time I think.
V
yea...we need a button like the screen rotate button that lets us change the res whenever we want
I think I would also agree. There are only two advantages to using the o2vga fix. 1) The only app that it improves is the browser, But as Brett stated, in the car it is too small. It works well for some sites very well and others it is too small. 2) the best advantage is that after I applied o2vga, ms voice command now shows the contact info when i say show "contact".
I also am beta testing the wm5 thunderhawk browser. It allows 640 x 480 and 800 x 600, and 640 x 320(?). The font that is used in thunderhawk is hard to read and the app is very slow. Due to the slow speed and font, I'm not sure the thunderhawk browser on wm5 universal is worth it. ALL in all, the original IE browser with zoom to small or medium seem to look the best.
Brett: Couldn't agree more. It was great to see what the device can do, and how the screen really is, tiny! But in truth, the eyestrain was no joke, and finger operation became impossible. I did a lot of toggling between the two, and ultimately decided that what I was is the standard resolution, but with some hacks for:
- Smaller scroll bars (VJ mentions this somewhere)
- Shrunk edge bits in XL
- Smaller edges for Terminal Services (altho central area surprisingly gives same res)
- and of course a hack for PIE.
Now, surely the latter is manageable? It's simply how IE is rendering. Perhaps MS will fix this soon, or maybe someone can intercept the rendering engine. I even don't care if my images lose every second pixel in order to come to the right size at half the res.
Real time Resolution Switching
See the attached link to a bit of software, which once released for WM5 may solve the VGA issue. It allows switching between resolutions on the fly.
I tried it on my Blue Angel, and it worked great, albeit a little unstable.
Note the site says they've been working on WM5 compatibility since Feb, so this may be wishful thinking.
http://www.nyditot.com/Products.asp
It's certainly not ideal, but besides web browsing I would add that word processing is nicer in VGA. Fortunately I don't have to do that much, but when I did need to for a meeting, I appreciated the VGA. With the keyboard and VGA, the term Pocket PC is more than just wishful thinking.
It's certainly not ideal, but besides web browsing I would add that word processing is nicer in VGA. Fortunately I don't have to do that much, but when I did need to for a meeting, I appreciated the VGA. With the keyboard and VGA, the term Pocket PC is more than just wishful thinking.
I agree it is to much hassle to work smoothly in everyday conditions, personally I think its down to programmers to make font options more accessable, take the new version of pocket breeze, in qvga or vga it stays the same size on screen, and gives the user total control over all font sizes.
This is the sort of programming we need to utilise such a great display!!!
lol
kinda bull---- lol
i remember when whe had 640 resolution on the pc.. everyone hated it when we started to use 800 res.. and lets not speak about 1024 haha..
i see loads of people using 1600 res nowedays.. higher res means better image quality!!
It also means better games better everything. So 640 res on the exec is SUPER, we only need adjust (like the pc) font size and get larger better resolution icons for those people who like to nagg (just like on real pc's)
VGA resolution is the future, and i am sure we get 800 res soon also and maybe even higher.. better looking programs etc etc..
and if your fingers are to thick for dialpad then you must have problems with any normal gsm LMAO
Just get a skin where the ok button close button are larger and nicer..
but that is just my penny worth :twisted:

VueFlo - is it sensitive?

Hi everyone,
just want to know, for the VueFlo Function, is it very sensitive to slight and mild tilts? eg if you tilt the device slowly to the sides or up and down in IE, does the screen/page move?
If it is, I plan to make an app/software for it in the future
So interested in Athena but sadly, it's not available in Aussie yet.
its pretty sensitive, only need to tilt a few degree up down left or right. trick is when to turn it on, since all movements are relative to the orientation of the device when vueflow is activated.
i find it just a gimmick for web browsing
the most obvious application would b an arcade game navigating a ball around a maze or something
or a dodgy electronic attitude indicator for an aircraft
shockboy2000 said:
its pretty sensitive, only need to tilt a few degree up down left or right. trick is when to turn it on, since all movements are relative to the orientation of the device when vueflow is activated.
i find it just a gimmick for web browsing
the most obvious application would b an arcade game navigating a ball around a maze or something
or a dodgy electronic attitude indicator for an aircraft
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. Thanks for that quick reply.
Electronic Attitude Indicator: That's the app I wanted to make.
The sensitivity can be adjusted to low or high and several points in between. Goto settings and VueFlo to adjust sensitivity.
