Portable Comic Readers
November 7, 2008 10:41 AM Subscribe
Portable comic readers. I'm looking for a USB-connectable device on which I can throw .cbr and .cbz (or .rar and .zip respectively) files onto it, and be able to view them on the device the same way CDisplay does on the PC. What affordable devices are capable of doing this? Think Kindle, but for comics.
Google reveals that the iPhone will do it but I'm not going to buy one for this.
I know the Nintendo DS can do this with third-party chips and mods but the end result is pathetic and not worth the effort. The screen resolution is terrible.
I've got my eye on the PSP but lost all respect for Sony after all the firmware bricking debacles. I'll consider it as a last resort if there are absolutely no other low-cost options...I don't plan on doing much with it that might actually require firmware updates. It's more a matter of principle than anything.
Aside from that I've given up on techno-lust long ago and don't keep up with current trends in gadgetry. Is there anything else out there that might fit the bill? The cheaper, the better-- once we hit $300 I might as well get a cheap laptop.
Thanks
Google reveals that the iPhone will do it but I'm not going to buy one for this.
I know the Nintendo DS can do this with third-party chips and mods but the end result is pathetic and not worth the effort. The screen resolution is terrible.
I've got my eye on the PSP but lost all respect for Sony after all the firmware bricking debacles. I'll consider it as a last resort if there are absolutely no other low-cost options...I don't plan on doing much with it that might actually require firmware updates. It's more a matter of principle than anything.
Aside from that I've given up on techno-lust long ago and don't keep up with current trends in gadgetry. Is there anything else out there that might fit the bill? The cheaper, the better-- once we hit $300 I might as well get a cheap laptop.
Thanks
If there's an app for the iPhone to read cb* files, wouldn't it work for the iPod Touch as well? Cheaper, no cell contract, does what it says on the tin.
posted by middleclasstool at 11:01 AM on November 7, 2008
posted by middleclasstool at 11:01 AM on November 7, 2008
(A typo crept through. Strike the "USB" part of that.)
posted by Class Goat at 11:01 AM on November 7, 2008
posted by Class Goat at 11:01 AM on November 7, 2008
If there's an app for the iPhone to read cb* files, wouldn't it work for the iPod Touch as well?
Yep. You'd need a Wifi connection to download them though.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:16 AM on November 7, 2008
Yep. You'd need a Wifi connection to download them though.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:16 AM on November 7, 2008
Whatever you end up using, make sure that you try out reading comics on that small of a screen. I've tried to read fullsize pdfs on various small form factor devices, and I find that media meant for larger screens tend to not work very well.
posted by burnmp3s at 11:16 AM on November 7, 2008
posted by burnmp3s at 11:16 AM on November 7, 2008
An old Palm OS handheld plus this software would probably work. But you're still not getting a lot of screen resolution.
posted by O9scar at 11:22 AM on November 7, 2008
posted by O9scar at 11:22 AM on November 7, 2008
Yeah, you're looking at compressing 8.5"x11" into a fraction of that - be prepared to scroll a LOT. Since you'll have to scale up, maybe the Eee PC?
You're then getting to the point where I have to ask, why do you want to have a portable comic book reader? Why not lug your comic books around?
posted by filthy light thief at 11:31 AM on November 7, 2008
You're then getting to the point where I have to ask, why do you want to have a portable comic book reader? Why not lug your comic books around?
posted by filthy light thief at 11:31 AM on November 7, 2008
I picked up an Acer Aspire One yesterday, and after getting rid of the newbie friendly interface, one of the first app I added was comix.
Set the image to rotate 90 degrees and a full page is totally readable.
posted by jjb at 12:01 PM on November 7, 2008 [1 favorite]
Set the image to rotate 90 degrees and a full page is totally readable.
posted by jjb at 12:01 PM on November 7, 2008 [1 favorite]
I came in here to recommend the DS, but I see you had problems with the resolution. Personally, I found the resolution to be great, but it did get hung up on especially long books. (I read a 500+ page graphic novel on it, and it basically crapped out on be around page 300, took so long to load that it wasn't worth it.)
