Until recently, almost all e-book readers based on " electronic paper” were built on 6-inch screens identical in format, which did not suit all readers.

Screen 5" e-ink Vizplex, 600×800 dots (200 dpi)

CPU Samsung S3C2440 (400 MHz)

OS Linux

Battery Li-Pol (1000 mAh)

Memory (RAM) 64 MB

Memory (permanent) 512 MB

Communications mini-USB

Memory slot microSD(HC)

Book formats FB2, TXT, PDF, DJVU, RTF, HTML, PRC, CHM, EPUB, DOC, TCR, FB2.ZIP

Image formats JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF

Built-in gyro sensor Yes

Dimensions (without cover/with cover) 118×140×10/118×140×12 mm

Weight (without cover/with cover) 155/190 g

Color black, ivory

Product provided by PocketBook

Minimum dimensions and weight; advanced settings; automatic text orientation using a position sensor; two body design options

High cost; too youthful design; unintuitive controls in some applications

Compact and lightweight 5-inch e-ink reader, ideal for everyday reading. Too expensive

Verdict

On the bottom edge of the reader there is a mini-USB connector, which is used to charge the battery and exchange data with a PC - the “default” mode can be set in advance or selected during each connection

For each of the two design options there is a set of accessories in the corresponding color

The top edge contains a power button (its activity indicator is located on the front panel) and a slot for microSD memory cards, with which you can quickly and easily replenish your “book shelf”

Using the “Key Assignment” settings item, the user can flexibly customize the reader’s control scheme for himself, assigning any available operation to each key

Openwork curls on the top cover of the “ivory” color option are undoubtedly intended for a female audience, while strict geometric diamonds and classic black color are expected to be preferred by the stronger sex

In such a situation, as is usually the case with a compromise form factor, there will always be those who find the screen of the reading device either too small or, on the contrary, too large.

The former include consumers of publications with complex layouts (technical literature, magazines, books with illustrations, etc.), which lose the lion's share of their charm and/or readability when translated into text form. Accordingly, PDF/DjVu formats are used for such content, which are comfortable to read only on screens that can accommodate a standard page at an acceptable scale, which, unfortunately, cannot be said about 6-inch diagonals. The second group of dissatisfied ones consists of readers who are accustomed to while away time in traffic jams or long trips, where minimum dimensions and weight are often more important than that, how much “pure” text will fit on the screen.

Fortunately, the current year was marked by an expansion of the form factors of e-ink readers “in both directions” - the first group of sufferers received a 10-inch Amazon Kindle DX, and the second received a whole scattering of compact 5-inch readers, one of which became the hero of this material.

Design

Unlike most “strictly rectangular” readers that evoke direct associations with book volumes, PocketBook 360 is designed in a freer style. Its compact asymmetrical body with sloping surfaces, silver edging on the side edges and a control unit located under the right hand looks very modern, so much so that it can scare off the most conservative users.

A noticeable design detail is the removable cover with the company logo and patterns, which protects the screen from damage in the “stowed” position. It is gratifying that the user does not have to rack his brains about where to hide it while reading - the lid is easily attached to back side body, increasing the rigidity of the structure.

Let us add that PocketBook 360 will be available in two design options, which differ not only in the color of the case, but also in the type of pattern on the protective cover.

Screen

The reader uses a 5-inch display with a resolution of 600 by 800 pixels, made using e-ink (“electronic paper”) technology. Let us remind you that the main advantages of the latter are visual similarity to ordinary paper and minimal power consumption, while the disadvantages are low contrast, noticeable inertia and the lack of built-in backlight.

By reducing the diagonal while maintaining the same resolution, the image on the PocketBook 360 screen looks smoother than that of 6-inch readers. Thanks to the use of the latest generation of Vizplex paper, the contrast has also been slightly improved, but otherwise the image characteristics are no different from those of competitors.

