Jetbook's View of e-Ink

[Kralik]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

My problem is that the Sony 500 (an ebook reader) was out of production at the time the chart was released and had been for months.

Consider:
The comparison chart was probably marketing material made before the jetBook's release. The jetBook was released about 5-6 months (late October 2007 --> March 2008) after the Sony PRS-505. It's not unreasonable to give Ectaco the benefit of a doubt: perhaps the PRS-505 was brand new on the market or not yet released when they published the chart. Just take a look at upcoming devices and technologies -- Plastic Logic, Pixel Qi, Readius... how long will these companies have had promotional material on their website by the time the product is actually released? 6 months? A year? More? Unless someone knows the exact date that chart was published, it's hard to made a judgment in that respect (other than, "by golly, they need to update that old webpage!")

In addition, just because the PRS-500 may have been discontinued, doesn't mean that it was not currently in use by a variety of people! Not everyone is going to run out and sell X electronic device to buy X.2, the newest version. The jetBook clearly shows the PRS-500 on the chart... why not leave it as it stands? It was at least a current device at the jetBook's release date, perhaps the Sony device when the chart was made.

As for the DRM and BB&B complaint... therein lies the woes of the entire eBook industry. You might as well complain that people who buy a Sony eBook reader from Staples are going to be disappointed that they can't use books from Amazon. "But I thought Amazon was a eBook store and this can read eBooks!" "But I thought it was just like the Kindle, but Sony!" What about people who buy books only to find they can't loan them to friends? DRM is a problem, but there's no reason that ECTACO needs to withhold their reader from a US B&M store because prospective users don't know this. I would definitely do the research before spending $200.

It reminds me of some of the Eee PC complaints: as you probably know, many Eee PC's were sold with either Linux or Windows (some only Linux). What of the poor consumers who bought a Linux model from Target or Best Buy and found they couldn't run Windows-based software? Well, of course, they returned the product and complained loudly. Does this mean ASUS was unethical to sell Linux-based netbooks in a retail chain? No, of course not. It means the consumers need to research what they buy before they buy it! The negative "D'oh, it's not Windows!" reviews irritate me to no end.

[Kralik]

Just a followup note on BB&B:

On the jetBook box, it only lists the following document formats: "FictionBook (.fb2), Plain Text (.txt), PDF" No implication whatsoever of supporting Sony or Amazon formats. The nice firmware upgrades supporting non-DRM ePUB, mobi, etc. came after the initial release date, which is in ECTACO's favor as far as improving the product. If someone was looking over the product in a BB&B B&M store, they wouldn't be misled to believe it worked with DRM'd files.

If they happened to buy it from BB&B online, I'd hope that if they at least were "tech-savvy" enough to shop for an electronic reader online, they'd do their research.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

and then find out that the ePub his friend has are all with DRm and won't work. Find out the eBooks from his favorite author have DRM and won't work.

uhhh ... you have a friend who has a PRS505 that reads DRM ePub files? Last I heard Adobe wouldn't license DRM ePubs on devices that have some other kind of DRM.

Nice trick!

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by wodin

Last I heard Adobe wouldn't license DRM ePubs on devices that have some other kind of DRM.

I think that's Mobipocket/Amazon, not Adobe.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Kralik

Consider:
The comparison chart was probably marketing material made before the jetBook's release. The jetBook was released about 5-6 months (late October 2007 --> March 2008) after the Sony PRS-505. It's not unreasonable to give Ectaco the benefit of a doubt: perhaps the PRS-505 was brand new on the market or not yet released when they published the chart. Just take a look at upcoming devices and technologies -- Plastic Logic, Pixel Qi, Readius... how long will these companies have had promotional material on their website by the time the product is actually released? 6 months? A year? More? Unless someone knows the exact date that chart was published, it's hard to made a judgment in that respect (other than, "by golly, they need to update that old webpage!")

The 505 was released before the K1. And since Ectaco can include the K1 in the chart, there is no reason not to have compared the 505. Plus, some of the info in the Sony column refers to the 505 and some to the 500. basically, that chart is a botch job of the highest order.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by wodin

uhhh ... you have a friend who has a PRS505 that reads DRM ePub files? Last I heard Adobe wouldn't license DRM ePubs on devices that have some other kind of DRM.

Nice trick!

