Initial Impressions From The eBook Virgin

[93terp]

Just got it today & it's currently charging up so I haven't had much time to play with it, but my initial impressions can be summed up as such: WOW!

I really like the eInk display & the feel of the material used for the reader itself. It's just like my inCase iPhone case - it's got a great grip & feels secure in my hands. I am also very impressed with the cover that came with the reader; the reader securely fits in the clips, yet isn't overly hard to remove when necessary,

I'd also like to report that my Pocket Pro shipped with the 1GB SD card that contains 300 free eBooks from Project Gutenberg - and what an outstanding collection of free books! Imagine my surprise when I found the Wilkie Collins collection, including one of my all time favorites, The Moonstone!

I'm off to download & install the firmware update & will post add'l observations once I get more hands-on time with Pocket Pro.

One quick question, though: do I need to download the Adobe Digital Edition software? Is there any way to tell if the Pocket Pro came installed with this software?

Lisa

[tamzilla]

You will need to download and install ADE on your computer in order to buy the DRM Adobe PDF & ePub files. You don't need to install anything on the Pocket Pro. You'll need to connect the Pocket Pro to your computer and start ADE so it can authorized your device before you copy your purchases over. I didn't have any problem getting my Pocket Pro to authorize.

The more I use the Pocket Pro, the more I love it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

[GA Russell]

Congratulations Lisa!

Let me guess. Any woman who refers to herself as a virgin and says that she is from Margaritaville must have gone to the University of Maryland. Am I right?

(Hoya Saxa!)

[emellaich]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Congratulations Lisa!

Let me guess. Any woman who refers to herself as a virgin and says that she is from Margaritaville must have gone to the University of Maryland. Am I right?

(Hoya Saxa!)

Well, that's all beyond me, but I thought the 93Terp, fear the turtle stuff was a more obvious clue .

[93terp]

Originally Posted by tamzilla

You will need to download and install ADE on your computer in order to buy the DRM Adobe PDF & ePub files. You don't need to install anything on the Pocket Pro. You'll need to connect the Pocket Pro to your computer and start ADE so it can authorized your device before you copy your purchases over. I didn't have any problem getting my Pocket Pro to authorize.

The more I use the Pocket Pro, the more I love it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Thanks for the info, Tamzilla. Do you know if I can have ADE installed on more than 1 computer and have the ability to connect the Pocket Pro for downloading purchases?

[93terp]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Congratulations Lisa!

Let me guess. Any woman who refers to herself as a virgin and says that she is from Margaritaville must have gone to the University of Maryland. Am I right?

(Hoya Saxa!)

Go Terps!!

[93terp]

Originally Posted by emellaich

Well, that's all beyond me, but I thought the 93Terp, fear the turtle stuff was a more obvious clue .

You're quite perceptive, emellaich!

[tamzilla]

Originally Posted by 93terp

Thanks for the info, Tamzilla. Do you know if I can have ADE installed on more than 1 computer and have the ability to connect the Pocket Pro for downloading purchases?

According to Adobe, you can authorize up to 6 devices on your account, which would include both additional computers or ebook readers, and can transfer purchases between all of them. Just make sure you keep track of how many you authorize, because, unlike iTunes, when you log into your Adobe account, it won't tell you how many authorizations you are using and Adobe won't let you reset the authorizations without calling their tech support. This is one of the reasons I'm really hoping that B&N will let Astak support the eReader DRM. EReader format isn't the greatest, but it's fine for most novels and the DRM is a lot easier to deal with.

[93terp]

Originally Posted by tamzilla

According to Adobe, you can authorize up to 6 devices on your account, which would include both additional computers or ebook readers, and can transfer purchases between all of them. Just make sure you keep track of how many you authorize, because, unlike iTunes, when you log into your Adobe account, it won't tell you how many authorizations you are using and Adobe won't let you reset the authorizations without calling their tech support. This is one of the reasons I'm really hoping that B&N will let Astak support the eReader DRM. EReader format isn't the greatest, but it's fine for most novels and the DRM is a lot easier to deal with.

Thanks - that's good to know about the Adobe authorizations.

[kennyc]

I received my PP yesterday as well. Not nearly so favorably impressed as the Terp girl.

I'm trying to give it a second shot today though.

I hate the tiny tiny menu fonts -- they are virtually unreadable to my old eyes--even with my glasses on.

Operationally all is working, the contrast is lower than my Sony 505 so that is disappointing, but it is still better than an lcd etc.

I was able to authorize it with Adobe so that is cool and transferred one checked-out library book to it.

The operation/UI seems a bit more cumbersome than the Sony which is very straight-forward and intuitive. The PP is not (at least to me) -- it is going to take a bit of getting used to.

Also I don't particularly like the button layouts -- not nearly as easy to read one-handed as the 505 but again that may be something I'll get used to.

Love the 300 books and 1G SD card.

[93terp]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I received my PP yesterday as well. Not nearly so favorably impressed as the Terp girl.

I'm trying to give it a second shot today though.

The operation/UI seems a bit more cumbersome than the Sony which is very straight-forward and intuitive. The PP is not (at least to me) -- it is going to take a bit of getting used to.

Love the 300 books and 1G SD card.

I do agree that the UI will take some getting used to, but I think that's just a matter of familiarity over time and with more usage.

One thing I noticed last night is that I've got key touch "beeps" enabled, but I never hear anything whenever I use the buttons - is there a volume button somewhere that I just can't find? Any help is appreciated in advance!

[kennyc]

No volume that I came across, but the beeps can be turned on or off. It's on by default.

I turned mine off.

[93terp]

Originally Posted by kennyc

No volume that I came across, but the beeps can be turned on or off. It's on by default.

I turned mine off.

My problem is I can't even hear the beeps when it's turned on!

[Morlac]

Originally Posted by 93terp

My problem is I can't even hear the beeps when it's turned on!

This may be stupidity on my part, but have you tried putting in headphones to see whether the beeps come out through them? I seem to recall vaguely reading posts awhile back saying that you had to have headphones plugged in to listen to any kind of mp3 audio. I wonder whether there is simply no speaker at all, even for system sounds?

[93terp]

Originally Posted by Morlac

This may be stupidity on my part, but have you tried putting in headphones to see whether the beeps come out through them? I seem to recall vaguely reading posts awhile back saying that you had to have headphones plugged in to listen to any kind of mp3 audio. I wonder whether there is simply no speaker at all, even for system sounds?

I haven't loaded any MP3s yet. The "beeps" are supposed to be audible (if you have the option enabled) whenever you press a button. I had assumed that this applied to button presses while reading an ebook. You know what happens when you assume! I haven't tried headphones to see if it's only audible that way; IMHO, if that's the case (you can only hear the beeps with headphones), the beeps option is kinda useless. Just my 2 cents....