Ergonomics

The main achievement of the developers of PocketBook 360 should be recognized as the minimum weight and size indicators of the device. Yes, the bezel of the 5-inch screen is not as small as we would like (especially on the right, in the place of standard hand holding), but the minimal thickness and weight allow you to completely forget about hand fatigue while reading.

The reader is controlled by a four-way navigation key with an inscribed confirmation button and two “scroll keys”. The large size and high side of the first one are very convenient, which, unfortunately, cannot be said about the paging zones, made in the form of slits in the front panel. The control scheme in reading mode is quite well thought out, but the lack of prompts and the unintuitiveness of the interface in additional applications sometimes confuse even experienced users.

Functionality

The highlight of the reader, which directly influenced its name, is the built-in position sensor, which allows you to automatically change the screen orientation when changing the grip. Works this function quite correctly, although in some cases it requires a more precise rotation of the device in the vertical plane to trigger.

Traditionally, for domestic readers, the list of supported book formats covers 90% of a typical user’s requests (to save memory, there is even support for compressed FB2 books), although reading PDF and DjVu documents on a 5-inch screen is devoid of practical meaning. The reader can also display photos and RSS feeds (by synchronizing with a PC client) and is equipped with a number of “office” applications (calendar, clock, calculator, dictionary) and games (chess, solitaire, Sudoku). Whether such a set of capabilities is worth three hundred dollars is up to the end user to decide.

Electronic books (readers, readers) have long become common devices for a wide range of users. Their advantages: accessibility of content (you can download the necessary book from the Internet in a matter of minutes), an E-ink screen that does not damage your eyesight, the ability to have a collection of thousands of books in the reader, long work on one charge, settings for font type and size. Appeared not long ago e-books with backlit screen - they allow you to read in complete darkness. In general, the advantages of readers can be listed for a very long time.

However, when getting acquainted with e-readers, users often have one problem. People who decide to purchase a reader for the first time, when faced with the concept of “electronic book formats,” often do not understand what we are talking about. The problem is especially relevant for beginners, to whom the abbreviations "FB2", "EPUB" or "MOBI" mean absolutely nothing.

So-called formats are various types of electronic text files that are supported (played) by one or another. IN electronic libraries Internet is often offered big set file types: FB2, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, DOC, RTF, TXT and others. The choice is wide, and this poses certain challenges for beginners. We will describe the main formats of e-books, tell you how they differ from each other, which readers are supported, and which format is better to choose if you have a multi-format reader that reads all formats.

Varieties of formats

1. FB2 (FictionBook)- an e-book format that was created by a group of Russian developers. Books in this file type have a structured appearance (that is, they contain a breakdown by chapter, content, illustrations, cover). In addition, this standard stores information about the file (so-called tags: author, title, genre), which is read by the reader and allows the user to conveniently sort files on the device. This type of file takes up a small amount of space, can be archived, and is also easily converted into other formats. Among the features: due to the fact that the format was originally developed for the Cyrillic alphabet, texts in Russian in FB2 have word hyphens.

The format was originally designed for Russian users, and it is practically not used abroad. That is why FB2 is not supported by the world's popular e-reader manufacturers - Amazon and Barnes & Noble. But this is the main file format for e-readers popular in Russia from Pocketbook, Onyx and Wexler. In addition, Sony readers now support FB2 - after entering the Russian market, the company has developed official firmware for the reader, which allows you to read books in FB2.

2. EPUB (Electronic PUBlication)- the most popular in the world electronic format for readers. Barnes & Noble and Sony readers work with it. In terms of layout structure, this type of file resembles an archived web page containing text, graphics, embedded fonts, and illustrations.

In addition to Western brands, the EPUB format is supported by models from manufacturers focused on Russian market(Pocketbook, Onyx, Wexler) due to the rapid growth of popularity in our country. In addition, this e-book standard is used by iPhone and . Apple's proprietary iBooks reader supports EPUB.

3. MOBI- format of e-book readers. Gaining popularity in Russian online libraries as Kindle becomes more popular in Russia. Other readers support this format “for show”. MOBI is similar in properties to EPUB. Amazon recently introduced another electronic text format, Kindle Format 8 or KF8 (it features richer formatting), with the clarification that Amazon readers new and old will continue to support MOBI.

