Aluratek Libre Touch eBook Reader with WiFi AEBK08FB

[readmorebooks]

Originally Posted by Armen

Weight is important!!!! (at least for me!) and to tell the truth I doubt the 7 ounces the company mentions on its website (Cybook Gen3 with eink weighs 6.13 ounces which I'm really happy with its weight, can't say enough). One of the owners mentioned he/she also doubted the 7 ounces. Can someone please weigh the device. If I decide to buy this it's only because of its weight (7 ounces) ... if the plastic looks cheap or it quirks a little bit, it is not *that* responsive to touch etc. (even Android 1.5! No Kindle? ) are secondary to me on this device I mainly want a dimmable lcd to read in bed (sometimes 3 or 4 hours holding the device with one hand of course) so the weight is very important for me.

On my digital scale the Libre Touch is 11.85 oz. (335 grams). Personally, I don't find the weight to be an issue for reading or travelling.

[Armen]

Originally Posted by readmorebooks

On my digital scale the Libre Touch is 11.85 oz. (335 grams). Personally, I don't find the weight to be an issue for reading or travelling.

Thank you! ... they (the manufacturer) should fix this on their website ... it's misleading. Basically the same weight as the older color version. Even at 335 grams it's quite lighter than most of other 7" readers/tablets.

[tehbailey]

Could someone tell me how good the PDF support is on the libre touch? I need to view large pdf files with color pictures, etc. Also, I have plain books in the PDF format. Please try some sample PDF files on your devices and share the results with us. Furthermore, how is the web browsing and other touch screen controls related to navigating books (zoom, etc.)

[Armen]

Originally Posted by tehbailey

I need to view large pdf files with color pictures, etc. Also, I have plain books in the PDF format. Furthermore, how is the web browsing and other touch screen controls related to navigating books (zoom, etc.)

If I were you I would go for Nook Color, you would get more than enough bang for the extra buck in my opinion (capacitive screen, great cpu-gpu, higher version of android, haven't compared them personally but almost sure better browsing experience) and personally I don't like a company which states "Extremely light and portable – Weighs only 7 ounces" when it's actually 12 ounces.

[Armen]

This page should be corrected then .... this also states 199 gr (it's around 340 gr!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari...e-book_readers

[Armen]

Thank you "readmorebooks"! The company corrected the text to "Extremely light and portable – Weighs only 11.9 ounces" ... [I left a message explaining the mistake] now you can thank your scale because it came up with the weight of the device for its manufacturer! ... and certainly it played a role in humanity's quest for unattainable sub 200 gram 7" lcd tablets by pointing out there is no such thing on planet earth yet!

[fglaysher]

Originally Posted by binky

fglaysher, pretty much the top of the list when I googled "Moon+ reader for android 1.5", links at the bottom for v1.3:

http://www.mydroid.info/android-apps...ader-pro-v1-3/

I won't vouch for the apk file since I really have no device for testing it and I have no desire to set up the dev environment for android again heh.

Thanks. I'll give it a try.

[dhighway]

To adjust screen brightness while reading a book, it seems you have to go back out to the main menu and go through: Settings icon, Sound & display menu, Brightness menu, before being presented with a dialog allowing the adjustment. Is there a quicker, more direct way of doing this?

TIA!
DH

[dhighway]

I haven't found firmware for the Libre Touch ANYWHERE on the Aluratek site ... if anyone has found a source for firmware updates, please share!

The reason I was looking for firmware updates is that coming out of Standby mode doesn't always work on mine. Often, it's just non-responsive, particularly when it's been on Standby for say, any more than 10 to 15 mins. At first I thought the battery had run down, but I've now concluded that's not the case.

By "non-responsive", I mean that pressing the power button for any duration (short or long) has no impact and neither does any action on the touch screen.

Once in this non-responsive state, the only way I've gotten it to come back to life is to plug in the charger - then it recovers, virtually right away. However, if I disconnect the charger immediately, I can see the battery icon is fully green (showing full charge) and in fact, I can use the reader again normally (thereby confirming its "dead" behaviour wasn't due to a fully discharged battery).

Has anyone else encountered this?

TIA,
DH

[dhighway]

Originally Posted by dhighway

That (it's an Android restriction) seems odd ... connecting to a WiFi network that's NOT broadcasting SSID is a fairly common requirement, since it prevents casual snoopers from noticing your network in the first place. For a much-touted platform like Android, this is VERY surprising.

The inability to connect to an non-broadcasted SSID is still a problem for me, and I also found there's no way to connect to a WiFi network using 802.1x (meaning, I can't use it at work).

