Need phone with ebook reader

I currently use Sprint and a Palm 755p, which I use for various Palm OS
apps including Mobipocket - an ebook reader. My library includes many
hundreds of books in .txt format, including a lot of business material,
and MakeDoc converts such books to the Palm format.

The new Pre is an attractive upgrade option, but I am at the end of my
Sprint contract so want to know what else is available. The existing
agreement provides 1,300 minutes per month plus web access, for $42.50
plus tax. Yes, I've been Sprinting for a long, long time.

If I switch to another carrier (such as Verizon), various
newer/smaller/slicker phones are available. However, I *must* retain the
ability to read ebooks. That requires a big screen, long battery life,
and availability of appropriate software.

What do you think?

Thanks!

Ike

Ike wrote:
> I currently use Sprint and a Palm 755p, which I use for various Palm OS
> apps including Mobipocket - an ebook reader. My library includes many
> hundreds of books in .txt format, including a lot of business material,
> and MakeDoc converts such books to the Palm format.
>
> The new Pre is an attractive upgrade option, but I am at the end of my
> Sprint contract so want to know what else is available. The existing
> agreement provides 1,300 minutes per month plus web access, for $42.50
> plus tax. Yes, I've been Sprinting for a long, long time.
>
> If I switch to another carrier (such as Verizon), various
> newer/smaller/slicker phones are available. However, I *must* retain the
> ability to read ebooks. That requires a big screen, long battery life,
> and availability of appropriate software.
>
> What do you think?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Ike

I think you should visit the Verizon Wireless store and ask your
questions. You might even ask them to demonstrate. Then check with the
other providers.

Just be careful what you sign your name to! If you sign their contract
you will be stuck with it for the next 24 months or face a penalty for
"Early Termination".

You want a "big screen"? How big is big? One man's "big" is another
man's postage stamp! If you need/want 3"x5" or 2"x4" or whatever, say
so. 2"x2-1/4" is realistic. Bigger may be possible but it will
certainly cost more. It is also likely to make the phone unwieldy!
Instead of a shirt pocket you might need a backpack. A bigger battery
will be heavier and will probably require a bigger charger and/or longer
charging times.

Please let us know what you come up with and how well it works, or
doesn't work! You might even post your intentions before you spend your
money and see if anyone has useful comments.

In news:ha5dnh$7ru$1@news.eternal-september.org Ike
<binarydotike@gmail.com> wrote:

> If I switch to another carrier (such as Verizon), various
> newer/smaller/slicker phones are available. However, I *must* retain
> the ability to read ebooks. That requires a big screen, long battery
> life, and availability of appropriate software.

I used to have a Windows Mobile-based PDA which included the MS ebook
reader; I'm assuming that Windows-based phones would have one too.

If you're not tied to Palm's format, maybe you should look at one of
them. There's an add-on to MS Word which does a passable job of
converting text to the MS .lit format (or at least there was).

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN bert@iphouse.com

On Oct 2, 1:36*pm, Ike <binarydot...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I currently use Sprint and a Palm 755p, which I use for various Palm OS
> apps including Mobipocket - an ebook reader. My library includes many
> hundreds of books in .txt format, including a lot of business material,
> and MakeDoc converts such books to the Palm format.
>
> The new Pre is an attractive upgrade option, but I am at the end of my
> Sprint contract so want to know what else is available. The existing
> agreement provides 1,300 minutes per month plus web access, for $42.50
> plus tax. Yes, I've been Sprinting for a long, long time.
>
> If I switch to another carrier (such as Verizon), various
> newer/smaller/slicker phones are available. However, I *must* retain the
> ability to read ebooks. That requires a big screen, long battery life,
> and availability of appropriate software.
>
> What do you think?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Ike

You may want to hold out for the new large screen Apple Reader. Like
the iPhone that will be a world changing product and to buy something
else right now will only leave you very disgruntled in a couple of
months. The Reader will come with various connectivity options like
the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The iPhone itself is a pretty good eBook device already. With Stanza
and some Open Source software you can put all your old eBooks on the
iPhone right from your own PC or Mac as long as here is no queer DRM.

You can also run Kindle from Amazon on the iPhone so that source is
also available to you. I grab free stuff when promoted by Amazon and I
don't even have their regular Kindle. I don't think any thing else
exists that even comes close to what Apple is making, so heads up if
you haven't already heard about this.

An inconvient truth is the Blackberry is being replaced by the iPhone in
the Enterprise wrote:
> On Oct 2, 1:36 pm, Ike <binarydot...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I currently use Sprint and a Palm 755p, which I use for various Palm OS
>> apps including Mobipocket - an ebook reader. My library includes many
>> hundreds of books in .txt format, including a lot of business material,
>> and MakeDoc converts such books to the Palm format.
>>
>> The new Pre is an attractive upgrade option, but I am at the end of my
>> Sprint contract so want to know what else is available. The existing
>> agreement provides 1,300 minutes per month plus web access, for $42.50
>> plus tax. Yes, I've been Sprinting for a long, long time.
>>
>> If I switch to another carrier (such as Verizon), various
>> newer/smaller/slicker phones are available. However, I *must* retain the
>> ability to read ebooks. That requires a big screen, long battery life,
>> and availability of appropriate software.
>>
>> What do you think?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Ike
>
> You may want to hold out for the new large screen Apple Reader. Like
> the iPhone that will be a world changing product and to buy something
> else right now will only leave you very disgruntled in a couple of
> months. The Reader will come with various connectivity options like
> the iPhone and iPod Touch.
>
> The iPhone itself is a pretty good eBook device already. With Stanza
> and some Open Source software you can put all your old eBooks on the
> iPhone right from your own PC or Mac as long as here is no queer DRM.
>
> You can also run Kindle from Amazon on the iPhone so that source is
> also available to you. I grab free stuff when promoted by Amazon and I
> don't even have their regular Kindle. I don't think any thing else
> exists that even comes close to what Apple is making, so heads up if
> you haven't already heard about this.
>

That's interesting news, and thanks. I'll hunt for more data on the new
Apple product...