4. TXT- format of simple text documents. You can convert text from another format to TXT with a simple copy-paste action. Despite the fact that this type of file is supported by almost all e-readers and takes up very little memory space, we would not recommend reading books in it on e-readers. TXT lacks formatting, markup, hyphenation, and alignment. It is suitable for short text notes, but not for full-fledged e-books.

5. PDF (Portable Document Format)- format electronic documents, created by Adobe Systems. Inconvenient for use on readers for a number of reasons. Firstly, files in this format are very bulky, as they are designed for the power of a computer, and open quite slowly on e-readers. Secondly, if the file is not specifically designed for the screen of a 6-inch reader, which has a format similar to an A6 paper sheet, then reading an A4 PDF on it (and most PDF files are presented in the size of a standard paper sheet) will be very difficult. In PDF, you can only increase the scale, but not the font size, which means that only some part of the page will be able to fit on the screen. You will have to read the pages in parts, and this is very inconvenient.

PDFs are suitable for reading, the screen size of which allows you to reproduce the page on a scale large enough for comfortable reading.

6. DJVU- a format designed for storing scanned documents - books, articles, manuscripts. A book in DJVU is actually a collection of scanned pages. In terms of reading comfort on 6-inch readers, everything is similar to the story with PDF. You won't increase the font size, just the scale. When zooming, the page will extend beyond the screen, and you will have to constantly move the area of ​​the enlarged text to read - there is no need to talk about comfortable reading. To read DJVU, choose readers with a 9-inch screen. However, even on 9-inch readers, the ability to conveniently read DJVU depends on how well the book presented in this format is scanned.

7. LRF- formerly a proprietary format of Sony readers. On new models (starting with PRS-T1) it is no longer used, as it has given way to EPUB. Converts very poorly to other file types. Despite the fact that it is still presented in some libraries, it is recommended to use it exclusively for owners of older Sony models.

8. RTF (Rich Text Format)- format for storing text documents. Belongs to the category of “computer”, not “book”. Reading in RTF on readers is not very convenient - these are large files, and the speed of the reader is reduced by an order of magnitude.

9. DOC(and also DOCX) - text documents Microsoft Office. These formats are supported by quite a lot of readers, but specifically for reading documents, not books. Large files in this format can be large in size and difficult to work with on readers. It is better to convert multi-page books in DOC to FB2 or EPUB.

We have listed the main formats of e-books. We will not consider the completely exotic types of files that are sometimes found on the Internet, but rather decide which of the above formats is most convenient for reading books on electronic readers.

Which e-book format to choose

If you have an e-reader that supports all formats, then you can choose a specific file type based on a number of factors. Let's say you buy your first e-book, and you don't have a pre-collected collection of books, for example, in FB2. In this case, choose the file format that is best reproduced by your reader. Traditional “book” formats EPUB or FB2 are more preferable and convenient for the reader (and for the user) than “computer” PDF, TXT, DOC, DOCX and RTF.

In the case of 9-inch readers and the need to read DJVU and PDF, all other things being equal, we advise you to give preference to the latter, since PDF is a more modern format, and books in DJVU are often of poor quality.

From the point of view of ease of use, the advantages of “book” formats are obvious: EPUB, FB2 or MOBI look visually better in the menu of your reader (book covers are displayed), they are more convenient to sort (there are tags: author, title, genre), they take up much more memory less space and the speed of the reader with such formats will be significantly higher.

Do I need support for all formats?

In our opinion, it is not at all necessary to choose an all-format reader. Many users who have ereaders that support all formats download books in one or two file types. All e-readers (including multi-format ones), one way or another, have a main format, and in the end you won’t exchange for others. For Pocketbook, Onyx and Wexler the main formats are FB2 or EPUB, for Barnes & Noble () and Sony - EPUB, for Kindle - MOBI.

