We'd
heard back in May that Endless Ideas' smallest e-reader yet would begin shipping (presumably in Europe) during the summertime, but it just recently started to make its way onto US doorsteps. Thankfully, our doorstep was among those greeted by the 5-inch reader, which boasts the same specifications as the
original BeBook save for the smaller display. Priced at $199, it seemed a lot more competitive
before Amazon
hacked the price of its Kindle to $259, and given the dearth of WiFi / 3G WWAN, it'll only appeal to those content with hitting up their PC via USB to get new content loaded on. Upon unboxing this cutie, we were struck at just how light and compact the whole unit is, though even with the font at its default size, we had no issues reading the crystal clear e-ink display. Screen refreshes were satisfactorily quick, and menu navigation was a breeze. As an e-reader (and MP3 player, if you wish), it's hard to bang on the pocket-friendly BeBook Mini, but with the Kindle's recent
price drop and Sony's $199
Reader Pocket Edition, competition is fierce.
posted Oct 12th 2009 3:34PM
_103x88.jpg)
_103x88.jpg)
_103x88.jpg)
_103x88.jpg)
_103x88.jpg)
How is it better looking and cheaper then Astak?
It's the same jinke Hanlin eReader V5 rebranded as BeBook, so they look identical and Astak rebrand is also $199, so the price is also identical.
Yeah, this is the blandest, cheapest, oldest looking device I've seen in a long time.
Not sure why anybody would buy this over the much better looking, similar Sony...
Agreed with you there L. All these book readers be it Kindle, Sony Reader or this one cost way too much for being nothing more than bigger versions of PDAs from 10+ years ago. Yes, they have better storage but when Netbooks cost about the same $... are you really getting what paid for?
@L
The similar sized nicer looking Sony Reader doesn't come with an sd slot so you are kind of limited to the amount of space on the reader. (I know because my sister bought one and I thought she was nuts. I have an older Sony 500 and lots of SD cards with varying stuff on them to keep me a happy camper).
The best e book reader is my HTC Hero on which I have installed the free Aldiko app and its exceptional catalogue of free books.
BTW, many other free e book reader are available for free for Android, "word player" was not bad and had a great free catalogue too, but Aldiko is the best by far.
@CTgaffney
"nothing more than bigger versions of PDAs from 10+ years ago"
As has been discussed on Engadget before, don't confuse the greyish looking screens with screens from old Palm devices and similar. E-ink is a completely different technology, designed to replicate a paper reading experience which they do very well, 180 degree viewing angle side to side and up or down, exceptional in sunlight and easy on the eyes. Battery life is measured in weeks.
Comparison with netbooks is just FUD. A netbook will hardly replicate the book experience whereas these do.
Given that the Sony Reader is the same price for a 6-inch screen, and the Kindle only $50 more, I don't see this device having much of a niche, or a future.
The $200 Sony Reader has a 5 inch screen.
If it were only $99 ... sold.
... maybe.
Seriously...
It does look cheap and low quality... like the latest Miley Cyrus music video....
Here goes my lunch....
It doesn't have anything to do with BeOS is it?
saw something similar at Fry's last weekend for 150 after rebate, the supported formats reminded me of palm OS (it supported pdb, prc among other formats)
oh god that text input mode is PAINFUL looking
Smallest reader is iPhone $49.
iPhone doesn't cost $49. Oh, and...
No one cares about you stupid phone.™
Oops, I meant "No one cares about your stupid phone.™"
Damn, I just KIRFd my own made-up trademark!
Wow... So It's my Astak EZreader, but smaller...for the same price...
What a deal!!
Also: I pay less than Kindle/Sony for more formats and SD-expansion...yes please!
My wife has a Kindle 2 that she enjoys, but I decided to try the Kindle app on my iPhone and it works great. We share the same Amazon account, so we are able to share the books we order. I have now read a dozen or so books on my iPhone and wonder why anyone would pay for another e-reader. The print is clear and the small screen is not a problem for me. Yes, you have to do fairly frequent thumb flicks to get to the next page, but I have not found it to be objectionable. If you have an iPhone, I would say don't wast your money on an e-reader.
Jesus - do some of you incessant "mah iphone is soooo awesum for readin teh books!111" even understand what the point of an e-ink based ebook reader is? I really don't think you do, and yet, you keep commenting in EVERY e-ink related article as if you know what you're talking about.
Folks have complained about the depth of field of your "hands-on" gallery shots before, so I want to make it clear that that isn't my complaint here.
That said......would it be possible to have some more shots like the 2nd one, that show the whole device and something else in frame, that let me get a sense of the scale of it? From the edge on shot of the bottom (top?), it looks about 4.5" wide, and very thin! Stacked or side-by-side with everyday objects, like a CD case or DVD case would be helpful too!
When will they let someone that actually went to design school do one?
If they're going to try to make it smaller than a paperback, why do they insist on wasting 1/4 of the front facia with ugly buttons and such? I'm surprised that I haven't seen one designed with the the buttons on the edge of the device (like the volume buttons on a cellphone)
So, as a designer, have you ever held the original Kindle or any other reader for a couple hours of reading? That thing was damn ugly, IMO. But it also reminded us of the benefits of having a real bezel to hold onto.
Too many new devices are skimping on so much bezel or thickness that it gets uncomfortable to hold the freakin' thing for any period of time. Ah needs somewhere to put mah thumbz! That goes for bottom-edged buttons, too. Though I'll admit that key layout isn't aesthetically pleasing. At all.
