Standalone e-book readers - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Scorpion23 · 07-06-2004, 03:03 PM

I have to do a lot of reading for my job and it mainly involves pdf documents, meaning that I spend a lot of time staring at a computer screen. I remembered seeing an ad awhile back for a hardware ebook reader and thought it might be a good investment. The problem is that most of the readers are either no longer available or use only specific formats.

Does anyone know of a device with a nice screen that would read regular pdf documents? The closest I've come across is the Garmin GEB 2150, shown here:
http://www.gemstar-ebook.com/ebconte...2150_intro.asp
But as you can see it's no longer offered. The only other thing I can think of is one of the laptops with a fold-down screen, but I don't need a new laptop yet and was hoping for something cheaper as well as a little smaller.

btw: I've already checked ebay and froogle with no luck

Key · 07-07-2004, 08:02 AM

ehh.. there's a reason these went extinct a while ago =/

last i heard, red book was the big portable e-book makers. they sold out to gemstar or something, and i haven't heard of them since. a quick search showed that the reb 1100 model seems to be their flagship that was based off the old red book. couple of these available on ebay.

their inflexibility was a huge downfall, i think they were really hoping to stick to only certain formats in order to corner the market. instead, they ended up shooting themselves in the leg. at least this was my understanding.

on the more portable side, PDAs such as the compaq iPaqs are beocming much more powerful and versatile. basically a mini-pc, they allow you to read pdfs, docs, etc. on the road as well as almost the full functionality of a laptop/desktop.

tablet pc's are the next size up. full laptop capability but portable enough you can just bust out and read.

as for inbetween, it just doesn't really make sense, so you're going to find a hell of a time finding a dedicated ebook reader. you're looking for something that's bigger than a PDA with LESS functionality. or smaller than a tablet PC and STILL less functionality. my advice, go with a large screen pda

if you haven't seen the new screens on these suckers... well now's a good time to shop

07-06-2004, 03:03 PM	#1 (permalink)
Scorpion23 Psycho	Standalone e-book readers I have to do a lot of reading for my job and it mainly involves pdf documents, meaning that I spend a lot of time staring at a computer screen. I remembered seeing an ad awhile back for a hardware ebook reader and thought it might be a good investment. The problem is that most of the readers are either no longer available or use only specific formats. Does anyone know of a device with a nice screen that would read regular pdf documents? The closest I've come across is the Garmin GEB 2150, shown here: http://www.gemstar-ebook.com/ebconte...2150_intro.asp But as you can see it's no longer offered. The only other thing I can think of is one of the laptops with a fold-down screen, but I don't need a new laptop yet and was hoping for something cheaper as well as a little smaller. btw: I've already checked ebay and froogle with no luck

07-07-2004, 08:02 AM	#2 (permalink)
Key Crazy	ehh.. there's a reason these went extinct a while ago =/ last i heard, red book was the big portable e-book makers. they sold out to gemstar or something, and i haven't heard of them since. a quick search showed that the reb 1100 model seems to be their flagship that was based off the old red book. couple of these available on ebay. their inflexibility was a huge downfall, i think they were really hoping to stick to only certain formats in order to corner the market. instead, they ended up shooting themselves in the leg. at least this was my understanding. on the more portable side, PDAs such as the compaq iPaqs are beocming much more powerful and versatile. basically a mini-pc, they allow you to read pdfs, docs, etc. on the road as well as almost the full functionality of a laptop/desktop. tablet pc's are the next size up. full laptop capability but portable enough you can just bust out and read. as for inbetween, it just doesn't really make sense, so you're going to find a hell of a time finding a dedicated ebook reader. you're looking for something that's bigger than a PDA with LESS functionality. or smaller than a tablet PC and STILL less functionality. my advice, go with a large screen pda if you haven't seen the new screens on these suckers... well now's a good time to shop