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

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by pkovak

I don't understand where you read that EZ Reader PRO will be 6", I thought PRO and PLUS are suffixes for new generation of EZ Reader with 9.7" screen.

This has been a long running thread, and earlier posts made clear that EZ Reader is the Jinke 6" line up. For example, see #886 EZ Reader, Plus, Pro.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Dear Kacir:

ALL of us remember the days when things were readily changeable. I had a friend down the street whose entire bedroom was workbenches for electronics.

The problem is hand soldering costs a fortune now and everything is drag solder and wave solder and newer. What use to take an hour to solder takes about 4 seconds in a solder wave machine. This has allowed less cold solder joints, pinpoint soldering, small PCB, and smaller devices.

Also, if you decide to even try to resolder one loose wire on a new device it very well MAY void your warranty! Also, you open the door for sabatage, lawsuits, and a thousand other maladies of our electronic age.

While I do hear you and know your intent is good and fair... our electronic lifestyle is spinning us all along with it!

Robert B

Dear Robert.

I know a thing or two about manufacturing process of modern electronics. (The tin wave, the oven for baking in the finished PCBs (and the incredibly low threshold between temperature that is not high enough to melt the European Union mandated lead-free soldiering paste and the temperature that damages the electronic parts), the assembling robots, ...) I was using the solder-pads on the old soviet calculator only as an example of a design that allows users and third parties to enhance the product. By the way, those "solder pads" had a notch around and had a hole in the center so you did not need to solder, you could attach the wire mechanically, and IF you did decide to use soldering iron, it was very safe and you did not need to connect your wires to some integrated circuit "leg" or somewhere where you can damage the device easily.

I was thinking that perhaps you could add a connector at the bottom of the device that would allow us to connect buttons parallel (in electrical meaning) to the controls on the device. The important step is to use a standard generic connector we can purchase in a shop with electronic parts. Many modern mobiles have connectors that are designed to keep everybody (except for a manufacturer, of course) out and the only way to purchase an accessory for a mobile phone (even such a common thing as headphones or a charger!) is to pay super exorbitant prices to a mobile phone manufacturer.
The point in providing us with a connector is that we would NOT need to think about taking a soldering iron to our precious device.

The same goes for a threaded hole in each corner of the device for attaching any cover we (the geeks, the hobbyists, the users, the accessory manufacturers) can securely attach anything we fancy.

[DG25]

Originally Posted by Robertb

The EZ Reader Plus will add Wi Fi. The EZ Reader Pro will have Touchscreen and WiFi. There may well be other improvements but we do not know yet. January is not far off anymore. From my own perspective, I am buying the EZ Reader without Plus or Pro. I prefer to download books onto my computer and then to the EZ Reader. I would not use WiFi. Touchscreen is a great feature but you are looking at release in March, 2009... and you KNOW how projects can slip. To my own needs... the EZ Reader alone is fast, easy, light, and works GREAT.
Robert B

Hi,

I've read some post on this thread (80+ posts thread, i'm sorry i've didn't have the time to read it all), and all i know is this:
EZ Reader = Hanlin eReader
EZ Reader Plus: Wi-FI
EZ Reader Pro: Wi-fi and touch-screen

Can you (or someone else) answer some questions, please?
1. Will any of these have dictionary look-up support? This is an almost must have for me, as english is not my native language.

2. The EZ Reader will have a 6" screen, but how about the other two (the Pro anc Plus)?

3. Will the touch screen affect the contrast as it affects the current Sony 700 eReader (poor contrast, glare)? Also, will it be capacitive or resistive (the touchscreen)?

4. Linux or WinCE as SO? Can we install aditional software on it?

Thank you and happy hollidays to all of you!

[ccccclark]

I am confused. This is a very long thread.

Is the 6" EZ Reader actually shipping right now? If I order it today, will it ship tomorrow (or Monday)? If you go to the website, it implies that it is currently available as of this moment, but from reading here, I get the feeling that it is not actually shipping, even though one pays extra for overnight or 3 day shipping if ordered from the website.

Also, the website http://www.mobiebook.com/buyezreader.asp has the special offers for the "First 100 Transactions". This has been advertised like this for several weeks. So am I led to believe that there has not even been a 100 orders for this reader yet?


Maybe it is time to start a new thread that actually focuses on a real product instead of a wish list. I might recommend adding a forum here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=50

Even though it is the Hanlin, how is anybody really supposed to know that?

