FRY's Electronics Astak EZ Reader Blow-Out

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Thrasymachus

The best by far was a really lovely edition of the Father Brown stories in MOBI format, downloaded from this site (thanks to whoever posted it!),

that would be me . Happy to hear that you're enjoying it.

which seems to have an embedded font. It looks absolutely terrific on the EZ Reader -- even better than a book I'm currently reading in the same font and basic layout on the Sony Reader.

No, it doesn't have an embedded font; Mobi files don't support font embedded. It is just (although I say it myself) a properly-formatted eBook which, alas, many are not.

[Thrasymachus]

Originally Posted by HarryT

that would be me . Happy to hear that you're enjoying it.



No, it doesn't have an embedded font; Mobi files don't support font embedded. It is just (although I say it myself) a properly-formatted eBook which, alas, many are not.

Thanks a lot, Harry. I'll be looking for more of your books. I really hate bad formatting -- to me, an ugly font, no em-dashes, no justification, no indented first lines, blank lines after every paragraph, or zillions of OCR typos ... well, with e-books like that, I'd just rather go for the dead tree versions.

But if the font isn't embedded in a MOBI file, and the device doesn't have the font installed, where does it come from when it displays this font??

[mtnmedic]

That's odd, Thrasymachus. I'm running Vista 64-bit on my laptop and everything works fine with my EZReader.

I did notice, from the beginning, that it takes Vista a while to initially recognise the reader and set up drivers for it. If you don't see the pop-up dialog on the reader that says "Press 'OK' to connect otherwise any other button to just charge" (I'm paraphrasing), I'm wondering if that's just not hidden or displaying for some reason and the reader is just waiting for a response from you? Neither machine can go forward without your input. So, just click "OK" and see what happens.

I also noticed that it takes Vista several seconds to bring up any kind of dialog window (usually the "Do you want to scan and fix removable drive" and/or the AutoPlay). In my case, about 5-9 seconds, depending upon what else is running.

If that doesn't work, try these things in this order:

1) Try connecting to another USB port.

2) Disconnect any other USB devices and re-start the computer. After Vista loads, try connecting only the reader to each of the USB ports.

3) If that doesn't work, leave the reader plugged in. Go to START>CONTROL PANEL>DEVICE MANAGER. In that, you will see a list of devices. The last entry is usually "Universal Serial Bus controllers". Expand that item by clicking on the little + next to the entry. In that sub-list you should see an entry called "USB mass storage device". That's your reader. If you see that, then go to START>COMPUTER and see if any Removable Disks are listed (Vista assigns a separate drive letter for your reader's internal memory and for the SD memory card-you can work with those). If you don't see "USB mass storage device" listed, go to the top of the device manager and click on "Action" and then select "Scan for hardware changes". The list will refresh itself once or twice. Check back in the USB controllers sub-list to see if "USB mass storage device" is listed. If not....

4) Disconnect the reader. Go back to the USB controllers sub-list in Device Manager, and, for each of the "USB ROOT HUB" (nothing else!) entries, right-click and select "uninstall" (click "ok" on the warning pop-up dialog). The re-start the computer. Do not attach any USB devices. Wait for Vista to fully load (the hard drive light will slow to a bit of a flicker), during which it will automatically re-install the USB root hubs. You can check to see if they are ready by going back to the USB controllers sub-list in Device Manager to see if they're all back in that list. You can leave this list up. Then try to connect your reader (see if the "press OK to connect to the computer" dialog comes up on the reader). Vista will re-install drivers for the reader. You can also watch the Device Manager refresh itself a few times as it recognises and loads mass storage device drivers for the reader. Be patient and give Vista about 10-15 seconds.

5) If that doesn't work, then there DEFINITELY is a problem with Vista. I say this because you know the reader works fine with XP on top of what we've tried above. Make sure you have ALL of the latest and greatest updates AND Windows Vista SERVICE PACK 2 installed. To determine whether you have Service Pack 1 or 2 installed, go to START>CONTROL PANEL>SYSTEM. When that comes up, look just under "View basic information about your computer/Windows Edition". Visit Windows Update to get squared away. Service Pack 2 corrected a lot of the driver issues and bugs that gave Vista a bad name (Vista is a good OS...it's just that M$ rushed to get it on the shelves before fully testing it for those problems).

Let me know how it works for you.

[Thrasymachus]

Thanks for the instructions, mtnmedic. I'll try them as soon as I get home. I know I have SP2 installed, and all the other updates microsoft asks me to add, so we'll see.