In the case of Amazon and Barnes & Noble readers, if the book you need is in a format that these readers do not support, you can use a converter (for example, Caliber). This is a program that is installed on your computer and allows you to convert the same FB2 to MOBI or EPUB in a matter of minutes.

Reading books in the reader’s native format is better than using additional programs installed on the reader. Our advice: take a few minutes to convert a book, for example, from RTF to EPUB using the Caliber converter. This is more convenient than reading it “in the original” using an additionally installed program (on a Sony PRS-T1 or Kindle) or encountering slower operation of the device (for example, on Pocketbook readers).

Remember that the main thing is the ease of use of an e-book, and not the number of formats stated in its parameters.

Happy reading!

The Pocketbook company is one of the few manufacturers that has a 5-inch e-reader model in its line. Until recently, Pocketbook 360 Plus was such a reader. This model has gone through several upgrades, updates in appearance and characteristics, remaining one of the most popular and sought-after 5-inch e-readers for several years. Its main advantages were its successful design with an original removable cover that protected the display, as well as its low price, convenient ergonomics and support for all formats. The new Pocketbook 515 is made in a standard form factor, which is used on the manufacturer’s 6-inch models, but it retains other advantages: multi-format, even lower cost, minimal weight and dimensions. How successful was Pocketbook in replacing one 5-inch model with another, and what the user should expect from the smallest and lightest e-reader on the market, we will find out in our review.

Equipment

The reader's packaging box contains only a microUSB cable, which is used to charge the e-reader from a computer and transfer files. This configuration is standard for Pocketbook readers and corresponds to market trends: and American manufacturers readers, and Japanese ones represented by Sony do the same. For a long time now, they have not put anything into the packaging of electronic readers except the device and cable, trying to offer the user an e-reader at the minimum possible price. possible price. Additional accessories, which include covers and chargers from the socket, which the user is asked to purchase separately.

Cases

The covers for the reader deserve special mention, since due to the modest size of the reader, they were also made by the manufacturer to be as minimalistic as possible. Users are offered either a hinged cover that is attached to the upper end of the reader and covers only the screen, the most fragile part of the e-reader. This case is made double-sided and two-color ( or ), and the user will have the opportunity to choose which side to use as the front: a bright colored one, or a more strict black one.

Another cover option is a case with elastic fastenings at the corners of the reader, made of fabric material that is pleasant to the touch. It can also be “turned inside out,” that is, used as a front inner side covers. Two colors are offered: and .

It should be noted that in the case of covers, clear progress is obvious, since many users did not like covers for previous models in the form of “books” due to their large dimensions - they seriously thickened and weighed down the ereader. This cannot be said about the new cases for the Pocketbook 515 model, since they turned out to be as elegant and light as the reader itself.

Design

Externally, the model looks almost exactly the same as the 6-inch Pocketbook 613 reader. The layout of the controls is absolutely identical: under the screen there is a joystick, as well as right and left paging keys. At the bottom end there is a microUSB port and a power button, and at the top there are holes for attaching the original flip cover. Among the differences from the model: the scrolling keys are completely recessed into the body and are not actually keys - they are just places marked with “forward” and “backward” icons, when pressed, a dull click is heard and the scrolling is triggered. This is original technical solution made it possible to make the buttons more reliable in operation and increase the practicality of the reader, since there are no gaps between the buttons and the body - potential places for dirt to accumulate.

In addition to the traditional gray and white body colors, the 515 model is available in a blue-green color sea ​​wave". In our opinion, this color solution is very successful, since there are already plenty of gray and white e-readers on the market, and in this case the user is offered the necessary dark (this edging visually increases the whiteness of the E-ink screen), but at the same time very original and attractive body color. The reader has a sea green joystick. orange color, and the reader in a gray and white case has a light green one. The reverse side of the e-book is black in all three cases. On the back panel there is a special recess into which the middle finger, when the user holds the ereader in one hand, which looks like a very convenient design move.

