Trekstor Pyrus Mini

[Illyria]

I have toyed around with the Pyrus Mini in a store last week but concluded that it was probably too small for me. It did fit into the palm of my hand perfectly and aesthetically looks so much better than the Kobo Mini but with the small screen it seemed like all you did was turn the page. I doubt that I could immerse myself in a text this way. I think I will take another, more detailed look soon, just out of curiosity. A pity it isn't 20€ cheaper. Then it might really tempt me.

I loved the vibrant color of the blue and pink ones; they looked really great, but the brightness seemed to distract me. Though I would probably get used to it soon.

Anyway, here is the data sheet from the official website, in case anyone is interested.

http://www.trekstor.de/detail-ebook-...us-mini-en.pdf

[hidari]

Ta for the pdf....on the Trekstor....Just bought the Kobo mini and loving it so Far... The Trekstor...nice try but.... I read on my android phone..some each day... prefer a 5 inch for readers.... hence..I have 4 of them....

[paola]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

They just bring out a buggy firmware every so often - not a huge problem as it's easy enough to manually install an older firmware, just anoying when it happens (It would be nice if you could turn off automatic updates though).

yes, it looks the only way to avoid it is to turn the wifi off.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by paola

yes, it looks the only way to avoid it is to turn the wifi off.

Makes it hard to synch books that way, but I agree I leave the Wi-fi off and side load the books.

However the latest auto-install of the new firmware was because the Kobo crashed and on restart it always checks for updates.

[MikeB1972]

Well the Pyrus just arrived this morning - So much for amazon estimated delivery dates

Turned up in one of those hard plastic see through display case thingys so shouln't be any problems with getting one damaged in the post.

It's a handy little size, screen looks as good as the PVI Screens.

Page forward and back buttons on the right side of the device.
Home, Menu, D-Pad (Also works for page turns), Back and Search buttons running along the bottom front.
Charge Light, Micro USB Slot, Micro SD Slot and power button are on the bottom with the reset hole on the back.
The screen can be rotated 90 degrees in any direction so you can use the device in left/right landscape or upside down if you want. The buttons seem to all work and the device trundles along at a reasonable speed.

Feels sturdy enough & made from the rubberised plasticy stuff that gives you a good grip and no reflections from the bezel, I got the one in "Mattel Blue" (seemed fitting somehow)

The Windows Software didn't install but it has a newer firmware on it already than the one on the site, so no biggie (Could be my firewall stopping it at the moment to be fair, I'll have a play on another network when I get the chance).

It came with an actual instruction manual, some floppy thing that looked like it was made out of wood pulp

Multiple languages, asked me which one I wanted when I turned the machine on (German, English, Italien, French, Polish, Spanish, Portugese, Dutch, Swedesh and some other language that could be Greek, Russian or any number of languages without a latin alphabet that I can't read)

Power on from cold boot took a little under a minute, then another bit of time to read the books from the Micro SD card I had stuck in it.
It has Auto Standby and Shutdown (So I've disabled the Auto Shutdown)

The home screen has a thumbnail and basic info of the book you are currently reading at the top, a list of the 3 most recently read books in the middle and thumbnails of the 2 most recently added books underneath these and a button to take you to the library at the bottom of the screen, navigation by D-Pad, pressing the menu will take you to the main menu where you can find the system settings, library, Search, bookmark list, picture browser and file explorer (The file explorer seems to be the only place you can delete books from, which seemed a bit strange but nevermind.)
The search only seems to search book titles (Not filenames or authors) and always displays the results as a list (and for some reason a count of {Page Number}/86829 - Why always 86829 I have no idea, too big for a Short Int to small for anything else, not the most annoying bug I've ever seen and with folder browsing and lack of author search I doubt I will use the search anyway)

When you open a book it has a title bar at the top with Book Title, {Page Number}/{Total Pages}, Time, Battery, and a Bookmark indicator. (A little cursor arrow appears next to the battery if there is a clickable-link on the page as well).
No options to change anything on the bar but they have actually picked the items I'd stick there anyway, although your mileage may vary

You can chose to have a full screen refresh every 1, 3 or 5 pages.