I didn't mention that the first time I connected (i.e., before fully charging the battery), Vista tried to install the drivers for the EZ Reader, but it came back with a message saying the installation was not successful. I didn't pursue it then because I figured it might be a low battery problem. At that point, Vista had assigned the device a drive letter in Explorer, but the drive wouldn't open.

[derrell]

Originally Posted by deltame

Can anyone please confirm whether a separate SD card reader is (should be) included in the package? I just received my order today but it appears while 2 GB SD is included but not a card reader/writer.

OR did they consider the EZ Reader device itself a card reader/writer?

I've had mine for a couple of months now, not ordered during the July 4 FUBAR but the Fry's site said that it included a card reader. It didn't but I decided that it wasn't worth fighting over a $5.00 sd card reader. Everything else was there including the 2 gig Kingston sd card.

I have switched to the open inkpot firmware though as the original firmware crashed with appalling regularity no matter what format I was trying read my books in. I've tried all of the different firmware Lbook, latest jinke bebook all of them had the same problem although the Lbook firmware did crash the least. With OI installed directly, not doing the dual boot thing off of the sd card, I haven't had a single crash no matter what supported format I've been reading.

Thought it might be the battery as I was getting very short battery life sometimes less than a 1000 page turns, and had read that some people had fixed the stability problem by replacing the cheap battery that jinke included. I emailed Astak and they graciously offered to sell me a new battery to replace the crappy one included with my reader. I declined, I'll purchase a new battery from another source when I get around to replacing it.

[Thrasymachus]

Originally Posted by mtnmedic

That's odd, Thrasymachus. I'm running Vista 64-bit on my laptop and everything works fine with my EZReader.

...

Let me know how it works for you.

I just spent a couple of hours working on this. I went through all the steps you described, but nothing worked. However I did find out that I didn't have SP2, so I installed that. Still nothing!

Then I said, well, hmm. Let me just hit the reset button on the EZ Reader and see what happens. So I reset the device, connected it, and voila! It connects!

Thanks for your help, mtnmedic -- it's much appreciated.

[griffonwing]

I think I'll wait on getting a 16gb SD card. The prices might come down for a good quality fast card in a months time.

[lemon lime]

Thrasymachus -- are you using the same USB cable at home and at work? A lot of feedback on the Bebook message board shows that HanLins can be picky about USB cables, and alot have been found to not work with the supplied cable.

[griffonwing]

I've noticed this. I have a phone/watch that can ONLY be charged with the included USB cable. If I use any other cable, I get a surge or power failure, causing me to remove/replace the battery to get it to power back on. Which means I have to take this cable with me everywhere, instead of using the ones I have at work.

Arrgggh!!

[sigmax]

Astak went back to U$S 299 on Frys.com .... just as I got a friend in San Diego Convention Center, attending an event, that could drop by a frys store to buy one for me grrr. I don't have that much. I would rather go for a Sony, at least is metal cased. OR am I missing some point with the astak ? (I had to sell my PRS-505, so right now I am left with no ebook reader, but that needs to be solved ASAP )

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by sigmax

Astak went back to U$S 299 on Frys.com .... just as I got a friend in San Diego Convention Center, attending an event, that could drop by a frys store to buy one for me grrr. I don't have that much. I would rather go for a Sony, at least is metal cased. OR am I missing some point with the astak ? (I had to sell my PRS-505, so right now I am left with no ebook reader, but that needs to be solved ASAP )

I don't think it was Astak's doing. Astak sells their devices on their webpage for 299, it's just that Fry's was dropping their price down by 30 bucks to sell them.

With this whole July 4 sale fiasco and Fry's dropping the ball, they've (Fry's) apparently decided to put the price back up to 299.

The good news is that the device will now not take away from Astak's web sales. The bad news is that the number of sales for Fry's will diminish. Regardless, even at 299, the EZReader blows away the competition in the same price range.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by sigmax

I would rather go for a Sony, at least is metal cased. OR am I missing some point with the astak ?

See V3 vs PRS505 for a recent discussion. The EZ Reader Pocket Pro with a 5" screen is perhaps a 3rd alternative, although when exactly it will be available is still unknown.

[Hellmark]

It boils down to a few things. Sony is a hair bit cheaper sometimes (although both can be had for about the same price new, if you look hard enough), and has the metal case, but proprietary firmware. The V3 (Astak EZReader, BeBook, etc are all the Hanlin V3 with different badges), has plastic case but user replaceable battery, and ability to use OpenInkpot. The screens are the same exact part. I'm leaning towards the PRS-505, because of the button layout (easier for me to hold and read with right hand), and possibility of $150 off due to a credit card offer from Sony (I'm waiting to hear back to see if I have been approved).

[griffonwing]

reported.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

reported.

...and sorted.