Pocketbook 360 test diary

[Francesco]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

doesnt say "open with" just "open"? is it a drm'd pdf?

what is your firmware version?

No, it only says "open". And it doesn't have an arrow, like other options (e.g. file, or sort) where you click right to open a submenu.
The firmware version is E101.14.1.

Edit: I've tried with different PDF files. None of them is DRM-ed.

Thanks for your help, by the way.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by orwell2k

On BeBook (Hanlin V3 clones) CoolReader reads RTF, so you get all the formatting and options of reading FB2 - which is awesome. Does FBReader not handle RTF (I really don't know)? Could this be a good excuse to get CoolReader 3.0.19 ported onto the PB360?

Hanlin also reads Doc format natively and includes pictures. PB is not the only one to read this format.

Dale

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Hanlin also reads Doc format natively and includes pictures. PB is not the only one to read this format.

Dale

Thanks Dale. Good to know!

[Katelyn]

Originally Posted by Francesco

No, it only says "open". And it doesn't have an arrow, like other options (e.g. file, or sort) where you click right to open a submenu.
The firmware version is E101.14.1.

There is a test firmware version posted at pocketbookreader.com in the download section. Look for the Latest TEST firmware upgrade for PB 360 - 101.14.2 - released 11/23/09 link. Be sure to read the PDF manual included in the download before you run the update.

One thing I learned was to hold the noted buttons only until you see the <<Firmware Update>> message then release the buttons. I missed the update message and help the buttons until my reader repeatedly turned itself off and on. It took several attempts until I got it right.

[mtravellerh]

The newest firmware online is 14.2, Francesco. Try that. Adobe Reader works okay in that version (14.2), but I really like the option to use pdfviewer, too.

A little comparison:

Adobe Viewer supports Adobe DRM.
The PB software team has tweaked AV in an impressive way: Reflow works fine and the full text view (with margins cropped) is okay most of the time. Once in the while AV behaves a little erratically, though: Sometimes it doesn't center texts correctly, sometimes even some text is cut off. There is always another mode to be able to read the complete text, so it's no biggie.

pdfviewer supports password protected PDFs (with a virtual keyboard). It shines as far as the zoom possibilities go. One little problem is the fact that graphics, sometimes, are too dark.

I prefer pdfviewer, as I do not own any DRM-protected PDFs.

ePub:

Adobe Viewer is rendering those ePubs just like they are displayed in the ADE desktope application including all the layout details! The difference in screen acreage compared to say a Sony is not really an issue, because the display is crisper, so that you're able to read in a slightly smaller font. You may have to turn pages a little more often, but then again, Sony is unable to justify ePubs!

FBReader ignores most of the ePub style and uses, instead, the individual user configuration (font and margins). It's a lot more flexible as you can tell the display what you want it to look like. Text format is kept (bold and italics), graphics and TOCs work, too (at least with SciFiFans FBReader hack). So it's pretty much a personal decision what application you prefer to read your PDFs and ePubs! Please developers, try to insert the pagebreak before chapters feature available on FBReader 10.7 and I never will look back at Adobe!

FB2 is a good format for the Pocketbook, especially as it is smaller than its ePub counterpart, typically, when zipped up. I don't like the fact that Calibre's FB2 creation plugin does not create outline TOCS right now. So I am looking for a german or English FB2 creation software. I already tried the OpenOffice plugin, but that's only available in Russian (sorry, no Russian here).

Mobi (PRC) is very very stable on FBReader. TOCs working too. Pagebreak is missing, again!

I will later do one more post talking about the bells and whistles of FBReader configuration!

[orwell2k]

Originally Posted by mtravellerh

FB2 is a good format for the Pocketbook, especially as it is smaller than its ePub counterpart, typically, when zipped up. I don't like the fact that Calibre's FB2 creation plugin does not create outline TOCS right now. So I am looking for a german or English FB2 creation software. I already tried the OpenOffice plugin, but that's only available in Russian (sorry, no Russian here).

I will later do one more post talking about the bells and whistles of FBReader configuration!

Thanks for the summary!

I have some info in English on the OOoFBTools - just what I made up myself, but I'm in the process of getting their help pages translated into a good set of English pages - I'll keep you informed. The OOo plugin seems pretty good, and if you use a standard FB2 template it's quite quick to whip up an FB2 eBook.

Although I still use BookDesigner5 primarily. I am on a Mac so I use it under VMWare Fusion - a shame to have to run Windows at all, but it is safely contained in a virtual machine at least! BD5 is the best tool for creating FB2 books (IMHO) although a lot of people prefer OOoFBTools once they get used to it.

Browsing some of the Russian forums (with the help of BabelFish translation, so it's not always clear) there is a lot of disagreement about which apps really create the best FB2 books. Some say the BD5 output is not good enough, but I've never had major problems.

There is also an offshoot app from BD5 called FictionBookDesigner - it doesn't include all the other formats that BD does, so it only makes FB2 and BD (html0) files - again, it's only Windows. Try:

http://www.the-ebook.org/forum/viewt...19770bf2b42b37

http://www.bookdesigner.ru/wordpress/?p=21

But I really want to get OOoFBTools sorted out so I can do it all on the Mac.

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by orwell2k

Thanks for the summary!



But I really want to get OOoFBTools sorted out so I can do it all on the Mac.

Oh yes, that would help. Maybe one of our russian members can step in and do a rough translation for us!

[emai7s2]

Hi mtravellerh,

Thanks for putting the PocketBook 360 on my radar. PDF support sounds exemplary, and support for Adobe Digital Editions means that I could use the PB 360 to read ebooks checked out from the public library, which is a big plus.

