Delstar OpenBook at Walgreens

Originally Posted by digid

I would be interested in how the display looks out in the daylight. I am really wanting an iPad as I have lots of PDF's and such, but would like something that is also cheap to take to the beach, camping, and not have to worry about as much for my epub reading. I seem to be stuck in this wait and see mode on the ebook readers. Waiting on the iPad PDF rendering, and waiting for a $100.00 epub reader that I can read in bed when the lights are out, and sitting outside in the sun. I hate the slowness of the eink displays, as well as the flash, and had great hopes for this 5 inch reader.

Dale

Another possibility for your needs might be the Aluratek Libre. It has a 4-greyscale, non-backlit LCD display. The LCD has a mirror like coating that allows it to reflect light really well, so it performs great in direct sunlight and takes a lot less artificial light to be readable than the e-Ink screens. The LCD is fast on page turns. It sounds a lot like the OpenBook but without backlighting or color. See the images below. I bought my Libre a few days ago at Frys for $139. It sounds like it has a bit more functionality than the OpenBook as it can jump to specific page numbers, can view ADE DRM ePubs and PDFs. It also has a TOC function for ADE PDFs only, but not the other formats. It also has a search function for some of the formats and it does display linked images.

The first two images show the text blurry due to using a flatbed scanner rather than a digital camera. The other three images were taken with a camera. The first four images show an ePub book that I bought from the sony Store, deDRMed, and modified in Calibre to make the margins look better. The last photo shows a Mobi book.

It is very similar to the Jetbook Lite (JBL), so check out that forum for more details.

My OpenBook should arrive tomorrow so I will do a comparison of the two.

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[Xanthe]

This thread has been like reading an adventure story!

I'm wondering how crisp the fonts are, and how sharp & color accurate the images are.

[Highroller]

Well the Aluratek Libre might be an option. I just had my Jetbook Lite lockup on me exactly the same way it did before when I had to send it back for replacement. Considering I have only had the replacement MAYBE a month, I am not at ALL happy with the Jetbook Lite at this time. I hope to God the Delstar will be viable and that I can get a refund on the jbl. Once might be unfortunate. 2 times in 3 months is a a very bad trend.

[Katelyn]

Originally Posted by pendragginp

Katelyn, what is the weight?

And how is the color display?

It weighs 6.7 oz. I was surprised the color is as good as it is.

Photo taken with an IPhone so the quality is not great.

[Katelyn]

Originally Posted by bryanzs

Congratulations, Katelyn!

Now you get to be bombarded by questions

When you turn it on, does it turn on instantly, ready to read (like a dedicated ereading device), or is there a "boot up" time (like a Windows/Linux device)?

Thanks!

You have to hold down the power button for about 5 seconds before it starts up but it opens immediately to the menu - no boot time.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Katelyn

It weighs 6.7 oz. I was surprised the color is as good as it is.

Photo taken with an IPhone so the quality is not great.

Hey! That's looks real nice.

[Katelyn]

Originally Posted by causticmuse

First off, THANK YOU for posting something so quickly! I think everyone in this forum appreciates your effort.

Are you sure there are no bookmarking and page jump functions? According to the PDF manual, those functions as well as the auto page turn should be accessible through the M button. The manual says that you can get to a menu with all of those functions as well as font color if you press the M button while on a reader page.

Also, is there any chance that you can test out a PDF (maybe even the device's manual, LOL) for us?

I did read the manual this morning and found out how to rotate etc. There is, in fact a way to jump to a specific page but the bookmarking feature is absent. Also missing that is mentioned in the manual is the set font size menu, and set font color menu. You can adjust the font size using the zoom button but the only real size that is worth using is the middle size. Small is teeny and large is well, really large.

I did discover that when a book is rotated, the margins adjust to fill out the screen. It's a much better reading view this way.

So far bad news about PDFs. I've tried several and none open - including the device's own manual downloaded from the Delstar Website.

One last - and big problem. Lockups. So far, I've found 3 of my books that lock up the device when I try to open them. All 3 are epubs that were purchased titles. I've had to use the pin hole on the back to do a hard reset.

[Katelyn]

Originally Posted by Highroller

If you turn it off and back on does it maintain its position in the book? Do you know if it times out and turns itself off if you lay it down? Have you had success in rotating from port. to landscape? If its not bringing up covers it sounds like it may not do linked graphics at all. Which pretty much defeats a lot of the purpose of it being color at least for e-book purposes... Does the text look clear and crisp? Does it display italics in html files?

1) Yes, a book will open up to where you left off.

2) You can select the delay time when it turn itself off.

3) Rotating to landscape mode fixes the poor margins that you have in portrait mode.

4) Despite the no frills font type, the text is clear. I think it is clearer than on the JE100 but I haven't had that much time to read on it.

