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nonanon · 02-01-2010, 03:22 AM

I have a Sony Reader and an A81. The Sony is fine but a bit frustrating due to slow page turns and load times. I got the firmware update and it was so slow I sent it back for more work as it took 26 minutes to load a book and switch to large font. The A81 is a great ebook reader with lightning-fast page turns and book loads, and of course customizable font sizes and colors and backgrounds. I like the Russian ALReader too and luckily it's intuitive since it's hard to find help for it in English. Two column format in landscape mode is great, the device is easy to hold this way (or prop up) and turning the page just requires a tap. If you like comics in either jpg or cbr format, then MMCE is the best reader I've found for that. You turn pages by tapping with this just like with ALReader.

I've read that Witstech may skip Android and add Linux/Debian OS which would offer a lot of new software choices and a more useful OS than wince. I haven't played with Android very much but I think Linux is a better choice for a device that's part PMP and part MID. At some point we'll probably get Linus and Android, either from Witstech or one of their resellers or from the community. They've added more firmware for their domestic market and may just be having problems translating everything to English. With the newest firmware (e) the browser and wifi work much better and I think it boots up faster with a more responsive touchscreen.

The delivery time may surprise you since mine came much sooner than I expected, I think it was under 10 days from China to Utah.

For watching video I suggest TCPMP or The Core Player. There are some good wince games like Bejeweled, Tetris and so on, probably most of them are clones but without any hardware buttons you have to accept that there will be fewer games on the A81 than on the iPhone but they will be just as fast and on a much bigger screen.

The Archos 7 IMT does look promising but having owned Archos in the past I assume it will be summer before the bugs are worked out and owners are happy and that's a long time to wait.

02-01-2010, 03:22 AM	#2
nonanon Enthusiast Posts: 45 Karma: 21900 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Utah Device: iPad, Nook Simple Touch	I have a Sony Reader and an A81. The Sony is fine but a bit frustrating due to slow page turns and load times. I got the firmware update and it was so slow I sent it back for more work as it took 26 minutes to load a book and switch to large font. The A81 is a great ebook reader with lightning-fast page turns and book loads, and of course customizable font sizes and colors and backgrounds. I like the Russian ALReader too and luckily it's intuitive since it's hard to find help for it in English. Two column format in landscape mode is great, the device is easy to hold this way (or prop up) and turning the page just requires a tap. If you like comics in either jpg or cbr format, then MMCE is the best reader I've found for that. You turn pages by tapping with this just like with ALReader. I've read that Witstech may skip Android and add Linux/Debian OS which would offer a lot of new software choices and a more useful OS than wince. I haven't played with Android very much but I think Linux is a better choice for a device that's part PMP and part MID. At some point we'll probably get Linus and Android, either from Witstech or one of their resellers or from the community. They've added more firmware for their domestic market and may just be having problems translating everything to English. With the newest firmware (e) the browser and wifi work much better and I think it boots up faster with a more responsive touchscreen. The delivery time may surprise you since mine came much sooner than I expected, I think it was under 10 days from China to Utah. For watching video I suggest TCPMP or The Core Player. There are some good wince games like Bejeweled, Tetris and so on, probably most of them are clones but without any hardware buttons you have to accept that there will be fewer games on the A81 than on the iPhone but they will be just as fast and on a much bigger screen. The Archos 7 IMT does look promising but having owned Archos in the past I assume it will be summer before the bugs are worked out and owners are happy and that's a long time to wait.