Pricing Recommendation for new eBook Reader

[eGeek06]

Dear Forum:

Hello to all.

My company, GMCE Group, is thinking of selling a new 5 inch eBook. It will be E-ink and E-paper and will get about 8,000 pages on a single charge. The resolution will be 800 by 600 pixels, 170 dpi. It will have stereo music and headphone and we know we need an SD-card slot to expand 128MB embedded NAND flash. It has all the major features (Jump to Page, Progress Bar, Font Increasing, Bookmark, Zoom, Slideshow, Auto Shut-Off) and would be ported with MobiPocket.

We would introduce at about $295. That's not a bad price compared to Kindle; but I am looking for feedback!! What are your thoughts regarding price?

eGeek06

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by eGeek06

My company, GMCE Group, is thinking of selling a new 5 inch eBook. It will be E-ink and E-paper and will get about 8,000 pages on a single charge. The resolution will be 800 by 600 pixels, 170 dpi. It will have stereo music and headphone and we know we need an SD-card slot to expand 128MB embedded NAND flash. It has all the major features (Jump to Page, Progress Bar, Font Increasing, Bookmark, Zoom, Slideshow, Auto Shut-Off) and would be ported with MobiPocket.

We would introduce at about $295. That's not a bad price compared to Kindle; but I am looking for feedback!! What are your thoughts regarding price?

It has not been released yet, but Astak is estimating $200 for a similar device, see Astak Mentor eBook readers with WiFi and Touchscreen options.

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by eGeek06

My company, GMCE Group, is thinking of selling a new 5 inch eBook. It will be E-ink and E-paper and will get about 8,000 pages on a single charge. The resolution will be 800 by 600 pixels, 170 dpi. It will have stereo music and headphone and we know we need an SD-card slot to expand 128MB embedded NAND flash. It has all the major features (Jump to Page, Progress Bar, Font Increasing, Bookmark, Zoom, Slideshow, Auto Shut-Off) and would be ported with MobiPocket.

I have a Kindle. Your device would be interesting to me if its MP3 support would allow me to upload a playlist so that the MP3 files would be played in a pre-defined order. (I rip my books on CD to MP3, but can't listen to them on my Kindle since it plays MP3s in "shuffle" order. A novel is not *really* interesting in random order.) Your price point of $295 is good -- about the same as the Sony -- and it appears that you're offering the same level of capability as the Sony with MobiPocket books instead of BBeB books.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Elsi

I have a Kindle. Your device would be interesting to me if its MP3 support would allow me to upload a playlist so that the MP3 files would be played in a pre-defined order. (I rip my books on CD to MP3, but can't listen to them on my Kindle since it plays MP3s in "shuffle" order. A novel is not *really* interesting in random order.) Your price point of $295 is good -- about the same as the Sony -- and it appears that you're offering the same level of capability as the Sony with MobiPocket books instead of BBeB books.

doesn't kindle support Audible books? In any case... why don't you just play 1 file at a time, rather than shuffle them?

BOb

[Taylor514ce]

I'm one of those in the "don't need audio" on my e-book camp. Firstly, I already have a sophisticated and high-quality music player and music library system. Secondly, playing MP3 files totally eliminates the battery-life advantages of an e-book. Could you lower the price by eliminating the MP3 feature?

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

doesn't kindle support Audible books? In any case... why don't you just play 1 file at a time, rather than shuffle them?

Kindle supports "Audible" books, but the only way I know to get a book in Audible format is to buy them from the audible.com site. Kindle doesn't allow you to select which audio (MP3) file you want to play. If there are 5 files on the device, it will play those 5 in a random order. The description of their MP3 support is "listen to music while you read".

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Elsi

Kindle supports "Audible" books, but the only way I know to get a book in Audible format is to buy them from the audible.com site. Kindle doesn't allow you to select which audio (MP3) file you want to play. If there are 5 files on the device, it will play those 5 in a random order. The description of their MP3 support is "listen to music while you read".

Ah... so you can't even select 1 file to play?

Audible is MP3 with a different file extension... I think it is .m4a... Anyway there are instructions on how to get an iPod to see riped audio books as an Audiobook rather than MP3 files. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a way to trick the Kindle in a similar way.

Also, there are ways to join together MP3 files... basically you have to make them Wav files, join them together than convert them back to mp3.

Anyway, here is how you do it for the iPod. http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/itunsabk.htm Perhaps that will get you started and you can tell us all how to do it.

BOb

(PS: That said I would just prefer to use the iPod to listen to audiobooks.)

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Elsi

Kindle supports "Audible" books, but the only way I know to get a book in Audible format is to buy them from the audible.com site. Kindle doesn't allow you to select which audio (MP3) file you want to play. If there are 5 files on the device, it will play those 5 in a random order. The description of their MP3 support is "listen to music while you read".

If you put the mp3 in the Audible folder, it will appear on the menu just like an ebook. You can use the audiobook player to listen.

You can't read while you're listening, and each mp3 is listed as an audiobook and can crowd the display. But it's better than random tracks.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

It has not been released yet, but Astak is estimating $200 for a similar device, see Astak Mentor eBook readers with WiFi and Touchscreen options.

I think personally that that's a totally unrealistic price. There's no way anyone can make a machine at that price level and sell it at a profit. Let's wait and see what it actually sells for.

[JSWolf]

I do feel that a 5" screen is too small.