A caveat - the actual font can be pretty funky depending on the book. I have one book that displays odd characters throughout the story and others where the quote marks are not next to a character but a space away " The... instead of "The.

[pendragginp]

Thanks Katelyn. The color looks nice!

Hmm. I'm wondering about this as a replacement for my Eb1150. I like it a lot because of the backlight, but my introduction to readers was the REB 1200, and I do miss the color.

[digid]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Another possibility for your needs might be the Aluratek Libre. It has a 4-greyscale, non-backlit LCD display. The LCD has a mirror like coating that allows it to reflect light really well, so it performs great in direct sunlight and takes a lot less artificial light to be readable than the e-Ink screens. The LCD is fast on page turns. It sounds a lot like the OpenBook but without backlighting or color. See the images below. I bought my Libre a few days ago at Frys for $139. It sounds like it has a bit more functionality than the OpenBook as it can jump to specific page numbers, can view ADE DRM ePubs and PDFs. It also has a TOC function for ADE PDFs only, but not the other formats. It also has a search function for some of the formats and it does display linked images.

The first two images show the text blurry due to using a flatbed scanner rather than a digital camera. The other three images were taken with a camera. The first four images show an ePub book that I bought from the sony Store, deDRMed, and modified in Calibre to make the margins look better. The last photo shows a Mobi book.

It is very similar to the Jetbook Lite (JBL), so check out that forum for more details.

My OpenBook should arrive tomorrow so I will do a comparison of the two.

...

Jack,
Thanks I have not looked at that one. I do read a lot in a dim room. So no backlight would not work. I am currently using my iphone for epubs and except for the small screen I like it. I use Stanza and set the font rather large so have to do lots of page turns. Laptop for PDF's. I guess I need to get my head around how many devices that I need, and compromise some.

73 de KB9JJA/Dale

[imaredr]

Katelyn,

Were the epub books that didn't work DRM ebooks? If they are, maybe that is the problem. Seems like we will probably have to tweak books to correct the right margin as well as the odd characters and spacing. I remember on another forum (MP4 Nation) that there is a program that can reformat text files to fit a certain margin. I tried the trial version, but it costs too much to buy. I am thinking that maybe Calibre or Book Designer may help. I have never gotten that deep into the programs to know for sure. Another possibility are the programs over at ProcessText. I am still looking forward to getting mine. The only thing that is bothering me is that the manual states things that are not present in the reader.

Ellen

Ellen

[Katelyn]

Originally Posted by imaredr

Katelyn,

Were the epub books that didn't work DRM ebooks? If they are, maybe that is the problem. Seems like we will probably have to tweak books to correct the right margin as well as the odd characters and spacing. I remember on another forum (MP4 Nation) that there is a program that can reformat text files to fit a certain margin. I tried the trial version, but it costs too much to buy. I am thinking that maybe Calibre or Book Designer may help. I have never gotten that deep into the programs to know for sure. Another possibility are the programs over at ProcessText. I am still looking forward to getting mine. The only thing that is bothering me is that the manual states things that are not present in the reader.

Ellen

Ellen

I suppose the books that wouldn't open and locked up the device could be DRM books. I'll have to try them on a different device to check it.

The margin issue is weird. When you use the smallest size font, the margin is huge - more like an image than text. However, when rotated, the font displays across the screen.

pendragginp, as for replacing an 1150 or 1200, it may not be bad for you just to get away from the old .imp format. I still won't vouch for the stability of this thing but so far, if you have 100 bucks to throw at it, it MAY not be too bad for a cheapo budget device.

I sure can't wait until others get theirs since I'm not great at reviewing or objectivity and I haven't had time to put it through it's paces yet either.

[Scott_T]

I know I'm just dreaming here but... since this has no drm wouldn't it be great if they open sourced the firmware so we could fix all the damn bugs? :P

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Scott_T

I know I'm just dreaming here but... since this has no drm wouldn't it be great if they open sourced the firmware so we could fix all the damn bugs? :P

Yer Dreamin' man.

Originally Posted by imaredr

Katelyn,

Were the epub books that didn't work DRM ebooks? If they are, maybe that is the problem. Seems like we will probably have to tweak books to correct the right margin as well as the odd characters and spacing. I remember on another forum (MP4 Nation) that there is a program that can reformat text files to fit a certain margin. I tried the trial version, but it costs too much to buy. I am thinking that maybe Calibre or Book Designer may help. I have never gotten that deep into the programs to know for sure. Another possibility are the programs over at ProcessText. I am still looking forward to getting mine. The only thing that is bothering me is that the manual states things that are not present in the reader.

Ellen

Ellen

When converting via Calibre, the Page Setup screen allows you to set the margins. You have to experiment as every reader displays margins in their own unique way. You can also choose the input format and the output format to best match your device--once again this will require experimentation with a new device like the OpenBook.

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