Delstar OpenBook at Walgreens

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by thcrw739

I was eying that jet book, at least for $120 it does some kind of drm.

Thinking....


Thanks

The JBL does not use Adobe's DRM so for DRMed ePub, it won't do at all.

[pendragginp]

Originally Posted by bryanzs

Well, I still don't have my own device to try with (should be here sometime today), but from what it looked like to me, after you plug in the USB cables to your computer, your computer should see the Delstar; and once you then run the RK exe, it should see the Delstar as well. After you plug in the Delstar, does your computer say anything about a "new device found"? And, after it (hopefully) says the new device is ready to use, if you launch the RK exe file (by double-clicking it), does it say it sees the device?

Hope that helps!

Yes when I plug it into the computer it does see it, as drive G. So then I just double click on the exe file and it will load onto the Delstar, is that right?

[pendragginp]

Originally Posted by Katelyn

If you use the USB cable and the device is detected then you're all set. When you run the RK 28.. Manager, it will auto-detect the reader and update the firmware. You don't need to do anything else except run it and wait until it finishes.

Okay, this sounds pretty straightforward. Thanks both of you.

[Vienna01]

Folks,
I had hoped that Delstar's first update/bug release fixed most of the problems since code freeze. I wonder if they released the update prematurely just to lower the heat. Did they know the update had many problems, do they not do regression testing? I will wait a week or so to see what happens since Walgreens' return policy is 30 days. The Openbook has much that I like.

I have noticed that this discussion has included Pros & Cons of various readers. I bought the Openbook because of its claimed specs. Its $100 price was also attractive but not controlling. My other reader is Sony 500 updated [now needs battery fix]. So that is my mental benchmark.

If the following is off topic too much, my apologies, but you folks seem to have the knowledge that I need to select another reader [I am still hoping for a surprise from Delstar]

I am looking for a reader that costs less than $250, does a decent job with PDFs, does an excellent job rendering EPUBs, allows the user to select 5 or 6 font sizes. I don't need MP3 or video support.I don't need it to provide wireless support like the Kindle. I am not sure on flavor of DRM support, maybe ADE. I like the look of eINK. I also like the look of Openbook's display.

Am I asking too much? Should I get a used Sony 505? Do any of the new Sonys fit my criteria [I suspect the 300's screen size will be a bit small]?
Do I need a larger screen to display PDFs reasonably?

[Highroller]

Well I have had problems with my jetbook lite locking up but they SAY the firmware that's coming out next week will fix that. Its not color of course and its a little limited on DRM but I don't like to get books with DRM in the first place. Its not back lit but that means it works great outside and with the reflective lcd it has it works better with a bedside lamp than a paper book does. So its not a good pick if you want color or lots of DRM choices but it shows a LOT of promise if they ever solve this re-occuring lockup problem.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Vienna01

I am looking for a reader that costs less than $250, does a decent job with PDFs, does an excellent job rendering EPUBs, allows the user to select 5 or 6 font sizes. I don't need MP3 or video support.I don't need it to provide wireless support like the Kindle. I am not sure on flavor of DRM support, maybe ADE. I like the look of eINK. I also like the look of Openbook's display.

Have you looked at the Pocketbook 360? I think it meats all the above... oh, I think it has 20 font sizes.

Have you looked at the ebook reader matrix on our Wiki?
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_Reader_Matrix

BOb

[bryanzs]

Vienna01, when you say:

Update May Have Created More Problems Than It Fixed

what problems have you seen that have been introduced by the update? So far as I can tell, while the update didn't resolve most of the issues, I didn't notice that it made anything worse. Or did I miss that somewhere?

Originally Posted by pendragginp

Thanks Katelyn. Yes, it's now fully charged and the power button still doesn't work, either to power on or power off. I amm holding it down too, not just tapping it. Hmm.

I think someone reported a bug earlier in this thread that the Power button stopped working while the power cable was plugged into the device. Try unplugging the power cable and see if the Power button works then.

Originally Posted by Highroller

As for an alternative to ipad, you might look at this

http://www.thinkdigit.com/Laptops-PC...blet_3878.html

I don't think its come to market yet but it looks more like you wanted Jack. It has a usb port sd card slot and is 7". Supposed to be marketed for $199.

Nice looking hardware. You are right in that it is probably still vaporware. The only down side is the browser based, proprietary OS. I'd pay $300 for something like that running a current OS that has plenty of good reader apps already available!

[pendragginp]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I think someone reported a bug earlier in this thread that the Power button stopped working while the power cable was plugged into the device. Try unplugging the power cable and see if the Power button works then.

I've tried it both ways, all ways, and nine ways to Sunday, but that button just doesn't work. When I get home from work tonight I'll try the upgrade, though I'd be surprised if the button was any different afterward. =}

Thanks Jack.

[Highroller]

Originally Posted by bryanzs

Vienna01, when you say:

Update May Have Created More Problems Than It Fixed

what problems have you seen that have been introduced by the update? So far as I can tell, while the update didn't resolve most of the issues, I didn't notice that it made anything worse. Or did I miss that somewhere?

