Requirement: Quality Screen

When it comes to a replacement for my beloved paperbacks, I have one key requirement, and the rest is all hopes and dreams. Since I’m going to be reading books on this thing, I need a high quality screen. E-ink is acceptable, as long as the text is crisp, page turn is instant, and it has uniform lighting for nighttime reading.

I do appreciate durable design, portable form factor, a screen size that’s just right, and plenty of battery life. As far as functionality goes, I appreciate having a built in dictionary and easy to use bookmarks. I do require access to both free and paid bookstores (customizable, I don’t want just the device manufacturer’s stores), and I also need support for plenty of formats, with EPUB and PDF being the minimum I will accept.

My Thoughts on the Current Hardware

The Kindle devices I just can’t take seriously: their keyboards are awkward and unnecessary (hello touchscreen!), the design is just unprepossessing, purchases are locked-in to Amazon’s ecosystem, and there is no native EPUB support. I’ll pass.

I did own a Sony PRS-700 Reader for about a week; it was close, but not quite, what I want in an e-book reader. The screen quality was not what I had hoped for, due to a badly designed touchscreen layered on top of the e-ink display. The touchscreen caused horrible glare, and blurred the text beneath it slightly. The touchscreen functionality itself was below average. The reader did support EPB, and the PDF support was pretty slick (and fast!). The previous model, PRS-500, had a much better screen, but its PDF performance was lacking, as was its interface and design. There are plenty of other e-ink based readers from different vendors, but nothing that really stands head and shoulders above the rest of the pack.

After returning the Sony, I ended up delving into the various e-book readers for the iPod Touch. eReader was decent, Kindle’s app was so-so, and Stanza just blew me away. I’ve read a dozen books on Stanza, and that number is climbing rapidly. The iPod Touch is already a permanent fixture in my pocket, so the portability and convenience factor is high. Even though the screen is a bit small, I’ve grown used to holding the device slightly closer to my eyes than a usual book to compensate.

When the next round of e-ink readers hits the streets, its going to be a touch choice between a paperback-sized dedicated reader and an application on my iPod Touch or iPhone. Perhaps Whispersync will have made its way into a few more applications by then. The thought of moving from e-book reader to iPhone to web page to iPod Touch, keeping my bookmarks and current page in sync, gives me shivers of delight.

Update (09/2011)

The e-book market has taken off since I first wrote this article, with solid competition to the Sony Reader springing up from many vendors. The three I would pick as the current leaders in the field are the Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, and Apple iBooks. While the first generation Kindle was an ugly, ungainly thing, the latest models are sleek and affordable. The Nook is doing well simply through the strength of its retail presence to help move along sales. Apple’s iBooks is leveraging the large number of iPads, iPod Touches, and iPhones to move its product. While none of these vendors is doing it right (prices are sky high on books, books are laden with DRM), this is mostly the fault of the publishers. I do have high hopes for the future. I hope one day to be able to buy an EPUB (at a reasonable price) on my desktop computer, access it on my Notebook / iPhone / iPad, and have my current page and notes be sync’d between the two devices and the web. Its getting close, I can almost taste it.

A Great Camera Strap

After reading a series of glowing reviews about the R-Strap, I threw down my plastic and ordered one. It is by far the single best purchase for my camera that I have ever made.  Using the R-Strap has completely changed the way I look at photography. Its no longer a burden to take the camera out of the case and carry it around. Instead I feel comfortable, and the camera is always at hand, ready to take a shot. This strap is practically mandatory for photowalking.

The strap goes over your head like a messenger bag, crossing the body. An included fastener device screws into the tripod socket on the bottom of your camera. The strap itself has a hook that clips onto the fastener, completing the connection.

Once properly adjusted, the camera hangs at your hip, within easy reach of your hand. Grabbing the camera’s grip, you bring the camera up to your eye in a fluid motion, and the strap doesn’t interfere. Take a look at the video to see it in action.

Minor Issues

Modified screw

The only minor problems I do have with the strap is with the FastenR and ConnectR units that come with it. The FastenR unit attaches to the camera, and its just bad on so many levels. It protrudes too much, gets in the way, and is just too bulky. They offer an upgrade, but I have yet to talk myself into buying it.

When I first bought the R-Strap, there was no upgraded FastenR, so I had to come up with my own solution. I ended up using the quick release plate from my tripod. Granted, the D ring on the screw was in no way meant to handle the weight of a camera, and the depth of the holes in the screw reflect this. I decided to  drill two deeper holes into the screw, and compress the D ring to fit in these deeper holes. I’ve been using the result for months, and it works great. It offers a secure connection, as well as the ability to quickly move the camera from my R-Strap to my tripod.

Tripod plate attached

The other problem is with their ConnectR clip that hooks the strap to the camera. It comes with a little plastic tube that’s obnoxious to use, but serves to keep the clip from opening accidentally and allowing your camera to come crashing to the ground. Its just bad design, and apparently BlackRapid agrees, because they designed an upgrade.

Despite these two nagging issues, and the strap being a tad overpriced, I’m very pleased.  If they start including the FastenR-2 and ConnectR-2 with new purchases, I would have nothing to complain about. I’ll never go back to a conventional camera strap again.

Update: My upgraded ConnectR-2 arrived today, and its a night and day improvement over the old one. I highly recommend it.

Update: BlackRapid announced the FastenR-T1 Tripod today. Designed in conjunction with Manfrotto, it looks strikingly similar to my solution.

FastenR-T1 Tripod

Before

I’ve been dealing with a failing LCD in the instrument cluster of my Audi for years.  At first a horizontal line or two would just disappear on me, and come back after an hour with the engine running.  Over time the number of missing lines increased, and they stayed missing permanently. It finally reached the point seen here, where it is difficult and sometimes impossible to read the information displayed. The longer I tried to ignore the problem, the worse it became.

I’d been searching various enthusiast forums on and off for years, keeping tabs on possible solutions to the problem.  For a long time, the only fix was to take the car to a dealer and have the entire instrument cluster replaced, at an excessive cost (I was quoted $1400 parts and labor). If you were lucky, the defect would happen while you were still under warranty, but mine started failing mere weeks after the warranty ended. Several people had taken their instrument clusters apart and tried various fixes to the LCD, but nothing seemed to work.

Recently a few repair shops started getting mentioned on the forums, and they were offering a rebuild service for the instrument cluster. They would take it apart and replace your failing LCD with a new one of better quality.  Most of these shops would handle the fix in-shop only, but I found one place in Florida, DNASpeedometers, that would handle the rebuild through the mail.  They seemed reputable, had a few decent reviews, and gave me an estimate that was reasonable.

The process of removing the instrument cluster is well documented, and not terribly difficult; It took me 10 minutes to remove it.  With proper padding, the instrument cluster is a bulky package, but is light enough to keep the shipping costs down.  I recommend springing for insurance, as it could get pricy if your cluster gets damaged in transit.

After

The guys at DNASpeedometers received my instrument cluster and replaced the LCD within hours, and had the return shipment on its way the same day.  I shipped my cluster out on Monday, and received it back on Friday. The LCD is flawless, and I’m very pleased with the quality of the rebuild.  Its nice being able to read what the car is telling me again.

Update (04/08/2009):  The LCD is still performing perfectly. I’ve did a little digging and found another shop that will handle this rebuild through the mail, Circuit Solutions.  They only have an eBay storefront, they have no website, and I’m unable to find any solid feedback or word of mouth about them on the forums.  Despite this, they do have some good eBay feedback, and their price is cheaper than what I paid.