The main advantage of the reader, for which it received the logical second name Pocketbook Mini, is its size and weight. The previous 5-inch model Pocketbook 360 Plus was twice as thick and weighed as much as a 6-inch reader. The new e-reader weighs 130 grams and the body thickness is 7.2 mm. The reader is only a couple of centimeters wider than current top-end smartphones, which makes it easy to carry in your pockets.

Screen

As we have already noted, the display on the Pocketbook Mini has a diagonal of 5 inches. At different times, there were popular models on the market that had a screen of a similar size, for example, Sony PRS-350 or the same Pocketbook 360 Plus. Therefore, it is obvious that a 5-inch diagonal is a popular screen size among buyers.

Visually, there are no complaints about the image quality on the Pocketbook 515. Although if you look at the stated characteristics of the reader, there is something to complain about: an E-ink screen is used, but without the Pearl prefix, which we are used to seeing on the most popular models, and which is synonymous with quality for e-paper technology. The reader has a screen of the previous generation, used on the Pocketbook 613 Basic New model, but since the reader has not a 6-inch, but a 5-inch display, the pixels per inch ratio of the 515 model is higher than that of any 6-inch reader (200 ppi versus 166 ppi). Apparently, due to this, the text on the screen looks very clear and contrasty: the background is distinguished by good whiteness, and the letters are rich black.

Among other advantages of the screen, we note that paging occurs at high speed, and there are practically no traces of previous pages left on the display. As on previous Pocketbook models, on the 515 model you can adjust the frequency of full page refreshes, choosing from five modes: always, never, 3 pages, 5 pages or 10 pages. In the first case, the reader will refresh the image a little longer after each page, blinking black for a second, but on the screen you will not find the slightest artifacts from previous pages. All other modes give priority to scrolling speed, and traces of what you have read may appear on the screen.

Characteristics

The 515 model is equipped with 4 GB of internal memory, and its volume cannot be increased using an additional memory card. About 3.2 GB is available to the user, which is enough for about 3 thousand books. The battery of the new product is quite modest in capacity - 1000 mAh, but this is quite enough to provide the reader with 3-4 weeks of operation without recharging with daily use for 1-2 hours.

Traditionally, all electronic file formats are supported for Pocketbook readers: PDF, PDF (DRM), EPUB, EPUB(DRM), DJVU, FB2, FB2.ZIP, DOC, DOCX, RTF, PRC, TCR, TXT, CHM, HTM, HTML. FB2, FB2.ZIP, EPUB, TXT and Word formats DOC, DOCX and RTF are compatible with the reader better than others, but PDF and DJVU cannot be read comfortably on a 5-inch screen. Also in the Pocketbook 515 set of parameters you will find built-in dictionaries for translating unfamiliar words in the text when reading on foreign language. English-Russian, as well as English explanatory and English-German dictionaries are preinstalled. It is possible to view photos (graphic formats JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF are supported) and use the Calendar. In addition, there are several simple toys: Snake, Klondike, Sudoku and Chess.

Interface

After turning on the reader, the user will be taken to Home page menu. Upper part screen occupies the list of recent open books, and at the bottom there are menu sections: Library, Notes, Applications, Settings.

First of all, the main attention should be paid to the Library, in which the downloaded books will be displayed. It supports a simple file system, that is, books can be sorted and viewed through regular computer folders. They can be created, renamed and deleted both from the computer and through the reader itself. When you hold down the central joystick button, a context menu appears, through which you can customize the appearance of the Library: sort, group, customize the appearance of files, select them by name and author.

A few days ago I came across one of the latest models reader from PocketBook - PocketBook Touch. This model has already been described on Habré, but in this review I’ll tell you about mine personal experience interactions with this reader, as well as about the tasks that this device helps solve.

There are many images under the cut, as well as a slideshow in GIF format. For those with limited or very expensive traffic, enter with caution.

