My Review of Astak 5" Pocket Pro

[QIbHom]

It was the Nook that inveigled me down the primrose path of e-readers, but when I tried one out, it was a huge disappointment. Slow, and I couldn't figure out how to scroll or get it to do what I wanted. Very frustrating - I work with computers for a living, I should be able to conquer any device within 10 min., no?

My Pocket Pro is much easier to use. I'm very happy with it, and I don't think I would have been with the Nook.

Still, it was the Nook that sucked me in.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Dear Diokdin:

I work for Astak and I am so glad you joined our merry band.

Every time I say anything about any other device I get slammed. I read one review on the Nook that said it was "agonizingly slow". That is all I know.

Anyway, I am grateful for all the helpful comments on here posted to help Diokdin and other new EZ Reader Basic and Pocket Pro users. This has become a real community here. People like "TheDucks" have been so helpful on so many things!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Thanks for the kind words.

I am a firm believer in Pointing out your products strong points, and avoid slinging mud at a competitors (Just look at the mess AT&T vs VZW here in the bay area).
(We will assume that "Sales" will generally avoid mentioning the products weak points )

#1 Priority does need to be prompt response from ALL support inquiries. A problem that does not get resolved, is a disaster.

[French]

Originally Posted by QIbHom

It was the Nook that inveigled me down the primrose path of e-readers, but when I tried one out, it was a huge disappointment. Slow, and I couldn't figure out how to scroll or get it to do what I wanted. Very frustrating - I work with computers for a living, I should be able to conquer any device within 10 min., no?

My Pocket Pro is much easier to use. I'm very happy with it, and I don't think I would have been with the Nook.

Still, it was the Nook that sucked me in.

Actually this is true for me, as well. The Nook captured my interest and it was what I learned after that made me decide to go with the Astak Pocket Pro.

[jusmee]

Originally Posted by French

Actually this is true for me, as well. The Nook captured my interest and it was what I learned after that made me decide to go with the Astak Pocket Pro.

Power of Advertising - particularly the free type. These guys (Nook) knew how to get the media buzzing about their new product. They did an excellent job of raising people's awareness of it, and also ereaders in general.

[Chuckwade87]

I was lucky enough to snag one of the Christmas Charity Baskets, it arrive only a few days before christmas. My daughter loves it and has spent half the day between her DSi and her Pocket Pro. I'm thinking about picking up another one(Slate Blue?) for my son. Its a little more expensive than the sony prs 300(?, I think thats the model) but again, The Astak can read nearly every format under the sun.
Thanks RobertB and Astak for helping make my kids Christmas especially Merry.

Happy Holidays to all.

[eGeezer]

Don't forget the part where the Astak comes with its own a.c. adaptor AND a cover. And I believe its only more expensive if you got the gift basket. Without going and doing more research, I believe I recall the price for both 5" units is the same.

My (Blue) Astak PPro gift basket faithfully appeared under the tree, and we immediately headed north for the day to visit relatives, so I haven't actually put it thru any paces. Being a good boy and letting it charge up til morning per instructions, but got the firmware downloaded and ready to go, although the Firmware Announcement thread has notes about slow page turning and multiple freeze-ups with the new firmware. Guess I'll have to wait and see.

Since that thread' went quiet on 12/14, I am assuming it is not a widespread problem. Am concerned, tho, that the previous (091116) firmware update much bally-hooed as the fallback is not the one listed on the BeBook site (shows as 091016). If I need it, I am sure that is still better than the 090907 one on my unit now.

Excitement, Excitement.

[diokdin]

Originally Posted by French

Actually this is true for me, as well. The Nook captured my interest and it was what I learned after that made me decide to go with the Astak Pocket Pro.

Me too! It was the Nook that got my interest in an ebook reader. I've known already about the Kindle but it didn't do anything to me. But when I did further research I found that I like Astak better and it's cheaper too esp. with all the extras it has on it! More bang for my buck.

[diokdin]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Dear Diokdin:

I work for Astak and I am so glad you joined our merry band.

Every time I say anything about any other device I get slammed. I read one review on the Nook that said it was "agonizingly slow". That is all I know.

Anyway, I am grateful for all the helpful comments on here posted to help Diokdin and other new EZ Reader Basic and Pocket Pro users. This has become a real community here. People like "TheDucks" have been so helpful on so many things!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

And that is why I got EZ PPro. The help I get here and someone who works in Astak too that listened to their customers is another reason that sway me to get Astak.

Happy New Year!

[eGeezer]

This thread popping back up in my User CP window reminded me that I never came back and said that the firmware update worked just fine for me -- the update itself was a breeze.

Of course, I don't know what it was like BEFORE the update, but page turns seem to be plenty fast enuff for me, and the only "long" page turns are the ones where I didn't press the button hard enuff.

