Newegg 4/28 Shell Shocker - jetBook Lite

[jblitereader]

Originally Posted by Kris777

The price is $99.99 with free shipping:
http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellShocker.aspx

Limit 3 per customer

Already got 2 more for 99.00 each with free shipping for my family.

[Ron46]

I've thought of getting another one for a backup- I use mine 4 hours a day, minimum, and would be lost without it. But I'm wondering if Ectaco has any plans to replicate this machine in a 6" screen or with other hardware improvemnts like the great ergonomics of the EB-1150. Whatever they do, I sure hope they stick with the AA battery idea.

[droberts]

I purchased this at J&R for $99 and am thrilled, except my wife has decided she likes it. I now have an Aluratek LIBRE on order. It seems the same and was the best price I could find.

[uRwhatUr]

Originally Posted by droberts

I purchased this at J&R for $99 and am thrilled, except my wife has decided she likes it. I now have an Aluratek LIBRE on order. It seems the same and was the best price I could find.

Welcome to Mobileread droberts!

[aagstn]

I just received my J&R unit yesterday. So far I am very impressed. Does a great job with eReader format and it even passed the Leonard Maltin test and was able to load up the movie guide for 2010 and I was able to search through it pretty easily. I don't like the extra bit of space between lines on ePub docs, but it isn't the end of the world and the docs are still very readable. The text is very clear and once a book is loaded changing pages seems very quick. My wife likes it as well so I may be in the boat of ordering another one soon.

[Number_6]

Originally Posted by livingenzyme

Already got 2 more for 99.00 each with free shipping for my family.

I picked up the limit of 3. One for my son, one for my dad, and one for me after reading the reviews on here and Newegg. They'll be here Monday so I'll be able to share my thoughts on the jetBook Lite versus my Nokia N810 internet tablet for reading later in the week. I like that I can read on the N810 in the dark without disturbing my wife, but I'm going to love being able to read on the jetBook Lite outside in full sunlight.

[jblitereader]

Originally Posted by Number_6

I picked up the limit of 3. One for my son, one for my dad, and one for me after reading the reviews on here and Newegg. They'll be here Monday so I'll be able to share my thoughts on the jetBook Lite versus my Nokia N810 internet tablet for reading later in the week. I like that I can read on the N810 in the dark without disturbing my wife, but I'm going to love being able to read on the jetBook Lite outside in full sunlight.

Um, getting 3 before you even got your hands on one? What if you decide that you don't like it? Each person has his own preferences. I think I like the jbl so much is because I don't care for insignificant things like font styles, wifi, and mp3. All I wanted to do was be able to read lots of books without the hassle of carrying them around. Some people, on the other hand, can't live without being able to read in certain specific font styles.

Iunno, sounded kinda risky to me to get 3 before you even tried it out first.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by livingenzyme

Um, getting 3 before you even got your hands on one? What if you decide that you don't like it? ...~~~... Iunno, sounded kinda risky to me to get 3 before you even tried it out first.

I agree, I grabbed just one to try first.

It seemed acceptable, I had my daughter test it out and she reported it was a lot easier to read on the jetBook then on her EeePC netbook. Testing done I picked up a second one a week later for my son.

On the other hand, reading here you most likely already know the weaknesses of the device and at $99 it is a great deal. Three of these for the cost of one more expensive model. It's hard to go wrong. You can always recoup most or all of your costs selling them on ebay if you felt it wasn't going to work for you.

[Number_6]

Originally Posted by livingenzyme

Um, getting 3 before you even got your hands on one? What if you decide that you don't like it? Each person has his own preferences. I think I like the jbl so much is because I don't care for insignificant things like font styles, wifi, and mp3. All I wanted to do was be able to read lots of books without the hassle of carrying them around. Some people, on the other hand, can't live without being able to read in certain specific font styles.

Iunno, sounded kinda risky to me to get 3 before you even tried it out first.

Well both my dad and my son are using the Nokia 770 that I gave them with FBReader as the primary ebook software. My dad has problems remembering how to open up his books in FBReader and my son could be using the Nokia 770 for things other than reading books when he is supposed to be reading. lol After reading and watching reviews of the jetBook Lite I KNOW it will be easier for my dad to use than FBReader and since it DOESN'T have extra "frills" like mp3 I know my son can only use it for reading. As to specific font styles, one can't generally choose the font style of their paper book, so that's not an issue. Anyway, the only way they were going to get a dedicated ebook reader was if it were under $100 and I purchased it as a gift.