I haven’t described e-reader devices before, so before starting my review I decided to take a quick look at e-readers different manufacturers. First of all, I was interested in the list of book formats that devices support, I looked only at devices that work using E-Ink technology (it doesn’t matter the old generation or the new E-Ink Pearl, the main thing is that it’s not TFT, in the case of color screens the eye strain is similar to a monitor , so if you take it, it’s already a full-fledged tablet).
I analyzed 12 readers from different manufacturers. Most devices support EPUB formats - 9 devices out of 12, Fb2 - 8 out of 12 and MOBI - 7 out of 12 (this is in addition to the TXT format, which is supported by almost all readers). The EPUB, Fb2 and MOBI formats are based on text information, so in most readers, when working with these formats, you have the opportunity to adjust the font size, choosing one that is comfortable for the eyes. Another reason why I will describe the capabilities of the PocketBook Touch when working with these formats is the availability of fiction books in all three formats on such large online libraries as Flibusta and Librusek, and, in addition to this, having a favorite book in all three formats (EPUB , Fb2 and MOBI), you can read it on almost any e-reader (not only on omnivorous devices from Pocketbook and Impression, but also on devices for reading books from other manufacturers).

If you have a book in a format that does not fit your e-reader, you can, of course, convert it using a program similar to Caliber, or install an additional program on your e-reader that can open the format you are interested in (for example, Cool Reader), but that's not what this review is about.
In PocketBook there is no problem with format support; the device out of the box supports most popular book formats and, in addition to this, can also work with images (supported formats: JPEG, PNG, TIFF and BMP), play MP3 music, work with RSS feeds via WiFi, translate unfamiliar words from English books using the built-in translator from Lingvo. The list of PocketBook capabilities that I gave above is far from complete; I will try to describe the most interesting of them below.

Appearance of the device

The PocketBook reader is quite compact, the dimensions of the device are 175 x 114.5 x 9.5 mm. Below are a few photos so that you can clearly assess the size of the device.

PocketBook Touch next to a regular school notebook:

Thickness of the reader (for comparison, next to a matchbox):

PocketBook Touch - rear view:

PocketBook Touch and Lbook V3+ (reader from Lbook, alas, discontinued):

The material of the device's body is plastic, the paging mechanism is made so thoughtfully that books can be read while holding the device with one or two hands. The symmetrical arrangement of touch buttons for scrolling forward and backward makes it possible to read comfortably, both left-handed and right-handed:

Holding the reader with both hands, you can flip the book forward and backward with your left thumb and right hand. Personally, flipping the pages of a book open in the PocketBook Touch reader with both hands reminded me of the old Soviet toy “Well, wait a minute” (I played this game with pleasure as a child, and with the same pleasure flipped the pages of the book I was reading during the test of this device).

When gripping with one hand, turning pages using touch buttons is inconvenient; it is better to use mechanical buttons Back And Forward. Also, PocketBook Touch provides a way to turn pages using two special gestures (sliding your finger across the screen from left to right or right to left), but personally, I find it inconvenient to turn pages using gestures.

Device Specifications

• Case material: Plastic, Soft Touch coating
• Display: 6" E Ink Pearl, glass screen, capacitive multi-touch screen
• Processor / RAM/ Flash memory: 800MHz, 128MB, 2GB
• Battery: Li-Ion, 3.7 V, 1100 mAh, 8000 pages (with Wi-Fi disabled)
• Computer connection / Additional memory: Micro USB, Micro SD up to 32 GB
• Book formats: EPUB DRM, EPUB, PDF DRM, PDF, FB2, FB2.ZIP, TXT, DJVU, HTM, HTML, DOC, DOCX, RTF, CHM, TCR, PRC (MOBI)
• Image formats: JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF
• Sound: 3.5 mm audio output, MP3 support
• Additional features: Text-to-Speech, Dictionaries, Browser, RSS Reader, Audio Player, Calendar, Calculator, Games, Handwritten Notes, Library

With more detailed information O technical specifications You can find the device at .