So for anyone reading this who's not the OP, the DS is a workable but imperfect solution, but you'll need a cartridge for homebrew and be able to track down the software. Here, I'll make that easy for you at least.
Sorry OP, but I got nothing for you.
posted by yellowbinder at 12:08 PM on November 7, 2008
So for anyone reading this who's not the OP, the DS is a workable but imperfect solution, but you'll need a cartridge for homebrew and be able to track down the software. Here, I'll make that easy for you at least.
Sorry OP, but I got nothing for you.
posted by yellowbinder at 12:08 PM on November 7, 2008
What you want friend is a Samsung Q1 Ultra. A bit on the pricey side, but its a full PC with a on device keyboard, and touch screen. 40+gig HD as well.
I have one for home and set cdisplay to flip the comics 90 degrees, and use my thumb on the space button to flip forward, and mapped the button under that to flip backwards and go between files in the folder.
watching movies and stuff on this is pretty nice too.
But this is over your 300 dollar limit, unless you ebay one, in which case you can certainly find them around your price range.
I can't pimp this device enough, we use them quite a bit at our manufacturing plant for data collection, and playing starcraft on it is hella fun.
posted by Jonsnews at 1:02 PM on November 7, 2008
I have one for home and set cdisplay to flip the comics 90 degrees, and use my thumb on the space button to flip forward, and mapped the button under that to flip backwards and go between files in the folder.
watching movies and stuff on this is pretty nice too.
But this is over your 300 dollar limit, unless you ebay one, in which case you can certainly find them around your price range.
I can't pimp this device enough, we use them quite a bit at our manufacturing plant for data collection, and playing starcraft on it is hella fun.
posted by Jonsnews at 1:02 PM on November 7, 2008
Yes, iPod Touch will do this, but consider the screen's size. The Aspire one is a good bet, but it won't be like a Kindle in that there is a keyboard attached! So, yes, you can rotate the image, but you'll never get a full spread on one screen at a reasonable size. That may be acceptable to you.
I am generally not in the habit of suggesting other sources of information because I don't want to imply askmefi isn't the best place for answers. However, I think you should post this in the "Which one should I buy" forum at MobileRead. There are dozens if not hundreds of users that can answer this very question and there really isn't a week that goes by that someone doesn't ask this question.
For what it's worth, I can't suggest any sort of eInk device such as the Kindle or Sony, even if there are apps that will take cbr/z files and turn them into mobi or azw or sony-compatible files. They will always be in gray and not a very flattering one at that considering the shades are quite limited in number.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=123
If I had money to burn, I would go for a Tablet PC slate or a Tablet PC in which the keyboard can be detatched or folded out of the way. You could go for, say, a used Compaq/HP TC1100. It will run XP so it's definitely compatible with your apps. Plus the screen will be large and in full color w/o a keyboard hanging off the end.
But then you're talking dollah-dollah-bills, y'all.
posted by tcv at 1:05 PM on November 7, 2008
I am generally not in the habit of suggesting other sources of information because I don't want to imply askmefi isn't the best place for answers. However, I think you should post this in the "Which one should I buy" forum at MobileRead. There are dozens if not hundreds of users that can answer this very question and there really isn't a week that goes by that someone doesn't ask this question.
For what it's worth, I can't suggest any sort of eInk device such as the Kindle or Sony, even if there are apps that will take cbr/z files and turn them into mobi or azw or sony-compatible files. They will always be in gray and not a very flattering one at that considering the shades are quite limited in number.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=123
If I had money to burn, I would go for a Tablet PC slate or a Tablet PC in which the keyboard can be detatched or folded out of the way. You could go for, say, a used Compaq/HP TC1100. It will run XP so it's definitely compatible with your apps. Plus the screen will be large and in full color w/o a keyboard hanging off the end.
But then you're talking dollah-dollah-bills, y'all.
posted by tcv at 1:05 PM on November 7, 2008
Comical runs on those little Mameo-based Nokia tablets like the N800. It makes for a nice cheap ebook reader too. Its a lot smaller and nimble than a full blown mini laptop.
Mameo is just a small linux distrubtion, so you have a lot of apps ported for it.
