JetBook

[igorsk]

The books they offer for download are all TXT.

[JSWolf]

For more then the cost of a 505 all it reads are text files? If that's true, this thing will tank faster then it took for the Titanic to sink.

[stustaff]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

For more then the cost of a 505 all it reads are text files? If that's true, this thing will tank faster then it took for the Titanic to sink.

But they can give you ANy book in that TXT file format... which is... interesting?
Quote from their website

"You can download english, russian, and polish books for ECTACO jetBook e-Book Reader here.
Can't find the book you want?
Let us find it for you!
All you need to do is enter the title of the book you want and your email address, then sit back and let us do the rest!"



http://www.jetbook.net/downloads.php/?refid=29532

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by stustaff

All you need to do is enter the title of the book you want and your email address, then sit back and let us do the rest!"

Yea, I wondered about that. Is this a US company. The "review" I read, which read more like a dramatization, the guy said he didn't "pay" for any of the books.

So, are they pirating books? Or... does the price of the reader include books.

What if I asked for the Harry Potter books... would they make them available?

BOb

[Gideon]

I imagine it amounts to them looking for it in the public domain and if it isn't there they say "sorry, it's not available at this time."

But yeah, looks like an enormous rip off. Revolutionary my butt.

[JSWolf]

I just put in a title that I know is available illegally, but not legally. So we'll see what they end up doing as far as finding it. I'm also going ot try one that is a legal eBook and see as well.

[Nate the great]

I got a reply from Ectaco. The Jetbook supports PDF, TXT, GIF, JPG, MP3. They are working on an ebook format. I replied with a suggestion that they add FBReader.

Basically, the Jetbook has the same capabilities as the my M218A. Okay, the M218A does also reads EBA and WOLF, but I've never gotten them to work right so they don't matter.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

I got a reply from Ectaco. The Jetbook supports PDF, TXT, GIF, JPG, MP3. They are working on an ebook format. I replied with a suggestion that they add FBReader.

The manual is online at \: http://www.ectaco.com/products/mater...manual_Eng.pdf

Does it translate .txt on the fly? I think this company makes translation devices.

BOb

[pilotbob]

Jet books has a comparison between it, the Sony Reader and the Kindle

http://www.jetbook.net/comparison.php

BOb

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Gideon

I imagine it amounts to them looking for it in the public domain and if it isn't there they say "sorry, it's not available at this time."

Well, if you read the review it says:

"It had all different kinds of books shown with very good resolution: Detective and Action stories, Prose, Business, English books, Children's books, Poetry and so on. Steve touched a button near Detectives and I instantly saw a list of the most popular authors: Boris Akunin, Stephen King, Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy, Edgar Allen Poe… It was just incredible."

I don't think Tom Clancy, Ludlum or King are in the public domain yet? Are they? The review claimed all these books were "free".

BOb

[revmike]

I didn't think that Tom Clancy allowed any of his books to be published in any ebook format?

[Nate the great]

This might be a good device (if they add an ebook format). It already supports dictionary for text files.

I'm surprised it will take a 2GB SD card, my M18A only accepts 1GB. It also has about 50MB more in internal storage.

From what I've seen in the manual, this might be a good ebook reader (if they add an ebook format).

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

This might be a good device (if they add an ebook format). It already supports dictionary for text files.

It actually does look pretty good... and it has some unique features like translations. But, I would need to see if the screen compares to an eInk screen. They claim it looks better than eInk and the batter life is better than Sony's reader. I wish they gave a 30day money back... I might order it just to try/review it. Perhaps Natch or someone can get a demo, review unit.

And .txt isn't bad... would be about the same as RTF right. Espesially if you can control the font via the reader rather than embedding font commands in the RTF.

BOb

[leandroide]

Well, at least these people don't apply an abusive Euro-Dollar exchange rate

See here:

http://www.ectaco.com.es/products/ECTACO-jetBook/

[JSWolf]

Black or silver glossy case. Easy to slip out of hands

No, it's not easy to slip out of my hands. I've never even come close to it slipping.

9oz, 260gr

Yes, the 505 may weight 9oz. But it's also not made of cheap plastic.

1-1.5 sec page turning time ( screen update) through black and white "splash" on the screen. After 40-50 pages of reading, eyes get tired due to this effect. Number of artifacts from the previous page left on the next page, causing "dirty" marks.

That is all wrong. We don't get tired eyes and we don't get ghosting with Vizplex.

4 hours from supplied power adapter. Does not charge from PC

The AC adapter is not supplied and according to Sony it's about 2 hours to charge from AC and 4 from USB.

4 hours from supplied power adapter. Does not charge from PC

The 505 DOES charge from the computer if enough charge is left. I can plug my 505 into the USB port on my computer and it will start to charge.

No "Jump to page #" function.

The 505 has it built into the firmware to be able to jump to a specific page.

Only 160 titles fit internal memory

The 505 might be able to hold more then 160 eBooks depending on the size and it does have 128meg minimum ram. 160 is not a fixed figure.

Expensive Memory Stick or miniSD (adaptor (sold separately) required)

The 505 can take regular sized SD memory up to 2gig. So you don't need miniSD and the adapter. Again more misinformation.

Requires to buy limited number of books in Sony store

I can buy LRF from Fictionwise and Baen. I can even download some free LRF from Baen no problem. Plus, The 505 can read any ofd the "free" eBooks the JetBook can in the exact same format.

BBeB (Sony format), .TXT, .PDF

As well as MP3, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP and RTF. Way to go leaving these out.

90 days limited

They also don't mention that you can buy a 2 or 3 year accidental breakage warranty.

www.sony.com/readersupport

Sony also has tech support via a toll-free number. Again way to go not giving complete information.

Light, power adapter

Because they say power adapter is an accessory, we know they are comparing the 505. Also memory sticks and SD cards plus the enhanced covers are all optional accessories as well.

All I can say is JetBook botched the comparison big time. They got so many thing just plain wrong or left things out. The biggest thing they left out is how it costs more then the 505. Plus the placement of the page turn buttons are also not ergonomically well placed. The 505 has easier to access page turn buttons when used with one hand.