Features and pictures of the Pocket PRO

[Robertb]

This is a round-up of the features on the EZ Reader Pocket PRO by Astak. A lot of new (to this Astak forum) people will come here and may not know much about the device!

The Astak EZ Reader Pocket PRO is brand new... yet not so new too. There is an Astak 6 inch EZ Reader Basic that has been out about 10 months around the world... with a million sold. The Pocket PRO is essentially an EZ Reader Basic on Steroids! The inner workings and the tactile feel are the same and very well proven... but it becomes now smaller, lighter, more full featured, and exceedingly powerful on the 5 inch Pocket PRO! I call the Pocket PRO a landmark device because nothing else on the market really comes close.

First off is the improvement to the electronic guts of the device! The heart and soul of any eBook Reader is centered around the controller and the processor. The speed of bringing up a book and speed of turning pages... all are a matter of the controller and processor. The Pocket PRO has the new Epson high-speed controller and a 400MHz processor (about double what the competition has in most cases).

Second, we loaded Adobe Digital Editions on the Pocket PRO. Now, the Pocket PRO already displayed 12 formats and 20 languages. Those formats include: pdf, doc, jpg/bmp, txt, mp3, pdb, html, lit, and prc. What does this mean? It means the Pocket PRO is a true Open Format device!! You can go to hundreds of websites and download books and they should display just fine. It also means that you are NOT tied to one website or one format which limits where and what you can download... and allows you to shop for the best price! The Adobe Digital Editions gives you epub and pdf reflow in a secure format that allows you to download the very latest copyrighted (DRM) titles!

The Pocket PRO uses E-Ink technology. That means that it should get about 8,000 page turns to a single charge when all you are doing is reading. It also means no eye strain!

The Pocket PRO has MP3 stereo. Many others leave this off their device and that is a shame. Still others have MP3... but you can either read OR play... not both. The Pocket PRO allows you to play your music while reading!

The Pocket PRO has Text-To-Speech... meaning it reads to you and advances the pages automatically when in that mode. It even has a tiny external speaker for this purpose... or you can use the 3.5mm headphone jack (the standard size)!

You also get: 8 levels of grey scale for far better display of pictures or illustrations, a user-replaceable rechargeable battery, an SD card that supports up to 16GB (roughly more than 10,000 eBooks and a ton of music), bookmarking, and three levels of font size and different font choices! If you have poor eyesight... this will help a lot! Further, it displays both vertically or horizontally (wide sreen sideways). It also has both left and right page advance buttons and a Scroll Wheel!

Lastly, the Pocket PRO comes in six beautiful colors! Express yourself! OH, here is a plus... in the box is a great crush-resistant case with magnetic clasp (a $39-$59 extra with other brands), ear buds, AC charger, USB cable, and a wrist leash!

Now, you get all of this for roughly $199 (limited time) with a one year parts and labor warranty and Astak's now-famous USA customer support and techncial support!! This is a great bargain!

Go to www.theEZreader.com to find out more, choose your colors, and buy it!!

[FBoespflug]

Hi!

I just read this about Astak Pocket pro. It sounds great.
What about wifi or not, about the price in euros or dollars?
And for a french user are the warranty, downloading in French, German and English ok?
Thank you for your answer,
Framontf

[Chuckwade87]

Wow that is an amazing price!!!!
Unfortunately I´m looking for something bigger not smaller......

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by FBoespflug

Hi!

I just read this about Astak Pocket pro. It sounds great.
What about wifi or not, about the price in euros or dollars?
And for a french user are the warranty, downloading in French, German and English ok?
Thank you for your answer,
Framontf

Dear Framontf:

There are many, many people who do not like wireless. I would say more than 60% prefer to download onto their computer as they have a record and a copy always ready. A lost SD card is no problem.

The other thing is that lately there gas been quite a furor over Amazon with their wireless. People are up in arms over removal of eBooks by Amazon wirelessly.

Astak WILL have wireless/Wi-Fi devices coming out in 2-3 months!

The warranty is thru Astak in USA; and will be honored no matter where in the world you are as long as you pay freight. I think that is fair. It is a one year parts and labor warranty. Realize, this is an extremely reliable and well-built machine!

Yes, you can download eBooks in French, German, and English and they will display on the Pocket PRO!

Thank you for your fine post!!

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by Chuckwade87

Wow that is an amazing price!!!!
Unfortunately I´m looking for something bigger not smaller......

Dear Chuckwade:

Sorry that the release order was 6 inch, 5 inch, and then 9.7 inch. The 9.7 inch was delayed by all manufacturers as they wait for PVI to make the new 9.7 FLEXI screen. Production of the screen will start in late September!

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Robertb

There are many, many people who do not like wireless. I would say more than 60% prefer to download onto their computer as they have a record and a copy always ready. A lost SD card is no problem.

that seems like a non-reason to me. If you can d/l it isn't it always "ready"? Most ebooks can bed d/l in seconds at broadband speeds.

You can d/l it to your PC or re-download to the device. Every ebook store I have bought from allows you to re-download your purchase whenever you want.

Also, if you d/l via WiFi to the device when you do hook it up to your PC via USB you can always sync the stuff to your computer.

I think many people rationalize why they don't need something that they don't have, so they won't miss having it.

It's like having a full size spare vs one of the donuts. You don't need a full size spare until you need it. Then you'll be sorry you saved a few hundred bucks when you bought the car.

BOb

[Musicman]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

that seems like a non-reason to me. If you can d/l it isn't it always "ready"? Most ebooks can bed d/l in seconds at broadband speeds.