You can probably get the previous model, the 770, for a song on ebay.
posted by damn dirty ape at 1:06 PM on November 7, 2008
Mameo is just a small linux distrubtion, so you have a lot of apps ported for it.
You can probably get the previous model, the 770, for a song on ebay.
posted by damn dirty ape at 1:06 PM on November 7, 2008
The other solution I used to use is a HP TC1100 (or newer model), which has a much larger screen, pen input (instead of touch) and a attachble keyboard.
Nice kit IMHO.
posted by Jonsnews at 1:06 PM on November 7, 2008
Nice kit IMHO.
posted by Jonsnews at 1:06 PM on November 7, 2008
On post, I think Jonsnews has a great idea as well. It's a bit of a small screen, but it's certainly bigger than a DS or PSP!! ;-)
posted by tcv at 1:06 PM on November 7, 2008
posted by tcv at 1:06 PM on November 7, 2008
I've wanted the exact same thing, and after trying out every imaginable combination including PDAs, my iPhone, and other palmtop-type devices, what worked best for me was an Asus Eee 901. Put a lightweight XP build on it and CDisplay, set it to display horizontally, and load as many cbr/cbz files as you can fit on an SD card. You hold it like a book to read, and it's about as small as my eyes can handle while maintaining readability. You can get these used for $200-$250 now. Hope this helps.
posted by sun-el at 1:54 PM on November 7, 2008
posted by sun-el at 1:54 PM on November 7, 2008
When I was researching ebook readers, I tried to find one that was suitable for both comics and printed-word reading. I came to the conclusion that nothing short of a netbook or a large-format ($400+) e-ink reader would do the job without a lot of scrolling. Personally, I wouldn't want to try to read comics on anything as small as an iPhone, DS or PSP.
I like the LCD picture frame idea. It's probably the only way you're going to do this for under $300 if your goal is to have a display large enough to view an entire page at a time and be able to read the dialog. However, you would need to find one that (a) has manual page fwd/back buttons, and (b) supports multiple folders and lets you choose to view one folder at a time, in order.
You would have to extract the JPGs from the CBR/CBZ file for each comic you want to read (unless you can find one that handles the archive formats, but that seems unlikely to me) and keep them in separate folders. You can probably come up with a way to batch-script this pretty easily.
I presume you're talking about western-style comics, but if you want to read B&W manga, I find the 6" screen on my Sony Reader ($270) to be perfectly adequate.
posted by [user was fined for this post] at 2:29 PM on November 7, 2008
I like the LCD picture frame idea. It's probably the only way you're going to do this for under $300 if your goal is to have a display large enough to view an entire page at a time and be able to read the dialog. However, you would need to find one that (a) has manual page fwd/back buttons, and (b) supports multiple folders and lets you choose to view one folder at a time, in order.
You would have to extract the JPGs from the CBR/CBZ file for each comic you want to read (unless you can find one that handles the archive formats, but that seems unlikely to me) and keep them in separate folders. You can probably come up with a way to batch-script this pretty easily.
I presume you're talking about western-style comics, but if you want to read B&W manga, I find the 6" screen on my Sony Reader ($270) to be perfectly adequate.
posted by [user was fined for this post] at 2:29 PM on November 7, 2008
I used my eeePc to read a handful of comics, worked quite well overall. Battery life isn't great, but the size is very portable.
posted by shinynewnick at 7:17 PM on November 7, 2008
posted by shinynewnick at 7:17 PM on November 7, 2008
Response by poster: Hmm...I'm not sure where I gave the impression that I have a problem with scrolling; my only misgiving about the DS was that the screen is tiny, the resolution poor and the text was difficult to read. I never set out looking to display an entire page on-screen at a time.
I am going to do some eBay hunting for several of these suggestions and see what the best deal is. Thanks for the leads!
posted by Ziggy Zaga at 6:02 AM on November 11, 2008
I am going to do some eBay hunting for several of these suggestions and see what the best deal is. Thanks for the leads!
posted by Ziggy Zaga at 6:02 AM on November 11, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
Something like this? That's $100, plus you'd have to spend another $14 or so for a big SD chip to hold JPG files to be displayed.
posted by Class Goat at 11:01 AM on November 7, 2008