NewEgg sell jetBook mini for $99.99

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by soondai

from the comments over at the ectaco boards it sounds like the problem is probably an underpowered processor (that allows 3 times longer reading on smaller batteries)

I don't think ePubs or PDFs are coming

I like the idea and look of the reader, but that trade off is a killer

That is my guess too.. but, while I am not an expert on the differences between .fb2 and ePub, I can't see why .fb2 would be much easier to parse and render than ePub. They both are essentially xml wrappers around html files.

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Bill

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by Kris777

Do you remember first jetBook model? First jetBook had support only for TXT and FB2 formats. I hope Ectaco will add ePub and maybe DRM in the future.

Actually, I would point out that the original Jetbook always support pdfs as well. I think there might have been a 4th format as well. I spent the first 6 months with the device converting .lit and .mobi books to pdf to read them, and their original text support didn't work too well with PG books, so I wrote a script to reformat PG books for it as well.

In any case, these days there are a lot more ebook readers available. I don't feel like supporting myself technically, just so I can read what I want.

I hope they will add ePub support... but frankly, considering their reaction when I wrote them about the issue, I doubt they are putting much effort into it.

Who knows though, maybe someone at Jetbook will ultimately take my email seriously.

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Bill

[GA Russell]

Bill, my first thought (which may be completely wrong) is that the US Ectaco contingent has to take what they are given. I suspect that the decisions are made in Russia.

That is not to say that the Russians aren't listening to the US market, but rather that the US folks can't promise what they are not in a position to deliver.

Part of the basis of my opinion is that the US contingent apparently knew nothing of the Mini when they were confronted with the battery coupon.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

Yeah, its a shame really. The form factor looks to be really good for long stretches of reading, but having to convert every book? I am not sure why they decided to support .fb2 over epub...

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Bill

Unless they're going primarily for the Russian market. That's where the FB2 format dominates.

[silverraven]

May I ask a stupid question? Does Calibre change epubs into fb2 format well? Or is there another way? I've never used that format on a reader before.
S

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I have a real problem with the way they advertise a large number of compatible formats if converted with calibre. Do they include a disk with calibre on it (that was sarcasm, btw)?

The JBL is also being sold by Fresh Henfruit for the same amount and with a free cover (such as it is) and free shipping. One would have to be nuts to get the mini.

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

I have a real problem with the way they advertise a large number of compatible formats if converted with calibre. Do they include a disk with calibre on it (that was sarcasm, btw)?

The JBL is also being sold by Fresh Henfruit for the same amount and with a free cover (such as it is) and free shipping. One would have to be nuts to get the mini.

Well, mini works with AAA batteries 4 times longer if compare with jetBook Lite and not so heavy. I think mini has many pros vs JetBook Lite.
Even if you read 1 book per week - it takes just 2-3 minutes to convert it from other formats to TXT or FB2... . I have no problems to spend 2-3 minutes per week for it.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Kris777

Well, mini works with AAA batteries 4 times longer if compare with jetBook Lite and not so heavy. I think mini has many pros vs JetBook Lite.
Even if you read 1 book per week - it takes just 2-3 minutes to convert it from other formats to TXT or FB2... . I have no problems to spend 2-3 minutes per week for it.

Try converting a scanned image only PDF to TXT or FB2. That's what the majority of my e-books are.

[Kris777]

I don't have any scanned image books

[Blossom]

I'm curious just how well the Mini supports FB2?
I use that format with the reader I currently own.
I use Fictionbook Designer or Book Designer 5 to make my FB2s which works really well.
FB2 supports pics, Bold, Italics...etc Does the Mini support this or is it just a plain text reader?
Does anyone know?

[theusualuser]

Originally Posted by silverraven

May I ask a stupid question? Does Calibre change epubs into fb2 format well? Or is there another way? I've never used that format on a reader before.

Well, I tried to convert several different formats (including EPUB) to FB2 today. The results I got were pretty promising. I read them using Calibre's viewer, as well as FBreader (I think that was the older firmware for the Jetbook) and STDU Viewer. I can tell you that the 3 or 4 epubs I converted looked just fine. Bolds, italics, etc.

[silverraven]

Originally Posted by theusualuser

Well, I tried to convert several different formats (including EPUB) to FB2 today. The results I got were pretty promising. I read them using Calibre's viewer, as well as FBreader (I think that was the older firmware for the Jetbook) and STDU Viewer. I can tell you that the 3 or 4 epubs I converted looked just fine. Bolds, italics, etc.

Thank you for the info.
S