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Old 12-03-2009, 12:19 PM   #1
luvnhugs4u2
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Difference between Astak Mentor and EZReader?

What is the difference between these two models?

6" Mentor ----> http://www.astak.com/product.asp?serial=EB-EB600BLK

6" Ez Reader -----> http://www.astak.com/product.asp?serial=EB-06EZ


Is one a better choice than the other?


Looks like the EZReader is more expensive than the Mentor - but the mentor has 8 grey scale and more memory?....or am I looking at this wrong....

Disclaimer - I'm extremely new to ebook readers - so don't hate on me too bad if I've asked a silly question please.

Thanks for any help!
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Old 12-03-2009, 12:52 PM   #2
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The Mentor and EZ Reader lines use completely different hardware and software (firmware).

The EZ Reader Basic is a Hanlin V3, which is also sold under many other names worldwide (e.g. BeBook). It is a proven design with stable and frequently updated (improved) firmware.

The Mentor Lite is a Netronix EB600 with the addition of 8 grey scales (a new screen controller). The EB600 hardware is about as old as the Hanlin V3, but until recently most EB600's came with vendor specific firmware (e.g. the Cybook Gen3). Now several companies world-wide are selling EB600s with factory firmware, and this includes Astak and Cool-er in the UK. I have seen no reviews of the Mentor Lite, but the Cool-er has a reputation for unstable firmware (the device crashes a lot). These problems may all be fixed by now, and Astak was probably right to wait a while before introducing the Mentor Lite.

I am very happy with my EZ Reader Basic. Some of its hardware features are a bit dated (no SDHC, USB 1.1, 4 greyscales), but with the exception of the number of greyscales these limitations are shared by the Mentor Lite and are not really significant for reading ebooks. The EZ Reader Pocket Pro refreshes the hardware, but with a smaller screen.

Both EZ Reader and Mentor support Adobe ePub and PDF with DRM (encryption), which is now the most popular ebook format - also on the Sony Readers and the B&N Nook. The Amazon Kindle is the only significant hold out to the Adobe ebook band wagon.
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Old 12-03-2009, 12:54 PM   #3
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welcome to the forum. It is a good question. I can't give you a definitive answer based on experience as I do not have the Mentor but do have the EZ Reader.

The two devices are made by different companies. EZ Reader is made by Jinke as is the EZ Reader Pocket Pro (a 5" version). Jinke has good support for firmware upgrades and reliability of their product. The EZ Reader Basic *6") is an older design but is still the current 6" product from Jinke. Astak buys the Jinke product and rebadged it but has a good relationship working with Jinke on changes and improvements.

Mentor is made by Netronix which is, by the way, connected to Astak as a company. They make a good product under many different brand names of which Mentor is only one. There are more likely to be differences in the firmware of brands from Netronix as they restrict upgrades to each separate brand, however this encourages vendors to make different products with choices for the consumer.

I will let you compare the specs yourself from the site but sometimes Astak doesn't update them as good as they should so you may want to visit our wiki and do your comparison there. There are lots of similarities in the two products but one is made in China while the other is made in Taiwan. They are major competitors in a world market.

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Old 12-03-2009, 01:19 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wallcraft View Post
The Mentor Lite is a Netronix EB600 with the addition of 8 grey scales (a new screen controller). The EB600 hardware is about as old as the Hanlin V3, but until recently most EB600's came with vendor specific firmware (e.g. the Cybook Gen3). Now several companies world-wide are selling EB600s with factory firmware, and this includes Astak and Cool-er in the UK. I have seen no reviews of the Mentor Lite, but the Cool-er has a reputation for unstable firmware (the device crashes a lot). These problems may all be fixed by now, and Astak was probably right to wait a while before introducing the Mentor Lite.
The above posts cover the information well, but it may be worth noting that the Cool-er and Mentor Lite are not exactly the same hardware. Cool-er uses the original model while Astak sells the revised hardware.

See RobertB's posts on his blog and on these forums for more information.
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