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Old 03-03-2010, 12:59 AM   #1
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JetBook or Libre... what's the Practical Diff Anyway?

You guessed it if you read my other post (about battery life)... these are the Two Main Contenders for my limited cashflow.

JetBook (maybe the Lite, have not decided if MP3 is needed)
Aluratek Libre.


I know...almost same body (I read the Libre is a little thicker and wider???)
I also know, mostly same features
JB has Dictionaries and Text To Speech
Libre has better searches, Auto-Off, Better format support.

Is that really it? A matter of Do I want a Dictionary And Text To Speech Versus Better Searches and an Auto-Off Feature?

Anyone?

(I figure the Lite is just the above with No MP3, and AA batteries of course)

Guidance would be appreciated.
THANK YOU
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Old 03-03-2010, 03:37 AM   #2
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The JB also has auto-off which is enabled by default (I believe its set to 5 minutes of inactivity), though its a sleep mode and not a hard-core off-off. (Not sure if the Libre's is all the way off.)

AFAIK the JB does NOT have Text to Speech -- it plays MP3s. Entirely different.

Don't forget to add DRM to the equation if reading secure books is an issue for you. Lite has it in prelimary form, JB doesn't have it yet, and I'm not sure about the Libre.
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Old 03-03-2010, 08:39 AM   #3
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I think the Libre is exactly the same size as the original Jetbook. The Jetbook Lite has a protruding cover on the back for its AA batteries. The biggest advantage of the Libre is that it supports Adobe Digital Editions DRM, whereas the Jetbook Lite supports eReader DRM. You need Adobe Digital Editions DRM to download ebooks from most public libraries. The original Jetbook has no DRM support. The Jetbook Lite has a dictionary (rudimentary from what I've heard) while the Libre has no dictionary. The Libre has a serif and a sans serif font, whereas both Jetbooks have two sans serif fonts. Libre and the Jetbooks have different firmware -- the Libre's seems to be more stable. The Libre comes with items that are not shipped with the Jetbook Lite - a nylon case, battery charger, earbuds, 2GB SD card with 100 public domain books on it, and a USB cable. Also, the lettering on the Jetbook Lite is blue while it is white on the Libre.

Last edited by PodPeople; 03-03-2010 at 08:42 AM.
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Old 03-03-2010, 11:55 AM   #4
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I think that it all boils down to whether you want the dictionary/language support of the Jetbook, or the greater format choice of the Libre.

I don't have to look up word definitions all that often when reading the genres I usually do, so for me that wasn't an issue. Nor do I read books in other languages, so that was a non-starter.

So I decided that I rather have the DRM capability in hand, rather than hoping the manufacturer would include it in a future update. Also, having the SD card already included was one less extra thing to buy.
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Old 03-03-2010, 12:14 PM   #5
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Can the Libre support unprotected PDB ?
I have a ton of books and Bibles in that format.

So... really all that separates them, is Libre offers Library loaners, and Jetbook offers eReader instead.

That's it, basically?

Thanks

Xanthe--- sorry I posted before I saw ya (grin)

Yeah, my only big question now is about the PDB files,,, seems only JEtbook reads them 8( and Jetbook is a distance purchase for me at $170.... just when Aluratek was looking like the Winner ! Ahhh


**PS** Saw people get the Libre and put Jetbook firmware on it..... WHY ? Why dont they just buy the Jetbook if they're the same thing?

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Old 03-03-2010, 05:09 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cancelx View Post
Can the Libre support unprotected PDB ?
I have a ton of books and Bibles in that format.

So... really all that separates them, is Libre offers Library loaners, and Jetbook offers eReader instead.

That's it, basically?

