Pocketbook BASIC 613 Reader: First Impressions

    Foreword


    It so happened that I suddenly had a chance to test a new budget "reader" from Pocketbook. About which I will tell, with pictures.




    Everything turned out unexpectedly. I do not test hardware, I do not have much experience in operating readers. Nevertheless, when they suddenly suggested “try and write about impressions,” I agreed, almost without hesitation.

    There are two reasons. The first one - envied the reviewers of “iron” for a long time, but there was no reason to try it yourself. The second - as a marketer for a long time with great interest I follow the company Posketbook. Their strategy for entering the tablet market is just worthy of inclusion in marketing textbooks.

    In addition, I am a little aware of the experiments on the introduction of "readers" in the educational process that the company conducts in Ukraine, which also adds to my sympathy for them. By the way, a pilot project on the use of readers instead of textbooks in Russian schools has recently been completed (preliminary report in pdf format ). Judging by the news reports, there the Poketbukovskaya Pro 903 proved to be thirty times more reliable than the “Rosnanov shock-resistant” Plastic Logic 100.

    Yes, there is also a third reason. I still have no experience using an e-ink reader; all attempts to communicate with these devices in stores did not make much of an impression, so the third motive was the desire to find out whether electronic ink is really as good as they are told, and am I losing something without such a device in the house?

    In general, I received the reader, downloaded the necessary books into it, and began to try.

    Foreword 2


    As you know, initially e-ink is an expensive technology. Even three or four years ago, good readers cost from 15-20 thousand rubles, or even higher. Many still enjoy using the solid Sony PRS-505 , despite the fact that several generations of readers have already changed. However, with increasing competition and the development of the technology itself, “ink” readers have advanced significantly: screens have become faster, whiter and more sensitive, and the devices themselves are easier and more functional. And at the same time - the most pleasant - getting cooler, e-ink readers also gradually became cheaper. As a result, now a simple but high-quality reader (and more advanced compared to expensive models 3-4 years ago) can be bought for about 3500-4500 rubles. We can say that technology has finally come to the masses.

    As a result, the main competitive battles smoothly moved precisely to the budget segment of the market. Which, of course, is only at hand for our readers;) Amazon and Barnes & Noble have released cheaper and quite functional readers , which are somewhat more expensive, but with their own “highlights” - the Sony PRS-T1 model and its next generation - Sony PRS-T2 .

    Budget model of Pocketbook - PocketBook 611 Basic reader- It was budget rather in terms of functionality than in price. At the beginning of sales, the price of the device started from 5,700 rubles, losing ground very slowly and reluctantly (so far its average price on Yandex.Market is about 5,200, although in some places it can already be bought and much cheaper). Such a price of the model was attractive rather in comparison with expensive readers of past years (see above) than in comparison with contemporaries (see above again). As a result, he was replaced by the PocketBook 613 Basic model , which can be briefly described in words - easier, faster, cheaper. It is about her and speech.

    It is expected that for many future owners this reader will be the first e-ink reader, since the price should finally prompt the thought of buying those who have long wanted, but still have not gathered ... So let's try to look at the reader from the point of view view of a person just starting to use them. I will not thoroughly describe on which side he has how many holes and where the postings will “grow” from, as well as pedantically listing all the available menu items and functions. There are a lot of such reviews, and finding this information is not difficult. I will focus on the “human” (and the most basic) impressions of the novice user: what I liked in the reader, what I didn’t like (and why), and I also discuss in which case it is worth paying attention to this model and in which to look at something to another

    PocketBook 613 Basic: Pros and Cons


    As usual, let's start with the pros.

    1. Pocketbook 613 Basic - the reader is subjectively very light and compact. Plastic readers are often "plagued" for their plasticity: they say, they are not so durable, not so beautiful. But the flip side of the “plastic” skin is lower weight, which is a plus. The 613th Pocketbook can be carried with you everywhere, its low weight allows you to “forget” about its existence, and at the right time suddenly remember that it is with you. As for the overall appearance - the device looks simple and neat. No frills. Design can be called functional and neutral. The only thing - a rougher back surface would not hurt the reader. There are “special” tiny holes on it, but the plastic around them is smooth. However, many people prefer to use the reader in the cover, and in this case, the smoothness of the priests of the back cover is generally unimportant.





