Reader Pocketbook BASIC 613: first impressions

Foreword

It so happened that I unexpectedly had the chance to test a new budget “reader” from the Pocketbook company. What and tell, with pictures.




Everything turned out unexpectedly. I am not engaged in testing "iron", I do not have much experience in operating "readers". Nevertheless, when suddenly they were offered “to try and write about impressions” he agreed, almost without thinking.
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There are two reasons. The first - has long been jealous of the "iron" reviewers, but there was no reason to try it yourself. Secondly, as a marketer, I have been following the Pocketbook company with great interest for a long time. Their strategy for entering the tablet market is worthy of being included in marketing textbooks.

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

Yes, there is a third reason. I still have no experience using an e-ink reader; all attempts to communicate with these devices in the stores did not make much of an impression, so the third motive was the desire to find out - are electronic ink really as good as they are told, and am I not losing something, having no such device at home?

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

Preface-2

As you know, initially e-ink is an expensive technology. Another three or four years ago, good readers cost from 15-20 thousand rubles, and even higher. Many people still enjoy using good-quality 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, the “ink” readers have advanced greatly: the screens have become faster, whiter and more sensory, and the devices themselves are easier and more functional. And at the same time - the most pleasant thing - by becoming steeper, e-ink readers also gradually became cheaper. As a result, now a simple, but high-quality reader (and more advanced compared to expensive models of 3-4 years old) can be bought for about 3,500-4500 rubles. We can say that technology has finally come to the masses.

As a result, the main competitive battles smoothly shifted precisely to the budget segment of the market. What we, the readers, of course, are only on hand;) Cheap and fairly functional readers have released Amazon and Barnes & Noble , a bit more expensive, but with their own peculiarities - the Sony PRS-T1 model and its next generation - Sony PRS-T2 .

The budget model of the Pocketbook company - the PocketBook 611 Basic reader - was budget-based in terms of functionality rather than price. At the beginning of sales, the price of the device started from 5,700 rubles, giving up positions extremely slowly and reluctantly (still its average price on Yandex.Market is about 5,200, although in some places it is already possible to buy and much cheaper). Such a price model was more attractive in comparison with the 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 - simpler, faster, cheaper. It is about her and speech.

It is expected that for many future owners, this reader will become the first e-ink reader, since the price should finally push the idea of ​​buying those who have long wanted, but still have not gathered ... So let's try to look at the reader from the point view of a person just starting to use them. I will not thoroughly describe from which side he has how many holes and from where the entries will “grow”, as well as meticulously enumerate all the available menu items and functions. There are a lot of such reviews and it’s easy to find this information. Focusing on the “human” (and most basic) impressions of a novice user: what was pleasant in the reading room, what was not liked (and why), and also speculate in what case you should pay attention to this model, and in which - look at something to another, the benefit of the choice of budget readers is now quite wide.

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 "got" for their plasticity: they say, they are not so durable, not so beautiful. But the reverse side of the plastic skin is lower weight, which is a plus. The 613th Pocketbook can be carried with you everywhere, the low weight allows you to “forget” about its existence, and at the right moment suddenly remember that it is with you. As for the appearance as a whole - the device looks simple and neat. No frills. The design can be called functional and neutral. The only thing - the reader would not have prevented a more rough back surface. There are “special” tiny holes on it, but the plastic itself around them is smooth. However, many people prefer to use the reader in the cover, and in this case, the smoothness of the back cover priests is not important at all.





2. The main part of any reader is the screen. And in the 613 Pocketbook, it looks good. Whatever may be said about the “old” screen, the letters here are clear and sharp, and the reading is very comfortable. (For those who do not know: this model has a Vizplex screen, although the next generation of e-ink screens, the Pearl, has long been released).



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

3. Wide customization of letters. The 613rd not only has the ability to change the font size, line spacing and width of the fields on the page, but there is also a fair choice of fonts themselves (as with the more advanced Pocketbook models). In general, choosing the optimal font for your taste is not a problem, whatever your preferences and peculiarities of 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. e-reader "definitely wins the last.



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

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, it is much more convenient to read from them. The “paper effect” is really strong enough. I never thought that my eyes get tired of reading from the LCD screen. But it’s obviously much more pleasant to read with e-ink, 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, everything works fast here. (According to manufacturers, faster than Pocketbook Basic 611). In any case, the desire to hurry the reader I did not have once. Considering that the main purpose of the reader (especially the budget one) is reading, the high speed of turning over seems more important than the availability of Wi-Fi and a browser (more on that below). Still, most users prefer to download books to the reader via USB, and immediately more, more ...