PocketBook Touch software interface

The PocketBook Touch device came to me with firmware version 3.2 on board. At first I experimented with reading books of different formats on this version: I almost finished reading one interesting book Fb2 format, experimented with books in EPUB and MOBI format, tried reading books in PDF format (including big books, sizes 70MB and 100MB) and DjVu, everything is on the level!

At the same time, I read what had already been written about this device (starting from Habr and continuing with links in the comments to reviews of this and other e-reader models). Looking for useful information got to the device support page where I downloaded it from latest version firmware 4.0, to which I successfully updated manually, according to the instructions posted there. Regarding the instructions for updating the firmware in the device, I note that everything is described in detail, clearly and understandably, I will only add one thing, in paragraph 9, instead of the inscription “Please connect power cable”, after which you need to connect the device to the computer, I had a picture in which shows an e-reader connected to a computer.

Below I will try to describe the most interesting things related to the capabilities of the PocketBook Touch reader, working with firmware version 4.0. I took pictures of the interface programmatically (in the reader itself, not with a camera), so the screen tint will be a little whiter than it actually is. But the interface elements will be in the appropriate places for them.

When you turn on the reader, you will see below - toolbar, above - list latest events . By clicking on the top right corner of events, you can customize the events displayed as you see fit.

From the list of recent events it is convenient to open the latest books that you read in PocketBook Touch.
The developers added interaction with the social feature of book lovers - ReadRate - as events. The idea there is interesting, but at this stage it is more convenient for me to interact with the Internet through a combination of FireFox + RSS Brief reader; I clearly do not have enough Internet capabilities within the E-Ink reader (I mean a browser for accessing the Internet and an RSS feed reader PocketNews - applications PocketBook Touch). I will not describe the capabilities of the PocketBook Touch related to the Internet in this review, I will only say that turning on WiFi drains the battery quite significantly (many times more noticeably than regular reading from the device).

The most important thing in the reader is, of course, the section Library. The developers have provided convenient ways to group and sort books. Everything is clear and understandable; by experimenting, you can choose exactly the display mode that suits you. See the available sorting options below:

A useful feature of the library is search. You can use a word or phrase to find the book you need, the exact location of which on a flash drive or in the built-in memory you forgot.

In the fourth version of the firmware for PocketBook Touch, the developers added a graphic menu in addition to the text reading menu. I personally think the arrangement of tools in the case of a graphical menu is more convenient; in addition, a search has appeared in the graphical menu, making it possible to find the necessary information in books or articles in text format (TXT, Fb2, EPUB, MOBI). You can select the appropriate viewing mode as follows: Settings -) Appearance -) Reading menu. For clarity, I present the difference in interfaces below:

I’ll tell you a little about the features of how PocketBook Touch works with different e-book formats.
I'll start with text Fb2, MOBI and EPUB.

Fb2 and MOBI

In this PocketBook model, Fb2 and MOBI formats are opened in the FBReader program. The available book display settings are the same and look like this:

In PocketBook Touch for books in Fb2 and MOBI formats, you can select any of the available fonts, set the font size, set the line spacing, select the margin size, and also configure some other display parameters.

By touching the touch button Font, you will be able to select font options from the following options:

What does a book page look like? different types fonts will be like this (font size set to 22, Normal):

EPUB

This format is opened by PocketBook Touch with firmware 4 by default using the Adobe Viewer application. There are fewer settings here than for the Fb2 and MOBI formats, but the most important things can still be customized for yourself:

I noticed that with the same Font / Font size parameters selected for a book in Fb2 format (opens FBReader) and for a book in EPUB format (opens Adobe Viewer) do not match (in my case, the 16th font size of DejaVu Sans in Adobe Viewer is much larger in size, than font size 22 DejaVu Sans in FBReader).

Work with PDF and DjVu, book rotation, scaling

Experimenting with books in PDF and DjVu formats (including small print), for me personally, a good option for solving the problem of fitting a book to an e-reader (so that the font is large and leafing through is convenient) is the following:

Other useful features of PocketBook Touch

Adding a note on a random page of a book (does not work for books in DjVu format):

Customizing the keys for yourself:
Settings -) Key assignments

Turning off the light indication (for all operations except charging the device via USB, the light will not light up):
Settings -) Appearance -) LED indication

This is where I will finish my review of the PocketBook Touch device.
To summarize, I would like to note the strong and weaknesses devices.

