Has anyone bought a Jetbook Lite?

Nate the great · 11-10-2009, 08:27 PM

I'm curious how it handles "support of DRM format through Barnes & Nobles". Does anyone know?

GA Russell · 11-10-2009, 08:38 PM

I too am curious about all things jetBook Lite.

I also wonder who, if anyone, carries it besides the Ectaco website.

Kris777 · 11-11-2009, 11:10 AM

I received jetBook-Lite 2 days ago.The battery life is good (still works and shows full charge icon), it has the same screen as my original jetBook and works fine with ePub and Mobi books but I did not try DRMed books yet. I will send it as a present to my friend (He is outside of US now and I think He will be very excited to get it).
This unit has no MP3 player and headphones jack if compare with regular jetBook but I don't think that these features very important for eBook reader.

Kralik · 11-11-2009, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kris777

I received jetBook-Lite 2 days ago.The battery life is good (still works and shows full charge icon), it has the same screen as my original jetBook and works fine with ePub and Mobi books but I did not try DRMed books yet. I will send it as a present to my friend (He is outside of US now and I think He will be very excited to get it).
This unit has no MP3 player and headphones jack if compare with regular jetBook but I don't think that these features very important for eBook reader.

What do you think about the weight and feel?

Kris777 · 11-11-2009, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kralik

What do you think about the weight and feel?

It has more heavy weight if compare with original jetBook when 4 AA batteries inside but still very solid and pretty handy to keep it in my left hand.

DaleDe · 11-11-2009, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kris777

It has more heavy weight if compare with original jetBook when 4 AAA batteries inside but still very solid and pretty handy to keep it in my left hand.

It uses AA batteries

Dale

Kris777 · 11-11-2009, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaleDe

It uses AA batteries

Dale

yes, 4 AA batteries. I will correct my post

LuBiB · 11-11-2009, 12:45 PM

i just ordered a jetBook Lite a couple days ago.

everyones knows im a die hard fan so i wanna check this one out as i plan on getting my in laws a set for christmas.

will make a post about it as soon as its here!

Dennisvjames · 12-01-2009, 12:30 AM

have you tried theDRMebooks yet? Or the library books yet? thx

emai7s2 · 12-01-2009, 10:33 AM

I would also be interested to learn whether the Jetbook Lite is actually useful when it comes to reading PDFs, or just technically possible but generally pointless from a practical point of view (like on my Palm).

Dennisvjames · 12-04-2009, 01:15 AM

I have a regular Jetbook if it's like that using the current PDFs are doable...you see them in sections if they are larger than the screen. You can also set them so that they are the width of the screen which is not too bad if you rotate the screen. If the PDF has been created to the screen size that's obviously ok. It does not at this time use reflowable PDFs as far as I know...also if it's not a drm PDF you may be able to convert it using Calibre but I am not familiar with that either.

Ken Maltby · 12-31-2009, 12:48 AM

The PDF format covers a lot of ground, so a lot depends on what PDFs you need to
be able to read.

I have a number of PDF files made from page scans of
"Backwoods Home" magazine.

The "Backwoods Home" PDFs are even readable without
zooming. (The text is as small as the resolution of the screen
will allow, though. It allows full page illustrations to display
very well.) The 200% ZOOM setting makes for medium size
text that is easy to read and navigating the page is a snap.

Trying to read the same PDFs on my 3.5" Mio P550 PDA display
is next to impossible.

As to reading the eReader DRM .pdb files; I did run into the .pdb
"missing words" problem, but switching to the 16 font, fixed it for
the most part. (Given the heat they must be getting on this, I
suspect they will be issuing a patch or rom update soon.)
( Reading "A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity" now and both the text
and illustrations look great.)

It shows Software version v0.14m Patch v15, posts I've read indicated
the "N" version hasn't fully corrected the problem, and that there were only
minor differences between "M" and "N". Don't know if it is worth it to try
to find and flash to "N".

Luck;
Ken

John1997 · 12-31-2009, 09:09 AM

Don't buy a Jetbook Lite just yet if you want to use it to read eReader and Fictionwise books (as advertised on both their websites). At least wait until users are reporting that the readability problems are solved. There are several threads here and on the forums at ectaco.com.

Missing words really break up the flow of a narrative. At the request of Ectaco support I just upgraded mine to v14n patch 15 and started using 16 font. There are still missing words, although possibly fewer of them.

Beyond the missing words, there's an issue of readability. Size 16 font is about at the limit of comfort for my eyes. In addition, the text with pdb's is very cramped.

All that said, the reader itself is very comfortable using open epub books from Project Gutenberg. I'm reading H. G. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau and it is a pleasure. The reader is a good size, the battery pod on the back makes a convenient handle, the text (on epubs) is very readable. Although I haven't done it yet, I like the fact that I could carry it and some spare batteries on a camping trip away from electricity. So the Jetbook Lite has a lot of positive features. Just don't expect at this time to be able to use it as advertised on the eReader and FictionWise sites. It clearly was not yet ready for prime time.

GA Russell · 12-31-2009, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

I have a number of PDF files made from page scans of "Backwoods Home" magazine.

Ken, I subscribed to Backwoods Home for I think four years (around Y2K time) and really enjoyed it. I'll look into what they have to offer now regarding pdf's.

Ken Maltby · 12-31-2009, 08:33 PM

John;
I agree that the 16 font is quite small but so far it lets me read the many .pdb books that I have on hand, without noticing the lose of reading flow. Once I get into
a story, I don't think I'm reading each word, anyway.

The only place I saw the missing words issue was between pages, where the first line of the next page skipped a word or two from where it should have started. It's annoying
enough that I really expect them to fix it soon. It should be fixable and the company has
the updating and patching experience to do it. With the holidays ending they should be
in a position to get it done, in short order.

You can get 4xAA Solar charging kits with folding solar panels, that would take up little
space or weight amongst your camping gear. ( I saw one that also provided 5v USB power and various cell phone adapters. )

GA;
The "Backwoods Home" web site sells collections of back issues on CD. The CDs are
filled with the PDFs of scanned pages and/or articles. They have a number of subject
based CDs with PDFs of their best articles on that subject. Last time I looked, they had
some free downloads, in the same format.

Luck;
Ken

11-10-2009, 08:27 PM	#1
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	Has anyone bought a Jetbook Lite? I'm curious how it handles "support of DRM format through Barnes & Nobles". Does anyone know?

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11-10-2009, 08:38 PM	#2
GA Russell Montreal wins Grey Cup! Posts: 7,583 Karma: 31484197 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Raleigh, NC Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite	I too am curious about all things jetBook Lite. I also wonder who, if anyone, carries it besides the Ectaco website.

11-11-2009, 11:10 AM	#3
Kris777 Banned Posts: 1,767 Karma: 2520493 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: Nexus 7, jetBook-Lite, jetBook mini, Toshiba Thrive, JETBOOK COLOR	I received jetBook-Lite 2 days ago.The battery life is good (still works and shows full charge icon), it has the same screen as my original jetBook and works fine with ePub and Mobi books but I did not try DRMed books yet. I will send it as a present to my friend (He is outside of US now and I think He will be very excited to get it). This unit has no MP3 player and headphones jack if compare with regular jetBook but I don't think that these features very important for eBook reader.

11-11-2009, 12:45 PM	#8
LuBiB Banned Posts: 349 Karma: 1018593 Join Date: May 2009 Location: New York Device: jetBook, iPhone, JETBOOK COLOR!!	i just ordered a jetBook Lite a couple days ago. everyones knows im a die hard fan so i wanna check this one out as i plan on getting my in laws a set for christmas. will make a post about it as soon as its here!

12-01-2009, 12:30 AM	#9
Dennisvjames Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 42 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: Jetbook	have you tried theDRMebooks yet? Or the library books yet? thx

12-01-2009, 10:33 AM	#10
emai7s2 Connoisseur Posts: 97 Karma: 128170 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Palm & PPC	I would also be interested to learn whether the Jetbook Lite is actually useful when it comes to reading PDFs, or just technically possible but generally pointless from a practical point of view (like on my Palm).

12-04-2009, 01:15 AM	#11
Dennisvjames Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 42 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: Jetbook	I have a regular Jetbook if it's like that using the current PDFs are doable...you see them in sections if they are larger than the screen. You can also set them so that they are the width of the screen which is not too bad if you rotate the screen. If the PDF has been created to the screen size that's obviously ok. It does not at this time use reflowable PDFs as far as I know...also if it's not a drm PDF you may be able to convert it using Calibre but I am not familiar with that either.

12-31-2009, 12:48 AM	#12
Ken Maltby Wizard Posts: 4,465 Karma: 6900052 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: The Heart of Texas Device: Boox Note2, AuraHD, PDA,	The PDF format covers a lot of ground, so a lot depends on what PDFs you need to be able to read. I have a number of PDF files made from page scans of "Backwoods Home" magazine. The "Backwoods Home" PDFs are even readable without zooming. (The text is as small as the resolution of the screen will allow, though. It allows full page illustrations to display very well.) The 200% ZOOM setting makes for medium size text that is easy to read and navigating the page is a snap. Trying to read the same PDFs on my 3.5" Mio P550 PDA display is next to impossible. As to reading the eReader DRM .pdb files; I did run into the .pdb "missing words" problem, but switching to the 16 font, fixed it for the most part. (Given the heat they must be getting on this, I suspect they will be issuing a patch or rom update soon.) ( Reading "A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity" now and both the text and illustrations look great.) It shows Software version v0.14m Patch v15, posts I've read indicated the "N" version hasn't fully corrected the problem, and that there were only minor differences between "M" and "N". Don't know if it is worth it to try to find and flash to "N". Luck; Ken

12-31-2009, 09:09 AM	#13
John1997 Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 80 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Jetbook Lite	Don't buy a Jetbook Lite just yet if you want to use it to read eReader and Fictionwise books (as advertised on both their websites). At least wait until users are reporting that the readability problems are solved. There are several threads here and on the forums at ectaco.com. Missing words really break up the flow of a narrative. At the request of Ectaco support I just upgraded mine to v14n patch 15 and started using 16 font. There are still missing words, although possibly fewer of them. Beyond the missing words, there's an issue of readability. Size 16 font is about at the limit of comfort for my eyes. In addition, the text with pdb's is very cramped. All that said, the reader itself is very comfortable using open epub books from Project Gutenberg. I'm reading H. G. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau and it is a pleasure. The reader is a good size, the battery pod on the back makes a convenient handle, the text (on epubs) is very readable. Although I haven't done it yet, I like the fact that I could carry it and some spare batteries on a camping trip away from electricity. So the Jetbook Lite has a lot of positive features. Just don't expect at this time to be able to use it as advertised on the eReader and FictionWise sites. It clearly was not yet ready for prime time.

12-31-2009, 08:33 PM	#15
Ken Maltby Wizard Posts: 4,465 Karma: 6900052 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: The Heart of Texas Device: Boox Note2, AuraHD, PDA,	John; I agree that the 16 font is quite small but so far it lets me read the many .pdb books that I have on hand, without noticing the lose of reading flow. Once I get into a story, I don't think I'm reading each word, anyway. The only place I saw the missing words issue was between pages, where the first line of the next page skipped a word or two from where it should have started. It's annoying enough that I really expect them to fix it soon. It should be fixable and the company has the updating and patching experience to do it. With the holidays ending they should be in a position to get it done, in short order. You can get 4xAA Solar charging kits with folding solar panels, that would take up little space or weight amongst your camping gear. ( I saw one that also provided 5v USB power and various cell phone adapters. ) GA; The "Backwoods Home" web site sells collections of back issues on CD. The CDs are filled with the PDFs of scanned pages and/or articles. They have a number of subject based CDs with PDFs of their best articles on that subject. Last time I looked, they had some free downloads, in the same format. Luck; Ken

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