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

[griffonwing]

Ohh, the Mentor "Lite"!

Here is hoping that "Lite" means no fluff like wireless capability or bluetooth. Hopefully it WILL have the faster chip. You say it uses a cursor? So.. would it be an assumption to think it's not touchscreen but has a mousepad like a laptop?

[JicMic]

When will the panels with touchscreens and WiFi be available? I am very interested in purchasing one, much like the rest of the community it seems.

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

Ohh, the Mentor "Lite"!

Here is hoping that "Lite" means no fluff like wireless capability or bluetooth. Hopefully it WILL have the faster chip. You say it uses a cursor? So.. would it be an assumption to think it's not touchscreen but has a mousepad like a laptop?

Dear Griffonwing:

Here is a little more on the Mentor LITE:

Linux 2.6 OS
400MHz CPU
Epson 5X Speed Controller
6 inch E-Ink 4 grey levels
8,000 pages to a charge
8 levels of font adjust
switch from horizontal to verticle at the touch of a button
support for dictionary
supports all major languages
uses a curser to make selections off of menu (no touchscreen)
mp3 with 3.5mm headphone jack
rechargeable/replaceable battery
weighs 6 ounces, thickness of a pencil (thinner than EZ Reader)
note-taking

I have attached a photo. I am waiting for more detail and color pictures and selling price.

This is the first release of the Astak Mentor Line. Additional Sizes and more full-featured 6 inch models will be forthcoming relatively soon.

Stats above are believed accurate; but am waiting for factory to verify.

Robert B

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by JicMic

When will the panels with touchscreens and WiFi be available? I am very interested in purchasing one, much like the rest of the community it seems.

Dear JicMic:

The next Mentor Model will be the Mentor Intrique. That will have 6 inch E-Ink with 8 levels of grey scale, touch, PC utility for multiple file conversion, 16,000 pages of text to a single charge, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Epson 5X speed controller, and more.

Right now all the schedule will say is: Q2 of 2009. Figure early June they will ship from the factory. (Conjecture on my part).

Our factory NEVER is very exact as they like to leave a buffer in case anything is in short supply. Sales People dislike factories and the feeling is mutual. It is a never-ending story!

The EZ Reader PRO is also due in June, 2009.

Robert B

[DaleDe]

It seems a waste to use the new Epson controller and then only have 4 gray scale levels. I would hope this will be revisited although Bobs specs do match what's on the web site. For those of you that are interested: http://www.netronixinc.com/product_e-book.htm
There could be differences from the Netronix generic products listed on the site.

Dale

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

It seems a waste to use the new Epson controller and then only have 4 gray scale levels. I would hope this will be revisited although Bobs specs do match what's on the web site. For those of you that are interested: http://www.netronixinc.com/product_e-book.htm
There could be differences from the Netronix generic products listed on the site.

Dale

I definately concur. The Lite setup sounds perfect for my needs, but as I also plan on using this to view pdfs with images, only 4 shades of gray seems quite a bit outdated. After all, the Iliad has had 16 levels of gray for a long while now, and there have been a few out with 8 levels.

I'll wait on the price and see what kind of financial incentive would be worth the 4-grey level, as compared to the price difference for the next level up and it's WiFi, and longer battery life. (I assume longer battery, as RobertB mentioned 16k pages to a charge).

[SaraD]

Hi Robert B,

Any information available about which units will have user replaceable batteries is much appreciated. Thank you for including it as it becomes available.

[Darqref]

(Robert B posted a photo)


ARGHGGG!

WHY do you people always use those stupid rocker buttons with the enter key in the middle? That's the worst thing about my current Gen3, I CONSTANTLY hit the wrong key when my finger slides a bit. If all the Mentor line have this configuration, they are of considerably less interest.

[SaraD]

Originally Posted by Darqref

ARGHGGG!

WHY do you people always use those stupid rocker buttons with the enter key in the middle? That's the worst thing about my current Gen3, I CONSTANTLY hit the wrong key when my finger slides a bit. If all the Mentor line have this configuration, they are of considerably less interest.

I am waiting until production pictures of the new Jinke produced devices are available as well as the Netronix ones and that button configuration is figuring into my wait. My cell phone is a Verizon Chocolate 2 (LG 8550) that I like a lot, except that it has a similar rocker keypad configuration on the front. I too, am tired of constantly pressing something I didn't mean to so I will really think about buying another device with the same thing. However, the Netronix site shows a silver unit that looks like each direction is its own little button and then another in the center. It looks more promising to me, or at least less likely to be as sensitive since it would be seperate buttons...

