Astak Mentor eBook readers with WiFi and Touchscreen (read-only)

[DaleDe]

Hi emellaich

I think you raise some good point in the interaction but I don't think this is what people are complaining about. If you check this thread near the beginning I cautioned against believing the ridiculously low promised prices. People wanted to believe and many delayed their purchase decisions based on the overly optimistic promised delivery dates. I could be construed as a way to grab early customers to wait but when its late you get frustrated people and lose customers.

Astak has done well in listening and taking input on the product. What they haven't done well on is being realistic. Hopefully the wait will be worth it.

Dale

[Luigino]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

The 5" model will be a boon to the one's who like small font and high portability. With its 600x600 screen it features 200 ppi so it may be just as readable if you have good eyes.

Dale

BUT since I work already a lot with computers I think it would be better to relax my eyes reading better with just a little force....
And plus as I read followin this thread the 6" will have PDF support and eReader which would make me a good long investment but without need of wiFi or stuffs.. just an UBS (for recharging battery) and a microSD slot...

Am I asking a lot?... :-) That's what lots of people would want I guess... :-)

And I agree with people that says it worth a lot waiting the little delay just to have the product as we intended...at least close of it...

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Luigino

BUT since I work already a lot with computers I think it would be better to relax my eyes reading better with just a little force....
And plus as I read followin this thread the 6" will have PDF support and eReader which would make me a good long investment but without need of wiFi or stuffs.. just an UBS (for recharging battery) and a microSD slot...

Am I asking a lot?... :-) That's what lots of people would want I guess... :-)

And I agree with people that says it worth a lot waiting the little delay just to have the product as we intended...at least close of it...

I would expect the 500 and 600 (both Linux) to have exactly the same firmware.

Dale

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

I would expect the 500 and 600 (both Linux) to have exactly the same firmware.

Dale

I would too... I believe we're going to have to look to the 610/611s for better reader apps.

Derek

[Luigino]

Still no news from Astak for a confirm about two different versions of 6" inch Mentor's (one fully optionals and one without whistles)....

[HPG]

Actually, it's going to be more complicated than that, isn't it? Not only is there the bells & whistles issue, but also there are the two versions, one for E-Reader and the other for Mobipocket.

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by HPG

Actually, it's going to be more complicated than that, isn't it? Not only is there the bells & whistles issue, but also there are the two versions, one for E-Reader and the other for Mobipocket.

Yep. Now if eReader puts ePub support into their eReader Pro software, that would be a big plus. Or if Mobipocket did so.

But as it stands now, I really don't care which one they choose as I'll just convert from one to the other.

Derek

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

Yep. Now if eReader puts ePub support into their eReader Pro software, that would be a big plus. Or if Mobipocket did so.

What the availability of eReader books compared to Mobipocket/Amazon/Sony? Does anyone know. eReader seems to have the least restrictive DRM, but do they have the same amount of books as some of the others?

BOb

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

What the availability of eReader books compared to Mobipocket/Amazon/Sony? Does anyone know. eReader seems to have the least restrictive DRM, but do they have the same amount of books as some of the others?

BOb

According to their website they have 36,000+ titles.

Derek

[Luigino]

And the others?... Something the same amount?... at least the important thing is about reading PDF manuals/books since there are plenty of them...
Let's just think at holidays and leave Mentor's coming out in september... then we'll have the point ;-D
(no offence to anyone, but during summer better think at beachies and at GIRLS on the beach! ihihhihihihi)

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Luigino

(no offence to anyone, but during summer better think at beachies and at GIRLS on the beach! ihihhihihihi)

My wife would prefer me to think about ebook readers.

BOb

[HPG]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

What the availability of eReader books compared to Mobipocket/Amazon/Sony? Does anyone know. eReader seems to have the least restrictive DRM, but do they have the same amount of books as some of the others?

BOb

Some way back in this massive thread, Jack B. Nimble reported the following:

"On the off chance some of you might want more empirical evidence, I did a quick search at BooksOnBoard.com, and they stock some 25k books for eReader and 80k for Mobi. Even Fictionwise, which owns eReader, stocks more secure Mobi books than eReader, though a smaller selection and much smaller difference (25k vs. 21k), however that may not be an accurate comparison as I do not know if they have finished incorporating all of the eReader stock into the Fictionwise site. The multiformat books at Fictionwise, downloadable in both these formats and several others, total 17k for both, of course.

"This is hardly a comprehensive survey, of course, but since those are the places I shop, it'll work for me."

The issue that was being addressed was how one unlocks an E-Reader file on a reader with no keyboard, given that in order to do so you have to key in your credit card number. Nobody seemed to know for sure, which rather undermines the case for the Mentor as opposed to the Mobipocket version. Then Jack's statistics seemed to point in the same direction. But I'm sure there must be more to it than this: I can't believe that Robertb and colleagues haven't thought about how to unlock E-Reader files.

[Jack B Nimble]

Originally Posted by HPG

Some way back in this massive thread, Jack B. Nimble reported the following:

You want to know how long this thread is? When I read PilotBob's question, I was sure I had answered something similar recently, but I was uncertain which thread it was on, and I hadn't gotten around to searching for it.

Jack

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Hi emellaich

I think you raise some good point in the interaction but I don't think this is what people are complaining about. If you check this thread near the beginning I cautioned against believing the ridiculously low promised prices. People wanted to believe and many delayed their purchase decisions based on the overly optimistic promised delivery dates. I could be construed as a way to grab early customers to wait but when its late you get frustrated people and lose customers.

Astak has done well in listening and taking input on the product. What they haven't done well on is being realistic. Hopefully the wait will be worth it.

Dale

Dear Dale:

Probably right about the realistic. No arguing. In hindsight, I would have liked to have nailed everything down first.

The good part is we are honest and trying to make this right. The bad part is a lack of experience in knowing what it would be like to develop and engineer such a project. Initially, it was presented to me as "will have eBooks, ask for recommendations, here is price, GO!".

Reality is that there is no end to the complexities involved. So, we are learning and getting better.

Yes, we are extremely aware that price is critical. Equally critical is putting out a full-featured product. I do NOT apologize for talking with the experts at IDPF and BEA and at MobileRead Forum itself and then making changes. Likewise, there is no apology for actually reading the feedback from MobileRead Forum members on what they think the machines should have and seriously considering it. We did not just pay it lip service. We incorporated many of the comments and the factory went crazy trying to do a GUI that made it all work the right way... and they are still doing that. Even now, comments from MobileRead Forum on everything from programmable buttons to font sizes to LED lighting are being appraised and possibly incorporated. All of this takes time and takes engineers. And... it has been about four months in trying to get the eReader format ported satisfactorily on the Mentor and the thrid party is still not there yet. And... Adobe won't even give us an SDK until October as much as we wanted to have Digital Editions on the Mentor.

SO... unrealistic we were. But, we have learned and kept our focus on making a good product that will please. Also, realize that during the last four months gas prices have gone up about $1.50 a gallon or more. That effects transportation, plastics and metal production and molding, electronic component costs and more. Talk about unrealistic... gas at $5 a gallon in California!!

My point is that "Anything Worth Doing is Worth Doing Right". Astak is trying to do that yet still try to control ever rising costs that every member is already feeling in their purse or wallet. Yes, projected prices have climbed. But the value will still, we think, make it a bargain.

[DaleDe]

I appreciate your response. Hopefully everyone will be patient until you get everything right. For my part I will do all I can to help. We all want you to succeed!

Dale