Pocket Pro Question

[ekaser]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

My thoughts exactly. But it appears that JSwolf has nothing better to do than hang out in the Astak forums and bash their products, since he can no longer hang out and complain about RobertB bashing other companies' products.

[griffonwing]

It's all good though. Even so as we don't necessarily have the same views on many things, he goes on incessantly about hyperlinks the same as I constantly complain about gov't conspiracies.

The funny thing is, we're about even on that.

[cvkemp]

To me hyperlinks would be great and I believe we will have them in future firmware but it is not a show stopper. I believe that we have to much of the me factor here. I am this way I have my way of reading and that is to relex or to gather information that is needed for work. I have hearing problems so I have learned that I get most of my information from reading and that is even true if I am watching a movie. I have to have captions. I no longer understand voices they are to soft or they a spoken too fast.

I have the EzReader and it is great I am looking forward to hopefully a 9 or 10 inch reader in the future that I can afford that does PDFs the correct way. And so far that has not been the Kindle DX. And the others that I have looked at are well over my budget. I can only read so long on a LCD or LED screen and my head is killing me so the eink is what I love and will use.

Chuck

[emellaich]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

It's all good though. Even so as we don't necessarily have the same views on many things, he goes on incessantly about hyperlinks the same as I constantly complain about gov't conspiracies.

The funny thing is, we're about even on that.

Well you see, the government took out the hyperlinks so that whistle-blowers couldn't link you to the facts supporting their conspiracy claims. It leaves you thinking that the writer is a crackpot just making things up out of whole cloth.

-- Just doing my bit to help you folks find some common ground .

MLH

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by emellaich

Well you see, the government took out the hyperlinks so that whistle-blowers couldn't link you to the facts supporting their conspiracy claims. It leaves you thinking that the writer is a crackpot just making things up out of whole cloth.

-- Just doing my bit to help you folks find some common ground .

MLH

*jots down in his book.. Conspiracy #4,674,937,219 - Hyperlink Manifesto....

[slayda]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

*jots down in his book.. Conspiracy #4,674,937,219 - Hyperlink Manifesto....

Be sure not to flush your notes.

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by slayda

Be sure not to flush your notes.

.. what do you think i'm using for ink...

[wayamauro]

Originally Posted by frozennorth

In my opinion I doubt that the price of the Pocket Pro will change as long as Sony sells the 300 for 199. I think the reason Astak reduced the price from 229 to 199 was because of Sony's pricing of the 300. Now please don't throw rocks at me, I know the pez is more loaded than the 300, but Sony has better name recognition and their readers will be on display in multiple stores.

I'm looking forward to all your reviews when you get your new toy.

You made a whole point there.

[sian]

is there any way to upgrade the tts to a better sounding voice imo the current voice is what lets the pocket pro down

[93terp]

Sony PRC-300 - $199
Astak EZ Reader Pocket Pro - $199

Not only does the Astak have more features, but the kicker (for me anyway!) is that the EZRPP includes BOTH a case AND the AC adapter. If you want those accessories for the Sony you'll need to dish out another $29.99 for the cover and $29.99 for the power adapter. That's $60 worth of "extras" that Astak is providing that you won't get with the Sony. FWIW, that's what pushed me over the edge in deciding between the 2 readers. I should get mine today - it's on the delivery truck & en route - can't wait to take it for test drive when I get home!

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...3&N=4294954526

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by sian

is there any way to upgrade the tts to a better sounding voice imo the current voice is what lets the pocket pro down

Dear Sian:

To the best of my knowledge this is the current state-of-the-art on TTS and I am NOT saying it is perfect. It is decent; but TTS in general has a ways to go for every manufacturer. It works decent on a long trip when you are tired and want to relax. I am sure that the factory will be one of the first to strive toward improving it!

Regarding the price of $199 for the Pocket PRO... the official deadline is September 30 at midnight. What will happen then... I just do not know.

We have many retail stores that want to carry it. They cannot live with the existing margin and are urging a higher MSRP. This would be good because it would mean more sales volume. Contrary to popular belief, selling thru Retail Stores does NOT mean a lower price... it means they have a margin to maintain.

At this point, all I know is that $199 is a great price for the end user... but it is due to rise at the end of this month. It may go up $30 or it may go up $10. I am NOT trying to scare you into buying... just telling you that this is the way it stands right now.

[griffonwing]

I'm not sure how sales contracts go, but is it possible to implement a clause that their price cannot be lower than $xx for x amount of time?

For example. Astak raises the intro price up 20 bucks to $219. A book store wishes to carry the PEZ, and signs a contract that they will carry the device at a price of 229. The customer can purchase the device immediately, or they can spend 10 less on the price and pay even more for shipping.. They further agree that they cannot lower the price of the device more than 10-15 dollars for a week's time, every 90 days.

In this way, they can have a sale on the PEZ for $215 which lasts a week, and they can do this every 3 months.

In this way, Astak still has a good hold on the web sales, and stores all over can still maintain a profit margin, and are unable to rack up monumental sales with exorbitant price cuts.

[ekaser]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

I'm not sure how sales contracts go, but is it possible to implement a clause that their price cannot be lower than $xx for x amount of time?

In this way, Astak still has a good hold on the web sales, and stores all over can still maintain a profit margin, and are unable to rack up monumental sales with exorbitant price cuts.

Most LARGE retailers, when contracting to carry a product, will demand that the contract NOT allow the manufacturer to offer the product at less than SRP directly to customers (otherwise manufacturers could always undercut/undersell the retailers). But yeah, you can put anything you like into a contract... getting the other guy to SIGN it is the hard part.