    2. The main part of any reader is the screen. And in the 613th Pocketbook he looks good. No matter what they say about the “old” screen, the letters here are clear and contrasting, and the reading is very comfortable. (For those who are not in the know: this model has a Vizplex screen, although the next generation of e-ink screens, Pearl, has been released for quite some time).



    Naturally, the traditional “optical effect” takes place: for a model in a dark gray case, the screen appears whiter (in contrast) than for a model in a white case. In general, buying a gray reader is an easy way to enjoy a subjectively whiter screen;)

    3. Extensive customization of letters. The 613st not only has the ability to change the font size, line spacing and width of the margins on the page, but there is also a fair selection of fonts themselves (as with more advanced Pocketbook models). In general, choosing the best font for your taste is not a problem, whatever your preferences and particularities of your vision.



    By the way, the ability to customize the font size for yourself is a huge plus for e-readers, if you are going to buy a reader as a gift for an elderly person. In this case, in the contest “paper book vs. electronic reader "the last definitely wins.



    Let's digress for a minute from the 613th. In general, I have to admit that after a long habit of reading from a communicator and LCD displays, reading from an e-ink reader is surprising - in a good sense of the word. Like many readers with LCD screens, I had the feeling that “everything was fine with me”, and users of plain black-and-white devices caused some pity: they wanted to stare at these ugly screens that looked like newspapers ...

    This subjective perception did not want to change, despite the long interest in the topic of e-readers and the possession of abundant information about the comfort of reading from e-ink screens. Opinion has changed dramatically after a couple of hours of using the "ink" reader. Indeed, reading from them is much more convenient. The "paper effect" is really strong enough. It never seemed to me that my eyes get tired of reading from the LCD screen. But reading with e-ink is clearly much more pleasant for them, such reading seems more ... organic. In general, stereotypes are still not around, stereotypes are inside;))

    4. Frequent criticism of e-ink readers - slow page turning. So, here everything works quickly. (According to manufacturers, faster than Pocketbook Basic 611). In any case, I never had a desire to rush the reader. Considering that the main purpose of the reader (especially the budget one) is reading, the high speed of browsing seems more important than the presence of Wi-Fi and a browser (see below). Still, most users prefer to download books to the reader via USB, and immediately more, more ...

    5. Pocketbook Basic 613 reads a maximum of formats. This is a common feature of Pocketbook readers. And, according to many, this gives them an advantage over readers of Sony, Amazon and Barnes & Noble, which are very limited in format. In fact, converting a book from one format to another is not a problem, and everyone knows about it. For example, the popular Caliber program does this elementarily. But far from all are ready to put an additional program and commit “extra gestures”. Therefore, the ability of the reader to immediately read all possible formats causes extremely positive emotions;) This will be especially appreciated by users at an age who often need to have a turnkey reader.

    6. I also really liked the packaging :) Honestly, the companies that make giant boxes for some tiny thing are somewhat annoying. The 613th is okay with this - the box is only slightly larger than the reader itself.

    We will separately dwell on the “torn out” Wi-Fi. (Recall that in the 611th model there was Wi-Fi, as well as a built-in browser and RSS reader). When reading, I did not get the impression that the reader lacks Wi-Fi. IMHO, the reader was finalized in the right direction, throwing away everything unnecessary. Of course, Wi-Fi is a good thing. But, as you know, sites on “ink” displays look ugly, and “ink” technology, which is so easy to read, is far from being so convenient for working with sites. As a result, few use these features. But the buyer of the e-reader loves to read books by definition. At the same time, as already casually mentioned, USB is often used to download books to the reader. Via Wi-Fi, it’s convenient to buy books in online stores (therefore, readers by Amazon and Barnes & Noble have Wi-Fi, by definition, which the domestic reader does infrequently.

    And now about the cons. For the sake of cons, you have to divide objectivity into two groups.

