Dulin's Books rolls out PocketBook 360, 301+ ereaders in the US
By Donald Melanson 
posted Nov 9th 2009 1:56PM
posted Nov 9th 2009 1:56PM
Upstart company you've never heard of suddenly selling not one but two ebook readers in the US? Yeah, these are rebadge jobs, but at least one of 'em -- the PocketBook 360 -- is a slightly new variation on a theme. From the looks of it, this one is a new / different version of an ereader most recently seen under the Mentor brand, and packs a 5-inch Vizplex display, 512MB of internal memory, a microSD card slot for expansion, a Linux-based OS, your choice of black or white color options and, of course, support for a full range of ebook formats (including EPUB). The company's PocketBook 301+, on the other hand, is seemingly the same model seen as the Foxit eSlick and Hyper Gear ereader, and includes the same EPUB support, along with a slightly larger 6-inch Vizplex display, and some expanded media playback and game options. Look for it to set you back $275, while the PocketBook 360 runs $240. If neither of those suit you, an additional, stylus-equipped Boox model is also promised "soon" -- and, of course, is mighty familiar.
None of the above suits me. Where's my Apple touch screen reader??
Just think in the same features plus a +$200 Apple Tax.
I fundamentally don't understand the ebook reader thing. If these devices had the capability of an Archos 5 or 9 tablet that was also an ebook reader with 250gb, then I could basically understand the cost. But a monochromatic screen with mediocre to impossible web browsing? And this is the hottest gadget heading into the holidays?
Confused.
It's all about the backlight. e-ink doesn't need one, and as such makes for much less eye strain. Pretty much all other display technology (especially anything that can display pretty high color video) produces light as par o f the display.
If you don't read enough to get eyestrain, then go for the multimedia slate, but for those of us that do, this makes sense.
It seems to me like that shouldn't be as big of a deal as it is. If nothing else, as a novice I would assume there would be a possibility of switching between modes somehow.
The lack of even the possibility on an Archos tablet alone is surprising to me, eye strain or not. I simply can't imagine paying $200-$300 just because of a non-backlit screen when there's virtually no other benefit to the object.
@Sean:
An ebook reader is just that - an ebook reader, nothing more. As you rightly say, the devices just don't do well at other things (at the moment).
However if what you do is read a lot of books, then an ebook reader is pretty good: (1) the display *for reading books* is stunning, FAR better than any LCD device; (2) the battery lasts forever (weeks and weeks of reading); and (3) it's light and has buttons in the right places for turning pages (sounds stupid, but it does make a difference when you're holding it).
I will agree on another point - I don't believe they're truly the hottest gadget. I can see a LOT of ebook readers lying dusty on a shelf along with their paper counterparts.
but the REAL trouble is the refresh rate. it is about a couple of seconds (if not more) x page scroll.
I agree that these are niche devices, but I disagree that e-ink displays are actually superior to LCDs for reading. They are usable in ambient-lit conditions and do have good battery life generally, but that's about it. The contrast/resolution limits are obvious when viewing any good book typeface. Those who claim the contrast is as good as even cheap paper (even in ideal lighting) are on some strange drugs. The poor contrast and font smoothing problems are even more noticeable in languages like Chinese, where bolded fonts or sans serifs are pretty much necessary. This does not make for a pleasant reading experience. Reading badly-typeset (pretty much every eBook format other than custom-made pdfs...just go look at any epub or mobi file to see what I mean) books in Vera Sans, Caecilia, or some other mediocre or bolded font on e-ink is just as tiresome and straining, if not moreso, than reading good files on a backlit LCD, and that's just in English, which is much more forgiving to read on e-ink than many languages. It's not so bad if you increase the text size significantly, but many readers do not like having to do that (the great advantage to reflowable formats is that they can look like small crap OR big crap, depending on your preference and visual acuity).
Magallanes's point about page turn responsiveness is also good, though they are almost all sub-second delays now. The popular habit of eBook consumers to compare device delay to turning pages of physical books is rather idiotic. Even a JetBook (which is LCD, by the way) can't navigate visually as quickly as simple bound paper can.
When e-ink becomes blacker-on-whiter (color or not, the contrast needs to improve), and overcomes all the nasty slowness, I'll be happy to have one for passive reading (without annotation). Of course, it makes more sense that other technologies will replace e-ink by then. Then we just have to hope for usable writing input (current implementations are still novelty at best) before we have can approach a valid "e-paper solution".
Wow. I didn't know my last name was a company's name,lol.
Good luck competing w/ Kindle or Nook @ $275, $240 !
This is MSRP, it is pretty typical of the Cybook rebrands to sell substantially below MSRP. Like $100 below. Setting a high MSRP, just makes it seem like you are getting a good price when you see it for $150, regularly priced at $250. They better follow suit otherwise I can't imagine them moving a lot of these. However, the little pocket version is impressively small, so that could attract buyers that don't want a Kindle sized device.
Hi all,
and especially iDavey since we share the same last name:) I'm the owner of dulinsbooks.com and while we're small and just getting started we will be carrying a larger variety of readers and media tablets in the near future.
The PocketBook 301 is of course the Netronix EB600 hardware but the firmware from Pocketbook is much better than the other clones you'll find. The PocketBook 360 was never going be a Mentor unit, as was reported early on, as its Pocketbook's own design produced for them exclusively by Netronix and is a fantastic little device.
I hope the Boox is familiar :) Its a great device that we are really looking forward to adding to our lineup. The PDF support for reflow and zooming plus the stylus (Wacom) input for note taking are really nice- I even used it to show my banker our business plan etc :) The webkit browser worked well enough for me to download a book from Google while using the free WiFi at a certain brick and mortar bookseller...
We aren't trying to compete with the Kindle or nook- they have far too much buying power to compete for price anyway. We want to offer quality alternatives to consumers who may be looking for an ereader but don't want to be locked in to the "big guys". We'll keep our prices as low as we can.
Thanks,
Charlie
I'll tell you a bit about this books... Software is developing in Ukraine, hardware - China, as usual. Without any exceptions this is the best software solution I've ever seen. ALL the possible formats and free uploading. Forget about conversion - FB2, TXT, PDF, DJVU, RTF, HTML, PRC, CHM, EPUB, DOC, TCR... DJVU!!!!!!!!!!!! I have couple of old textbooks in DJVU and I read them AS IS. Games - I like to play chess there.
I like cool design and nook really touches my heart but I can't change little color display on the most comfortable software. And in the nearest days I'll buy one (now i am using the same but it's not mine).. the only thing I regret is display - i would like to have 7 inches ))) but this is my specific willing ))
Boox looks interesting: I like the ability to handwrite annotations on books. There's been little or no mention of the Boox since it premiered at CeBit in February (see this post: http://ireaderreview.com/2009/03/02/onyx-boox-reader-kindle-2-competitor/) so it's good to see it finally about to appear as a real product.
I think my Kindle 2i is great. I can read from it for more then 2 weeks and and not worry about recharging the battery's as long at I just turn the Wireless ON for a few minutes to download anything new and then turn it back off. Most people's Cell phone for example you have to recharge Daily, or every couple days before the battery dies, even if it sits there. The text is nice and easy to read. Looks just like a Paperback book. Paperback book pages aren't white either, that's the point!!! For those times I want to read in the dark, I use my cheap Book light. Clip it on and I'm good to go.
I can hold it in one hand, and easily turn pages. The second or so it takes to display a new pages is faster then turning a page in a real book. It doesn't need it be super fast. Your not watching Video's on it. It's to READ BOOKS. It nice to have all your books in a single place that you can bring anywhere and access at any time. Where I can get a NEW book anywhere at anytime.
I don't know if ebooks are the new hot thing. It would seem that way, or at least a large enough market for them with all these new ebooks coming out now or soon. Competition is a great thing. Better Hardware at lower prices.