You can also change it work to work in IE or Opera
How do you turn off Vue Flo?? It's driving me nuts!!!
jeffharris said:
How do you turn off Vue Flo?? It's driving me nuts!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Long press the same button...the icon will disappear in the above menu bar to confirm this.
Thanks!! That does the trick ... You Rock !!!!
So any more owners with comments on this feature? Anyone find it useful?
I find it very useful for random browsing of web pages and news pages.It is easy to turn on and off,and once you get used to it, it really works quite well.
Later.........
hdbueller said:
I find it very useful for random browsing of web pages and news pages.It is easy to turn on and off,and once you get used to it, it really works quite well.
Later.........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great! Anyone else with thumbs up?
Packet 3 said:
Hi everyone,
just want to know, for the VueFlo Function, is it very sensitive to slight and mild tilts? eg if you tilt the device slowly to the sides or up and down in IE, does the screen/page move?
If it is, I plan to make an app/software for it in the future
So interested in Athena but sadly, it's not available in Aussie yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't you order an unlocked version and have it shipped to you?
ecsk2 said:
Great! Anyone else with thumbs up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's a nice little addon to the device. I use it when I am browsing long pages or am spending a lot of time online, etc.
Wish there was a way to customize it and allow it to interact with other applications. It would be ideal for there to be a settings area where you see a list of installed applications and a check box next to each. Then if you check the box next to Word for example, you could use it with that application. I wonder if it just emulates the directional keys and if so if this can be adapted as an alternate input method. Instead of using the joystick, just write a wrapper that will accept input from Vueflow.
ltxda said:
Yes, it's a nice little addon to the device. I use it when I am browsing long pages or am spending a lot of time online, etc.
Wish there was a way to customize it and allow it to interact with other applications. It would be ideal for there to be a settings area where you see a list of installed applications and a check box next to each. Then if you check the box next to Word for example, you could use it with that application. I wonder if it just emulates the directional keys and if so if this can be adapted as an alternate input method. Instead of using the joystick, just write a wrapper that will accept input from Vueflow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be the ultimate solution for using SPB Insight RSS reader!!!
Any way to use VueFLO in all apps?
Obviously, this would be ideal for scrolling through emails/contacts etc.
Unfortunately, doesn't seem like anyone has managed to access the API's/runtimes for this yet---anyone want to give it a shot?
Guys,
I really think we should bring this one back to life, what with the iphone and all its spirit levels and labyrinth games
The simplicity of windows api structure is what makes pocket pc so versatile, lets take advantage!
And there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell I’m going to sit back and watch my co-workers tell me how crap my phone is compared to their Iphone. I’m not in the game of letting a friend's spirit go uncrushed.
Y
The Vuoflo is no different in principle to the N95's accellerometer or the Iphone's auto rotate hardware. It could be used for anything involving d-pad movement (search for NOKMOTE or ROTATEME on Youtube and you'll see what I mean).
It seems that HTC have put a lot of effort into making this hardware un-tappable. Either that or developers aren't interested in developing for it. The possibilities are great though.

Windows Mobile is not touch-screen-friendly

I have been using WM-based device for quite a while now. There is one thing that really annoys me: it is not created for fast and easy use with your fingers. Most of the time, i don't use my stylus but quickly go to the options with my finger(nails). The problem is: all the tabs/buttons/scroll bars/slide bars are so small, i always hit the wrong button.
There are some apps on the market, but all of these doing just half the trick: the user-friendliness always ends when you open messenging or the calander: you get stuck with the standard apps delivered by microsoft with all the tiny buttons etc. (the iPhone theme had this problem, spb shell has this problem too)
Well, this is what i want to ask: is there a developer here who can make a total GUI remake for easy and fast usage? I know it will take some time to make, but all WM5/WM6 user could benefit from it!
Never going to happen.
Any dev that remakes the GUI WILL charge for it, seeing as a LOT of hours would have to go into it in order to get a working prototype.
Just use the stylus. It's a much easier solution.
_Pumba_ said:
I have been using WM-based device for quite a while now. There is one thing that really annoys me: it is not created for fast and easy use with your fingers. Most of the time, i don't use my stylus but quickly go to the options with my finger(nails). The problem is: all the tabs/buttons/scroll bars/slide bars are so small, i always hit the wrong button.
