Looking at the photos of the 9.7-inch unit, and the specs on the Astak website, I see they're touting a non-glare screen, which, of course, is essential, but they've put the unit in a glossy black chassis -- which will reflect light back into the reader's eyes. The Amazon Kindle and the iRex iLiad both were sensibly designed with matte-finish housings; I hope Astak will rectify this before they go into production. Ergonomics are hugely important to the reading experience, after all.
(Plus, an ebook reader has to be handled a lot, and glossy finishes show fingerprints ...)
Most exciting thing to me about the Astak Mentor: support for the eReader format.
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ROBERT J. SAWYER, Science Fiction Writer
Hugo Award winner for HOMINIDS
Nebula Award winner for THE TERMINAL EXPERIMENT
John W. Campbell Memorial Award winner for MINDSCAN
http://www.sfwriter.com *
sawyer@sfwriter.com
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