5. Pocketbook Basic 613 reads maximum formats. This is a common property of the Pocketbook reader. And, according to many, this gives them an advantage over Sony, Amazon and Barnes & Noble readers, which are very limited in formats. 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 makes it easy. But to put an additional program and make "extra gestures" are not all ready. Therefore, the reader's ability to immediately read all possible formats causes extremely positive emotions;) Especially this will be appreciated by users of an age who often need to have a turnkey reader.

6. And I also liked the packaging very much :) Honestly, the companies that make giant boxes for some tiny thing are annoying. At 613, this is all right - the box is only slightly larger than the reader itself.

Separately dwell on the "torn out" Wi-Fi. (Recall that in the 611th model was Wi-Fi, as well as the built-in browser and RSS-reader). When reading, I did not have the impression that the reader did not have enough wifi. IMHO, the reader finalized in the right direction, discarding all unnecessary. Of course, Wi-Fi is a good thing. But, as you know, sites on “ink” displays look ugly, and “ink” technology, so easy to read, is not so convenient to work with sites. As a result, few use these features. But the reader of e-reader loves to read books by definition. In this case, as already casually mentioned, USB is more often used for downloading books to the reader. Via Wi-Fi, it is convenient to buy books in online stores (which is why Wi-Fi, by definition, is available for readers from Amazon and Barnes & Noble), which is what a domestic reader does not often do. Therefore, the killing of Wi-Fi and the browser for the sake of nimble and more affordable prices looks quite justified.

And now - about the minuses. Objectivity for the sake of cons will have to be divided into two groups.

Let's start with those minuses that (possibly) are inherent only in a particular sample. Whether the “brothers” of other such readers have them — it’s not clear to me, since I only had a chance to talk with one copy. So:

1. For a month of use, the reader is frozen twice. Both times the problem arose after a rather long reading (at least two hours). And both times the trouble helped reboot. Perhaps it was the most unpleasant and obviously "non-standard" problem that arose with the reader. Everything else you can get used to)

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

3. The battery level indicator for some reason played into mystery: alternately (with an interval of several minutes) it showed a full battery, then - a low charge level, then - two bars. As a result, to understand the real level of charge was somewhat problematic. The battery itself keeps the charge quite well: for 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.

One can hope that these are the features of a particular test specimen. But who knows;)

But these drawbacks can’t be accurately attributed to a “specific instance”, they refer to the model as a whole:

1. The power button - a tiny rectangular "thing" in the bottom of the reading room, flush with the surface. Finding it to the touch is problematic, eye assistance is required;) It turns out that the power button is required more often than you might think ... And this is really inconvenient.



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

2. The reader is perceived as very light, so you want to hold it with one hand. But the buttons are designed so that it is not very convenient to flip through with one hand: there are no buttons for paging 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 it. However, you get used to this feature pretty quickly, and in the process of reading you no longer notice.

3. The dictionary (thanks, by the way, that it is there!) 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 reading room with a touch screen, where the translation is called with one finger at the right word. For example, PocketBook Touch , Amazon Kindle Touch and Sony PRS-T1 / Sony PRS-T2 have such capabilities. All of them cost more, but if you are going to read books in foreign languages, then touch is not so much a whim as it is 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 of light. More precisely, it is we, the readers, who are demanding of the light :) As soon as it gets a little darker around, the comfort of reading drops sharply - as with paper books, and even faster. If you often have to read in such conditions - you must either organize the backlight (at least at the level of the flashlight-clothespins), or look at the more expensive readers - Amazon Kindle Paperwhite , Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight . Low cost readers with built-in backlight has not yet been released (

Summing up

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

• If you plan to use the reader only for reading and do not want to overpay for those features that are not going to use.
• If you want an inexpensive reader with convenient menus and settings.
• If you do not want to convert books from format to format, but prefer that the reader "knew everything himself."
• If for some reason you care about the widest possible range of font settings.
• If the "usual" buttons for you is preferable 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), they have a good touch screen, Wi-Fi and a browser, and the rest can be about the same as Pocketbook Basic 613 - except skills to work with all formats.

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

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