There are some apps on the market, but all of these doing just half the trick: the user-friendliness always ends when you open messenging or the calander: you get stuck with the standard apps delivered by microsoft with all the tiny buttons etc. (the iPhone theme had this problem, spb shell has this problem too)
Well, this is what i want to ask: is there a developer here who can make a total GUI remake for easy and fast usage? I know it will take some time to make, but all WM5/WM6 user could benefit from it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use WisBar Advance Desktop. You can completely change things to whatever you want and however you want.
Try using the buttons. Most stuff can be done using the buttons. Easier to learn using the buttons than to wait for dev to make things bigger. Try SmartKey
or get a phone with bigger screen.
bombzhome said:
Use WisBar Advance Desktop. You can completely change things to whatever you want and however you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can i change the looks of the menu/settings with wisbar?
i have a HUGE screen compared to a normal phone and its a TOUCHSCREEN, i want to use it as much as possible !!!
_Pumba_ said:
can i change the looks of the menu/settings with wisbar?
i have a HUGE screen compared to a normal phone and its a TOUCHSCREEN, i want to use it as much as possible !!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What phone do you have?
You can change the today screen and the top bar, along with the start menu-etc with wisbar.
For bigger keyboards, there are plenty of programs out there that you can use (intellipad-etc)
Have you looked at the iPhone simulation apps that are scattered all over?
I believe they even got a contacts app now that is finger-friendly.
The thing is this - WM is not "finger friendly", it does fine with touch screen.
The price for finger friendly interface is less information displayed at any given time. Many phones use 2.8 / 2.7 inch displays and that is tiny.
Personally I am willing to forgo the fingers (they dirty the screen anyway) and use hardware button and stylus when needed.
But to each his own and you may consider the real iPhone as your next device - it is designed to be used entirely with your fingers (doesn't even come with a stylus as far as I know)
levenum said:
Have you looked at the iPhone simulation apps that are scattered all over?
I believe they even got a contacts app now that is finger-friendly.
The thing is this - WM is not "finger friendly", it does fine with touch screen.
The price for finger friendly interface is less information displayed at any given time. Many phones use 2.8 / 2.7 inch displays and that is tiny.
Personally I am willing to forgo the fingers (they dirty the screen anyway) and use hardware button and stylus when needed.
But to each his own and you may consider the real iPhone as your next device - it is designed to be used entirely with your fingers (doesn't even come with a stylus as far as I know)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I checked out the contacts app and this is nice. You're point about more information on a screen is true, but i do think microsoft could have made it a bit more convenient.
_Pumba_ said:
I have been using WM-based device for quite a while now. There is one thing that really annoys me: it is not created for fast and easy use with your fingers. Most of the time, i don't use my stylus but quickly go to the options with my finger(nails). The problem is: all the tabs/buttons/scroll bars/slide bars are so small, i always hit the wrong button.
Well, this is what i want to ask: is there a developer here who can make a total GUI remake for easy and fast usage? I know it will take some time to make, but all WM5/WM6 user could benefit from it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i mean WM based devices were created for the use in conjunction with a stylus... it has been only recently that this "iphone no stylus" craze has been happening and no people want to use their fingers etc. i honestly like using the stylus because the screen doesn't get fingerprints on it. with wisbar u can create "bigger" buttons. just my .02

I´ve got an idea, check it out.

Hello!
Have you seen the optical sensor on the Samsung Omnia, when you use it a mouse pointer appears like on your desktop computer, then I thought of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3Owgcos_KY
The whole button area is touch sensitive, couldn´t someone make a program that activates the area as a "touchpad" so a pointer appears on the screen?
Best Regards Gustaf
Nice idea
I like that idea..! Could get pretty usefull ..
Why isn´t more people interested in my idea, wasn´t my description clear enough?
give me one situation where you actually need this?
i usually have my touch in one hand and using the finger from the other hand to type in commands.
i never have the device lying on the table.
useless for me actually.
1) this is old news, better had done a search
2) there are people working on this (touchxperience)
3) it is NOT multitouch but three singletouch capacitive surfaces.
I don't see any real use for this in every day use, like having a mouse pointer on screen is kinda worthless when you can use your finger on the screen instead.
However this could come in useful in a gaming or likewise situation with the use of finger guester's (spelling) to control things instead of button presses etc, especially as in a game you don't want your fingers blocking whats going on on the screen! Since the d pad on the diamond is next to worthless using this interface could in fact be quite good. Still can't think of an exact situation where it could come in useful mind!
there is no point in this as you already have a touch screen so that eliminates any use of needing a "pointer"
however, as said earlier, touchXperience is in development so check that out if you really wish.