[kacir]

Dear Robert.

Will you be allowed to sell it IN Europe?
Will you be allowed / able to sell it TO European customers?

Are you aware there is device called PocketBook 301 based on the hardware from Netronix?
PocketBook 301 has unique features (like on-screen keyboard). I have read in one of threads here that Ukrainian programmers plan selling their legendary firmware also for other Netronix hardware based devices. just search this forum for the PocketBook.
this post
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...852#post400852


See video on PocketBook site with my comments from here:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...3&postcount=19

[snipenekkid]

For me what is far more important then gray scale is contrast ratio and White State Reflectivity. 7:1 and 40% are not ever going to work for me. Shades of gray are important for sure but the other numbers need to be better. I would like to see a 50% improvement in those numbers or I am sticking to my PDA's and will do all the platform/format shifting I need to because I am allowed due the the disabilities clause of the DMCA. Hence no eink device maker will earn my cash. I am sure that causes them to lose sleep ( ) but it is a matter of delivering a product that serves the needs of a large subset of potential customers.

Also only publishers of either DRM I can remove so i can use the devices I have and can afford or offer DRM-free multiformat editions will earn my business.

All the other promises are background noise in my book. I know what I need from a device now and we'll see how is first to deliver. My money is still on Astak. I hope their device draw people in but they do not get consumed by Amazon as it tries to own the ebook market.

[moz]

Originally Posted by Robertb

8 levels of font adjust

I don't want more levels of font adjust, I want font override. The ability to have (say) three levels like the 505 does plus a bonus fourth level that is {voice of god}"there shall be only one font size and that size shall be 7.4points" {/voice of god} (user selected number, even if I have to plug it into a computer to change it).

I use Firefox's "minimum font size" feature quite a lot for websites where the designers thought that 4 point text looked cool, and I often run things through Calibre purely to force the font size and pagination to something sensible. Having the reader able to do that for me would be a significant benefit.

But first and foremost, the device should work. I don't want it right now anywhere near as much as I want it to be finished *before* you ship it to me. I delayed buying my Canon 1DIII because of the focus problems, I'd be disappointed if I had to wait while you recalled and reflashed a bunch of liseusen.

[pjssilva]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Dear Griffonwing:

Here is a little more on the Mentor LITE:

...

note-taking

Robert B

How is the note-taking possible? From the specs it does not have a touchscreen, right?

Paulo

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by SaraD

Hi Robert B,

Any information available about which units will have user replaceable batteries is much appreciated. Thank you for including it as it becomes available.

Dear SaraD:

Thank you. Yes, I am always trying to bring up the user replaceable battery that are on the Mentor and EZ Reader lines. To me this is personal. I have an iPod sitting at home that needs a battery and to me this is nothing but a nuisance and a waste of my time and money.

Frankly, when I first heard that there even WERE eBook Readers out there that were not replaceable I was shocked. WHY do it that way?? Just to make a few bucks? It means a tech team needs to be hired to do the work... and that is not cheap. So WHY are some of the others then doing this to themselves and the end users?

By the way, Dale brought up a good point about 4 grey scale on the new Mentor Lite. I am with you, Dale, and only can think that our factory (Netronix) had contracts with OEM in Asia and Europe that wanted them this way. It is great that the Mentor Lite has already sold 500,000 units in Asia and Europe before we roll it out. That means it is a solid and depandable performer with no apparent glitches. BUT... 4 levels of grey scale would have been better at 8 levels.

We do know that they already are working on the 9.7 inch and that will have 16 levels! We know the new Mentor Intrigue will have 8 levels. I think they were planning this as a good, honest, base machine. To many, many people 4 levels is just fine as they only want good and crisp resolution to read books.

Robert B

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by pjssilva

How is the note-taking possible? From the specs it does not have a touchscreen, right?

Paulo

Dear Paulo:

The Mentor Lite uses a soft keyboard (keyboard on screen ) with the letters chosen by the cursor. I know I saw note-taking in the User Manual I am rewriting for better English; but am waiting for confirmation from Netronix on note-taking. I know it does have a search function that uses the soft keyboard as I used it yesterday.

Robert B