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HarryT · 02-21-2010, 09:38 AM

The BeBook Neo is a 6" reader with a Wacom touch screen, hence the screen is very sharp and clear, with no degradation as occurs (to a minor, but noticeable) extent with resistive touch screens such as the Sony devices use. It also has WiFi, so you can buy books on-line, or go to any web site. You really wouldn't want to use it for any "serious" web browsing, though; complex web sites with lots of graphics take ages to load - eg the BBC News home page takes about a minute to fully display.

All the usual formats are supported, with what looks like a perfectly standard implementation of ADE. The touch screen is nicely utilized, with an on-screen keyboard for searching in books, dictionary lookup (it uses standard "Stardict" dictionaries) and annotation.

Full folder support, with an SDHC memory card slot. I'm storing all my books on a 16GB Sandisk card (£17.99 from Amazon) which seems to work just fine.

The "home page" is nicely implemented, with a good "file manager". You can create shortcuts to your favourite books, and there's a "recently read" folder which gives you rapid access to what you're currently reading, and displays for each book such useful information as how far through it you are, and when you last opened it. You can display folder contents in three ways: "List" (a simple list of filenames), "Detail" (a list, with extra lines showing your reading position, and access date), and "Thumbnail" (which shows book covers).

The UI has obviously had a lot of thought put into it. Pretty much every task can be done either with the touch screen or with the navigation button. The only things you really have to use the stylus for are annotation and using the on-screen keyboard.

There is the ability to install applications (as with Pocketbook), so there's good potential for the future.

For a "v1" firmware, it's a very impressive machine. It's going to be my main "at home" reader from now on. Very good indeed!

There's only one problem which I'd highlight at present, and that's the fact that no case is supplied and, indeed, none is yet available to buy as an accessory. I think that's a serious shortcoming. Hopefully cases will be available for purchase very soon.

Hardware-wise, the Neo is identical to the Onyx Boox 60.

02-21-2010, 09:38 AM	#1
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Initial thoughts on BeBook Neo The BeBook Neo is a 6" reader with a Wacom touch screen, hence the screen is very sharp and clear, with no degradation as occurs (to a minor, but noticeable) extent with resistive touch screens such as the Sony devices use. It also has WiFi, so you can buy books on-line, or go to any web site. You really wouldn't want to use it for any "serious" web browsing, though; complex web sites with lots of graphics take ages to load - eg the BBC News home page takes about a minute to fully display. All the usual formats are supported, with what looks like a perfectly standard implementation of ADE. The touch screen is nicely utilized, with an on-screen keyboard for searching in books, dictionary lookup (it uses standard "Stardict" dictionaries) and annotation. Full folder support, with an SDHC memory card slot. I'm storing all my books on a 16GB Sandisk card (£17.99 from Amazon) which seems to work just fine. The "home page" is nicely implemented, with a good "file manager". You can create shortcuts to your favourite books, and there's a "recently read" folder which gives you rapid access to what you're currently reading, and displays for each book such useful information as how far through it you are, and when you last opened it. You can display folder contents in three ways: "List" (a simple list of filenames), "Detail" (a list, with extra lines showing your reading position, and access date), and "Thumbnail" (which shows book covers). The UI has obviously had a lot of thought put into it. Pretty much every task can be done either with the touch screen or with the navigation button. The only things you really have to use the stylus for are annotation and using the on-screen keyboard. There is the ability to install applications (as with Pocketbook), so there's good potential for the future. For a "v1" firmware, it's a very impressive machine. It's going to be my main "at home" reader from now on. Very good indeed! There's only one problem which I'd highlight at present, and that's the fact that no case is supplied and, indeed, none is yet available to buy as an accessory. I think that's a serious shortcoming. Hopefully cases will be available for purchase very soon. Hardware-wise, the Neo is identical to the Onyx Boox 60.