So, in trying to address this, I located (thanks to this forum!) and tried to install "WiFi_Advanced_Configuration_Editor_0.10.apk". No go - here's what it says on the error dialog box I'm getting:
Application not installed
WiFi Advanced Configuration Editor could not be installed on this Aluratek.

Any thoughts (or am I just SOL)?

<Edit: Just poked around some more and read that it requires Android v1.6 or later ... oh well - anyone know how to upgrade to a later version of Android on this device (or is that just a pipe dream)?!? I'm still within the return period so this puppy might be going back. >

TIA!
DH

[dhighway]

Originally Posted by Armen

The company corrected the text to "Extremely light and portable – Weighs only 11.9 ounces"

Good work, guys! For a while, I thought I was the only one noticing, and annoyed at, this misleading statement.

Speaking of misleading, the Aluratek website still says: "•Great Reading in Direct Sunlight – low glare!" What's your experience? Of course, this aspect is literally "in the eye of the beholder", as the saying goes.

Here's what I've found ... at best, this is an exaggeration (and at worse, an outright lie).

In conditions of bright ambient lighting, I do agree that this model is more readable than many (including its sibling products). However, it's false suggest that it can be read in "Direct Sunlight" - at 100% brightness, text is barely discernible. Outside (but NOT in direct sunlight), it is readable, but alas, not comfortably so.

So, with respect to finding a colour product that's usable outside, I'm afraid my quest continues. As of now, I'm planning to return my Libre Touch to Dell.

Good luck to you all!
DH

[fglaysher]

Originally Posted by dhighway

In conditions of bright ambient lighting, I do agree that this model is more readable than many (including its sibling products). However, it's false suggest that it can be read in "Direct Sunlight" - at 100% brightness, text is barely discernible. Outside (but NOT in direct sunlight), it is readable, but alas, not comfortably so.
DH

I was reading on my deck on Sunday comfortably. I was tucked slightly under a tree or umbrella with some shade, but still, it was fine. I don't believe it's realistic to expect a digital device to be readable in direct sunlight, myself.

On the weight issue, I noticed in a store recently that the Nook weighs about 1 and 1/2 time the Libre Touch. I consider it light and a good value for the money, even though I ended up overpaying by about a week, $149 before it dropped 20 bucks.

[fglaysher]

Originally Posted by tehbailey

Could someone tell me how good the PDF support is on the libre touch? I need to view large pdf files with color pictures, etc. Also, I have plain books in the PDF format. Please try some sample PDF files on your devices and share the results with us. Furthermore, how is the web browsing and other touch screen controls related to navigating books (zoom, etc.)

I'm very happy with the PDF support. Very readable. I've read large pdfs on it from long articles to book length. Can't speak to color pictures, just text.

I wouldn't use it for web browsing beyond reading the newspaper, etc., which is why I bought it. It's smaller than my laptop, larger than my phone. I don't expect it to duplicate or want it to. I'm using the browser primarily with RSS.

[fathermike]

Hello all:
Great to read all of your questions and replies. I have had my Libre Touch for almost one week now and so far, so good! However not being a techie type person I don't know how, or if, I can use hotmail as my email or access youtube. I definitely don't understand Android apps and how to download them - do I download them to my computer first and then to the Libre Touch? Is there a free app that is an open office suite or at the very least a word app so that I can make short notes and send them off to my computer?
As I said I am not tech savvy, I am self taught and my expectations regarding this ereader are to enable me to read free books and or purchase some books so that I don't have to lug library books around or incur fines for overdue books.
Thanks again.

[fglaysher]

Originally Posted by fathermike

Hello all:
Great to read all of your questions and replies. I have had my Libre Touch for almost one week now and so far, so good! However not being a techie type person I don't know how, or if, I can use hotmail as my email or access youtube. I definitely don't understand Android apps and how to download them - do I download them to my computer first and then to the Libre Touch? Is there a free app that is an open office suite or at the very least a word app so that I can make short notes and send them off to my computer?
As I said I am not tech savvy, I am self taught and my expectations regarding this ereader are to enable me to read free books and or purchase some books so that I don't have to lug library books around or incur fines for overdue books.
Thanks again.

The Libre Touch should do everything you mention. The earlier threads here answer most of your questions, just skim through them. The Android apps aren't hard to install after a few times. How to do that has already been discussed too, and where to find them.

I don't use the email program but it should handle hotmail.

Anyone figure out yet how to read Kindles on the Libre Touch?