    Let's start with those disadvantages that are (possibly) inherent only to a specific sample. Whether the "siblings" have other such readers is not clear to me, since I had the opportunity to communicate with only one instance. So:

    1. For a month of use, the reader freezes twice. Both times, the problem arose after a rather lengthy reading (at least two hours). And both times the trouble was helped by a reboot. Perhaps this was the most unpleasant and clearly “contingency” problem that arose with the reader. You can get used to everything else)

    2. The left key seemed tighter than the right one. The right key is triggered with a very quiet, but quite audible sound (it is immediately clear that “there is a contact”). The left makes it "silently." IMHO, there should not be a difference in the operation of the left and right buttons.

    3. The battery level indicator for some reason played in mystery: alternately (with an interval of several minutes) it showed either a full battery, then a low charge level, then two strips. As a result, understanding the real charge level was somewhat problematic. The battery itself holds a good charge: during the month of use, the reader had to be charged twice: the first time about a week after the start of active use, the second time - about two weeks after the first charge.

    It is hoped that these are the features of a particular test instance. But who knows;)

    But these disadvantages can’t be exactly attributed to a “specific instance”, they relate to the model as a whole:

    1. The power button is a tiny rectangular “little thing” in the lower end of the reader, flush with the surface. Finding it to the touch is problematic, you need the help of the eyes;) It turns out that the power button is needed more often than you might think ... And this is really inconvenient.



    However, in the same way (and also inconvenient), the power button is also arranged for the Kindle 4 , Kindle 5 , Sony PRS-T1 and Pocketbook Touch models . The only one of the "eminent" (and very budget) readers, in which a similar place is arranged much more conveniently, is the Nook Simple Touch Reader (a hefty button on the back surface, at the top).

    2. The reader is perceived as very light, so I want to hold it with one hand. But the buttons are arranged so that flipping with one hand is not very convenient: there are no buttons for flipping on the side of the reader, there is only in the middle, under the screen. That is, the weight of the book allows you to hold it with one hand (the hand does not get tired), but the ergonomics of the buttons resist this. However, you get used to this feature quite quickly, and you don’t notice it during the reading process.

    3. The dictionary (thanks, by the way, for having one!) Is not very convenient to use. That is, it is as convenient and thoughtful as it can be with a non-touch screen.



    But the joystick in this case is still not as good as the touch screen readers, where the translation is called up with one “poke” of the finger in the right word. For example, PocketBook Touch has such features., Amazon Kindle Touch and Sony PRS-T1 / Sony PRS-T2 . All of them are more expensive, but if you are going to read books in foreign languages, then sensuality is not so much a whim as a condition for comfortable work with dictionaries. However, this problem will not arise at all for those who are going to read books only in Russian.

    Another point - but it is common to most readers. Unlike LCD displays, ink readers are demanding on light. More precisely, it is we, readers, who are demanding of light :) As soon as it gets a little darker, reading comfort drops sharply - as with paper books, and even faster. If you often have to read in such conditions, you need to either organize a backlight (at least at the level of a flashlight-clothespin), or take a closer look at more expensive readers - Amazon Kindle Paperwhite , Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight . Budget readers with built-in backlight have not yet been released (

    To summarize


    In which case should you pay attention to Pocketbook Basic 613?

    • If you plan to use the reader only for reading and do not want to overpay for those functions that you are not going to use.
    • If you want an inexpensive reader with convenient menus and settings.
    • If you don’t want to convert books from one format to another, but prefer the reader to “do everything himself.”
    • If for some reason you are interested in the widest possible range of font settings.
    • If the “usual” buttons are preferable for you to the touch screen. Because there are Nook Simple Touch Reader and Amazon Kindle Touch , which cost about the same (and the first one is even cheaper), have a good touch screen, Wi-Fi and a browser, but otherwise they can do the same as Pocketbook Basic 613 - except Ability to work with all formats.


    In which case is it better to look at other models?

    • If you prefer touch screen readers. Now they can also be bought at an affordable price (see paragraph above).
    • If you plan to read books in foreign languages ​​and use the dictionary from time to time (in this case, touch models are much more convenient).
    • If the reader’s omnivorousness is not very important to you: you are ready to use the converter or install the “tricky” firmware.
    • If it is preferable for you that the reader has Wi-Fi, 3G, a browser, a player and other additional options.
    • If price is a non-critical factor for you. In this case, the choice of interesting models will be much wider.
    Tags:

    Also popular now: