9.7" Astak Mentor Electra vs PocketBook 901

[AlexGrant]

Hello ALL. From E-Book Reader Matrix https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-bo...Larger_Devices I've learned that readers with 9.7": Astak Mentor Electra and PocketBook 901 will be manufactured by the same company Netronics. For me PocketBook 901 is much better than Mentor Electra: 350g vs 535g, no touchscreen. But PocketBook 901 will be sold in Ukraine and Russia. Will be good if Astak can be reseller for PocketBook 901. I came to USA from Ukraine, but I am too busy to fly there just to get a good reader. Let us ask Astak together to give us availability to buy PocketBook 901 in US. PocketBook 901 will also have very good dictionaries inside, developed by ABBYY. For me this will be a great benefit because English is not my "second language", it is my Fifth language.

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by AlexGrant

Hello ALL. From E-Book Reader Matrix https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-bo...Larger_Devices I've learned that readers with 9.7": Astak Mentor Electra and PocketBook 901 will be manufactured by the same company Netronics. For me PocketBook 901 is much better than Mentor Electra: 350g vs 535g, no touchscreen. But PocketBook 901 will be sold in Ukraine and Russia. Will be good if Astak can be reseller for PocketBook 901. I came to USA from Ukraine, but I am too busy to fly there just to get a good reader. Let us ask Astak together to give us availability to buy PocketBook 901 in US. PocketBook 901 will also have very good dictionaries inside, developed by ABBYY. For me this will be a great benefit because English is not my "second language", it is my Fifth language.

Dear Alex:

I know you as very, very smart; but let me try to lay out how these things work.

You would think quite like I thought... if it is made by Netronix Astak should be able to carry it. Alas, NOTHING is simple. While there is a connection between Netronix and Astak (they even sharedf our booth at CES) Netronix has its own mind. They do custom work. They will field an order from the Ukraine, for example, and IF the order is for 50,000 units and they pay the engineering fee, Netronix will build that model to their design and with their software. Think of Gunslinger for Hire!! BUT,then if we show interest, Netronix tells us the device they have is copyrighted and not available to us or anybody else.

The KEY is quantity!! IF Astak could feel that they could sell 100,000 units of 11 inch and paid the engineering fee up front... we would have the new "Astak Gargantuan" in short order. But we cannot do this. PLUS, there is a new SIPix screen in 9 inch that promises to drop price and provide Astak a lower cost for what seems to be a better screened device. 9.7 inch was the old PVI size. 9 inch is the SIPix sweet spot. You will not notice the difference in size.

Stay tuned. I CANNOT even hint at new things... but things are definitely happening at Astak to the good (for Astak and end users).

[AlexGrant]

Respectable RobertB,
Will Astak listen to the Voice Of Customers? Part of us, potential buyers, wants Wi-Fi and TouchScreen. Part of us, like me, care about every extra gramm, and every extra minute of battery, but do not need TouchScreen and WiFi. I even ready pay more for e-reader with less functions if it will have large screen - I need it to read professional magazines and electrical drawings (I am electrical design engineer). Astak can request from manufacturer 2 versions in the same enclosure. Can you pass my cry to management?

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by AlexGrant

Respectable RobertB,
Will Astak listen to the Voice Of Customers? Part of us, potential buyers, wants Wi-Fi and TouchScreen. Part of us, like me, care about every extra gramm, and every extra minute of battery, but do not need TouchScreen and WiFi. I even ready pay more for e-reader with less functions if it will have large screen - I need it to read professional magazines and electrical drawings (I am electrical design engineer). Astak can request from manufacturer 2 versions in the same enclosure. Can you pass my cry to management?

Dear Alex:

Your cry has been well-echoed on here for a long time. People on this forum, I would say 80%, do not want wireless or touch screen. And, the call for a 9 inch with nice inexpensive features (Epson controller and 600MHz processor and USB2.0 and SD card to 16GB) is heard and reverberated!

There is a natural tendency amongst manufacturers to think that the larger screen models need be super-deluxe with all the trimmings. On the other hand, they KNOW that PRICE is critical. There SEEMS to be an invisible line on price for 9 inch. Pricing at $299-$329 looks a bargain, pricing above that looks like price gauging. Now, Dale DePriest of MobileRead Forum thinks the likeliest price for a 9 inch will fall closer to $400. He is a VERY learned man and knows his stuff. However, I still hear the price is critical.

In short, I am hearing the factories will release in at least two models: one essentially devoid of high-priced features and one with everything! I will push for the lower cost model!! You ARE heard.

[AlexGrant]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Pricing at $299-$329 looks a bargain, pricing above that looks like price gauging. Now, Dale DePriest of MobileRead Forum thinks the likeliest price for a 9 inch will fall closer to $400. I will push for the lower cost model!! You ARE heard.