Thanks

Xanthe--- sorry I posted before I saw ya (grin)

Yeah, my only big question now is about the PDB files,,, seems only JEtbook reads them 8( and Jetbook is a distance purchase for me at $170.... just when Aluratek was looking like the Winner ! Ahhh


**PS** Saw people get the Libre and put Jetbook firmware on it..... WHY ? Why dont they just buy the Jetbook if they're the same thing?
jetBook-Lite has support for PDB files (DRMED and unprotected ). Regular jetBook and Libre have no support for PDB files. All books from ereader.com and fictionwise.com websites can be used with jetBook-Lite.
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Old 03-03-2010, 05:30 PM   #7
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can Calibre convert unprotected PDB files into somethin the Libre/Jetbook can read ?
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Old 03-03-2010, 05:50 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by cancelx View Post
can Calibre convert unprotected PDB files into somethin the Libre/Jetbook can read ?
yes, jetBook has support for FB2, EPUB, MOBI or RTF format.
Calibre can convert unprotected PDB to these formats: ePUb, FB2, LIT,LRF, MOBI, PMLZ, RTF, RB, PDF,TCR, TXT
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Old 03-03-2010, 05:57 PM   #9
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thats a saver!

right now it looks like Libre is my only option.

it's $169 local, the only reader in my city beside Sony.
to order online, cheapest Jetbook is $179+shipping, or the Lite is still $150+ shipping...

and the risk.... being in canada, ordering from US, anything goes wrong, consider it gone.

Just trying to convince myself the Libre is worth buying.

I liked the JEtbook having native PDB support considering so much is freely available.

Little concerned over the uncertainty of the battery in the Jetbook/Libre....

i know, some commented about unless you live in a cave why worry.... well, because if a thing is so much not like advertised i worry a bit, and partly anal (grin), if something can last weeks as opposed to hours.... you know...

kindest
jim
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Old 03-03-2010, 06:11 PM   #10
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In my opinion, the jetBook firmware is more stable than the Libre's. The freezing issue happens on the jetBook Lite, not the original jetBook. I also like the way it displays ePUB's -- no stupid ADE page numbers on top of the text and properly sized images.

On the other hand, the Libre has PDF Reflow...

If you're willing to mess with firmware, it wouldn't really matter, but that's not for the faint of heart.
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Old 03-03-2010, 06:18 PM   #11
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hey Kralik-

Thanks. I don't mind firmware messing if it was a "sure" deal. I got one kick at the can to buy (can't replace it). I've read people have success swapping, but if anything goes wrong, you're screwed... that is, no going back it seems.

Only think about the Jetbook firmware I'd be missing is PDB support. I liked the dictionary/translation angle, but only language I'd be interested in is Chinese... which I understand it does not do (only the romantic languages, Spanish, English etc...)

Thanks mate
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Old 03-03-2010, 07:21 PM   #12
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This really has nothing to do with the original question, but it's just an observation I made today when I got my old Franklin eBookMan (which came out in 2001) to finally work again. The eBookMan is still sold by Etaco which also sells the Jetbook. Both it and the Jetbook/Libre use LCD screens, but I have to say, the Jetbook/Libre screen (since they use the same hardware) is literally light-years ahead of that old touch screen. You really have to be outdoors or directly under a light fixture to see the eBookMan screen well, and the backlight doesn't seem to help in low light. To contrast, I can read the Libre in very low light easily. They really have come very far with that reflective LCD technology, I must say.

One thing interesting, though, that I had forgotten, was how much they had packed into the eBookMan, which made it such a cool gadget at the time. You can read ebooks, listen to Audible books, listen to MP3's, play games. It has a dictionary function, a calculator, memo book, date book, address book, voice memo, a stylus, and backlight. Not to mention a touch screen with handwriting recognition. IIRC, it offered more bang-for-the-buck than many of the PDA's of the time.
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Old 03-03-2010, 07:40 PM   #13
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I just bought a Libre for $139 from bjs.com. The decision points for me is the DRM support for local library ebooks and PDF reflow.
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Old 03-03-2010, 09:34 PM   #14
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jetBook-Lite has support for PDB files (DRMED and unprotected ). Regular jetBook and Libre have no support for PDB files. All books from ereader.com and fictionwise.com websites can be used with jetBook-Lite.
Most books...

I still have some mobipocket DRM books from fictionwise that cannot be read on the JBL without first removing the DRM...
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Old 03-03-2010, 10:03 PM   #15
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Is there any word that Libre WILL support PDB at some point?
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