Augen The Book: Preliminary evaluations - Page 5

VentureForth · 07-29-2010, 02:05 PM

I called Tech Supoprt and waited nearly 45 minutes to talk to an associate. I'm at work so I can't do the update until late tonight, but if anyone wants the instructions, let me know by PM. I can't guarantee results - my dad tried, but had to take off for a while.

kilohertz53 · 07-29-2010, 03:29 PM

I just got off the phone with Augen. For the very adventurous, the firmware upgrade file is already available here:

http://rs868.rapidshare.com/files/40...AC_address.zip

Rapidshare downloads are relatively slow, so you might want to download and extract the file, and have "The Book" and its USB cable ready to go before you call Augen customer support (1-877-284-3665) to have them walk you through the process.

I plan to go through all the README and text files before I do anything else.

Kurt · 07-29-2010, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kilohertz53

I just got off the phone with Augen. For the very adventurous, the firmware upgrade file is already available here:

http://rs868.rapidshare.com/files/40...AC_address.zip

Rapidshare downloads are relatively slow, so you might want to download and extract the file, and have "The Book" and its USB cable ready to go before you call Augen customer support (1-877-284-3665) to have them walk you through the process.

I plan to go through all the README and text files before I do anything else.

got the download and will be trying customer support tomorrow

thanks

Kurt · 07-29-2010, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donnageddon

It has been four days since I requested an account for the Augen forum with no response.

took about 2 days to get my access

but

found this in my email notification - both interesting and sad

"Special Offer! Upgrade to VIP for less than $1/month and remove all ads, put images in your sig, and get faster loading pages.

Act now and get recognized within Augen Products Forum with a badge."

does this mean they purposely slow down your page loading unless you pay?

lordy

VentureForth · 07-30-2010, 07:26 AM

WARNING. Do not install without help. Readme file wont help and may confuse.
This update WILL fix DRM. THANK YOU!
It will now rotate to the right when you tilt it to the left. OOPS!
Same slow browser. Still no symbols or rotate in browser mode.
Still no cursor/hyperlinking in book mode.
Still no auto power off.
BUT I CAN READ BOOKS UNTIL THESE ARE FIXED!
Process
1. download above file in Kilohertz' post and unzip to folder on desktop
2. turn off The Book and connect to PC
3. press ALT and POWER together. PC will say New Device Found. Screen on The Book stays off.
4. eventually you will need for device installer to find driver. Browse to FOLDER containing unzipped files and click next.
5. when driver install is complete double click pageone.bat. The Book screen still off.
6. when batch file is completed disconnect the book and depress the reset button on back of unit.
7. thats it. screen may blackout/reboot a couple of times then stabilize. no need to reinstall books.
THANKS MARK

Donnageddon · 07-30-2010, 01:41 PM

Venture, or anyone else, have you tried this yet? The README file is certainly confusing.

Nevermind, I went to the Augen forum and see that Venture did successfully update his TB.

I will attempt it tonight.

Thanks!

Barnone · 07-30-2010, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurt

took about 2 days to get my access

but

found this in my email notification - both interesting and sad

"Special Offer! Upgrade to VIP for less than $1/month and remove all ads, put images in your sig, and get faster loading pages.

Act now and get recognized within Augen Products Forum with a badge."

does this mean they purposely slow down your page loading unless you pay?

lordy

Kurt,
I don't know if it slows down but I didn't pay and it works ok for me.
I wouldn't pay to access a vendors site.

Kurt · 07-30-2010, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barnone

Kurt,
I don't know if it slows down but I didn't pay and it works ok for me.
I wouldn't pay to access a vendors site.

yep - definitely will not pay but i did discover something that apparently if you do pay will magically disappear - it takes 3 clicks of the back button on your browser to back up one page - pretty funny

Highroller · 07-31-2010, 11:44 AM

As I understand it, this new firmware fixes one problem but causes another. Think I will wait a bit and see if they address any of the other problems.

JSWolf · 07-31-2010, 04:37 PM

What is the new problem the firmware update causes?

