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WarStrider · 12-21-2004, 12:49 PM

I bought 3 of these EB1150s http://www.ebookwise.com/ebookwise/ebookwise1150.htm to use as Christmas presents for my brother and nephew and one to horde for myself. Now that I received them and the extra memory I ordered from a different retailer, had a chance to play around with them and see whats good and whats bad, I can post a review of my opinion on this ebook reader.

Sizewise it is perfect. Its the size of a regular paperback book. It doesn't weigh overly much, 18 oz, and feels solid in your hand. With only two buttons for scrolling, everything else is down by the touchsensitive screen and software buttons.

Battery life maxes out at 14 hours and some odd minutes, though thats a bit misleading as the battery lasts according to how bright you power the screen. I have read for two days, 8 hours per day, with breaks of course, and still had a few hours left on the meter.

The screen is lcd graytone 320x240, which is fine for reading. It does reflect a bit so I doubt you would enjoy reading outside in the sunlight, but under a shady umbrella or tree I think it would be alright, but of course I do most of my reading indoors, where the glare problem is much less.

Now getting the books onto the ebook reader is round about. The ebook reader has a USB port that connects to your computer, but there is at present no software available to transfers documents from your computer to the ebook reader. eBookwise says they are working on getting the Gemstar ebook librarian rights so they can offer it with this ebook reader, but so far they haven't got it. There is a software package out there http://www.breeno.org/eBook/ that claims to be able to do so, but I tried it and it didn't work for me. So in order to get documents from your computer to your ebook reader you need to use an online server setup for this purpose. https://www.filamentbooks.com
Once you've created an account and registered your EB1150 you can upload books to the server and then connect to the server with your ebook reader, via a USB connection to a computer with an internet connection, and then download them into the ebook reader. Like I said its roundabout, but it works so long as that server is up and running. Hopefully eBookwise or breeno.org will come up with a working librarian program because if there is an achilles heel to this reader this is it.

On the bright side, the ebook reader comes with a SmartMedia slot, so you can add up to 128M of memory to the unit. So far I have put 73 books on it and still have 57% of my memory free. Load this baby up once a year if you are an voracious reader or once a lifetime if you are on the other end of the scale. Either way its a lot of memory. On the downside SmartMedia is an older technology and is becoming difficult to find. I found a place to buy them from for $37 Cdn each, which isn't too bad, but is surely not on the same price curve as the more popular current media types. But the reader itself is an older generation so this is no real surprise.

All in all I would give this product 4 stars out of 5. At $99 USD each they are well worth it.

12-21-2004, 12:49 PM	#1
WarStrider Member Posts: 15 Karma: 34 Join Date: Nov 2004 Device: Rocket Reader Pro	Review: eBookwise EB1150 I bought 3 of these EB1150s http://www.ebookwise.com/ebookwise/ebookwise1150.htm to use as Christmas presents for my brother and nephew and one to horde for myself. Now that I received them and the extra memory I ordered from a different retailer, had a chance to play around with them and see whats good and whats bad, I can post a review of my opinion on this ebook reader. Sizewise it is perfect. Its the size of a regular paperback book. It doesn't weigh overly much, 18 oz, and feels solid in your hand. With only two buttons for scrolling, everything else is down by the touchsensitive screen and software buttons. Battery life maxes out at 14 hours and some odd minutes, though thats a bit misleading as the battery lasts according to how bright you power the screen. I have read for two days, 8 hours per day, with breaks of course, and still had a few hours left on the meter. The screen is lcd graytone 320x240, which is fine for reading. It does reflect a bit so I doubt you would enjoy reading outside in the sunlight, but under a shady umbrella or tree I think it would be alright, but of course I do most of my reading indoors, where the glare problem is much less. Now getting the books onto the ebook reader is round about. The ebook reader has a USB port that connects to your computer, but there is at present no software available to transfers documents from your computer to the ebook reader. eBookwise says they are working on getting the Gemstar ebook librarian rights so they can offer it with this ebook reader, but so far they haven't got it. There is a software package out there http://www.breeno.org/eBook/ that claims to be able to do so, but I tried it and it didn't work for me. So in order to get documents from your computer to your ebook reader you need to use an online server setup for this purpose. https://www.filamentbooks.com Once you've created an account and registered your EB1150 you can upload books to the server and then connect to the server with your ebook reader, via a USB connection to a computer with an internet connection, and then download them into the ebook reader. Like I said its roundabout, but it works so long as that server is up and running. Hopefully eBookwise or breeno.org will come up with a working librarian program because if there is an achilles heel to this reader this is it. On the bright side, the ebook reader comes with a SmartMedia slot, so you can add up to 128M of memory to the unit. So far I have put 73 books on it and still have 57% of my memory free. Load this baby up once a year if you are an voracious reader or once a lifetime if you are on the other end of the scale. Either way its a lot of memory. On the downside SmartMedia is an older technology and is becoming difficult to find. I found a place to buy them from for $37 Cdn each, which isn't too bad, but is surely not on the same price curve as the more popular current media types. But the reader itself is an older generation so this is no real surprise. All in all I would give this product 4 stars out of 5. At $99 USD each they are well worth it.