Hanlin A6 and A9 - Page 3

eLiNK · 02-10-2010, 08:17 AM

Ciao Luigi,
yeah, waiting is the hardest part ...
The device from Astak is of no interest to me, as I am from Europe.
Still, out of curiosity, has Robert already made an announcement what is to expect from Astak in the coming months?

wallcraft · 02-10-2010, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eLiNK

Looking at the specs of the device (A9), it makes me think that is just what I need.
But the somewhat low price make me apprehensive that the quality of the components is sacrificed.

A large fraction of the hardware costs are the e-paper screen, so the relatively low cost is presumably from SiPix being cheaper than EInk. Jinke's designs have not been cutting edge, but the component and build quality of the existing V3 and V5 is very good.

One issue for the A9 will be the potential for broken screens, because they are using a glass substrate. This can be mitigated by a good case design. We don't yet know how susceptible to breaking these new screens will be.

Solicitous · 02-11-2010, 04:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

A large fraction of the hardware costs are the e-paper screen, so the relatively low cost is presumably from SiPix being cheaper than EInk. Jinke's designs have not been cutting edge, but the component and build quality of the existing V3 and V5 is very good.

One issue for the A9 will be the potential for broken screens, because they are using a glass substrate. This can be mitigated by a good case design. We don't yet know how susceptible to breaking these new screens will be.

I thought the SiPix screens were flexible plastic? Their website says it is plastic and the mobileread wiki says 2cm bending radius.

wallcraft · 02-11-2010, 05:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solicitous

I thought the SiPix screens were flexible plastic? Their website says it is plastic and the mobileread wiki says 2cm bending radius.

The Microcup film is definitely plastic, and their web site does say: "The electronic paper is laminated on a rigid or flexible matrix-patterned backplane". So the backplane might be plastic. If so, this is another plus for SiPix.

eLiNK · 02-11-2010, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

A large fraction of the hardware costs are the e-paper screen, so the relatively low cost is presumably from SiPix being cheaper than EInk. Jinke's designs have not been cutting edge, but the component and build quality of the existing V3 and V5 is very good.

One issue for the A9 will be the potential for broken screens, because they are using a glass substrate. This can be mitigated by a good case design. We don't yet know how susceptible to breaking these new screens will be.

thanks for clarification.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

The Microcup film is definitely plastic, and their web site does say: "The electronic paper is laminated on a rigid or flexible matrix-patterned backplane". So the backplane might be plastic. If so, this is another plus for SiPix.

This is all very confusing.
The Lbook's owner said that "no one has plastic so far".

Luigino · 02-11-2010, 06:50 AM

Anyway, whatever the product is, I believe every product has his risk to break so we have still to pay an eye on them, so they will work also properly as they have to..

Actually there are three items that could interest me: Hanlin A9, QUEPro Reader, the future Astak's 9" inch based on A9's product...and iPad if it could be better...

wallcraft · 02-11-2010, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eLiNK

This is all very confusing.
The Lbook's owner said that "no one has plastic so far".

Most backplanes are glass, and if I had to bet I would say that SiPix is using a glass backplane. In any case, breakage rates are not going to be known until there are SiPix-based devices out there for a while.

DaleDe · 02-11-2010, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

The Microcup film is definitely plastic, and their web site does say: "The electronic paper is laminated on a rigid or flexible matrix-patterned backplane". So the backplane might be plastic. If so, this is another plus for SiPix.

The current implementation from AUO uses a glass backplane. This includes the Jinke devices and all the others I saw at CES 2010. I think it may be related to the touch screen implementation. AUO says they will have a plastic backplane in the 2nd half of 2010 but PVI has been promising this for two years and are also now claiming delivery in 2nd half of 2010. It would seem to be a more difficult problem that we thought.

Dale

forcheville · 05-31-2011, 02:24 AM

I recently bought a HanLin A9 direct from Jinke in China. The first one they sent had a faulty USB port, I sent it back and was promptly sent a brand new replacement.

Device ships with a January 2011 firmware which is quite buggy. I was advised to update to the new May 2011 firmware. This is done using an SD card and took a couple of tries before finding that the card must be less than or equal to 2GB, and not a fast SD card such as used in digital cameras.

With the new firmware in place it is a very friendly reader. The file managment is simple and allows subdirectories. Page-turn by button or touch. The large screen is wonderful, especially for pdfs, which can be loaded and read staright from the Internet archive, for example.
PDF layout controls are good, but could be improved. DjVu rendering is superb.
Screenfonts for epubs could be a little sharper, have not yet tested embedded fonts.
It has wifi for email and RSS only, but I haven't tested these.

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02-10-2010, 08:17 AM	#31
eLiNK Addict Posts: 344 Karma: 6494 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: PRS-505, KDXG	Ciao Luigi, yeah, waiting is the hardest part ... The device from Astak is of no interest to me, as I am from Europe. Still, out of curiosity, has Robert already made an announcement what is to expect from Astak in the coming months?

02-11-2010, 06:50 AM	#36
Luigino Groupie Posts: 176 Karma: 1950 Join Date: May 2008 Device: Nothing	Anyway, whatever the product is, I believe every product has his risk to break so we have still to pay an eye on them, so they will work also properly as they have to.. Actually there are three items that could interest me: Hanlin A9, QUEPro Reader, the future Astak's 9" inch based on A9's product...and iPad if it could be better...

05-31-2011, 02:24 AM	#39
forcheville Zealot Posts: 104 Karma: 672100 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Melbourne, Australia Device: Sony prs650, Boox M92, Samsung Slate 7	I recently bought a HanLin A9 direct from Jinke in China. The first one they sent had a faulty USB port, I sent it back and was promptly sent a brand new replacement. Device ships with a January 2011 firmware which is quite buggy. I was advised to update to the new May 2011 firmware. This is done using an SD card and took a couple of tries before finding that the card must be less than or equal to 2GB, and not a fast SD card such as used in digital cameras. With the new firmware in place it is a very friendly reader. The file managment is simple and allows subdirectories. Page-turn by button or touch. The large screen is wonderful, especially for pdfs, which can be loaded and read staright from the Internet archive, for example. PDF layout controls are good, but could be improved. DjVu rendering is superb. Screenfonts for epubs could be a little sharper, have not yet tested embedded fonts. It has wifi for email and RSS only, but I haven't tested these.

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