[Darqref]

After moping around last night, here's my new feature request:

I need to charge the battery faster. My current Gen3 ran out of juice in the middle of the book, and it took all evening for the battery to recharge. I'd like one of two sorta solutions:

1. Make the battery more easily replaced AND make an "off-line" charger for extra batteries

OR

2. Make a "Fast" charger that will recharge the battery in one hour or less. This would probably require a recharge method other than USB, but I don't know how difficult it would be to have parallel charging mechanisms.

hmm. I suppose one and two could be combined by allowing the fast recharger to ONLY work on the battery when disconnected from the reader.


3. Another solution might work if the form factor was changed to have a thicker body, like the ebookwise. Then you could use AA batteries or even dual batteries. If the device could use either the embedded lithium battery or a replaceable AA battery, then one could keep reading as long as the box of AA batteries from Costco lasted.

4. Change the charging method to allow reading and operation while the device recharges. Gen3 currently locks out any operation while the USB cable is connected to either computer or charger.

One way or another, I want to resume reading faster than currently available with my Gen3. With my older Rocket (precursor to the ebookwise) I could at least keep reading when it was on the charging cradle!

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by ccccclark

Is the 6" EZ Reader actually shipping right now? If I order it today, will it ship tomorrow (or Monday)?

I don't know for sure that they are still in stock, but the EZ Reader has been shipping. See EZ Reader: Initial Impression.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by ccccclark

I am confused. This is a very long thread.

Is the 6" EZ Reader actually shipping right now? If I order it today, will it ship tomorrow (or Monday)? If you go to the website, it implies that it is currently available as of this moment, but from reading here, I get the feeling that it is not actually shipping, even though one pays extra for overnight or 3 day shipping if ordered from the website.

Also, the website http://www.mobiebook.com/buyezreader.asp has the special offers for the "First 100 Transactions". This has been advertised like this for several weeks. So am I led to believe that there has not even been a 100 orders for this reader yet?


Maybe it is time to start a new thread that actually focuses on a real product instead of a wish list. I might recommend adding a forum here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=50

Even though it is the Hanlin, how is anybody really supposed to know that?

The $299 offer has been extended until CES and I don't believe the number counts any more. Yes, they are shipping. The wish list is good but the real product is a standard Hanlin V3.

Dale

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by ccccclark

I am confused. This is a very long thread.

Is the 6" EZ Reader actually shipping right now? If I order it today, will it ship tomorrow (or Monday)? If you go to the website, it implies that it is currently available as of this moment, but from reading here, I get the feeling that it is not actually shipping, even though one pays extra for overnight or 3 day shipping if ordered from the website.

Also, the website http://www.mobiebook.com/buyezreader.asp has the special offers for the "First 100 Transactions". This has been advertised like this for several weeks. So am I led to believe that there has not even been a 100 orders for this reader yet?


Maybe it is time to start a new thread that actually focuses on a real product instead of a wish list. I might recommend adding a forum here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=50

Even though it is the Hanlin, how is anybody really supposed to know that?

Dear ccccclark:

Thank you for asking! I am sorry for the confusion! Let me try to clarify everty point you raised:

1. The EZ Reader is indeed shipping! The website (www.mobiebook.com) is up and working fine and takes automatic orders for North America. Shipping is almost instantaneous and we have 300 in-stock.

2. Anybody outside of North America can order by sending an email to: rubyl@teamresearchinc.com

3. We have indeed sold more than 150 of the EZ Reader already without a bit of advertising. The EZ Reader is a semi-finalist in the Storage Vision Most Innovative Consumer Product Awards on Janaury 6 in Las Vegas. Because of their request and that of CES (January 8-11) (we cannot sell on the show floor) we are extending the time for the $299 price until at least February 15!

4. The Hanlin is a wonderful device. We have made it VERY clear to all that the EZ Reader is a Hanlin V3; and we are proud of that! However, we are selling it for less money with a Support Website (www.mobiebook.com), with USA technical support and warranty, and with free books. That is a great way to buy an outstanding and proven device.

5. The EZ Reader Plus and EZ Reader Pro line is 6 inch all the way. The Mentor line (mid-2009) will go up to 9.7 inch! I WISH I could tell you all the features on the Plus and Pro... but it is confidential as the competition monitors this forum also. It is not "just" the same old thing at all. New controls, new features, far quicker, more futuristic shape, etc. You are gonna be pleased! I cannot answer questions yet in any way... but it is real and will delight a lot of people!

