Ebook woes

[marycrawford]

Grar. I cracked the screen of my old Nuvomedia Rocket Ebook today. It doesn't look like something that can be repaired.

I've been using this old model ebook reader (with a whopping 4 Mb of memory) every day for years and years, reading fanfic on it, stories-to-be-beta'ed, blogs, pro novels, you name it.

Man, I miss it already. Snf.

I'm going to look at Ebay for a replacement, either another old Rocket or a somewhat more recent model (the REB1100), but I'm not very sanguine. Shipping a delicate device like this from the US to the Netherlands is a doubtful operation, IMO, and the last time I tried to buy a backup ebook this way it arrived broken.

Still, I might as well ask: anyone happen to have an old Nuvomedia or RCA ebook reader lying around that they would like to get rid of?

ETA: I now have a Frankenbook! It's cobbled together from the model I just broke and another one with a dead battery that hasn't worked in ages, and it looks like this might work. *crosses fingers*

Comments

[dgcandace.livejournal.com]

I hope your Frankenbook thrives! You're the first person I know fairly well who uses an ebook reader on a regular basis. I like the idea of reading it bed with the lit screen, however, when the lights are down, the most mellow lit screen makes my eyes water (I'm thinking of my not-very-bright iPod Nano.) Also, I guess I dont' read so much digital these days--but it does seem like it could have applications for editing my novels, for instance. Just whip that puppy out in the lunchroom and there's my novel.

Eh. Maybe I just like the idea of a new toy. I bought the smallest, lightest laptop I could afford for just that purpose and I've brought it to the day job with me all of once. And everyone wandered by and chatted with me as I worked, no matter how engrossed I tried to look. Maybe I could hide in the janitor's closet/electical room.

[marycrawford.livejournal.com]

The Frankenbook is still working, I'm happy to say! These are really pretty robust, considering that I've had them since '98 or so. And it looks like I might be able to swap out the battery if this one goes.

I do love reading my ebook in bed, with or without other light - the Rocket Ebook has a good, sharp black-on-white screen, and you can adjust the brightness to your liking. I usually have it set at 40%, which is still bright enough to light me to the bathroom in the dark. *g*

And it works well for reading drafts of stories, my own and other people's, but it's not very handy to take notes with. I usually pull stories into the ebook and then take notes on paper, or in a text editor.

There's a new Sony ebook reader out now, for 500 bucks or so, but if you want to pick up something cheaper you could do worse than find a Rocket Ebook, Rocket Ebook Pro or even a REB1100. Then again, it would take a little research, because the company that made this kept switching the software and hardware around - on the later models, you couldn't import your own content anymore, which means you have to try various workarounds and is just plain annoying.