Strengths of the PocketBook Touch reader:

• support large quantity e-book formats;
• a well-thought-out navigation system (flipping through the pages of a book is really very convenient);
• E-Ink Pearl ;
• high speed;
• a good set of fonts for displaying books in text formats (Fb2, MOBI, EPUB);
• highly customizable library;
• integrated dictionaries from Lingvo.

Weaknesses of the PocketBook Touch reader:

• charger not included as standard;
• Text-to-speech voice modules need to be improved;
• There is no way to open images from an arbitrary folder of the built-in memory or memory card (I would like it).

That's it for me short review PocketBook Touch reader is completed, I hope that the information provided here will be useful to someone. I really liked the device, it’s convenient and practical, perfect for saving eye life!
This is my first review of computer hardware; before that I only described software. Thank you all for your attention and patience. Good luck choosing useful devices!

We can say that e-books have become a part of our lives. Of course, these devices have a huge amount advantages that make them easy to use and good assistants for lovers of reading. In a small compact device you can download hundreds of books. When reading, your eyes do not get tired, since the electronic ink does not glow and the effect of a printed sheet is created. If you read a lot of books on the computer, then there are special ones so that they don’t get so tired.

In addition, some e-reader models are equipped additional functions. However, those who have just purchased or have had such a device for a long time know that you can download a book on the Internet in different formats, which huge variety. What are the differences between them, and which one is better to choose, we will try to figure it out. In addition, in electronic form You can read books on your computer, to do this you just need to install .

FB2 – format for electronic books

There are gadgets that support various types formats. But there are models for which it is advisable to choose a specific one. For example, if you are interested in what formats the Pocketbook e-reader supports, then FB2 is usually recommended for these devices. The full name sounds like FictionBook, it was invented by a group of Russian developers.

FB2 supports highlighting text in various fonts. This format is used to create structured documents. By the way, books created in FictionBook, if necessary, are perfectly reformatted, archived and have a small volume. Among the disadvantages of the format is that it is not widespread enough in Western countries. In this regard, it is not a fact that it will be supported by devices from some popular brands, for example, Sony, Amazon, etc. But if you are looking for an answer to the question: “What formats does the Texet, Onyx or Wexler e-reader support?”, then FB2 is suitable for you.

EPUB

EPUB is a floating layout format. It is one of the most popular e-reader programs used all over the world. The structure of this file type is similar to an archived web page. It also contains fonts, text, illustrations and graphics.

Among the disadvantages of EPUB, we can only note that it is not so widespread in Russia. Therefore, many files have to be converted from other formats to this one. But many devices from popular European manufacturers are designed to work with EPUB. In addition, the iBooks reader installed on iPhone and iPad also supports this format. In addition to this program, you will find out what other differences there are between a smartphone and an iPhone.

TXT

Speaking about what formats are supported by the Wexler, Onyx e-reader or device from other manufacturers, TXT should be noted. Such files are supported by almost all devices and take up very little space. However, most users note that reading documents in this format not very convenient.

Among the disadvantages of TXT is the lack of formatting. In addition, there is no alignment, transfers, or markings. This format is suitable for small notes. For a full book in electronic version it is not the best option.

Which format to choose

Of course, we focused only on the most popular formats that are most common. In addition to them, DJVU, PDF, DOC, MOBI and others can be noted. They all have their pros and cons. Your choice of a specific format should be based on which format your e-reader supports best. If you downloaded a work in a certain format that does not suit you, you can convert it into another using special converter programs.

The best option is to read books in the format that is “native” for the device. Otherwise, you may experience slower operation of the reader or other inconveniences. If you like a certain format or you cannot find a work in another version, then you can easily install a program on the e-book that allows you to view it or convert the document.