Also, as has been mentioned, eBay is your friend. I'm confident that I could not only get back what I paid for the three of these if I didn't find them to my liking, but I would make a profit at that. Getting them for under $100 shipped means they could be sold on eBay for $100 BEFORE a shipping and handling charge and turn a small profit. I see it as a slight risk that I couldn't turn a profit on these if need be. That's the problem with America right now. Too many in government want to eliminate risk and bail everybody out. If those brave souls who founded Jamestown had never taken risks I doubt that there would have been a Newegg to purchase a sub $100 ebook reader from anyway. However, I have faith in the reviews and discussions of mobilread members and don't think you'll find these listed at auction.

[jblitereader]

Originally Posted by Number_6

My dad has problems remembering how to open up his books in FBReader and my son could be using the Nokia 770 for things other than reading books when he is supposed to be reading.

Well, then you made a good call then. I got my elderly dad a JBL and after I instructed him just a couple times he's very good at it now. And you have to understand, he doesn't even know how to turn on a computer... literally.

And as for your son, I just found it funny that in a lot of reviews the number one complaint people have with this ebook reader is you can't do anything else with it besides reading ebooks. That's actually one of my main reasons why I got it in the first place. The way I see it, this device is a great educational tool. When your kid is using it, you know for a fact that he/she is reading a book, not surfing the net or playing games.

As to specific font styles, one can't generally choose the font style of their paper book, so that's not an issue.

I am so glad to see someone like you appreciating the value of this device without bitching about the lack of font styles available. I did a lot of reading about this device before I bought it, and the most annoying complaints I saw were those about font styles, or the lack thereof. I swear, people complain about the most insignificant things these days.

If you want to see what Vietnamese look like on the jetbook lite, just click on the word "here" in my signature. You see, the vietnamese characters just don't show very well on ebook readers. The nook, sony, kindle, and other popular brands don't show them at all. And now I just found out the libre doesn't show the characters correctly either. Now that I have found an ebook reader that allows my people to read honest to god vietnamese ebooks, people are getting them left and right. Ectaco may have inadvertantly given my people a new toy to play with.

Anything to get people to read!

[GhostHawk]

Well I gave both my dad's Jetbooks, and it appears they've taken to them like a duck takes to water.

My real dad is 86, has macular degeneration, couldn't turn on a computer if his life depended on it. My mom would love to check it out but can't get it out of his hands except to charge it. In fact thats his only complaint, that it has to be plugged in every 3 - 5 days for 4 hours to recharge.

My Father in law is a few years younger, but similar eyesight (both were farmers) hit the ground running with his and never looked back. I expected a couple of weeks of "how do I -----?" calls, and never got any.

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by livingenzyme

If you want to see what Vietnamese look like, just click on the word "here" in my signature. You see, the vietnamese characters just doesn't show up that well in ebook readers. The nook, sony, kindle, don't show them at all. And now I just found out the libre doesn't show the characters correctly either. Now that I have found an ebook reader that allows my people to read honest to god vietnamese ebooks, people are getting them left and right. Ectaco may have inadvertantly given my people a new toy to play with.

I just checked if jetBook-Lite works with Arabic, Hebrew and Farsi languages.
It works perfect if you save it as .TXT in Unicode format. I guess it will work for other languages too. Good finding!

[Pavel206]

This is a great discovery for the jetBook and jetBook LITE which now
extends the limits of the device to even greater possibilities. We
always like to hear what our audience suggests and do our best to
implement it in updates and brainstorms for next generation jetBooks.

As of now, livingenzyme, you have found a great addition that we had
planned to share with our audience in our next PR but you managed to
beat us to it!
In return please let us know your address in a message and we will
send you a brand new leather wallet and earlight for your jetBook
LITE.

Thank you to all jetBook supporters and keep finding new material that
everyone can benefit from! As for current and future jetBook owners,
you are in for a surprise update in the next month or so which will
surely find its way to the forums.

Thank you!
ECTACO Tech Support

[jblitereader]

Originally Posted by Kris777

I just checked if jetBook-Lite works with Arabic, Hebrew and Farsi languages.
It works perfect if you save it as .TXT in Unicode format. I guess it will work for other languages too. Good finding!

Ectaco should capitalize on this feature. If it shows the characters in other languages without errors, then they just have a whole new market outside of English speakers. For now, the ectaco ebook readers pretty much have a monopoly on displaying ebooks in foreign languages.

And just so you know, if you want to make your ebook in a certain format or outlook, you could use html. It reads html, too.

[Ken Maltby]

One thing else that might be considered is creating a Unicode .txt translation of the
JB/JBL manual to go with the new language .txt files being offered.

At least a translation of the labels on the picture of the unit, and a translation
of the major popup menus.

Luck;
Ken