VentureForth · 07-31-2010, 06:49 PM

The screen rotates to the right when you tilt it to the left.

phenomshel · 07-31-2010, 07:26 PM

Yeah, that's what the firmware update broke. We just got home from our local Kmart - they had two of these devices. I unboxed one and got to play with it for a few minutes. It had enough power for me to see how the menu worked, and look at one of the preloaded books. I have to say I was pretty impressed with the quality of the cover it comes with and the screen. I'm in the process of doing more research, but I might be getting one of these later on.

Highroller · 08-02-2010, 09:45 AM

Yeah the rotation bit is nothing important but then I rarely if ever use epub so the main fix is not important to me either.

phenomshel · 08-02-2010, 02:44 PM

I use epub almost exclusively, but by the time it gets to any reader I own, it's not DRM'd. As long as non DRM content works on it, I'm good.

7tronics · 08-02-2010, 05:20 PM

As with earlier postings, we had searched and found the black-on-white eBook readers to be very limiting, and the LCD/TFT iPad clones just didn't have the battery life for long car and airplane family trips. Our daughter has troubles reading regular book sized fonts due to a problem in one eye.

I picked up an Augen The Book (TB) while on a business trip where many of my cohorts were discussing the eBook reader phenomena. We had gone to a Barnes & Noble and looked over the Kindle, next day one fellow found some of the Aluratek Libre ($129 sale) and TBs ($89 if enroll in Kmart e-mail) available in the local KMart. The other two guys liked the Libre, I liked the TB with good backlighting and decent battery life. This was a winner for my daughter!

Yes, there are quirks that I hope Augen or Calibre updates fix in the near future. The pub formats I've downloaded so far have images and nice formatting of chapter headings, etc, in the PC reader, but don't transfer those to TB.

If anyone is testing Calibre conversion functions on TB, let me know and I'll do some testing. PDF versions of eBooks have the images, including color covers rendered intact. However, there are the limited range of fonts available for PDF reading on TB. pub formats show the covers and other nice features on the PC but not on TB.

I'll keep following the fora here for future developments! At one point, the Augen web site had an update to Calibre posted, but that was removed. Too bad, because that update got me going, until after the update was installed on my laptop and found the successive Calibre updates.

Best, Mark at 7tronics

UPDATE: We've decided to take TB back to KMart and go with Pandigital Novel, see why here. Several on the list offered help,

07-30-2010, 01:41 PM	#66
Donnageddon Now you lishen here... Posts: 2,494 Karma: 479498 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Seattle-ish Device: Sony PRS-650. Kobo Touch, Kindle Fire	Venture, or anyone else, have you tried this yet? The README file is certainly confusing. Nevermind, I went to the Augen forum and see that Venture did successfully update his TB. I will attempt it tonight. Thanks! Last edited by Donnageddon; 07-30-2010 at 01:43 PM.

08-02-2010, 05:20 PM	#75
7tronics Member Posts: 15 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Central NC USA Device: Pandigital Novel (1GB); Sony PRS-600; Augen "The Book" (returned)	The Book fit the bill for our pre-teen daughter, moved to Novel! As with earlier postings, we had searched and found the black-on-white eBook readers to be very limiting, and the LCD/TFT iPad clones just didn't have the battery life for long car and airplane family trips. Our daughter has troubles reading regular book sized fonts due to a problem in one eye. I picked up an Augen The Book (TB) while on a business trip where many of my cohorts were discussing the eBook reader phenomena. We had gone to a Barnes & Noble and looked over the Kindle, next day one fellow found some of the Aluratek Libre ($129 sale) and TBs ($89 if enroll in Kmart e-mail) available in the local KMart. The other two guys liked the Libre, I liked the TB with good backlighting and decent battery life. This was a winner for my daughter! Yes, there are quirks that I hope Augen or Calibre updates fix in the near future. The pub formats I've downloaded so far have images and nice formatting of chapter headings, etc, in the PC reader, but don't transfer those to TB. If anyone is testing Calibre conversion functions on TB, let me know and I'll do some testing. PDF versions of eBooks have the images, including color covers rendered intact. However, there are the limited range of fonts available for PDF reading on TB. pub formats show the covers and other nice features on the PC but not on TB. I'll keep following the fora here for future developments! At one point, the Augen web site had an update to Calibre posted, but that was removed. Too bad, because that update got me going, until after the update was installed on my laptop and found the successive Calibre updates. Best, Mark at 7tronics UPDATE: We've decided to take TB back to KMart and go with Pandigital Novel, see why here. Several on the list offered help, Last edited by 7tronics; 08-06-2010 at 01:49 PM. Reason: added ref to replacement, Pandigital Novel