Dear RobertB, I've stayed in line for 9" Plastic Logic, and was ready to pay $500-$600, but they went to a very heavy model, linked to Barnes and Noble. I do not need books from B&N, it is usually cheaper from Amazon and Half.com
but most important: I need ability to read many formats, like Astak does. This is why I have best (for today) Astak 5" reader and 12" Toshiba 2Lbs notebook ($2,500 with SSD) to see other formats in relative big screen. I will pay $500 for 9"-10" multi-format e-reader visible at direct sunlight if it is light enough.

[jgatkinsn]

I want to add my two cents and cry for a low-cost 9" reader! This is exactly the kind of reader I'm looking for. I have no desire for wi-fi or 3G or touch screen. Just give me a plain simple big screen reader, and I'm there! I do have a Kindle DX, but I prefer a lower cost version that just does a great job of displaying PDF's, because I want a few for my children for their school reading and for my wife.

Should any company dare to go there, I truly believe they're going to hit a profitable sweet spot with a low-cost big screen E-ink type reader.

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by jgatkinsn

I want to add my two cents and cry for a low-cost 9" reader! This is exactly the kind of reader I'm looking for. I have no desire for wi-fi or 3G or touch screen. Just give me a plain simple big screen reader, and I'm there! I do have a Kindle DX, but I prefer a lower cost version that just does a great job of displaying PDF's, because I want a few for my children for their school reading and for my wife.

Should any company dare to go there, I truly believe they're going to hit a profitable sweet spot with a low-cost big screen E-ink type reader.

Dear Alex and tgatkinsn:

I hear both of you and agree. The fact of the matter is that even though the Pocket PRO beats other 5 inches in lightness, speed and every feature imaginable (such as user-replaceable rechargeable battery and having an SD card slot, and 20 formats, and TTS, and SO much more... the low price on the competition's 5 inch gets all the attention.

The problem is that the factory builds for markets all over the globe... not just us. What happens is THEY design a device and put what they want on it and then say: "Here, Astak, sell it". I am trying to get them to shoot for price on the 9 inch and NOT add Touch and Wireless so readily. I hear you, I agree with you, do not know yet if they have heard me.

Latest talk is a Wi-Fi 6 inch is coming soon. Just a rumour now... but may be in the works after the PLUS is released.

[Luigino]

HI Robertb,

Here I am again still looking around and I have a question for you: as you know, what are latest news about SiPix production actually?... Will they be on time for this summer?...

And in the meanwhile, what not producting own 9" E-Ink eBook with a fast Epson Controller?... maybe it's much cheaper doing that than get support manufacturing from another company like Nextronix, and as non-plus-ultra Astak could say: "this is MY product I have made with MY hands"...

Ciao,
Luigi

[Logseman]

Alex, just a little update, as the wiki information is a bit old: Pocketbook 901 is definitely coming out in Europe in general, and in the US too. From the talks we've had in Pocketbook's forum, the estimated price for the 901 has been even suggested, ca. $350. The European price is not that clear, but we've been told that it'll be about €300.

[Ereader Bob]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Dear Alex and tgatkinsn:

I hear both of you and agree. The fact of the matter is that even though the Pocket PRO beats other 5 inches in lightness, speed and every feature imaginable (such as user-replaceable rechargeable battery and having an SD card slot, and 20 formats, and TTS, and SO much more... the low price on the competition's 5 inch gets all the attention.

The problem is that the factory builds for markets all over the globe... not just us. What happens is THEY design a device and put what they want on it and then say: "Here, Astak, sell it". I am trying to get them to shoot for price on the 9 inch and NOT add Touch and Wireless so readily. I hear you, I agree with you, do not know yet if they have heard me.

Latest talk is a Wi-Fi 6 inch is coming soon. Just a rumour now... but may be in the works after the PLUS is released.

Currently I have two Sony readers, one Pandigital, a few Astak readers, and EXCOPC 11.6" tablet.

Sony: as usual, good hardware and design, stupid everything else.

It does not read many formats. You have to convert files to lrf.
Battery life - good. Small screen. Very slow to generate xml file directory when a new SD card is inserted.

Pandigital: does not read many formats. You have to convert files to epub, no hardware buttons to turn pages.

EXCOPC: dumb Microsoft OS. Enough said.

Astak: can open any file format, fast, affordable.

What I am looking for:

A bigger screen. Hard to read anything on a 6" screen.
Just make a dumb reader with a large screen and you will sell plenty.

Astak does not need to pay much for R&D.
Linux kernel is there. Hardware is dirt cheap.

[Ophysette]

I would like to request a large screen reader that has cbr and cbz reading capability in color of course. I have no use for sound, wi-fi, phone, camera, touch screen capacity and programing I need a tech degree to figure out..

Note on the pandigital, I can read a page faster than it can load it.