MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - FRY's Electronics Astak EZ Reader Blow-Out

mtnmedic · 07-04-2009, 01:49 AM

Whew....I'm baaaaack!

I left the house just after 7pm and it's now 9:45-ish. That's how far away I live from the nearest Fry's.

I decided to head down to the store in Roseville (exactly 50 miles south from my house) and pick up the reader because the Frys.com rep with whom I placed a phone order earlier today didn't know when their online store would get more of them in stock (she said they were "on back order"). That could be anything like a week or even more. Who knows? That, plus the 3-5 days standard shipping and the fact that I'm away from home 1-2 days in a row at times (I work 24 hour shifts in Sacramento), I might end up with very little time to fully evaluate this reader before I decide to cut the UPC symbol proof of purchase from the box (the manufacturer's rebate requires the paperwork be postmarked no later than July 31st). So I picked it up, called Frys.com and cancelled the order there.

I paid $249 plus the obligatory 8.25% sales tax (a whole percent more because it was in PLACER County, not where I live in NEVADA County!) of $20.54 came out to a total of $269.54 (oddly enough, the on-line total, based on the sale price, came out to $271.10...go figure). After the $30 rebate the device cost me $239.54. Of course, add on the time, wear and tear plus gas it took me to make the round trip.

All because SOMEBODY didn't post any kind of notice at the product display that there was SOME kind of rebate available, be it manufacturer or Fry's, like they usually do for most stuff having rebates. That would have prompted me to buy the thing right there and then when I was in that same store earlier this morning on my way home from work!!! Sure, I would have spent $10 more (store price was $259), but that would have surely saved me the trouble I just went through!

Anyway, I'm home and I have to go to work tomorrow for another 24 hour shift (I leave here at 5:00am). So I'll be up for another hour or so, maybe to play with this device. I just unboxed it and I'm pleasantly surprised to see that IT COMES WITH A FIRM LEATHER COVER/CASE, FRONT AND BACK! Like the one that the Sony 700 comes with (and that you have the option of buying for the 505). Very nice. For some reason, I was under the impression it would come in some kind of ordinary bag/case and not some really nice cover/case. This case/cover has a nice little flap that snaps down from one side to the other with a flat magnet and holds the cover closed. The whole thing looks like a very nice, thin, executive-looking day planner.

The device itself is a flat black (or perhaps deep charcoal?) colour, which I like. The material and texture looks and feels like it will resist finger smudging, etc. There is a itty-bitty little LED at the upper left corner that indicates charge/use, etc. I love the size, weight and dimensions. Just like they said...about the size of a trade paperback (except it's thin!). I put the battery in and was pleasantly surprised to see it was fully charged already! So I'll get a chance to play with it some before turning in (instead of having to wait for it to be charged!).

About the charger-and this is a huge plus in my book (pun intended?)-the device uses a mini-USB sync cable. This is a good thing because most mini-USB devices adhere to roughly the same power requirements for charging. The cable doubles as a straight charging cable. Almost ALL of my portable electronics have mini-USB jacks and therefore I can charge them with a single AC or single DC cable.

As for the MP3 player part, I'm probably never going to use it. I have a Zune and that's the main source of my music, podcasts, FM, videos, etc. However, I'll give this a little listening to see what it sounds like. It'll probably be like the MP3 in my phone (which is an HTC Touch Pro Windows Mobile device)...quick and dirty, so to speak. The earphone jack, however, isn't so conveniently placed...it's next to the mini-USB jack and those two are covered by a little pull-out tab-style cover.

I powered it up and right away the splash screen showed "ASTAK Your Ebook, Your Library" and within 2-3 seconds it went right into an 8-tabbed directory. First tab with a folder icon called "Recent Files (1 file)", second "Fictionwise 20 Free eBooks (0 directories, 21 files), and third an Adobe PDF file "User's Manual" dated 3/31/09 of 1mb size. When I clicked on the corresponding number to start the User's Manual, it took about 5 seconds to load. In advancing a page, there is a brief flash of a "negative" of the page (best I can describe it) before the next one is displayed. The whole thing takes 1-1.5 seconds. Not bad. The screen background takes on a sort of an off-white colour. But the text is crisp, black and sharp. There are illustrations in this manual, and they're clean. Not bad for a PDF. The real test will be when I upload some of my PDF manuals into it.

There is a printed user's manual in the box along with an ordinary pair of ear buds (the flat kinds, which I have refused to use for years), a little screwdriver, the battery (which I placed in the reader), a little wrist strap and even a tiny bag containing TWO MORE SCREWS for the battery door. How thoughtful. And there is a sheet of paper with a listing of "Free eBook Websites". Little stuff like that turns me on.

I'm a sci-fi reader, amateur astronomer, Paramedic and computer tech who is always reading SOMETHING. I just recently finished reading every single book of the DUNE series in chronological order from Brian Herbert's "The Butlerian Jihad" all the way through Frank Herbert's "Chapterhouse: Dune". I am well into "The Hunters of Dune" (great book, by the way!) to be followed by the final installment, , "The Sandworms of Dune" (well over a dozen books in all). I bought all of these books from used book store at around $4.50 each. But I tell ya, I wish I had them all on a reader, conveniently available and easy to read any time. Now perhaps I can. It's such a great saga that spans about 20,000 years of future history that bears re-reading (this is the second time I've read through all of Frank's original Dune books). A lot of my stuff is also PDF, which includes astronomy texts, emergency medicine references and computer technology stuff. This is what I got the reader for. Sure, I have a small HP Tablet PC laptop which is excellent for reading anything, but JUST to READ something...and not having to fire up the whole machine, this is the kind of device I need. And I read a lot.

More review later! G'nite!

