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

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

As the attached photo shows, the Netronix devices are just as susceptible to screen breakage as a Cybook.

I agree with the basic point that EInk screens are fragile, but the EZ Reader is a Hanlin (from Jinkie, not Netronix) and the Mentors (next year from Netronix) will (perhaps?) have the new plastic screen.

The other major plus of Astak is that they will be the POC for repairs, only time will tell if this leads to an improvement in service but it should make returns easier within the US.

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by tirsales

When?

(And actually neither feature is new. Still I would be interested)

Dear Tirsales:

New means new to the device, not innovative as in a new technology. Of course, numerous others have Wi-Fi and Touchsccreen and have had it.

Remember, the EZ Reader right now is almost entirely a Jinke Hanlin V3 with Astak tech support and warranty and user manual and some free eBooks pre-loaded. It is a great unit for those who want a rugged device that does everything well.

Jinke is telling us that the Wi-Fi version (known as EZ Reader Plus) is due in February, 2009. Likewise. the Touchscreen version WITH soft keyboard note-taking will be out in March, 2009. Frankly, most people WANT note-taking on a Touchscreen. I have no rational way to know what the price will be. I will try to find out and let you know via this forum.

RobertB

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Jinke is telling us that the Wi-Fi version (known as EZ Reader Plus) is due in February, 2009. Likewise. the Touchscreen version WITH soft keyboard note-taking will be out in March, 2009.

What are the use cases planned for the Wi-Fi? Is it basically for Syncing? Or, will it have a web browser so you can buy ebooks from the device? Any info would be nice.

BOb

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

I agree with the basic point that EInk screens are fragile, but the EZ Reader is a Hanlin (from Jinkie, not Netronix) and the Mentors (next year from Netronix) will (perhaps?) have the new plastic screen.

The other major plus of Astak is that they will be the POC for repairs, only time will tell if this leads to an improvement in service but it should make returns easier within the US.

Yes, the User Manual is in proper American English and technical support is also from Astak. Also, we will have a website soon that will be filled with helpful hints, answers to your questions, a small forum area, and a FAQ sheet for how to fully use the EZ Reader. We know that User Manuals are never perfect (we tried with this one very hard)... but the website should help a lot. Also, there may be firmware upgrades and we can accomplish that thru this new website (due in about three weeks).

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

What are the use cases planned for the Wi-Fi? Is it basically for Syncing? Or, will it have a web browser so you can buy ebooks from the device? Any info would be nice.

BOb

Dear Pilot Bob:

Any e-ink and e-paper device like the EZ Reader has about a 200-400 MHz processor. It is pretty teeny compared to a computer. As such, it cannot web browse like a computer (of course, your notebook is lucky if it will run on battery for 5 hours and these machines get 8,000 pages of text to a single charge). There are trade-offs. Wi-Fi will allow going to websites DESIGNED to allow download to eBook Readers. These are not plentiful yet but are coming. We can, for example, program our EZ Reader to wirelessly link with the Fictionwise website (purely as an example). BUT... Fictionwise has to allow their site to be set-up to take the request. Remember, you do not have a curser... you have a great selection system with ten numbered buttons. Fictionwise would have to set up a seperate website where the 1-10 buttons can be used. For example: button 1 is drama, button 2 is science fiction, button three is comedy, button 4 is adventure, button 5 is classics, button 6 is Newspapers.

When we do the EZ Reader Plus with Wi-Fi we will have a pre-programmed site where you can go and do such a thing.

So, the answer to your question is: to wirelessly choose books... but it will have to be programmed to a site or a few sites where the site(s) will recognize the device and then work accordingly.

Does this help? I didn't know either, and had to go and find out so I could answer you. VERY smart question!!

Robert B

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I admire your enthusiasm, Robert, but don't you think it's a little unwise to describe it as "tough as nails"? It has exactly the same delicate glass screen substrate as every other device on the market. If people start banging it around, that substrate WILL fracture!

You can quite safely hit a nail with a hammer (in fact, I believe that people quite commonly do!), but I really wouldn't recommend hitting your EZ Reader with a hammer...

Point taken, Harry. It is like when I say "solid"... but it is, of course, hollow and filled with components. Maybe I should stick with "very troublefree" and build rugged within the context of eBook Readers. No, please do not hit your EZ Reader with a hammer.

It is true. It does have a glass screen and glass can crack. However, mine took three drops off a table at 45 inches and survived unscathed. Remember, ALL who read this, it comes with a quality crush-resistant case with magnetic enclosure. It is a strong and reliable case... and looks good doing it. BUT... "crush-resistant and" "crush-proof" are two different things!!

The EZ Reader User Manual DOES a good job telling you how to treat your device! I will just say that it is a workhorse of a device in a figurative sense and works particularly well.

Robert B

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by NeweReader

I figure the first shipment of EZ Readers will be black. Do you know when the colored EZ Readers will be available? I think I would like the blue one.

You don't always get to all the questions, but I hope you can answer this one.

Thank you.

Dear Newereader:

Yes, the initial shipment is all black (not a bad thing). Thank you for asking this question as I am the driving force behind Electric Blue at Astak. I have insisted on colors from the start! The problem is that WHEN you choose a color... it does not come out like you envision it. There is a thing called a Pantene Color Chart to standardize colors. You can pick a color in the USA and Taiwan/China knows exactly what you want. We did that. Unfortunately, the plastic factory mixed as recommended by the color chart and ended up with a color that does not look close. It is blue: but not "our blue". So, they are sending us two casings, one in Metallic Red (supposedly) and one in Electric Blue (supposedly). We will see these next week. We pray they are passable!! If not, we will try to compensate to get what we want in plastic. Apparently resins wreak havac with colors.

We WILL have a second order in (likely) late January. THAT will have four colors. I am very disappointed as I LOVE color in my electronics too. This is a part of the headaches that come with getting something to market. Sorry, Newereader. I am sorry for me too.

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by igorsk

"Thin and light" does not necessarily mean good ergonomics. A major complaint about Netronix EB600 (aka Cybook Gen3 and others) is that it's very hard/impossible to use one-handed. Other readers fare somewhat better, but still could use some improvement.

Dear Igorsk:

Yes, thin and light does NOT translate to good ergonomics. BUT that is my point! Everyone told me that Thin and Light were far down the list of "most desired". To me... my first question is how in hell am I supposed to hold a bulky and heavy device for an hour on an airplane. The human hand has a comfort level for weight and thickness. To me, the EZ Reader can be grasped and held comfortably. Then... you also have to look at the controls and their laypout relative to where your fingers fall. The EZ Reader has page-advance buttons on the left side, right side (as some people are left handed), and on the bottom front. Everything seems to fall naturally into easy movement of thumb and yet there is plenty of room to hold it comfortably without accidently triggering anything.

So... I judge the ergonomics to be very good on the EZ Reader. Yes, I am predjudiced. But, if I did not feel the ergonomics were right I would likely have yelled and screamed until we changed it... or I would say they are "only fair". To me, it is right!

Thank you,

Robert B

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

I just tried sending my request to the email address and Comcast bounced it back as undeliverable.

There is a typo (reserach) in the email address, try irish@teamresearchinc.com.

[Dylrob]

Originally Posted by roncri

I'm still using my eBookwise. I purchased a Cybook Gen3 but the screen cracked and I was back to using my eBookwise. I forgot what it was like to have easy to use page turn buttons and very fast page scrolling. Screw the eInk, make me a thinner, lighter eBookwise that supports SD cards and I'm sold.

The thin factor seems to be one of the reasons devices like the Cybook are so fragile in the first place. Thickness affords more resistance to sheering.

[SaraD]

Hi Robert B,

The last price tag I saw for the basic EZ Reader was "around $300" and that was a while ago. Is there an updated price that you can officially tell us yet? And what shipping costs can be expected?

Thank You!

[emellaich]

Price: Although no longer a deal, the new Astak price seems inline with other companies. However, the real issue here is the rise of the netbook. Its hard to compare the price/features of an ebook when you can get a laptop with an eight to ten inch screen for $300 to $500. The ipod touch at $229 is at a nice price point also. It may not be possible to put the ebooks together much cheaper, but they are getting a lot of price pressure from similar products.

Durability: As so many others have noted, cracked screens are a problem. I had a Cybook, but don't plan to replace it until a flexible screen is available.

Speed: Eink and the software to date is pathetic. It takes forever to page through my 450 book library. I need folders, and faster page changes. Its also a pain trying to find a page in a book. Since my Cybook busted, I bought a used palm tungsten. The LCD screen is so much more interactive resulting in a much snappier response. I can quickly page through my library, and I can use the touch screen and the progress bar to quickly skip back and forward.

[SaraD]

Yes, but what kind of battery life do you get? None of my gadget toys with LCD screens get a really good battery life. Maybe a day or maybe 3 of heavy use at best and that is for basic mp3 players. However, that may have changed since I last made any major purchases of rechargable electronics. I am really hoping that the e-ink screens perform close to the advertised battery life. The only netbook numbers I've seen for battery life were pretty poor. Why would I want to have to recharge so often just to read? And to me the backlighting may be more interactive than e-ink but I am hoping the e-ink is more restful. After research automatic cat litter boxes tonight after a day of working at a computer too, I am starting to see the burn images when I blink my eyes. I don't get that with p-books so I'm hoping for the same with an e-ink device.

My husband asked me the same question that you posted so I have already thought about my answer.

[Dylrob]

Originally Posted by emellaich

Price: Although no longer a deal, the new Astak price seems inline with other companies. However, the real issue here is the rise of the netbook. Its hard to compare the price/features of an ebook when you can get a laptop with an eight to ten inch screen for $300 to $500. The ipod touch at $229 is at a nice price point also. It may not be possible to put the ebooks together much cheaper, but they are getting a lot of price pressure from similar products.

At present eInk screens are fairly pricey. Supposedly plastic screens will actually be cheaper to produce once ramped up.

Originally Posted by emellaich

Speed: Eink and the software to date is pathetic. It takes forever to page through my 450 book library. I need folders, and faster page changes. Its also a pain trying to find a page in a book. Since my Cybook busted, I bought a used palm tungsten. The LCD screen is so much more interactive resulting in a much snappier response. I can quickly page through my library, and I can use the touch screen and the progress bar to quickly skip back and forward.

After watching a video the new controller in action (which I posted here a couple days ago), I have high hopes that next generation devices will have much more responsive interfaces. It's not entirely clear if page turns will be any faster, but menus at least should be.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

I concur. As the attached photo shows, the Netronix devices are just as susceptible to screen breakage as a Cybook. In fact, this particular unit broke when I pressed the navigation control to move to the next page in the ebook I was reading. BTW, I've been attempting to get Netronix to repair this EB-100 since early July (when the breakage occurred) and I've not been able to get a response from Lisa Lin (my original contact person), the sales department or the support department - this despite *NUMEROUS* emails from Comcast, Google and Inbox email accounts. (Google and Comcast get blocked right off the bat and, since July, my Inbox email has been routinely ignored)

Derek

Netronix devices are exactly the same hardware as the Cybook. Robert was not talking about Netronix devices but Jinke devices which is a different design.

Dale