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

[Stensie4JC]

Originally Posted by UncleDuke

now i know how mobileread survives, offering all theose programs and free ebooks we can download with subscription fees ==> it must be 'cause of advertising like this thread.

where are the objective reviews by mobileread staffers or moderatirs that have experience with other units??

MobileRead doesn't receive any compensation for hosting this thread. The free software and ebooks are uploaded by members who don't receive any money, either.

Nobody outside Astak has this device yet, that's why there are no independent reviews. After they ship at the end of August I am sure there will be a lot more information available from independent sources who are familiar with multiple devices.

[rixte]

Originally Posted by Stensie4JC

MobileRead doesn't receive any compensation for hosting this thread. The free software and ebooks are uploaded by members who don't receive any money, either.

Nobody outside Astak has this device yet, that's why there are no independent reviews. After they ship at the end of August I am sure there will be a lot more information available from independent sources who are familiar with multiple devices.

Well, nobody outside Astak has the Pocket Pro - but 6 inch reader is out there and a couple of people participating on this thread have mentioned theirs now and again. But I don't think I can recall any of them doing a formal review (and I don't think I recall anyone with several devices doing a side-by-side comparison - I'm not sure if we have anybody who has the EZ Reader and another e-ink device)

But yeah, I expect we'll have half a dozen independent reviews of the Pocket Pro in 5-6 weeks.

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by UncleDuke

so far we have one person telling us how great everything will be, where are the objective reviews by mobileread staffers or moderatirs that have experience with other units?? if all you have ever known is an astak then everything that is not an astak is something less even if it does more because that is not needed

When I get mine in, I will be able to give a review from someone who has never owned a reader before. I think this would be good for those others who have never used/owned one. You'll see how easy it is for a novice user to learn, and how user-friendly or user-difficult it may be.

i remember a woman that told me all evening how wonderful it would be when we got to her apartment at the end of the evening, she told me about the wonderful view of the eat river from her window, how beautiful the bed would be, how great the musi ==> she lived in a 4th floor walk-up with a window that opened onto a brick wall, her cat was cowed by the roaches, and the music was a drummer from next door <== is the astak like that woman?? i am starting to think so

This is substantially different. Here, you can have access to review of other devices that Astak has released. Read about their customer service, go back and read about what they wanted for their 6" and what actually was released.

You can do that with some rental houses, but not many, and only if you take the time to knock on doors and ask questions.

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by rixte

Well, nobody outside Astak has the Pocket Pro - but 6 inch reader is out there and a couple of people participating on this thread have mentioned theirs now and again. But I don't think I can recall any of them doing a formal review (and I don't think I recall anyone with several devices doing a side-by-side comparison - I'm not sure if we have anybody who has the EZ Reader and another e-ink device)

But yeah, I expect we'll have half a dozen independent reviews of the Pocket Pro in 5-6 weeks.

Dear Rixte and all:

There were at least a few in-depth reviews of the EZ Reader by MobileRead Forum mentioned about 5 months ago in this thread.

Independent Reviews require one thing: cooperation from the reviewing outfit. I have spent months writing to reviewers and calling them. They do not write back or show any interest. They concentrate on Amazon and Sony and refuse all others. The Washington Post is an example. I have emailed to Rob P. at their tech review 50 times. I have caught him when he goes live. He will not acknowledge that I am alive.

I finally, last week, got a reviewer at The San Francisco Examiner and one at MobileTech Review who are doing reviews now on the EZ Reader Basic and want to do reviews on the Pocket PRO as soon as we have them.

You have no idea how hard it is to get these reviewers to do their job!

We just sent out 500 press releases to go after more.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by rixte

But I don't think I can recall any of them doing a formal review (and I don't think I recall anyone with several devices doing a side-by-side comparison - I'm not sure if we have anybody who has the EZ Reader and another e-ink device)

One reason for no formal reviews here is that the Hanlin V3 was a known quantity when the EZ Reader came out. However, see EZ Reader: Initial Impression. Also, File Navigation: Hanlin V3 vs OpenInkPot will give you an idea of how the file interface looks (I actually prefer the Lbook version, see post #2721).

[rixte]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

One reason for no formal reviews here is that the Hanlin V3 was a known quantity when the EZ Reader came out. However, see EZ Reader: Initial Impression. Also, File Navigation: Hanlin V3 vs OpenInkPot will give you an idea of how the file interface looks (I actually prefer the Lbook version, see post #2721).

Oh, nice review, thanks for the link!

[griffonwing]

Is there a way to flash the device to be able to read MobiDRM and AdobeDRM, without having to flash back and forth?

Or is that more of a darknet type of flashing?

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

Is there a way to flash the device to be able to read MobiDRM and AdobeDRM, without having to flash back and forth?

