jetBook MINI Real LEAK?!

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by livingenzyme

...not to mention ectaco's dedication to these products.

You sure about that? The way the JBL has been in short supply lately from vendors dumping and not restocking it suggests to me that Ectaco is replacing it with that joke of a JB-Mini.

[wandalynn]

Originally Posted by livingenzyme

I absolutely don't understand why people want to buy the aluratek libre when jetbook/jetbook lite is superior to it in every way, not to mention ectaco's dedication to these products.

Now that the JBL and Libre are available for under $100 I've considered getting one or the other as a portable ereader. The nook is just too clunky to comfortably carry around.

So what features make the big difference between the Ectaco and Aluratek?

I saw the Libre at Borders, liked the size and weight, the no black flash between FAST pageturns. But no dictionary was a con.

My concern about the JBL is that the battery pack would make it heavy. Plus, I prefer to use rechargables which don't seem to work as well from what I've read.

I mostly read PG and Overdrive books. I've bought others from Sony, B&N, Smashwords and Kobo.

The no clock feature is what most interests me about these ereaders, btw. (Overdrive).

Thanks for any advice.

[GA Russell]

Wandalynn, the JBL's battery compartment makes a nice handle. I find the device very comfortable to hold.

I use Duracell rechargeable AA batteries, and they work great.

I can't speak to whether the JBL is that much heavier than the Libre.

The JBL has dictionaries. I find that the English dictionary might be beneficial for someone learning the English language, but it does not include the words I look up.

[GhostHawk]

This thread
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90748

This was the most relevant post..............
"The ALP never could read the B&N DRM pdb or their new ePub DRM.

B&N just added DRM ePub to their line up BUT the DRM is not ADE ePub compliant.

So for B&N The JB-Lite reads DRM pdb and the JB with .35e FW reads ADE DRM ePub/PDF as well as B&N's new DRM ePub - not sure about pdb DRM.

In .35? they also added Text Flow on/off for PDF viewing and ePub now has active TOC just like PDF had. ePub lost access to dictionary look-up and find.

all the units can access DRM free ePub.


The JB and the ALP are the same physically so they both have a clock in the o/s.

If you want unlimited rental time on an ADE epub ebook just remove the DRM after the download.


Both the JB w/FW .35? and the ALP can support most Public Library ebooks because of ADE and Overdrive support.

Right Now the JB with FW .35e supports more formats, includes a limited dictionary and gives you active TOC support w/ePub docs that have that feature defined. The ALP does not as of this post..............


Or you can read through this monster. .......

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63092

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Flyingredgoat

Ectaco is taking pre-orders.

http://www.ectaco.com/jetbook-mini-yellow/

frg

That is one ugly design. I'm not meaning the color.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by wandalynn

Now that the JBL and Libre are available for under $100 I've considered getting one or the other as a portable ereader. The nook is just too clunky to comfortably carry around.

So what features make the big difference between the Ectaco and Aluratek?

I saw the Libre at Borders, liked the size and weight, the no black flash between FAST pageturns. But no dictionary was a con.

My concern about the JBL is that the battery pack would make it heavy. Plus, I prefer to use rechargables which don't seem to work as well from what I've read.

I mostly read PG and Overdrive books. I've bought others from Sony, B&N, Smashwords and Kobo.

The no clock feature is what most interests me about these ereaders, btw. (Overdrive).

Thanks for any advice.

I just weighed my JBL and it's a fine hair over 9 oz. My 6" Mentor weighs 6.5 oz. Four Sanyo Eneloops (the prechargeables I use) weigh 4 oz. I'm guessing the extra weight of the AAs vs. the internal battery of the JB is only 3oz. Heck, my purse, with the JBL inside, weighs 4 lb. (and I used to carry a heavier one but I got too old)! If you can't handle the extra 4 oz. each set of four batteries weighs, get a bag to hang on your walker.

As mentioned, I use the Sanyo Eneloops in my JBL. Battery life in the JBL seems to only equal alkalines but I carry extra batteries in my purse so it's not a big deal. At least, when the batteries run down, all I have to do is pop in a fresh set and reboot. It takes only a few minutes opposed to several hours of recharging time, assuming I'm near an outlet when they run down (which I never am, of course).

[wandalynn]

Jeanie, Ghosthawk and all,

Thanks for all the info and the links. I'm going to read the threads although I'm pretty sure it's the JBL I'll end up getting. Do I understand that epub lost dictionary support? I'm surprised by how much I use the dictionary on my nook. I rarely used one to look up words in a dtb book but since it's right there I use it a lot.

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by wandalynn

Jeanie, Ghosthawk and all,

Thanks for all the info and the links. I'm going to read the threads although I'm pretty sure it's the JBL I'll end up getting. Do I understand that epub lost dictionary support? I'm surprised by how much I use the dictionary on my nook. I rarely used one to look up words in a dtb book but since it's right there I use it a lot.

I've been very satisfied with my JBL and it's continuous evolution into the
great little ereading device it is now. I've been lucky, I guess, as I never
encountered the problems a few have reported.

I haven't needed to look up the definition of any English words while reading
on the JBL, but I do find it useful (and kinda neat) to look up the occasional
foreign phrase encountered. Most of my reading is just for fun now a days
and that may be a factor.

[While I don't need a dictionary for reading, I would look like a total idiot
without my spell checker.]

Luck;
Ken

[Seabound]

LOL, some people just don't have a life. How much more can one person repeatedly bash a particular eBook reader brand? What weird satisfaction he must get out of it.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

...[While I don't need a dictionary for reading, I would look like a total idiot
without my spell checker.]

Luck;
Ken

Don't feel lonesome! And it's not because I can't spel (sic) either!

[soondai]

Originally Posted by Seabound

LOL, some people just don't have a life. How much more can one person repeatedly bash a particular eBook reader brand? What weird satisfaction he must get out of it.

I think the axe has been ground into filings and he's just whacking away with the handle now.

I really like the look of the Mini. Not aesthetically-- though I don't think it's ugly. I just love how small and simple it looks.

Real shame if they did cut back on the hardware where it can't support ePubs, though. The post from Jerry on their boards does not sound promising. I think if they really were going to be able to upgrade the firmware down the road he wouldn't be using such wishy-washy qualifying language.

I think it's a shame if they gutted the reader for battery life. An 85 dollar stripped down reader would make a nice alternative to the Kindles/Sonys/Nooks.

[PodPeople]

Originally Posted by GhostHawk

Right Now the JB with FW .35e supports more formats, includes a limited dictionary and gives you active TOC support w/ePub docs that have that feature defined. The ALP does not as of this post..............

I have firmware version v0.18g on my Libre and it does have active table of contents support for ePubs.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Not supporting PDF rendered it useless for me (and it's ugly).

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by Seabound

LOL, some people just don't have a life. How much more can one person repeatedly bash a particular eBook reader brand? What weird satisfaction he must get out of it.

+1...

[jblitereader]

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