I think it would be actually pretty usefull for text edition-correction or to copy and paste text on web pages.... that could be cool
I hate to use the stylus and a mouse pointer is alot more precise than my thumb. So navigating outside TF3D, Gaming, Showoff, textediting etc.
Everything I wanted to say is mentioned by other people already.
Useless, touxchXperience in dev, similar ideas, ...
Seems like a lot of people drop in and start of by saying: Hey you there! create this for me! and then change it to that ... and then ...
TouchXperience may make use of the area but not at all like my suggestion. I just thought that it could be useful for some....

eReading - Do you on TP2 and how?

I began to do the majority of my pleasure reading (commercial non-fiction books were in very short supply back then) on my Palm m500 back in 2003, and now I do the vast majority of all my reading on handhelds. The biggest advantage back then was never having to choose what book to carry around with me -- I could take my entire library on an SD card. The next biggest advantage was the backlight -- I experienced a dramatic reduction in eyestrain for night reading. I now purchase 2 or 3 paper books a year, and 30-40 ebooks a year.
I think e-ink is the most over-rated screen tech in existence. Once Pixel Qi ends up in a decent tablet, I might get one of those. But spending $200 on a device that is so limited, can't have a real backlight (ah the "joys" of having to lug around a friggin booklight) for night reading, and most of the cost is in the screen is insane. Especially when you can get most of the same benefits out of a cheap LCD (adding only some reflective layer tech) while preserving other media tasks like video. Until then, my TP2 is my primary reading device.
Book form
I hadn't anticipated this little advantage before I bought a TP2, but I'm becoming attached to it. When reading, I typically hold it in what I now consider to be book form (a little Nintendo DS terminology). Keyboard out, screen slightly tilted, index finger in gap between back of screen and base of device, leaving my thumb to rest right on the device's arrow keys, software used to keep the screen in portrait mode even though the kb is out.
For me, this particular form means easy page-turning and one handed reading while laying down before I go to sleep. Previously I tried assigning the volume slider for page turning, but found it not entirely comfortable. I assigned one of the lower face keys to page turn, but that wasn't any more comfortable than screen tapping (errant screen taps in both my reading applications also potentially bring up menus, which I find annoying).
If you have software that allows you to rotate the screen 180* or 90* (as Rhodium Keyboard Controller allows you to do manually), you can switch to the left hand if you like as well. You'd need to assign another key for page-turning on the opposite end of the keyboard, but RKC will allow you to assign letters to "up" and "down" for that application only, so it wouldn't affect usage outside your preferred reader application.
Software:
I've been using eReader (owned by B&N, managed by fictionwise, formerly palm digital media and peanut press) for 7 years, as that was my initial source of books. But when I switch to windows mobile, I hated the changes they made to their application and how much space WinMo's top and bottom bars took up (especially in widescreen mode). I instantly began requesting feature changes to it, but I doubt they'll ever get anywhere. WinMo isn't the hottest platform and they originally dev'd this one years and years ago.
I used Freda almost exclusively until upgrading to XDAndroid. Originally I just got it for some free sources like the baen free library, that use epub since Freda is one of only two epub readers on the market. But the full screen mode is so fantastic I've decided to go all in.
Now I use Moon+ reader, which still allows me to go fullscreen, choose a black background with green text, lock the screen in portrait and has a wide variety of other customization options. I do believe the TP2 is the best ereader using Android.
Color scheme
One thing I sort of liked about eReader for WinMo was that it allowed you to use textures as a background. They had pre-made marble and papery background images you could use. But when I start using Freda and had access to the full screen mode, I began experimenting with other plainer themes. I accidentally tried a black background with a sharp green text, and suddenly it was like I was reading on my old m500 again.
The advantages to this, especially for night time reading in fullscreen mode, are that 1) I've got a lot less white or whitish light pouring into my eyes making them uncomfortable 2) I can achieve better visibility for low light reading with a lower backlight level meaning I get longer battery life and 3) I'm comfortable reading smaller fonts with this particular setup than I was with lighter backgrounds (though I don't entirely understand why), meaning less frequent page turning.
You can do this with any reader, but doing so in the winmo ereader app kinda sucked some of the advantages out of it because there's no fullscreen mode, so I still had white light pouring off the top and bottom bars.
