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Squonk42 · 01-17-2011, 04:13 PM

First for non-French readers in this thread, let me say that the E60 @ 49 Euros deal is only available in France: the device was sold 329 Euros back in July. Price has dropped drastically to 249 Euros in September, then to 149 Euros for Holidays. It is now the "soldes" (sales) period in France since last Wednesday, and there is a bargain price at 99 Euros at the "Carrefour" supermarkets. In the meantime, Samsung France is doing a special operation to refund 50 Euros if you buy either the E60 or E65 in January.

I don't know if I am the best person to speak on the E60: this is my first eBook reader so far, and I just have an iPhone 4 to compare to, so my opinion may be biased...

The screen is... surprising: at first look, I thought there was a plastic film on it

What is very different from normal LCD or OLED screen is that it is really not shiny at all, and that it does not emit _any_ light at all! As an e-ink screen, it means that it does not consume power when there is a static display either. The drawback is that every time the screen is painted, there is a visible and annoying "flash", but I guess this is the same thing for a Kindle, is it?

The device is nice looking and is solidly built. I don't like much the sliding panel, I'd rather have a thiner device instead...

I don't want to buy DRM-clutered eBooks, but I have a lot of different documents in PDF formats (books, books with pictures, datasheets, manuals, etc.), and they all look great as is, if you make sure to turn them 90° (or better 270° so the "Prev" button is up and "Next" is down...) and display only half a page, so the font is not to small. This is done without re-flowing the page and looks exactly like on your PC.

From the eBooks that come pre-installed on the device, these are reflowed at best to fit onto the screen, so you can use the device in portrait mode here.

For transferring PDFs, you just plug the device to a free USB port, and ou see it as a mass storage device where you can drop your files. As an alternative, there is microSD slot in the E60. I am just starting to use Calibre, but it looks very interresting (despite the fact that it does not support the Samsung E60 device yet!).

I haven't tried to play with highlights, so I can't tell you much on this feature: from what I've read in the forums, they are stored as .BMP.

The device is Wifi-enabled, but the built-in browser does not allow to enter an URL, so you are stuck with the programmed one (Carrefour webstore in my case), unless you do the proxy trick to foul the machine. What I found out though, is that Wifi really kills the battery duration!

All in all, the device gives a feel of slow, mainly because of the screen, but not only...

The bottom line is: I won't pay much more for an eReader (Samsung or other). I bought this one as it is a bargain at this price, and in the hope to be able to compile my own Linux for it (sources are available from Samsung's website).

Hope this helps!

01-17-2011, 04:13 PM	#105
Squonk42 Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Bordeaux, France Device: Samsung E60	A small (maybe biased) Samsung E60 review First for non-French readers in this thread, let me say that the E60 @ 49 Euros deal is only available in France: the device was sold 329 Euros back in July. Price has dropped drastically to 249 Euros in September, then to 149 Euros for Holidays. It is now the "soldes" (sales) period in France since last Wednesday, and there is a bargain price at 99 Euros at the "Carrefour" supermarkets. In the meantime, Samsung France is doing a special operation to refund 50 Euros if you buy either the E60 or E65 in January. I don't know if I am the best person to speak on the E60: this is my first eBook reader so far, and I just have an iPhone 4 to compare to, so my opinion may be biased... The screen is... surprising: at first look, I thought there was a plastic film on it What is very different from normal LCD or OLED screen is that it is really not shiny at all, and that it does not emit _any_ light at all! As an e-ink screen, it means that it does not consume power when there is a static display either. The drawback is that every time the screen is painted, there is a visible and annoying "flash", but I guess this is the same thing for a Kindle, is it? The device is nice looking and is solidly built. I don't like much the sliding panel, I'd rather have a thiner device instead... I don't want to buy DRM-clutered eBooks, but I have a lot of different documents in PDF formats (books, books with pictures, datasheets, manuals, etc.), and they all look great as is, if you make sure to turn them 90° (or better 270° so the "Prev" button is up and "Next" is down...) and display only half a page, so the font is not to small. This is done without re-flowing the page and looks exactly like on your PC. From the eBooks that come pre-installed on the device, these are reflowed at best to fit onto the screen, so you can use the device in portrait mode here. For transferring PDFs, you just plug the device to a free USB port, and ou see it as a mass storage device where you can drop your files. As an alternative, there is microSD slot in the E60. I am just starting to use Calibre, but it looks very interresting (despite the fact that it does not support the Samsung E60 device yet!). I haven't tried to play with highlights, so I can't tell you much on this feature: from what I've read in the forums, they are stored as .BMP. The device is Wifi-enabled, but the built-in browser does not allow to enter an URL, so you are stuck with the programmed one (Carrefour webstore in my case), unless you do the proxy trick to foul the machine. What I found out though, is that Wifi really kills the battery duration! All in all, the device gives a feel of slow, mainly because of the screen, but not only... The bottom line is: I won't pay much more for an eReader (Samsung or other). I bought this one as it is a bargain at this price, and in the hope to be able to compile my own Linux for it (sources are available from Samsung's website). Hope this helps!