Six font sizes (5 fairly good choices for the screen size and 1 where you should have got something with a bigger screen)
There is also a Font Type greyed out on the menu, so I guess you have to stick the font's somewhere on the device,

3 Margin sizes small (None), medium and large (The large is a bit pointless on something with this screen size but the other 2 are both OK.
For some reason it ignores indents - I can only assume it was a conscious decision based on the size of the screen (Or maybe German books don't have indents?)
ADE Books open with the same software as none ADE so it's not some homegrown software with no support for indents.

Page turns are nippy, TOC and goto page work as you would expect there is also a search for inside the book.

Font size seems to be per book with no global setting for a default.

Links are usable once again, links/footnote indicators are highlighted in grey (With the currently selected one being a bit darker) - selection is by D-Pad up and down and pressing the center button to follow the link. Although if there is no return link where you end up then you have had it because the back button takes you out of the book and there is no page history.

All in all, quite good, the software is actually better than I expected and I've not managed to crash it while playing with the settings at high speed.

[Illyria]

Mike, is it possible to organize books into collections? I've read one review that said it's not but the Trekstor website seemed to imply it was.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by Illyria

Mike, is it possible to organize books into collections? I've read one review that said it's not but the Trekstor website seemed to imply it was.

Not collections, no. But it has full folder support so you can have essentially the same effect as long as you don't want to store the same book in multiple collections.

[Illyria]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

Not collections, no. But it has full folder support so you can have essentially the same effect as long as you don't want to store the same book in multiple collections.

Ah okay, that sounds exactly like the system of the Cybook. Thanks.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by Illyria

Ah okay, that sounds exactly like the system of the Cybook. Thanks.

Yep, virtually exactly the same, although without the thumbnail image view in the explorer.

[WigglePig]

Well, my blue Pyrus Mini arrived this afternoon and I have to say I'm fairly pleased. The display is nice, sharp and clear, although the buttons are a bit hit-and-miss. I expect this to improve as they are used for a while.

I have loaded up some Orwell and shall read over the next few days and report back on the usability and stability of the device.

One small wrinkle I have experienced is that Calibre does not recognise the Pyrus, although I suspect that this is due to it not reporting its device type. A future update can address this.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by WigglePig

One small wrinkle I have experienced is that Calibre does not recognise the Pyrus, although I suspect that this is due to it not reporting its device type. A future update can address this.

Yep. But you must help

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by medard

Guys, please keep in mind that this is not a rare item or so. You can buy it in bookstores in Germany for 50 Euros. There's really no need to go out hunting in the forest for this deveice now..

It might not be rare in Germany, bit even in the Netherlands there's only one webstore who carries it...

Originally Posted by WigglePig

One small wrinkle I have experienced is that Calibre does not recognise the Pyrus, although I suspect that this is due to it not reporting its device type. A future update can address this.

I'll probably update it the same way as my BBMini, using the folder device....

Mine should arrive tomorrow...

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

Not collections, no. But it has full folder support so you can have essentially the same effect as long as you don't want to store the same book in multiple collections.

If device makers would ditch brain dead FAT file systems and go to something unixy, multiple collections could be handled with symbolic links. At least for devices already running linux that have SD card support, this could be done for close to zero cost and effort, and those usrs that want or (shudder) need FAT could still go their own way.

[shorttimer1]

So is Amazon.co.uk the best place to order for US customers? I would prefer the blue one but see that Amazon.co.uk doesn't sell the blue one other than their retailers. Amazon.co.uk does have the black one so I just might end up going with that one.

Thanks!

[xendula]

Originally Posted by shorttimer1

So is Amazon.co.uk the best place to order for US customers? I would prefer the blue one but see that Amazon.co.uk doesn't sell the blue one other than their retailers. Amazon.co.uk does have the black one so I just might end up going with that one.

Thanks!

You can log in to any of the amazon sites with your user name, though the foreign language may be a problem. Not sure how it holds up price-wise, but here is the German link: