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

[Luigino]

Whatever format it is, shouldn't be possible to convert to the format supported by own reader?... I mean from Mobi to eReader or viceversa... If we talk about PDFs, I found there is an utility mentioned on Mobileread called PDFRead which should allow to "read" a PDF in a good way on different dimension's Readers....

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Jack B Nimble

It's all a matter of simple, logical deduction... I cannot read secure Mobi on my mac, therefore Mobi must have the better selection, right?

Do you actually want to read books on a desktop/laptop machine? I find that a deeply unsatisfying experience, personally - it's what I buy portable book readers for .

[davidrothman]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

I think they goofed slightly in writing that article on TeleRead. Robert has always said that the 5" and 6" would be a month apart, and the 5" would have no extra features.

Hi, Nate. The info Bob Barry gave me for TeleRead was the current schedule at the time we talked. Apparently things have changed. The big thing he emphasized was that the 9.7" screen would have to come later because of the durability issue. But, yes, the five- and -six-inchers are to come out at the same time. I told him I'd post almost immediately, so if I goofed, which is always possible (no infallibility claimed!), I very likely would have heard from him.

As for people wondering about five inchers vs. six inchers and WiFi and other added goodies, I used the subhead: "July 28 new date for five- and six-inchers—with touch screen, WiFi and BlueTooth possible for $299." And then in the text itself I said, "...Bob would like for a six-incher with a touch screen, Bluetooth and WiFi to sell for perhaps $299." So that pretty well pins the WiFi feature down to the six incher. Not sure about other stuff that might be added to the five incher.

Meanwhile keep in mind these are tentative introductory prices, just guestimates, and that we could yet see a $150-$200 5 incher in time. Just not immediately. The chains for now want freedom to discount.

Let's all think good thoughts about the great new stuff ahead from all vendors! Hardware will still have a way to go, but progress is definitely being made even if exact time lines and other details can be fuzzy because of all the unknowns.

Thanks,
David

David Rothman | dr@teleread.org | 703-370-6540
http://www.teleread.org/blog

[Jack B Nimble]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Do you actually want to read books on a desktop/laptop machine? I find that a deeply unsatisfying experience, personally - it's what I buy portable book readers for .

Not often, but occasionally. When a book is not available for my eBookwise, I generally read on my PDA. The PDA is great for reading on the move (~80% of my reading time is on the move), but when mobility is not such an issue, I prefer a larger screen, which leaves the laptop.

So only when I am reading at home, and only those titles not available on the eBookwise. As I said, not often, but a consideration.

Jack

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Do you actually want to read books on a desktop/laptop machine? I find that a deeply unsatisfying experience, personally - it's what I buy portable book readers for .

I often want to search in a book and for that a desktop is very suitable.

[6charlong]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Do you actually want to read books on a desktop/laptop machine? I find that a deeply unsatisfying experience, personally - it's what I buy portable book readers for .

When I read for pleasure I agree with your assessment completely. Sitting at the computer screen to read a novel is something I only do on the rare occasions when it's the only alternative.

However for research I use the computer because it can search, and copy-and-paste text to my word processor or to OneNote, while at the same time eReader also lets me make notes about the text I'm reading and store it on the computer along with the document I'm reading. The flexibility those features offer make having something that works on both my portable eBook reader and my computer a first choice.

[nekokami]

Being able to use a larger screen (or even multiple screens) is a real advantage while researching, as well. But I'm hoping for more integration between portable readers and desktop systems in the future, so I can select text segments to revisit later while reading on a small device, then review and manipulate them on a system with a larger screen.

[ccccclark]

This is all very, very disappointing.

If the 9.7 goes above $350.00 then I won't be getting that one. I will also not pay much more than $300.00 for the 6". I really don't care about WiFi.

This is a big disappointment with the significant price difference from what was originally predicted. Being a new product, I am not going to risk a significant amount of money. I would rather buy something cheaper because ultimately I just want to be able to read books and don't care about the bells and whistles.