Extras
I use GSPlayer while I read, mainly because it has a sleep timer (I'll probably upgrade to microfi-nitrogen someday). So at night, I do my reading, then just as my eyes are feeling tired enough to sleep, I flip over to GSP and turn off the display, and then fall asleep to the relaxing mp3 of my choice. My TP2 is the last thing I use at night, and with G-Alarm, it's also the first thing I use in the morning. On XDAndroid, Mortplayer fills in for GSP.
What about you?
Do you eread with your TP2? How much and when? What's your software, book source, preferred colors and fonts? Widescreen, portrait, do you use book form? Do you page turn with keys or screen taps?
eReading is one of my primary mobile computing tasks, and has been for years. I think the TP2 is about the perfect mobile device for it at the moment (about the only thing better would be a TP2 + an HD2 sized screen... with Pixel Qi), but I haven't noticed a ton of people here talking about it. I'd love to hear from other big ereaders on their methods.
Mobipocket Reader is what I use. I touch the screen for turning pages.
iSilo all the way
I've been using iSilo from the beginning --all the way back from when they use WinCE? ok.. maybe Windows Mobile 2003 or something like that.
Best thing with iSilo is
1) Reader is free (you can use the free with limited functions, but does not hinder reading 'books')
2) iSiloX convert is free (convert any *.txt, *.htm, etc to iSilo format). There are various converters to convert your *.doc or *.pdf or what have you to *.txt to convert with iSilo.
3) iSilo has a very small foot print as compared to similar *.txt or *.doc files.
4) Easily configurable on all aspects from fonts/colors (foreground, background) to various keys to turn the page. When I switched to the Rhodium, I used the lower 50% or the screen to turn the page and the top to scroll up (back).
5) Easily install the iSilo.exe executable on the SD card and has catalogue-ing features.
Lastly, they've got iSilo versions for the Blackberry, Palm, Android and the iPhone (should you need it).
But don't take my word for it: http://isilo.com/
PS. Been reading ebooks on the PocketPC platform before even Kindle came out. Why spend $200+ on a standalone ebook reader, I could never figure out.
Opps, forgot to mention conversion. calibre is the ultimate tool in ebook conversion and organization. I don't think isilo is one of its many formats, but for anyone looking to do conversions to growing formats like epub, it's fantastic.
Thanks Fortunz for starting this thread, ive been considering using my TP2 to read, but not really known what progs to use etc..i'll try some out now
Cheers
free books
Some free (legal) book sources: baen free library (commercial authors, mostly scifi and fantasy who release the 1st book or so in their series hoping you'll get hook and buy later versions -- I recommend David Weber), manybooks (downloads gutenburg project texts in many formats), smashwords (a lot of indies, not all free), http://www.feedbooks.com/, and you can also find a lot of indie authors freely distributing some of their work at mobileread et al.
osrix25 said:
Thanks Fortunz for starting this thread, ive been considering using my TP2 to read, but not really known what progs to use etc..i'll try some out now
Cheers
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It's really a fantastic device for reading. Let me know how you like it.
fortunz said:
Some free (legal) book sources: baen free library (commercial authors, mostly scifi and fantasy who release the 1st book or so in their series hoping you'll get hook and buy later versions -- I recommend David Weber), manybooks (downloads gutenburg project texts in many formats), smashwords (a lot of indies, not all free), http://www.feedbooks.com/, and you can also find a lot of indie authors freely distributing some of their work at mobileread et al.
It's really a fantastic device for reading. Let me know how you like it.
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Thanks for the links. I use MobiPocket Reader, and I agree, the TP2 (Tilt2) is an excellent device for reading.
personally I use microsoft Reader, I have a ginormous .lit collection. hundreds of titles to choose from, if not thousands, good features as well.
fortunz said:
Opps, forgot to mention conversion. calibre is the ultimate tool in ebook conversion and organization. I don't think isilo is one of its many formats, but for anyone looking to do conversions to growing formats like epub, it's fantastic.
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What format do you convert your ebooks to for use with ereader with this program?
Which reader can read PDB extension books rather than Isilo?
The calibre program he posted can but i'm lost on what to convert it to.
Overproof said:
The calibre program he posted can but i'm lost on what to convert it to.
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Overproof said:
What format do you convert your ebooks to for use with ereader with this program?
