Archos 9 as an ebook reader?

[CthulhuSaves]

As much as I can envision enjoying the many features of the Archos 9, my primary "want" is simply to have a half-way decent ebook reader for once. I look at things like Amazon's Kindle and just want to throw rocks at them for selling such an expensive and featureless piece of garbage (No color, no PDFs or .LIT, limited or no images, etc). The Archos 9 could be a very nice answer to this particular market, but I'm concerned about two things.

First, I am unable, so far, to find any documentation stating that the screen will be able to rotate (a common feature on tablet PCs for reading documents in their original taller-than-wide format --ie. like a magazine). For me, this will definitely be a deal-breaker if they forget to incorporate the function. If they do, though, I think it'll just about be a perfect device for toting around a portable library.

Secondly, I've read that the battery life is a mere three hours, which alone is simply awful, but made much worse if the device follows the usual Archos pattern of only living up to about two thirds of the advertised battery life. Please, say it ain't so! (Wouldn't be quite so bad if the battery could be easily popped-out and quickly changed to a fresh one, but I doubt that'll ever happen.)

Comments? Opinions?

[Charbax]

Backlit LCD screens cannot be used as ebook readers unless they are of the Pixel Qi invention which works by refracting the ambient light when the backlight is turned off thus providing E-ink quality reading. Watch my videos about that type of new revolutionary screen at http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Cha ... y=Pixel+Qi

The Pixel Qi screen is not available in 8.9" touchscreen yet, first it will be available in 10.2" for regular mass market netbooks.

You need to see a Kindle to believe how awesome its screen is. Though I agree that the Kindle has a crappy interface, crappy features and is not affordable. So Pixel Qi will come and solve that problem in the next few months.

The Archos 9 Tablet is more like a flashy colorful and slick looking high-end Windows 7 tablet device. Though even though the Archos 9 is definitely high-end Windows 7 Tablet in my opinion, it is still not going to be very expensive, just $100 more than regular netbooks pricing of $399. Consider Archos uses a different Intel processor, different components, a touchscreen, more compact and lighter form factors and Windows 7, I think that Archos introductory MSRP of $499 is pretty good. And if they manage to sell many of them, it'll quickly be sold for less than $400 at the cheapest resellers. And if you want more battery life, just buy more or larger batteries for it, it has a removable battery slot, and perhaps there could be a larger capacity battery option.

[Hysnuche]

I am running Win7 RC1 right now on my notebook. Under Control Panel > Tablet PC Settings, you can easily flip the display output. Or depending on the graphics card, there is the background app that allows you to use ctrl+shift+arrow.

[CthulhuSaves]

Thanks for the info. Was hoping Win7 would have something like that built in to it.


I'm gonna have to disagree on backlit displays not working for ebooks. I think they work fine. I have a tablet style laptop and the only thing I don't like about it is the bulk (it's a poor design; heavy, and not easy to hold in tablet form). Still, the display is great. PDFs and .LIT documents look fine.

I'm not knocking any new technologies that might make things easier or better, of course, I'm just disputing the idea that the existing tech isn't sufficient.

[Charbax]

Cthu, did you read a book on your backlit LCD tablet?

[Hysnuche]

I have actually used my archos 5 on long flights or train rides to read pdf ebooks. I always turn the brightness and contrast way down so it looks bad when i exit out, but my eyes don't feel like someone poured acid on them.

[swapeasy]

This is exactly what I would want the Archos 9 for....
I have been using my 605 WiFi for about 6 months to
read books. The backlight dose not bother me, it's the form factor
4.5" is just not enough space to read a full page on (I use Ebook to images)
And like CthulhuSaves said the kindle being basically a 1 use
item wont work either. I like to have muti purpose with my gadgets.
Hopefully they will keep the price as it is or slightly lower and I'm on board.

[CthulhuSaves]

Cthu, did you read a book on your backlit LCD tablet?

Just to clarify, what I've got is a standard laptop (as far as hardware and screen-rez go), I merely bought one that had a tablet-option screen (ie. the screen can flip around backwards and then lie down flat, with the screen facing up, and the system automatically rotates the screen 180 degrees. --I prefer to then hit the rotate button again to turn things lengthwise so it's like I'm holding a book or magazine). I mention that because I'm not sure if that's the same "backlit/LCD" type of screen you're referring to (although I'm fairly sure it is).