Looks like I might be going with a Sony.

[HPG]

Originally Posted by Jack B Nimble

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.

Interesting -- thanks, Jack. I have to say that, as a newcomer to this technology, it isn't easy to get a sense of its state. These discussions are extremely helpful, but I keep discovering whole new areas that I didn't realize existed (up until two or three weeks ago, I thought it all began and ended with the Sony device and the Kindle, neither of which are available in Canada).

Hugh

[emellaich]

Yes, there is some price increase. But there is one more thing to remember about the prices. Robert mentioned earlier that there would be some problem with the online store versus the discounters. The large retailers don't want to carry the unit if it is available for the same/cheaper price on the Astak web site. Therefore, the price on the web site will need to be a bit higher to allow the retailers room to sell it lower.

Robert said that if you want it immediately, you can get it at launch via the web site; albiet with a slightly higher price. If you can wait, then you can pick it up at retail for a lower price.

I'm not clear which price is which, but some of the things I have read have either said or implied (I'm not sure what I read where) that it was a price on the web site.

Michael

[ccccclark]

I am willing to wait a little bit because I was very excited about this product.

I have been a little leery about the other readers for various reasons, one being the properietary formats for the Sony and the Kindle. I just don't want to invest money in e-books that later may become outdated and inaccessible.

I am looking for a reader in the 200.00-300.00 range.
I could live with the 6" and it might even be better, although the 9.7 sounded nice for 350.00. I will not be paying more than that though for any reader. $500+ dollars is way too much.

[HPG]

Originally Posted by ccccclark

This is a big disappointment with the significant price difference from what was originally predicted. Being a new product, I am not going to risk a significant amount of money.

But that's in the nature of the development of new products, isn't it? What emerges usually bears little resemblance to what was originally conceived. What's really unusual about this whole thread is how users have been brought into the design process in a particularly open way. As many have observed here, the downside is that the more people who get involved, the more good ideas emerge, the further the launch date gets pushed back and the more expensive it all gets. It's a fascinating example of the tricky choices that one faces during the design process. Like many others here, I take my hat off to Robertb for the approach he's taken. I'm sure the result will be worth the wait

[Over]

Originally Posted by soilwork

http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/06...ossible-in-08/
I just found a relevant article from Teleread. It seems that the price is going to be increased from the estimates after all. Even though I am not really surprised, it is bit disappointing that the price of 9.7 inch reader will be around $588. Even though I am still planning to buy it, higher-than-expected price can reduce the potential market size, I believe.

$588? That's about 375€. 25€ more than a Cybook. That's a great price.

Unless they take the dishonest route, by selling it for 588€ in europe (that's $920), the so famous conversion ($1 = 1€).

[Luigino]

I guess we have only to wait and see on astakshop when mentors comes out for selling what price they will have...if increased then it could be possible maybe a mobileread's discount for who started here to help with suggests on the product... there is always a possibility... just let's wait a bit then let's make choices...
Also because news can say whatever they want and when the thing come out demonstrates that article was false... who knows?...

[griffonwing]

If it were down to money vs. features, I think I'd go with the Irex Iliad. But as for me, i wasnt something that will do nothing but read books. I personally do not need a dictionary/lookup feature. I do not need a feature that allows me to draw or write on the tablet. Granted, a feature that allows me to change words on the fly, like editing misspelled words in ebooks, would be a great asset for readers.

Other than that, the difference in price for Astak and Iliad are around $100 USD. That is not enough to sway me over to the Astek. Even so, the high price of the Iliad is keeping me away from it as well. 350 will be the highest I would pay for the Astek 9.7, and if they release it at a higher price point, they will be losing out on their customer base.

Selling thousands at $350 would reap much more profit than selling hundreds at $600. It's not cost per unit that they want to increase, it's units sold that they should keep in mind.