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07-29-2010, 02:05 PM	#61
VentureForth Enthusiast Posts: 35 Karma: 110 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: SE Georgia Device: Augen's The Book	I called Tech Supoprt and waited nearly 45 minutes to talk to an associate. I'm at work so I can't do the update until late tonight, but if anyone wants the instructions, let me know by PM. I can't guarantee results - my dad tried, but had to take off for a while.

07-29-2010, 03:29 PM	#62
kilohertz53 Zealot Posts: 141 Karma: 671 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Harwichport, MA Device: Sony PRS-500, Sony PRS-350, Augen "The Book"	I just got off the phone with Augen. For the very adventurous, the firmware upgrade file is already available here: http://rs868.rapidshare.com/files/40...AC_address.zip Rapidshare downloads are relatively slow, so you might want to download and extract the file, and have "The Book" and its USB cable ready to go before you call Augen customer support (1-877-284-3665) to have them walk you through the process. I plan to go through all the README and text files before I do anything else.

07-30-2010, 07:26 AM	#65
VentureForth Enthusiast Posts: 35 Karma: 110 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: SE Georgia Device: Augen's The Book	WARNING. Do not install without help. Readme file wont help and may confuse. This update WILL fix DRM. THANK YOU! It will now rotate to the right when you tilt it to the left. OOPS! Same slow browser. Still no symbols or rotate in browser mode. Still no cursor/hyperlinking in book mode. Still no auto power off. BUT I CAN READ BOOKS UNTIL THESE ARE FIXED! Process 1. download above file in Kilohertz' post and unzip to folder on desktop 2. turn off The Book and connect to PC 3. press ALT and POWER together. PC will say New Device Found. Screen on The Book stays off. 4. eventually you will need for device installer to find driver. Browse to FOLDER containing unzipped files and click next. 5. when driver install is complete double click pageone.bat. The Book screen still off. 6. when batch file is completed disconnect the book and depress the reset button on back of unit. 7. thats it. screen may blackout/reboot a couple of times then stabilize. no need to reinstall books. THANKS MARK

07-31-2010, 11:44 AM	#69
Highroller Zealot Posts: 124 Karma: 338 Join Date: Nov 2004 Device: Ebookwise 1150, Jetbook Lite, Slick Er-701	As I understand it, this new firmware fixes one problem but causes another. Think I will wait a bit and see if they address any of the other problems.

07-31-2010, 04:37 PM	#70
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,932 Karma: 128903250 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	What is the new problem the firmware update causes?

07-31-2010, 06:49 PM	#71
VentureForth Enthusiast Posts: 35 Karma: 110 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: SE Georgia Device: Augen's The Book	The screen rotates to the right when you tilt it to the left.

07-31-2010, 07:26 PM	#72
phenomshel ZCD BombShel Posts: 4,793 Karma: 8293322 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: The Frozen North (aka Illinois, USA) Device: iPad, STB Kindle Oasis	Yeah, that's what the firmware update broke. We just got home from our local Kmart - they had two of these devices. I unboxed one and got to play with it for a few minutes. It had enough power for me to see how the menu worked, and look at one of the preloaded books. I have to say I was pretty impressed with the quality of the cover it comes with and the screen. I'm in the process of doing more research, but I might be getting one of these later on.

08-02-2010, 09:45 AM	#73
Highroller Zealot Posts: 124 Karma: 338 Join Date: Nov 2004 Device: Ebookwise 1150, Jetbook Lite, Slick Er-701	Yeah the rotation bit is nothing important but then I rarely if ever use epub so the main fix is not important to me either.

08-02-2010, 02:44 PM	#74
phenomshel ZCD BombShel Posts: 4,793 Karma: 8293322 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: The Frozen North (aka Illinois, USA) Device: iPad, STB Kindle Oasis	I use epub almost exclusively, but by the time it gets to any reader I own, it's not DRM'd. As long as non DRM content works on it, I'm good.

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