MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Astak Mentor eBook readers with WiFi and Touchscreen (read-only)

Brazos_Jack · 10-06-2008, 03:36 AM

This may have already been answered, but will the Astak Mentor support folders?

My CyBook, which I bought as an interim device while waiting on the Astak Mentor 9.7”, does not, so while I can use 2 Gig SD cards, if I put even a fraction of that many books and pictures on it there are too many pages to look through to find what I want. It only supports 3 main folders – eBooks, which can only contain supported document formats, Pictures, which can only contain JPG’s, and Music, which can only contain MP-3’s. If you create any sub-folder under, say, the eBook main directory, it ignores the sub-folders and lumps their contents into the main eBook directory. Same for Pictures or Music.

I have a Creative Zen MP-3 player, which also uses 2 Gig SD cards and so I put Music, Pictures, and eBooks folders on each card and use in both devices. Both devices also can use the same mini-USB 5 volt charger and computer interface port. Very handy for traveling. One set of SD cards, one charger, and one cable for both. And my digital camera also uses 2 Gig SD cards and the same USB to mini-USB data transfer cable.

I use sub-folders to organize the Music and Pictures into sub folders, which the Zen supports. The CyBook ignores the subfolders and lumps all the pictures in the main “Pictures” folder, as I said above.

I hope the Astak supports file sub-folder structures because that will make things much easier and allow me to utilize its full storage potential. I'm definitely glad that the Astak is using SD cards because I prefer to not have anything in the device's on-board storage, prefering to be able to completely change libraries by changing SD cards.

I still don’t have headphones with the small jack to try the MP-3 capability of the CyBook. So I don’t know if it will multitask – play music while I simultaneously read a book. The Zen will not allow you to multi-task – i.e. play music while browsing pictures. You can only do one or the other. Since I’ve got the MP-3 player, I don’t really need this capability in the Astak, but I hope it uses a standard headphone jack so I can at least try it.

So I’m hoping, for convenience, that the Astak:

A. supports file sub-folders (most important)
B. uses a standard USB or mini-USB for data transfer and charging (both the home and car charger have no permanently attached cable – only a standard USB port – the USB to mini USB cable is separate and it's easy enough to carry 2 cables)
C. Standard headphone jack port (not that important)

10-06-2008, 03:36 AM	#890
Brazos_Jack Enthusiast Posts: 31 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Texas & Saudi Arabia Device: Palm	Does Astak Mentor support file sub-folders? This may have already been answered, but will the Astak Mentor support folders? My CyBook, which I bought as an interim device while waiting on the Astak Mentor 9.7”, does not, so while I can use 2 Gig SD cards, if I put even a fraction of that many books and pictures on it there are too many pages to look through to find what I want. It only supports 3 main folders – eBooks, which can only contain supported document formats, Pictures, which can only contain JPG’s, and Music, which can only contain MP-3’s. If you create any sub-folder under, say, the eBook main directory, it ignores the sub-folders and lumps their contents into the main eBook directory. Same for Pictures or Music. I have a Creative Zen MP-3 player, which also uses 2 Gig SD cards and so I put Music, Pictures, and eBooks folders on each card and use in both devices. Both devices also can use the same mini-USB 5 volt charger and computer interface port. Very handy for traveling. One set of SD cards, one charger, and one cable for both. And my digital camera also uses 2 Gig SD cards and the same USB to mini-USB data transfer cable. I use sub-folders to organize the Music and Pictures into sub folders, which the Zen supports. The CyBook ignores the subfolders and lumps all the pictures in the main “Pictures” folder, as I said above. I hope the Astak supports file sub-folder structures because that will make things much easier and allow me to utilize its full storage potential. I'm definitely glad that the Astak is using SD cards because I prefer to not have anything in the device's on-board storage, prefering to be able to completely change libraries by changing SD cards. I still don’t have headphones with the small jack to try the MP-3 capability of the CyBook. So I don’t know if it will multitask – play music while I simultaneously read a book. The Zen will not allow you to multi-task – i.e. play music while browsing pictures. You can only do one or the other. Since I’ve got the MP-3 player, I don’t really need this capability in the Astak, but I hope it uses a standard headphone jack so I can at least try it. So I’m hoping, for convenience, that the Astak: A. supports file sub-folders (most important) B. uses a standard USB or mini-USB for data transfer and charging (both the home and car charger have no permanently attached cable – only a standard USB port – the USB to mini USB cable is separate and it's easy enough to carry 2 cables) C. Standard headphone jack port (not that important)