Anywho, yeah, I can read ebooks on it just fine, although I've yet to read an entire novel or anything of length. I mainly read PDFs and CBRs/CBZs (archived image bundles primarily used for digital comic books). Nothing to do with eyestrain or anything like that, I just prefer to hold an actual deadtree book if I'm going to dive into a good story (not to mention a laptop doesn't have enough juice to last long enough, should you find yourself on a train or plane for long hours; they just conk-out too quickly to finish anything).

(Oh, and I simply love the .LIT format, which I'm loathe to admit, not being a big fan of Micro$oft. Kills me to admit they actually did something really good.) lol

I do think it's worth mentioning that I'm sure different people literally see things differently. For example, I'm an audiophile, and when it comes to listening to audio I can hear things at different bitrates that many others can't. Many people are perfectly happy with, say, 128 kbps (MP3s) for music, whereas I can hear the drop in quality. 256, to me, is ideal for music or speech supported by special effects (eg. audio dramatizations). However, different aspects of the audio begin to noticeably suffer as the bitrate drops. 192 kbps sounds flat to me (many believe that to be CD quality --I disagree), and 160 begins to sound tinny. For dramatizations, the speech element can still sound alright all the way down to 128, but the F/X suffers at the same points as music. So, considering all of that, it's only logical to assume that different people will interpret visual media in different ways and at different levels of "quality," for lack of a better term, too. Apparently, I'm on the lower end in this area, just the opposite of where I am when it comes to audio.

[h-dawggy]

what a waste...just get the kindle...much better for what your thinking of, and its cheaper

[jmikereal]

I also understand that their isn't a portrait mode for the screen. Is that correct? If so, is that a hardware issue or a limitation with W7 starter edition?

[Charbax]

I also understand that their isn't a portrait mode for the screen. Is that correct? If so, is that a hardware issue or a limitation with W7 starter edition?

That's a software thing obviously, I am sure it can have vertical mode.

[h-dawggy]

yea if vista has it 7 will have it for sure...i think the shortcut is Windows-Arrow...i dont know for sure

[sae1969]

Cthu, did you read a book on your backlit LCD tablet?

It's pretty easy to read on a backlit LCD screen. I have bought and read at least 40 ebooks on the iPod Touch. I use either Kindel store or the Fictionwise store to order the books. I read the books on the bus. I would prefer a bigger screen. I am waiting to see if Android or Win 7 will ebook readers before purchasing one of them.

[abdu]

Charbox: An eReader just means a handheld device used to read electronic documents. It doesn't have to be using e-ink to qualify it as an eReader. I have both a UMPC Samsung Q1 Ultra and an IRex Iliad e-ink reader. These two devices are top of the line different kinds of eReaders. The UMPC uses Vista and it's an awesome eReader because I can holdit like a book and use the buttons on top of the device to line/page scroll up/down any document with needing to use the stylus or move my fingers from my holding position. It uses an LCD back lit touch screen like any LCD computer.

Any netbook/laptop with a real keyboard is not convenient for reading books casually. As in lying on your back, holding the device. Because the keyboard will stick out towards your chin! The other choice is finding a lighweight tablet/slate netbook. Look at Fujistu's Lifebooks. I think Asus has one out now.

I had the Iliad long before any other e-ink reader came out. Before the Kindle and the Sony. It still kicks ass because the screen is larger than the Kindle, thinner and lighter and has 16 shaded of grey.

Disadvantages: Both devices are expensive! That what you get when you're an early adapter and want the best.
An e-ink reader biggest disadvantage is its lack of backlit screen which means it can't be used in a dark room. So for example, if your spouse at night doesn't not like your night light, it can be an issue.

Ths Samsung is cool. It's a real computer so it can display any kind of files including Microsoft's hsx (MSDN, Visual Studio.. etc) files which an e-ink reader can't handle unless you convert them into pdf.

I am interested in the Acrhos 9 because it could be my next eReader. My question is if it has physical buttons which can be used for flipping pages (page up/down) in a pdf file.