Adobe did license their DRM to Sony which already had DRM for their BBeB format. It is Mobipocket that won't license their DRM unless they can be the only DRM.

So yes, the 505 does handle ePub and PDF with Adobe's DRM.

[Kralik]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The 505 was released before the K1. And since Ectaco can include the K1 in the chart, there is no reason not to have compared the 505. Plus, some of the info in the Sony column refers to the 505 and some to the 500. basically, that chart is a botch job of the highest order.

Point. Could you clarify which items apply to the 505 and not to the 500? Thanks.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Kralik

Point. Could you clarify which items apply to the 505 and not to the 500? Thanks.

I did post a message (a while ago) about the chart in more detail just about the Sony side of it.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...6&postcount=30

[Kralik]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I did post a message (a while ago) about the chart in more detail just about the Sony side of it.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...6&postcount=30

I've seen this one, but you are taking each item as applying to the 505, whereas Ectaco is showing the 500. Which items do NOT apply to the 500?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Kralik

I've seen this one, but you are taking each item as applying to the 505, whereas Ectaco is showing the 500. Which items do NOT apply to the 500?

Black or silver glossy case. Easy to slip out of hands

The 500 never came in anything other than black.

Light, power adapter

The power adapter is not an accessory for the 500, it is for the 505.

A lot of the other things Ectaco says can be for the 500 or the 505. Not all is applicable to the 505. But then again, I do think Ectaco got their facts wrong in some cases.

Number of titles Unlimited. 30 popular WEB sites that we have located hold at least 500,000 FREE access books and audiobooks. You can also request a title from us which we will find and send to you right away.

And saying they have unlimited titles available for the Jetbook is plain out and out BS. The way Ectaco compares the Jetbook to the 500 and/or 505 & K1 is just plain poor and whoever wrote the chart and approved it should have been fired.

[luqmaninbmore]

The 500 came out in Blue, not black, and the ac adaptor (and cradle) were accessories available for the 500. The 500 was my first dedicated ebook reader and I've since passed it on to my wife and soon will pass it on to my daughter, when the EZReader Pocket Pro arrives. Tough littler bugger that thing is. I've dropped it numerous times and, despite some cosmetic damage, it keeps on going without even a scratch on the screen.

[Kralik]

Can anyone edit the MR wiki? How about we fix things by adding a Comparison of 5" Readers page that is objective and free from bias? For example, in screen it could say TFT LCD for jetBook and e-ink (with details) for others without a judgment on which is better. Have a row for DRM-supported formats (jetBook: none, others: with details) and a better battery life comparison (jetBook: 20-24 hours, others: X page turns). We could also add details that some people don't seem to know about, such as the jetBook's 16 levels of grayscale support or its SDHC support up to 32GB (ridiculous, yes). Could we all agree that this would be better than quarreling about Ectaco's inaccurate/biased chart?

EDIT: I see there's a bit of a 5" comparison in the Wiki already, but it is lacking the jetBook and the upcoming Astak / Bebook. Anyway, perhaps it should be updated?

EDIT2: OK, Hanlin counts for Astak/Bebook. Though don't they use different firmwares and have different capabilities?

[Kralik]

Originally Posted by luqmaninbmore

The 500 came out in Blue, not black, and the ac adaptor (and cradle) were accessories available for the 500. The 500 was my first dedicated ebook reader and I've since passed it on to my wife and soon will pass it on to my daughter, when the EZReader Pocket Pro arrives. Tough littler bugger that thing is. I've dropped it numerous times and, despite some cosmetic damage, it keeps on going without even a scratch on the screen.

So... the ECTACO chart is accurate for the Sony PRS-500 specs other than the color?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by luqmaninbmore

The 500 came out in Blue, not black, and the ac adaptor (and cradle) were accessories available for the 500. The 500 was my first dedicated ebook reader and I've since passed it on to my wife and soon will pass it on to my daughter, when the EZReader Pocket Pro arrives. Tough littler bugger that thing is. I've dropped it numerous times and, despite some cosmetic damage, it keeps on going without even a scratch on the screen.

The cradle was an accessory you didn't need. And the AC Adapter came with the 500. So it's not really an accessory.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Kralik

So... the ECTACO chart is accurate for the Sony PRS-500 specs other than the color?

The chart is not accurate. And they don't even compare Sony & Amazon models that are actually available for sale. That's even more deceptive.