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If you have ebooks in a non-pdb format that you want to read in eReader for WinMo, you convert them to .pdb. After you choose to convert books there's a little dropdown in the upper right-hand corner for output format. If I misunderstood your question, please do post back.
meromar said:
Which reader can read PDB extension books rather than Isilo?
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Mobireader and haalireader can both read pdb files. Haalireader was very good but hasn't been updated for some time and really needs a dpad to control it. It was great on my Diamond but Mobireader is better on the TP2
Thanks!!!
Oh man, this is great! I've been looking for a decent ebook reader forever. I use to use MS Reader back in the QVGA days, but it is really not optimized for large, high-res screens like the TP2. And every other program was made 5+ years ago, has crappy Windows-3.1-esque visuals, and has a UI meant to be used only with a stylus.
Freda is AWESOME!!! Finally something as good Stanza on my iPod (or at least close). Thank you so much for sharing!
I have a huge collection of books in .lit format so have been forced to use MS Reader. Alas, it hasn't been updated in years and is showing its age.
My biggest gripe with Reader is that on my Tilt 2 I can't touch the tiny little page-turning arrows with my finger, so have to either use my stylus or open the keyboard and read in landscape mode and use the arrow keys.
Thanks to an earlier poster, I found calibre. I'm going to use that to convert my .lit library to a different format so I can use a different e-reader.
jlmwrite said:
I have a huge collection of books in .lit format so have been forced to use MS Reader. Alas, it hasn't been updated in years and is showing its age.
My biggest gripe with Reader is that on my Tilt 2 I can't touch the tiny little page-turning arrows with my finger, so have to either use my stylus or open the keyboard and read in landscape mode and use the arrow keys.
Thanks to an earlier poster, I found calibre. I'm going to use that to convert my .lit library to a different format so I can use a different e-reader.
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Same here. I'm at work and couldn't wait to try this out, so a little googling also turned up this site: www.2epub.com.
It's an online converter that will do conversions between .lit, epub, etc. I'll probably install Calibre on my home computer, but that site was helpful in a pinch.
fortunz said:
If you have ebooks in a non-pdb format that you want to read in eReader for WinMo, you convert them to .pdb. After you choose to convert books there's a little dropdown in the upper right-hand corner for output format. If I misunderstood your question, please do post back.
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Let me try this out and see, thanks in advance!
bedoig said:
Freda is AWESOME!!! Finally something as good Stanza on my iPod (or at least close). Thank you so much for sharing!
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I love Freda too. It's written by a guy who was very unsatisfied with current reader options, much like you and I. Personally, I only use it in full screen mode and page change with the arrow keys, but between screen tapping and making the soft buttons page turners, it's very friendly to a variety of users with different UI preferences.
He just emailed me a new version to test, so I expect sometime soon there will be some extra features to enjoy.
jlmwrite said:
Thanks to an earlier poster, I found calibre. I'm going to use that to convert my .lit library to a different format so I can use a different e-reader.
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Calibre is wonderful, not only for conversions but also for organization of large book collections, which I have.
Be forewarned though, it doesn't typically handle DRM, so if your .lits are DRM'd, you might have to deDRM (there are a lot of projects to handle that, and you can take their output and have calibre put it in your format of choice) them before you convert them.
I have been using uBook http://www.gowerpoint.com/ for years. First on my Ipaq, then Axim x51v and now on my TP2. I has improved greatly to a great touch screen eReader that supports all kinds of standard file formats HTML, PDF, TXT and any of these can be in ZIP files.
jlmwrite said:
I have a huge collection of books in .lit format so have been forced to use MS Reader. Alas, it hasn't been updated in years and is showing its age.
My biggest gripe with Reader is that on my Tilt 2 I can't touch the tiny little page-turning arrows with my finger, so have to either use my stylus or open the keyboard and read in landscape mode and use the arrow keys.
Thanks to an earlier poster, I found calibre. I'm going to use that to convert my .lit library to a different format so I can use a different e-reader.
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If you use a zoom bar hack in Advanced Configuration, you can flip pages with the zoom bar. If you have AC on your TP2, go to menu > more settings > smarttouch, then add Microsoft Reader to the supported applications list. The hardest part is getting the right wheel sensitivity so that when you scroll you only flip one page. I'd tell you what the best number is but I just flashed my ROM and I forgot the correct setting But once you figure it out, it gives you a nice lil page turning feel to your ebooks.

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