Thank you,

Robert B

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by Darqref

After moping around last night, here's my new feature request:

I need to charge the battery faster. My current Gen3 ran out of juice in the middle of the book, and it took all evening for the battery to recharge. I'd like one of two sorta solutions:

1. Make the battery more easily replaced AND make an "off-line" charger for extra batteries

OR

2. Make a "Fast" charger that will recharge the battery in one hour or less. This would probably require a recharge method other than USB, but I don't know how difficult it would be to have parallel charging mechanisms.

hmm. I suppose one and two could be combined by allowing the fast recharger to ONLY work on the battery when disconnected from the reader.


3. Another solution might work if the form factor was changed to have a thicker body, like the ebookwise. Then you could use AA batteries or even dual batteries. If the device could use either the embedded lithium battery or a replaceable AA battery, then one could keep reading as long as the box of AA batteries from Costco lasted.

4. Change the charging method to allow reading and operation while the device recharges. Gen3 currently locks out any operation while the USB cable is connected to either computer or charger.

One way or another, I want to resume reading faster than currently available with my Gen3. With my older Rocket (precursor to the ebookwise) I could at least keep reading when it was on the charging cradle!

Dear Dargref:

I cannot speak about Generation 3, but the EZ Reader is a breeze. There is only one screw to remove to get at the battery; and the package even comes WITH the screw driver! Charge time is about three hours. The thing I tell people is the battery is so small and light that you can buy a second battery and keep it as a power extender. You CAN use the EZ Reader while it is being charged! You get 8,000 pages of text to a single charge!

There are such things as Chargers that promise Rapid Charges of 15-20 minutes for cell phones and such. I will leave this to the experts on here to answer... but my understanding of Rapid Charging is that it works in a pinch but eventually ruins the battery. AND... every time you recharge a battery it degrades just a little bit. NOT having to recharge so often means a battery that should recharge more fully in subsequent recharges.

Robert B

[pkovak]

Robertb, I want to ask bit more about the 6" devices. EZ Reader is Hanlin V3, no confusion there. Are PRO and PLUS versions the same body as Hanlin V3 "only" with additional features and internal changes - 3G, touchscreen - or the device itself has new and updated design that reflects some of users' wishes? For example, less buttons because touchscreen can be used instead of them?

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by pkovak

Robertb, I want to ask bit more about the 6" devices. EZ Reader is Hanlin V3, no confusion there. Are PRO and PLUS versions the same body as Hanlin V3 "only" with additional features and internal changes - 3G, touchscreen - or the device itself has new and updated design that reflects some of users' wishes? For example, less buttons because touchscreen can be used instead of them?

Dear pkovak:

As mentioned, they are really enforcing a gag order on this. I can tell you that the PLUS and PRO will NOT be the same body. Still ultra thin and light as EZ Reader... it is a "futuristic" or "modern" design with a whole new control layout making changes essentially recommended by MobileRead Forum people prior.
Yes, on less buttons... but that is all I can say!! I WISH I could say more! I really like it a ton and think you all will also!

Robert B

[pkovak]

I didn't expect more, not with the information embargo - now we know that changes are being made, that at least something we said have a chance to be incorporated. That's generaly a good sign, many companies don't listen and do same stupid mistakes year after year again. I hope mobileread.com will have a chance to review it ASAP (and others, I really am trust-noone guy when it comes to reviews, after I saw reviews on two cards from nVidia and ATI graphic cards where in some reviews ATI won by 20 percent and on others it lost by 30 percent, in same tests).

[ccccclark]

So I ordered an EZ Reader today. I got the bundle package.

[DG25]

So, when we will hear more of them? At CES 2009 maybe?

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by DG25

So, when we will hear more of them? At CES 2009 maybe?

You can imagine that the hardest task in the wworld for me is to sit on key information.. So, the information on EZ Reader PLUS and PRO is key info and treated like a National Treasure.

What I can tell you is that the PLUS and PRO are SO advanced and the design different (I like to say "an EZ Reader on Steroids") that this time we are keeping secrecy so it cannot be copied or duplicated before release. I have now seen all the component lists and the features in action. You are going to love what has been done. That "PRO" is state-of-the-art yet is still clean and thin and light and comfortable. THAT is really my surprise. Anybody can bring out a new machine... but to take a good V3 design and womp it up (think of a Shelby Cobra 350 compared to a Mustang) that is an accomplishment.

So, what IS the plan. The plan is to only show the PRO in private meetings with some huge markets. Soon after CES, I would hope to give more info. Photos will probably be released in early February with release coming in late February. Price discussion is only in the most elementarytalks right now but should firm during CES.

Part of the reason for the secrecy is to firm everything up BEFORE telling anybody what it has and what it does. The last time I gave preliminary info and then the changes came. THIS time we cement the product and then give accurate details!! Get ready to see this thread start heating up again real soon!!

Happy New Year!!

Robert B