07-04-2009, 01:49 AM	#49
mtnmedic Enthusiast Posts: 48 Karma: 86 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Nevada City, CA Device: iPad 64GB WiFi + 3G, Astak EZ Reader	Got mine! Whew....I'm baaaaack! I left the house just after 7pm and it's now 9:45-ish. That's how far away I live from the nearest Fry's. I decided to head down to the store in Roseville (exactly 50 miles south from my house) and pick up the reader because the Frys.com rep with whom I placed a phone order earlier today didn't know when their online store would get more of them in stock (she said they were "on back order"). That could be anything like a week or even more. Who knows? That, plus the 3-5 days standard shipping and the fact that I'm away from home 1-2 days in a row at times (I work 24 hour shifts in Sacramento), I might end up with very little time to fully evaluate this reader before I decide to cut the UPC symbol proof of purchase from the box (the manufacturer's rebate requires the paperwork be postmarked no later than July 31st). So I picked it up, called Frys.com and cancelled the order there. I paid $249 plus the obligatory 8.25% sales tax (a whole percent more because it was in PLACER County, not where I live in NEVADA County!) of $20.54 came out to a total of $269.54 (oddly enough, the on-line total, based on the sale price, came out to $271.10...go figure). After the $30 rebate the device cost me $239.54. Of course, add on the time, wear and tear plus gas it took me to make the round trip. All because SOMEBODY didn't post any kind of notice at the product display that there was SOME kind of rebate available, be it manufacturer or Fry's, like they usually do for most stuff having rebates. That would have prompted me to buy the thing right there and then when I was in that same store earlier this morning on my way home from work!!! Sure, I would have spent $10 more (store price was $259), but that would have surely saved me the trouble I just went through! Anyway, I'm home and I have to go to work tomorrow for another 24 hour shift (I leave here at 5:00am). So I'll be up for another hour or so, maybe to play with this device. I just unboxed it and I'm pleasantly surprised to see that IT COMES WITH A FIRM LEATHER COVER/CASE, FRONT AND BACK! Like the one that the Sony 700 comes with (and that you have the option of buying for the 505). Very nice. For some reason, I was under the impression it would come in some kind of ordinary bag/case and not some really nice cover/case. This case/cover has a nice little flap that snaps down from one side to the other with a flat magnet and holds the cover closed. The whole thing looks like a very nice, thin, executive-looking day planner. The device itself is a flat black (or perhaps deep charcoal?) colour, which I like. The material and texture looks and feels like it will resist finger smudging, etc. There is a itty-bitty little LED at the upper left corner that indicates charge/use, etc. I love the size, weight and dimensions. Just like they said...about the size of a trade paperback (except it's thin!). I put the battery in and was pleasantly surprised to see it was fully charged already! So I'll get a chance to play with it some before turning in (instead of having to wait for it to be charged!). About the charger-and this is a huge plus in my book (pun intended?)-the device uses a mini-USB sync cable. This is a good thing because most mini-USB devices adhere to roughly the same power requirements for charging. The cable doubles as a straight charging cable. Almost ALL of my portable electronics have mini-USB jacks and therefore I can charge them with a single AC or single DC cable. As for the MP3 player part, I'm probably never going to use it. I have a Zune and that's the main source of my music, podcasts, FM, videos, etc. However, I'll give this a little listening to see what it sounds like. It'll probably be like the MP3 in my phone (which is an HTC Touch Pro Windows Mobile device)...quick and dirty, so to speak. The earphone jack, however, isn't so conveniently placed...it's next to the mini-USB jack and those two are covered by a little pull-out tab-style cover. I powered it up and right away the splash screen showed "ASTAK Your Ebook, Your Library" and within 2-3 seconds it went right into an 8-tabbed directory. First tab with a folder icon called "Recent Files (1 file)", second "Fictionwise 20 Free eBooks (0 directories, 21 files), and third an Adobe PDF file "User's Manual" dated 3/31/09 of 1mb size. When I clicked on the corresponding number to start the User's Manual, it took about 5 seconds to load. In advancing a page, there is a brief flash of a "negative" of the page (best I can describe it) before the next one is displayed. The whole thing takes 1-1.5 seconds. Not bad. The screen background takes on a sort of an off-white colour. But the text is crisp, black and sharp. There are illustrations in this manual, and they're clean. Not bad for a PDF. The real test will be when I upload some of my PDF manuals into it. There is a printed user's manual in the box along with an ordinary pair of ear buds (the flat kinds, which I have refused to use for years), a little screwdriver, the battery (which I placed in the reader), a little wrist strap and even a tiny bag containing TWO MORE SCREWS for the battery door. How thoughtful. And there is a sheet of paper with a listing of "Free eBook Websites". Little stuff like that turns me on. I'm a sci-fi reader, amateur astronomer, Paramedic and computer tech who is always reading SOMETHING. I just recently finished reading every single book of the DUNE series in chronological order from Brian Herbert's "The Butlerian Jihad" all the way through Frank Herbert's "Chapterhouse: Dune". I am well into "The Hunters of Dune" (great book, by the way!) to be followed by the final installment, , "The Sandworms of Dune" (well over a dozen books in all). I bought all of these books from used book store at around $4.50 each. But I tell ya, I wish I had them all on a reader, conveniently available and easy to read any time. Now perhaps I can. It's such a great saga that spans about 20,000 years of future history that bears re-reading (this is the second time I've read through all of Frank's original Dune books). A lot of my stuff is also PDF, which includes astronomy texts, emergency medicine references and computer technology stuff. This is what I got the reader for. Sure, I have a small HP Tablet PC laptop which is excellent for reading anything, but JUST to READ something...and not having to fire up the whole machine, this is the kind of device I need. And I read a lot. More review later! G'nite!