No. The EZ Reader Pocket Pro won't even have a MOBI DRM firmware option, however the DRM-free MOBI reader in the latest (EZ Reader) firmware is good enough that you might want to use it as your primary format. This would involve stripping DRM from commercial MOBI ebooks, which is thought by many to be legal in the US for personal use. Once an ebook is DRM-free it can be shifted into whatever format you like. FB2 also works well on the Hanlins, and the new ePub reader from Adobe is pretty good if you are willing to put some effort into customizing each individual ebook using Calibre.

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

One reason for no formal reviews here is that the Hanlin V3 was a known quantity when the EZ Reader came out. However, see EZ Reader: Initial Impression. Also, File Navigation: Hanlin V3 vs OpenInkPot will give you an idea of how the file interface looks (I actually prefer the Lbook version, see post #2721).

Dear Wallcraft:

Thank you for helping!

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

No. The EZ Reader Pocket Pro won't even have a MOBI DRM firmware option, however the DRM-free MOBI reader in the latest (EZ Reader) firmware is good enough that you might want to use it as your primary format. This would involve stripping DRM from commercial MOBI ebooks, which is thought by many to be legal in the US for personal use. Once an ebook is DRM-free it can be shifted into whatever format you like. FB2 also works well on the Hanlins, and the new ePub reader from Adobe is pretty good if you are willing to put some effort into customizing each individual ebook using Calibre.

I have so much to learn, and only a few weeks to learn it!!

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

I have so much to learn, and only a few weeks to learn it!!

Dear Griffonwing:

YOU are surrounded by friends!! I will help you all you need. You can always email to service@astak.com to ask questions. Send me your email in a private message and I will send you out a very extensive FAQ sheet... or go to www.theEZreader.com and under the "support" icon... read the FAQ sheet!! send me your email and I will send you the User Manual!!

By God, we would do almost anything to help you. Stop worrying and get ready to enjoy!!

[6charlong]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

I have so much to learn, and only a few weeks to learn it!!

Don’t worry Griffon, the whole point of a book reader is to read good books. Just get some eBooks that interest you, put them on the Pro and enjoy it. If you’re willing, it might help others if you share your experiences with it on the forum. Personally I don’t use format shifting and jail-breaking tricks. Maybe because I’m too dumb to do it, but I’ve never tried because I don’t like to skirt the law and all I want a book reader for is to read books.

As to secure Mobi format, one of the nicest things about the Pro is that it has ePub and eReader among the many formats it will render (OK, eReader on the Pocket Pro is still promised-and-hoped-for-and-tantalizing-but-not-yet-available-for-public-inspection-ware). But be careful with secure Mobi. I read secure eReader books exclusively on my Clie until I found a secure Mobi book I thought I had to have, so I bought it. The moment I opened that secure Mobi book my Clie crashed. I lost my calendar, contacts, everything. I restored the Clie from a backup and found that while the eReader books were all working fine, it couldn’t read the secure Mobi because it now had a different PID. Just to be sure, I bought the cheapest secure Mobi I could find and tried it again with the same result: the moment it discovered secure eReader on the Clie, it crashed the Clie and I lost everything again. I’ve never been tempted to use secure Mobi again.

eReader support is, for me, one of the Pro’s strongest points. The fact that Barnes and Noble will be selling books for it is a big plus. Like you, I can’t wait to get my Pocket Pro and shake the little guy down. I’m hoping it renders ePub better than the Sony and I can’t wait to test PDB and MS Word files on it, but at this point all we can do is wait for the UPS truck at the end of the month. I'll probably write a review of it too if there aren't too many of them coming in at once.

[Stensie4JC]

Originally Posted by rixte

Well, nobody outside Astak has the Pocket Pro - but 6 inch reader is out there and a couple of people participating on this thread have mentioned theirs now and again. But I don't think I can recall any of them doing a formal review (and I don't think I recall anyone with several devices doing a side-by-side comparison - I'm not sure if we have anybody who has the EZ Reader and another e-ink device)

But yeah, I expect we'll have half a dozen independent reviews of the Pocket Pro in 5-6 weeks.

Oh yeah, the 6"! Forgot about that.

As for reviews, even if the big guys aren't interested I'm sure some Average Joes will post their opinions--a source I am more inclined to trust than an agency, anyway.

[Musicman]

I have been testing different formats on my EZ-Reader with the new Firmware upgrade and ran into a problem opening books in LIT format (Non DRM).

I used Calibre to convert a book into multiple formats and my EZ-Reader recognizes the book in LIT format, but will not open it.

Has anyone been successful in opening a book in LIT format on the EZ-Reader?

Am I doing something wrong in my conversion with Calibre?

I found that so far I like the PRC format best, and am extremely happy with Adobe Digital Editions which allows me to read Library books.

[jes1]

I opened a couple of Baen books in LIT, but it is not my favorite format for the EZ-Reader in this, or the last firmware version. LIT books open slower, and the pages turn a lot slower than the other formats that I have tried. I have not tried opening a book converted in Calibre from another format, so don't know how that works.