undecided between the Astak 5" and 6"

[bioskope]

Ok my reading material includes programming books (text PDFs and CHMs) as well as fiction in forms ranging from PDFs, rtfs, htms, docs, txts and possibly even lits. Now since Astak(Hanlin) is the only one that handles my set of requirements, that naturally became the one I had to get. But now I'm kind of stuck deciding between the 5" and the 6". I'm hoping to get some finer points on the advantages of one over the other. Would opting for the 6" give me more in terms of readability, bigger font size or any other such tangible benefits? Would the 5"s better grayscale be of much benefit for me, when my needs are mostly textual?

Oh and last but not the least, is there any difference to whether I purchase it from

astak.com, theezreader.com or from bebooks site? If so what are they?

I know I seem to be a tad overenthusiastic and it probably is the case. I just hope that my tone of questioning doesn't turn off anyone who wishes to help.

[Solicitous]

Hi bioskope. Astak markets and sells the EZ Reader line of ereaders. The www.theezreader.com is a dedicated website setup by Astak purely for the EZ line of ereaders. The only difference in ordering from either site is if you're an International buyer or not (International orders are taken from Astak.com). The Bebook are sold by Endless Ideas. By purchasing from either Astak or Bebook two things to keep in mind. The price (Astak are cheaper), and secondly with the 5" reader Astak supply a protective leather cover, Bebook Mini doesn't come with one (from stylz.com they are about $25 for a compatible cover). Oh I almost forgot, the service, Astak are IMHO brilliant. They have a representative here on the forums (not officially but by his own accord) who on a regular basis listens to our concerns and wants and passes the information to and fro from Astak to us.

Now the question on 5" or 6"...it has been a popular conversation. I went through the same question prior to my purchase. Now I bought mine purely for fiction reading and find the 5" really good, the font size ranges work well. On a post in the Astak forum there was some calculation done where is was determined the 5" was 23% smaller than the 6". Here is the latest thread on 5" or 6" (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60365).

[wallcraft]

Books on Board currently has a 50% discount on your first 10 ebooks if you buy a pocket pro, see here.

I recommended the Pocket Pro in: Review of Hanlin V5 for V3 owners. The only significant issue that has come up since is that there have been (perhaps isolated) reports of USB not working at all, or giving errors, on some Pocket Pros.

Note that CHMs are virtually unreadable on the EZ Readers, and LITs can also be problematic. You do get three good formats (ePub, MOBI, FB2) and many usually ok formats (in particular PDF, but only if it is mostly text and can reflow).

[bioskope]

Wow thanks for the wonderful and fast responses guys. I think I'm sold on the Pocket Pro. I think it's everything I'm looking for in an ebook reader. Hopefully I'll fall in the vast majority of folks who dont face an issues related to USB.

It's a pity about the CHMs and LITS though, because those are two formats I quite frequently use. I think it's a small price to pay though, for an otherwise great ereader that seemingly takes care of my needs. I have to ask though, the issues related to those formats are ones that they could possibly improve with through firmware upgrades right? I'm not saying they should look into it asap, but I'd atleast like to believe that these issues with displaying chms and lits are not a constant, rather they're concerns that Astak/Jinke could possibly address in future.

In the meanwhile, let me thank you folks once again. You've both been of tremendous help in giving me that impetus to make the purchase. I look forward to seeing more quality posts from folks like you both ( and those in the linked thread) around these parts. Happy reading folks.

[basschick]

how do txt and html files look on each?