Could you talk a little about the dictionaries? The German web-site mentions that some dictionaries are included, and it is possible to install others.
"Mit Hilfe des vorinstallierten Wörterbuchs erhalten Sie die Übersetzung eingetippter Wörter direkt im Text. (Das Hinzufügen weiterer Wörterbücher ist ebenfalls möglich!)"

I would be interested in learning: which dictionaries are included, how well do they work, and what other dictionaries can be installed? I'm guessing that the PB 360 can handle Unicode - Eastern European/Asian character sets?

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by emai7s2

Hi mtravellerh,

Thanks for putting the PocketBook 360 on my radar. PDF support sounds exemplary, and support for Adobe Digital Editions means that I could use the PB 360 to read ebooks checked out from the public library, which is a big plus.

Could you talk a little about the dictionaries? The German web-site mentions that some dictionaries are included, and it is possible to install others.
"Mit Hilfe des vorinstallierten Wörterbuchs erhalten Sie die Übersetzung eingetippter Wörter direkt im Text. (Das Hinzufügen weiterer Wörterbücher ist ebenfalls möglich!)"

I would be interested in learning: which dictionaries are included, how well do they work, and what other dictionaries can be installed? I'm guessing that the PB 360 can handle Unicode - Eastern European/Asian character sets?

Dictionaries are a really nice subject to talk about! There were four dictionaries on MM when I got it but they've multiplied in the meantime. On the PocketBook site, you may find a tool to convert dictionaries to the PB format. "Eingetippt" is in fact not right. You go to dictionary over the short menu you get into by a quick flick on okay, then the page you're reading displays and the first word is highlighted. You can quickly scroll through the text in search for the word you want a definition/translation for -done. Nice: by going up, the highlight switches from the first word of the page to the last!

There's about a dozen dictionaries available right now (say, shouldn't we host those somewhere?) but you're of course free to make your own!

As for language support: I hear Thai has large spaces between words You have, of course, to download the appropriate fonts and paste them in your fonts folder. There is native support for cyrillic! I tried to display a text using cyrillic. That looks positively alien, I tell you!!

[emai7s2]

Originally Posted by mtravellerh

There were four dictionaries on MM

Could you name which four languages are included?

There's about a dozen dictionaries available right now (say, shouldn't we host those somewhere?)

Could you name which languages are available, or post a link? I'm learning several languages at the moment, and am curious if they are included.

You have, of course, to download the appropriate fonts and paste them in your fonts folder.

Hmm, that sounds like it could get a bit complicated.

I was originally interested in the Jetbook Lite because of the good dictionary support, but it looks like the PB 360 has as good or better support.

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by emai7s2

Could you name which four languages are included?


Could you name which languages are available, or post a link? I'm learning several languages at the moment, and am curious if they are included.


Hmm, that sounds like it could get a bit complicated.

I was originally interested in the Jetbook Lite because of the good dictionary support, but it looks like the PB 360 has as good or better support.

I'll try to find a list and post it later!

Font installation is a breeze: Copy your font on your computer, open your Pocket101 drive, go to systems/fonts and paste. Done!

[orwell2k]

Well, the deed is done!

I am now the proud owner of a PB360 (in Ivory) and a black leather cover (didn't like the look of the cream one).

Of course, they still need to be packaged and posted to me, but the final button has been clicked - no turning back now...

Can't wait to get my hands on it and plaaaaaayyy... just realised I will need to get a good microSD card, since I only use normal SD at the moment with my BeBook and iRex... there's always something - will the spending ever cease?...


I also need to decide whether or not to get a Cool-ER: I like the FB2 support, and apparently ePubs are really nice on the device, but I'm a bit concerned by the number of problems people have experienced. And is there still no cover? Perhaps if they have a special price on them I'll grab one.

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by orwell2k

Well, the deed is done!

I am now the proud owner of a PB360 (in Ivory) and a black leather cover (didn't like the look of the cream one).

Of course, they still need to be packaged and posted to me, but the final button has been clicked - no turning back now...

Can't wait to get my hands on it and plaaaaaayyy... just realised I will need to get a good microSD card, since I only use normal SD at the moment with my BeBook and iRex... there's always something - will the spending ever cease?...


I also need to decide whether or not to get a Cool-ER: I like the FB2 support, and apparently ePubs are really nice on the device, but I'm a bit concerned by the number of problems people have experienced. And is there still no cover? Perhaps if they have a special price on them I'll grab one.

I really like the Cool-er hardware. It is solid and light. The Netronix firmware, however, is really nothing to write home about!

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by mtravellerh

Dictionaries are a really nice subject to talk about! There were four dictionaries on MM when I got it but they've multiplied in the meantime. On the PocketBook site, you may find a tool to convert dictionaries to the PB format. "Eingetippt" is in fact not right. You go to dictionary over the short menu you get into by a quick flick on okay, then the page you're reading displays and the first word is highlighted. You can quickly scroll through the text in search for the word you want a definition/translation for -done. Nice: by going up, the highlight switches from the first word of the page to the last!

There's about a dozen dictionaries available right now (say, shouldn't we host those somewhere?) but you're of course free to make your own!

can you tell us more about how dictionary support works ? if i have 2 english dictionaries and 2 french dictionaries (hypothetically) installed, will it search all 4 for a result ? will i be able to consult multiple results ? do i have to choose only one main dictionary ? thanks for the answers !

(and yes, i think we *should* host those dictionaries here !)

[mtravellerh]

Only one dictionary at a time is used, but you may freely switch beween dictionaries on the fly, like use three or four dictionaries on one word!