Getting the "bookmark" window up takes a while (press and hold "6"), and erasing a bookmark also seems to take a bit of time (press and hold bookmark number wiht bookmark page open). But with the "last page read" feature when returning to a book, I'm only bookmarking as a back up, and erasing them just to keep them all on one page.

I initially found the button clicks for changing font size back to my "bright light" font to be slightly distracting until the button clicks became habit. Now its no more noticeable than page turning.

I immediately copied the "Free ebook" folder to my computer, and find popping the SD card into a slot is simple and easy for updating the changes I have made to the folder. In reality, it is the only way I can deal with the reader on my Mac because I can't seem to "eject" both the SD and the int memory. I eject one, and before I can get the other ejected, the first one is mounted again. I finally just pulled the USB cable and hoped for the best.

It is the first time I've found a PC does anything better. Darn it. Because of that, I have to use my laptop to download any ADE (Library) books, since I can't just drag and drop ADE books to the SD card.

I did a little house cleaning on the "500+ Free Books", cleaning out cook books from the 1800's, books in languages I don't read, and several, but not numerous, Dickens duplicates.

Its no surprise that the paragraph mark placement in .txt books was irritating. After using a "find and replace" of all .txt paragraph marks with spaces, and then another "find and replace" to insert double paragraph marks after all periods (.) on about 3 books, I finally went to Guttenburg and just downloaded all the .txt books in epub format.

I'm not all that taken with the clock feature, since I have reset it numerous times and even as I type this, it is telling me that it is 05:35 on 01/01. Not sure where I was supposed to find the instructions on getting down to changing the date, but a Robertb post about the new FAQ page finally got me there. Until it can keep real time, I won't be bothering setting it again.

I have pretty much consistently always put it in standby, and the battery still sez it is still full, but will recharge it before I head out for a two week vacation, anyway, since Robertb is constantly telling us that the meter is unreliable until its been charged 3 times. Am certainly looking forward to a vacation with my Astak instead of a bag full of books.

I was on pg 590/1152 of Neal Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon" tree book when I got the Astak. I went to the local library looking for it, and was pleasantly surprised to find it, although I had to put a hold on it. Waiting now to see if it shows up before I leave. I am not going to lug my laptop thru airport security just to be able to download it in Hawaii. However, it will certainly be easier reading on the Astak once I get it than the tree book 6 pt font.

In the meantime, while I was at the eLibrary, I was pleasantly surprised to find the first in the R.A. Salvatore "Demon Wars Saga". I have been shopping the used book stores off and on for months, having books 2 and 3 already. Then I bit the (free) bullet and downloaded 2 & 3 anyway, so if "Crypto" isn't available, I'll have the complete trilogy with me to finish on vacation.

I seldom use the left-side page turn buttons, but the 9/0 buttons and the wheel all get a lot of use.

Anyway. Love my Astak EZ PPro. Just thot I'd pop back and say so.

[polly]

Originally Posted by eGeezer

I did a little house cleaning on the "500+ Free Books", cleaning out cook books from the 1800's, books in languages I don't read, and several, but not numerous, Dickens duplicates.

Its no surprise that the paragraph mark placement in .txt books was irritating. After using a "find and replace" of all .txt paragraph marks with spaces, and then another "find and replace" to insert double paragraph marks after all periods (.) on about 3 books, I finally went to Guttenburg and just downloaded all the .txt books in epub format.

At the risk of sounding repetitious, you might want to check out the books available right here on Mobileread. They are the same titles as at Project Gutenberg, but lovingly formatted. Tables of content, illustrations, italics, proper spelling and encoding and already converted into many formats. Compare one of HarryT's books with the same book from Gutenberg and you'll see what I mean.

Click on Html next to Full List, and you'll get a fully searchable list of the library.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/ebo...&sort=dateline

[eGeezer]

Thanks for the reminder.

I have checked out the Mobileread library, and have even downloaded a few which intrigued me from Altsheler, but didn't think to search for the Gutenberg titles. Since the .txt files were from Gutenberg, I merely went back to the source.

Had it occurred to me, I would have assumed no difference between the Gutenberg and Mobileread versions, so I appreciate your taking the time to bring the difference to my attention, and I will indeed check it out.

Thanks

Edit:

Took a moment to find 3 H.G. Wells books in Mobileread and compared them to the copies in the Astak gift pack. With a quick comparison glance, Harry's end result shows much more care in the end product. And I even figured out that clicking the "OK/Menu" button takes me to the selected hyperlinked chapter. (Something the Gutenberg versions don't have)

Repetition is not always a bad thing. Sometimes one has to hear it over and over and over again until he hears it right. (Just ask my wife). Thanks, again.