You can d/l it to your PC or re-download to the device. Every ebook store I have bought from allows you to re-download your purchase whenever you want.

Also, if you d/l via WiFi to the device when you do hook it up to your PC via USB you can always sync the stuff to your computer.

I think many people rationalize why they don't need something that they don't have, so they won't miss having it.

It's like having a full size spare vs one of the donuts. You don't need a full size spare until you need it. Then you'll be sorry you saved a few hundred bucks when you bought the car.

BOb

WiFi IMO is not worth the extra money. The selling point on the WiFi is that you can get a book instantly when you have nothing to read. I have over 50 books on my SD Card that I have not read yet, and cannot see ever not having a list of unread books on my device.

When I want to add more books I just pop out my SD Card and slip it in my Netbook and copy the books over. It only takes a few seconds.

I'd rather have more features and definitely a color screen before WiFi.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Musicman

WiFi IMO is not worth the extra money.

Perhaps. And I didn't say there weren't reasons to not have it. If the cost is a valid reason.

I was just saying that the concern that you would not have the ebooks on your computer or backed up really isn't an issue.

Then again, there are things you could use the WiFi for other than d/ling books... using it with a basic web browser for example can come in handy. As my primary machine is a desktop it is nice at times to be able to sit in my lazy boy and check on the news, sports scores or stock prices on my Kindle.... not having a smart phone this can come in handy.

I'm sure there are other reasons people might want it too.

BOb

[Musicman]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Then again, there are things you could use the WiFi for other than d/ling books... using it with a basic web browser for example can come in handy. As my primary machine is a laptop it is nice at times to be able to sit in my lazy boy and check on the news, sports scores or stock prices on my Kindle.... not having a smart phone this can come in handy.

BOb

How well suited for browsing is the eink screen?

My Ipaq 4700 is painfully slow, but the VGA screen is excellent.

There's nothing wrong with WiFi as bonus, I just do not see it as a necessity.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Musicman

How well suited for browsing is the eink screen?

It's good enough for text... to read some top news stories and such. I do it all the time.

BOb

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Robertb

The 9.7 inch was delayed by all manufacturers as they wait for PVI to make the new 9.7 FLEXI screen. Production of the screen will start in late September!

In what timeframe after that can we expect the EZReader Giga, then?
Before or after xmas?

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

In what timeframe after that can we expect the EZReader Giga, then?
Before or after xmas?

There is a 9.7 inch EZ Reader TRUE. It is anticipated before Christmas.

BUT... I am under NDA and even IF I knew exactly (and I do not) I could not say. Please look at it from the factory's standpoint. They KNOW competitors read this thread. If I give away their secrets on schedule and features... I might as well write to my competitors. SO... the deal we have with them is we get their great devices but we keep our mouths shut until release is given!! We almost messed up once with my big mouth. We will not have that happen again!

[Elfwreck]

pdf, doc, jpg/bmp, txt, mp3, pdb, html, lit, and prc

I'd like to clarify & confirm that:

The Pocket Pro natively reads HTML files (no conversion to another format necessary), PalmDOC PDB files (I assume it doesn't read the dozens of other PDB files), possibly eReader PDB files, and mobi PRC files.

It reads Doc? As in, Word Doc? But not RTF?

What DRM formats does it support? I know about ADE, and that it's incompatible with Mobi; I'm wondering about LIT and PDB.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

What DRM formats does it support? I know about ADE, and that it's incompatible with Mobi; I'm wondering about LIT and PDB.

It currently supports only Adobe DRM, either PDF or ePub. It (the Pocket Pro) does not support MOBI DRM or LIT DRM. Astak has said that it will soon support eReader DRM, but (based on the EZ Reader Basic) it does not currently support eReader without DRM. In other words, the eReader software isn't currently on the device, and will be added later.

The only PDB format at present is PalmDOC. It does support .rtf and single-file HTML (in a ZIP if it contains images). See File Navigation: Hanlin V3 vs OpenInkPot for screenshots showing a selection of the file formats that will be detected as "supported". I did not try a .doc, because I don't consider it an ebook format and I doubt that it can be supported well.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

It currently supports only Adobe DRM, either PDF or ePub. It (the Pocket Pro) does not support MOBI DRM or LIT DRM. Astak has said that it will soon support eReader DRM, but (based on the EZ Reader Basic) it does not currently support eReader without DRM. In other words, the eReader software isn't currently on the device, and will be added later.

Good to know; all that matches my understandings.

The only PDB format at present is PalmDOC. It does support .rtf and single-file HTML (in a ZIP if it contains images). See File Navigation: Hanlin V3 vs OpenInkPot for screenshots showing a selection of the file formats that will be detected as "supported".

Thank you for those. Lack of native HTML support is one of the things I dislike most about my Sony Reader; I often find blog posts I want to read on the way to work, and am happy to download them as HTML, but converting to something else is a bit of a hassle sometimes. (I'm told I could figure out something with RSS feeds, but I tend to jump around; I don't have a stable collection of blogs I regularly read.)

Does it support .rtf with pictures? (The Sony doesn't.)

I did not try a .doc, because I don't consider it an ebook format and I doubt that it can be supported well.

I agree that .doc is not an ebook format. However, it's a very common document format, and most of the docs I work with are smaller in .doc format than in .rtf format. Native .doc reading would keep me from needing two versions. There are other reasons I prefer .doc, which have to do with technical aspects of my document conversion processes. But it's no great imposition to need to use .rtf.

I suspect that I'll eventually get a Pocket Pro and go back to converting things to eReader PDB. I like that format, I can format ebooks for it quickly, and it's very compressed.