MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - First Impressions of the M218A Ebook Reader

Nate the great · 03-13-2008, 10:36 AM

It's charging right now, and I can't use it until it's done. I thought I'd give you my first impressions.

Shipping - It took nine days to get to me from China. I see from the USPS sticker that it arrived in San Francisco on 8 March, and they tried to deliver yesterday. I missed it, and picked it up today.

Packaging - It's about what I expected. It looks pretty much like any other box that contains a small piece of electronics from China. The shipping box was heavy duty cardboard, well taped. I'm not going to post the rest because it's just a standard retail box. Picture is coming soon.

Contents

M218A
instruction manual (in Chinese)
universal power supply
USB cable
earbuds
lanyard
CD of Chinese language ebooks (no software, darn it)

Okay, it turns out I can use the reader while charging it. The screen is sharp. The resolution may not actually be higher than that of the Kindle, but it certainly feels that way. And the refresh is fast. It's an LCD, so of course it's fast.

It has a nice GUI menu, with six options: settings, search, ebooks, enews, music, and pictures. I will need to be very careful when looking at the settings; it looks like I might have access to the system settings. One option I have under settings is "execute file". Since I can also delete the file, I guess this means that I might be able to run my own applications.

Interesting fact: this device supports folders!

Reading experience
I made a couple WOLF format ebooks while I was waiting. I can't get them to work. But I really don't care; this device has excellent PDF support. It is hands down the best handheld PDF viewer I have seen so far. If you only want to read PDFs, then you should consider this device. I've tried a couple PDF tech manuals. This is it. This is the Holy Grail of PDF readers.

The standard zoom setting is text width. This is very readable. But it also can zoom anywhere from 50% to 6400%. Also, you can zoom in on a 3 by 3 grid, or a 2 by 2 grid.

Connectivity
It's recognized as a USB drive. No problems there. I can see both the SD card and the internal storage (about 56MB). I can see some interesting files on the device; deviceID.log, PDF.log, signature.log. I can also see two Windows executables called Client and ClientUpdate. They run on my Windows XP laptop. Don't know what they do yet.

Music
Yes, it can play background music. The MP3 player looks a little ugly, but it sounds okay. The volume can get quite loud. The only things it's missing as an MP3 player is fast forward and remembering your place. I don't use an MP3 player, but i think this one has all the features.

Downsides
There is no on-screen battery or clock. It's not even an option. I'm really surprised by this.

03-13-2008, 10:36 AM	#1
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	First Impressions of the M218A Ebook Reader It's charging right now, and I can't use it until it's done. I thought I'd give you my first impressions. Shipping - It took nine days to get to me from China. I see from the USPS sticker that it arrived in San Francisco on 8 March, and they tried to deliver yesterday. I missed it, and picked it up today. Packaging - It's about what I expected. It looks pretty much like any other box that contains a small piece of electronics from China. The shipping box was heavy duty cardboard, well taped. I'm not going to post the rest because it's just a standard retail box. Picture is coming soon. Contents M218A instruction manual (in Chinese) universal power supply USB cable earbuds lanyard CD of Chinese language ebooks (no software, darn it) Okay, it turns out I can use the reader while charging it. The screen is sharp. The resolution may not actually be higher than that of the Kindle, but it certainly feels that way. And the refresh is fast. It's an LCD, so of course it's fast. It has a nice GUI menu, with six options: settings, search, ebooks, enews, music, and pictures. I will need to be very careful when looking at the settings; it looks like I might have access to the system settings. One option I have under settings is "execute file". Since I can also delete the file, I guess this means that I might be able to run my own applications. Interesting fact: this device supports folders! Reading experience I made a couple WOLF format ebooks while I was waiting. I can't get them to work. But I really don't care; this device has excellent PDF support. It is hands down the best handheld PDF viewer I have seen so far. If you only want to read PDFs, then you should consider this device. I've tried a couple PDF tech manuals. This is it. This is the Holy Grail of PDF readers. The standard zoom setting is text width. This is very readable. But it also can zoom anywhere from 50% to 6400%. Also, you can zoom in on a 3 by 3 grid, or a 2 by 2 grid. Connectivity It's recognized as a USB drive. No problems there. I can see both the SD card and the internal storage (about 56MB). I can see some interesting files on the device; deviceID.log, PDF.log, signature.log. I can also see two Windows executables called Client and ClientUpdate. They run on my Windows XP laptop. Don't know what they do yet. Music Yes, it can play background music. The MP3 player looks a little ugly, but it sounds okay. The volume can get quite loud. The only things it's missing as an MP3 player is fast forward and remembering your place. I don't use an MP3 player, but i think this one has all the features. Downsides There is no on-screen battery or clock. It's not even an option. I'm really surprised by this.