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82 of 87 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Does not get enough credit, June 7, 2008
This review is from: Ectaco jetBook - eBook reader - ROM: 128 MB - 5" monochrome TFT ( 640 x 480 ) (Electronics)
I was looking for a handheld device that is easy to use, small to handle and fast to open up large files. Ability to ready PDF documents was an absolute must, but I didn't want to a complicated approach to getting my PDF's onto the device.
Why PDF is a must?
If you are like me, you need to read architecture docs, legal docs, design docs, etc. I don't feel comfortable sending these docs to Amazon to be converted. What I am saying is that I was looking for a device that can serve not only as book reader, but a document reader.
First: SONY reader
I bought the SONY reader, and it was a horrible experience. SONY reader is slow, and that "black screen" was really annoying. I did like the fact that it was able to read PDF docs, and it is very thin. It was a little too big, and the WORST part that it didn't format PDF docs all that well. It showed the page, but you couldn't get rid of the white spaces (margins) in order to read the text better.
Second: Amazon Kindle
I must say that it is a very well thought out idea. The fact that you can read newspaper, etc that is downloaded automatically on it, is great. I like the keyboard that comes with the device. The screen size is ok, and it is "fast".
Not having the ability to natively read PDF docs is a huge problem. I get technical docs that are 20-30Mb in size, and I don't know how the Kindle behaves if it had to open up a very large file. It is TOO thick! I cant carry this thing around with ease. I carry a computer bag, two cell phones, ipod, etc. I can't have a large book reader. The size was an issue.
Lastly: jetBook
In one phrase: Well rounded! It reads PDF docs with ease. Formatting of docs is great, and it is small yet fast. I can open up a large doc, and it takes only a couple of seconds (with Sony, it took about 10). The screen is smaller than the SONY or Amazon, and I thought it would bother me. Here is the good news: you can rotate your doc! You can read landscape style, and the screen is perfect for that. The device is small that you can control it in one hand, and not heavy that you get tired. The keys are well placed, and the user interface is very simple! I charged it four days ago; been using it since, and the battery is at about 95%!
What I would add to this device: wireless internet access and a web browser. I know this kills the battery life, but it is worth it. I would like a back-light so I can read docs in the dark. None of the readers have this feature, but it would be very good thing to have. It doesn't read SD Cards over 2Gig, but I still have over 1Gig left - with over 200 docs already on the card.
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly good, June 6, 2008
This review is from: Ectaco jetBook - eBook reader - ROM: 128 MB - 5" monochrome TFT ( 640 x 480 ) (Electronics)
I had previously owned 2 Irex Iliads ebook readers, but after both failed with broken screens decided to try something different. I didn't want to buy the sony reader or the amazon kindle because of drm issues so I decided to give this a try.
At first I thought I had made a mistake, as out of the box the screen is disappointingly small. However, I have been using it for a week now, and I can say that the resolution is sufficiently good that the size of the screen is not really an issue. Mostly I can read in portrait mode, occasionally switching to landscape when I need to. There is an easily accessible button that allows me to do switch between the two very quickly. In fact, after lugging around a large Irex, I find the jetbook size very convenient. It almost fits into my pocket.
The build quality is very good: it is light and everything feels solid and reliable, with perhaps the exception of the usb and sd card cover. It is hinged on a piece of thin plastic that looks like it might break one day, though so far has been fine. The red colour is not so jarring as you might think and gives it a distinctive look.
There are many buttons on the face and sides, which means you have to be a bit careful how you hold it, but you can get used to it quickly. The buttons are well thought out, especially the numerical side buttons which make menu and page number selection a breeze. All in all, usage is pretty intuitive.
It comes with a fairly decent selection of texts included and fires up trouble free right out of the box. It can even play mp3s, although this is not something I am interested in.
The screen technology is different from the Iliad in that it uses a high resolution LCD display, rather than the electronic ink technology of the Iliad. The contrast is slightly less, but not significantly so and is certainly good enough. What is much better with the jetbook display is that page turning is much faster and there is no ghost image. It's so much better flipping pages at this speed in a way that was not possible with the Iliad. Also, startup and shutdown is almost instantaneous, so it is easy to dip in and out of a book.
The jetbook takes an sd card up to 2 gigabytes. I had no trouble using one, connecting it to my pc using the included usb cable and downloading texts. It should be noted that the machine is limited to txt and pdf files, so you cannot view lit files unless you convert. However, this is more than sufficient for me.
In summary, the jetbook does a pretty decent job. Size and weight is good, resolution is sufficient to make reading comfortable, and the speed is impressive. I would say it is still a little expensive, but so far I have been happy with it.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Easy to use ereader, June 11, 2009
This review is from: Ectaco jetBook - eBook reader - ROM: 128 MB - 5" monochrome TFT ( 640 x 480 ) (Electronics)
I am new to the ereader technology and hoped to find an easy-to-use, relatively inexpensive reader. I found this and a whole lot more with the Jetbook. This reader has a slightly smaller screen than some of the others I looked at; this makes it very comfortable and easy to hold and transport. Although it does not have backlight and does not use E-ink, I find it very easy to read even in dimmer light. Several font sizes are available, so I can enlarge the print. The menus are very easy to navigate and self explanatory. Jetbook has a great feature that allows you to file your books in category folders; you can even delete a book from the device menu. You can create and name your own folders. I really appreciate that the on/off button is very small and somewhat more difficult than the other buttons to get to---the device will not be accidently turned on by bumping!! Jetbook has a lot of buttons on the side that make navigation very simple-just pick the correponding number to the item you want on the menu. These buttons are on the front/side and are not easily bumped. Yhe forwards and back button is right at the thumb, making this simple. The device has an auto page turning option that I am not using right now. It also has bookmarks, several dictionaries and display controls.
The device takes a 2G SD card as well as having internal memory of its own. It comes with many nice classic books already installed, including the CHOICE of having a King James Bible pre-installed. It has a drop and drag technology for placing the downloaded books onto the card or reader, or you can do it by copying.
As delivered, the device does not accept Mobi and some other more popular formats but does have a beta firmware upgrade available on the website. I have not done this; I am going to wait on the final version. I have LOTS of books to read in the meantime!
The Ectaco website is running a special right now as I write that includes the reader, a decent carry pouch, USB cord, adapter, CD, instruction manual, earbuds and free shipping. (It will play MP3's, which I have not done, but this is available) It not as expensive as the other main ereaders. It feels very sturdy and substantial in the hand; I expect it to hold up well under normal conditions.
I am excited about this ereader and plan on upgrading fhe firmware. The company responded promptly and courteously to all my pre-buying emails and seem very supporting. I don't think you can go wrong with this one!
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