I think Scott reported or maybe he told me elsewhere that before it lost all the formatting on epubs but now it still doesn't have the formatting but the epubs make the device reboot itself... Thats hardly a step in the right direction (

[bryanzs]

Well, after several days of only reading about the device, my Delstar is finally here! I quickly unboxed it, and ran the upgrade on the firmware.

After the firmware upgrade, I created a folder named BOOKS on the Delstar, and moved a variety of document types into that folder (including a subfolder containing a PDF). The documents I loaded included TXT, PDF, MBP, and DOC.

The device starts up quickly enough for me, which (after my iRex iLiad) is a pleasure.

I started up the music player, which worked well (though I don't know how to turn it off, only pause it). I also changed the "color scheme" such as it is - I 'reversed' the video so I got light text on a dark background. I think it looked very nice.

I also set the date and time - I found the controls a little less than intuitive (I have a hard time knowing when to use the page up/down, versus the center scroll, versus the 'm' button). But that may just be me.

The Delstar was able to navigate my folders without a problem. I was able to successfully open the txt and (already included on the device) epub books, which contained no formatting (not surprisingly). PDFs are problematic - sometimes, once opened they aren't that responsive. One thing I've noticed, it seems like sometimes after I hit a key (like the zoom, or the power button to rotate), I have to hit another key before the zoom or rotate takes effect; but perhaps it's just a coincidence in the timing. But the biggest problem is that they are indeed rendered like images; there's no way to rotate them to landscape mode, and all you can do is zoom in and then scroll around on the page. It makes it impossible to actually read the PDF. When in non-zoomed, non-landscape mode, the PDF looks pretty enough, but it's way too tiny for me to read.

The .mbp extension was unrecognized.

The .doc extension was recognized, but when clicked on a blank screen was displayed for about 15 seconds before returning to the explorer or 'books' view, so it's still not working.

After attempting to open up the DOC, all my txt (and the included epub) files now open up with dark background and PURPLE text. It's...unusual.

So, there you have it. I like the look, and the size, and the hardware seems nice. The buttons and UI seem pretty responsive in general with the exceptions noted above (again, some of the choices about which button does what don't seem all that logical to me).

Hey! I just figured out how to make "page jump" work! When you're in an ebook, press the "m" button, and choose Page Jump. Then using the center scroll button (it's not a scroll wheel, but a 4 way clicky thing), press the right arrow until you're at the proper digits location for the page number you want to go to. That is, it normally displays "00000", with the left-most zero highlit. If you use the up/down arrows at that point, nothing happens. But let's say you've got a book with 200 pages - you have to use the right arrow key to get to the "hundreds" location, and then you can use the up and down arrows to change the 0 to a 1 or 2, say. So the "problem" is that the device is smart enough not to let you go beyond the end of the ebook, but it has a funny way of showing it

So far, I'm intrigued by its possibilities. IF Delstar can get a firmware upgrade in the next 3 weeks that allows me to rotate PDFs and treat them like books (where I can zoom and page through and, you know, actually READ them), AND the other supported formats improve so that they (a) load and (b) display the text in the proper fashion, I'll be happy.

[Nehovsrah]

I'm excited about the prospect of getting some other firwmare on this thing (openinkpot, possibly android but that's pushing it methinks). So far it's usable but i'd rather be able to tweak the fonts used and things of that nature. I'd be happy to just get PDF support though. My absolute wish is to be able to open comic book archives with it. That would make this thing sweet!

[bryanzs]

Originally Posted by Highroller

I think Scott reported or maybe he told me elsewhere that before it lost all the formatting on epubs but now it still doesn't have the formatting but the epubs make the device reboot itself... Thats hardly a step in the right direction (

All I've tried is with the included epubs, and they don't reboot. They still open without formatting. So (at least as far as I can see) it's not any worse...

[bryanzs]

I found a 2GB SD card, which I inserted into the device at the bottom, and I then copied some more books (this time in HTML format) into a new folder there, along with some music in the OGG format and a big video file in AVI format.

The Delstar recognized the new books folders after I detached it from the USB cable, and now when I go into the 'books' tab, I have a choice of flash or SDCard. I can navigate the folder on my SDCard, and open up the HTML files. Unfortunately, they still display without any formatting, and with ALL functionality (for example, links) disabled.

On a more positive note, the music player recognized the OGG file without any problem (even though OGG wasn't listed as one of the formats). If I go into the 'music' folder, I can get to the music (either preloaded on the Delstar, or the track I just moved to the SD card) via the "DirList" tab. Note that no music shows up in the "All Music" tab, or under any of the sorted choices ("Artist", "Album", etc.), even after I tried running the "MediaLib Update" option.

I also was able to play the .AVI file, though there's no rhyme or reason to how the keys are mapped; the video player has the 'zoom' button mapped to play/pause, for example, and I can't even remember where I finally found the volume controls (maybe right/left arrow? Or up/down arrow?). Note that the AVI file automatically played back in landscape mode, which was the right choice (good decision, software! <pat> <pat>). Of course, there is no "video" menu choice on the main Delstar menu, so you have to get to the AVI file via the Explorer.