| German in Your Palm | |
| Part 2: PDA & eBook Hardware |
Hardware > Page 1, 2, 3
There are four main categories of ebook and handheld hardware: (1) Palm PDAs (Palm, Sharp, Sony, etc.), (2) pocket/handheld PCs (Windows Mobile 2003), (3) proprietary ebook readers, and (4) a regular Mac or PC (with reader software). The selection and quality of devices in all four categories have been improving quickly. The costs are still around $200-300 for a good PDA and about $400-500 for a pocket PC, although that could change at any time. (The price of HP's Jornada went down by $50 while I was writing this feature.) Franklin also offers its hybrid eBookMan™ with some PDA features starting at $179 for the 8 MB model. (All prices subject to change. Check with retailers and Web sites for current prices.)
Most PDAs offer a choice of either a color or monchrome screen and audio and e-book capabilities, although they vary in software and ease of use. Most digital organizers and all handheld PCs can interact with your main computer or even a mobile phone, allowing you to synchronize programs and exchange data for calendars, appointment and address books.
Here are some of the brands and models you may wish to consider:
The Franklin eBookMan
reader/PDA (EBM-911)
| Handhelds & eBook Readers | |
| PDAs Palm OS™ |
Pocket PCs Windows Mobile OS™ |
| Palm Tungsten Palm Zire Sharp Zaurus Sony Clié Treo smartphone |
Casio Cassiopeia Dell Axim HP iPAQ Toshiba Pocket PC Pocket PC Buyer's Guide (Windows) |
| eReaders Proprietary |
Mac/PC Software |
| Franklin eBookMan Gemstar/Rocket eBook Reader (discontinued) |
Adobe Reader Microsoft Reader HTML (browser) Plain text (.txt) |
| See our eBooks in German page for related hardware and software links. For more about PDAs and pocket PCs in general, see these About Guidesites: Palmtops/PDAs and Portable Entertainment |
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When considering the purchase of a palmtop, handheld PC or ebook reader, you'll want to compare such factors as memory capacity, included software, extra features (Bluetooth, MP3, add-ons), German titles available, computer compatibility (Mac/PC, USB/serial), whether the device has wireless capabilities and if it uses replaceable batteries or a built-in battery that can't be replaced by the user. For more about ebook readers, palmtops and handheld PCs in general, see the Palmtops/PDAs and Portable Entertainment Guidesites here at About.
Some PDAs and ebook readers also allow the display of color pictures and formatted text. While few would prefer to curl up with a "good ebook reader" rather than a good book, there are some advantages to ebooks. For one thing they take up less space than real books and save trees by not requiring paper. Electronic bookmarks allow you to easily return to where you left off. The low cost is another advantage. Yes, there are disadvantages (fewer choices being one), but we don't need to debate the issue here. - Now let's look at some sources of ebooks in German...
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