As a person who enjoys ebooks, I must agree that the experience of reading a novel on my iPhone with Stanza is preferable to reading it on my kindle.
I really don't get the market for these e-readers. They are incredibly overpriced for what they are capable of doing. Sure, I've played with a few and thought they were 'cute' and all... but really, why not put the $200 towards an iPhone or iTouch that does the ebook thing quite well on top of tons of other things. Come on.
Because these actually replicate the experience of reading a book with less eyestrain? Just because you 'can' read on an iphone, which I often do, doesn't mean it's automatically better. I listen to music on it too, I'm not giving up my Cyrus CDxtse/DAC X combo because of it though! Just like if you love music, If you read a lot of books, the cost can be justified.
Come on!
i find all the ebook readers poor quality ... they all sacrifice screen quality for battery life ... people are used to charging stuff ..
someone could easily adapt netbook tech to a better ebook reader than any of the crappy e-ink ones.
Using a netbook as an ebook reader makes as much sense as using one for doing video editing. Just not the right tool for the job. A dedicated ebook reader with an e-ink screen offers a much better reading experience. They are lighter, the battery lasts for a week or more, they feel more bookish, and the e-ink screen is easy on the eyes.
Just because you have a hammer doesn't mean that you need to nail everything in sight.
'sacrificing screen quality for price'
Utter nonsense.
You cannot compare 'screen quality' just because these don't do color, and by trying to compare these with lcd just completely misses the point.
Misquote, 'sacrifice screen quality for battery life' I meant to quote.
$199 is not competitive when kindle 2 refurbs are 20 bucks more and have free 3g wireless
No, they don't understand the point of e-ink readers. If you want to use your Jesus Phone or netbook to read books by all means do so but some of us prefer the Kindle or Sony Reader for reading for long periods of time as the displays are much easier on the eyes. I also like the fact that my PRS-505 doesn't play video, make phone calls or surf the web, those things only serve to distract from reading. Reading, just reading, that's the point.
Wow, you just nailed the thing I haven't been able to explain about my fascination with e-book, e-ink readers with two words: "No distractions." That really ought to be used in marketing these things as it's actually an important aspect of their appeal, IMHO.
Why is it that the same people who cry "Netbooks are a waste of money, they can't do ANYTHING!" have no problems with these pricey e-books? A doodad like this with a limited feature set and monochrome display hardly seems like an improvement over a full-fledged computer with a sluggish processor.
Possibly because they are different people.
Is the camera on your phone the only camera you have? Is it good enough? What is up with these expensive cameras? All they do is take pictures (really well). My phone can do that (not so good).
Why is it that the same people who cry "E-books are a waste of money, they can't do ANYTHING!" have no problems with these dumbed-down netbooks? A doodad like a netbook that's impractically small with a sluggish processor hardly seems like an improvement over a focused feature set with a purposed display.
It's all about versatility, man. You can do a lot more with a netbook than just read books and surf the internet (slowly, in black and white). I get tired of the hypocrisy from the netbook haters and PC snobs who bitch bitch bitch that the machines aren't as powerful as the 3.8GHz monsters they have at home (no shit? At only half the price and size, I would kind of expect that), but make endless excuses for gadgets like this. That includes you, Darren Murph. I've been reading Engadget for years and you're the worst of the lot. Did a netbook run over your dog or something?
I didn't mean to tease. But in your own language, that's the crux of it. A netbook is a dumb an uncomfortable version of the notebook I already have. And perhaps my smartphone fills in my compulsive internet fix. Meanwhile this is a very focused device for those who really want to read. Just read. As someone put above, "with no distractions."
Dear Blogsmith,
I still hate you.
Love,
ansnimus3
You fail to understand the utility of a netbook. It's not SUPPOSED to be a replacement for your laptop. However, it offers much of the home computing experience in a much smaller form factor. There's a big difference between the size of the laptop you have at home and a netbook that fits easily in a backpack and on the top of a student desk. That's a key selling point for students like myself who already have to carry around a mountain of books... we don't need the straw of an oversized, overpowered laptop to break the proverbial camel's back. Sure, an e-book will fit into that backpack just as easily, but it's useless for taking notes, jotting down ideas for reports, or playing games on emulators to pass the time during a boring lecture.
Here's my question for you... what is this damning limitation of a netbook that has you convinced they're so worthless? It can't be the keyboard or the screen, since both have been drastically improved in the two years since the EEE was first launched (and typing on even the lowly 701 is a big improvement over the imprecise iPhone touchscreen). It can't be the hard drive, because the capacity has jumped from 4GB to 160GB in the same span of time. Is there some crucial piece of software you have to have with you at all times that you can't run on a netbook? I'm not aware of any... at least not any that *could* be run on another handheld convergence device.
I think your beef with netbooks can be boiled down to the gigahertz penis-measuring contest that has obsessed far too many computer enthusiasts. Sure a netbook is never going to be used to render a Pixar movie, play Crysis, or prevent a nuclear attack, but they're not designed for such overreaching applications. Hell, neither is an iPhone! That device gets a free pass on its inherent limitations, but nobody extends that courtesy to netbooks, which are routinely and unfairly compared to HOME computers. It's total hypocrisy and complete crap.
I have a Kindle DX and my only complaints are the costs of ebooks (even $9.99 is pricey) and the formatting/translating of some of the books. As for all the other complaints I have heard about Kindle or even ebooks in general I find them to be silly. Lacking color? Can't perform other tasks/programs? I just want an ebook, not a computer, not an ipod. As for color and pictures? I stopped reading those books back in grade school...