Dulin's Books brings Onxy's 6-inch Boox 60 e-reader to US shores for $349

It has taken longer than anticipated, but the Boox e-reader that we toyed with at CeBIT earlier this year is finally available for order here in the US of A, with shipments expected to begin in a fortnight. Onyx International's 6-inch reader -- which features WiFi, a Vizplex e-ink display, a 532MHz processor, 512MB of memory, a 1,600mAh battery and an SD / SDHC expansion slot -- is bring slung across the seas courtesy of Dulin's Books, and while it won't ship with integrated 3G support, it's still coming here with a lofty $349 price tag affixed to it. Sure, that WebKit browser may impress some, and the bundled white leather cover is a pleasant touch, but we can only wish it luck as it tries to rival the (less expensive and more capable) Nook and Kindle.

[Thanks, Jorge]

[deant Posted Dec 30th 2009 6:58AM]

look like a big iPod

[bigcow05 Posted Dec 30th 2009 7:10AM]

@deant
looks and sounds like an XBOX360.

[Ducman69 Posted Dec 30th 2009 7:10AM]

@deant - more like a Zune.

[Eugene Action Posted Dec 30th 2009 7:42AM]

@deant video after the break... (LOL at "Slim Body") http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJUNjmSvaFc&feature=player_embedded

[frotal Posted Dec 30th 2009 11:35AM]

@Eugene Action
From the video, "Powered by a 16-level grayscale e-ink screen, the boox looks and feels like paper."

Sweet, since when did ei-nk power the device and e-ink feel like paper.

[ch3burashka Posted Dec 30th 2009 3:01PM]

@deant
It's an iPod!
It's a Zune!

It's... Dulin's e-reader... nevermind people, nothin' to see here...

[joelaf Posted Dec 30th 2009 7:27AM]

Looks like a doorbell camera

[jeti Posted Dec 30th 2009 7:28AM]

Wonderful. There's a slew of new ebook readers, but they all use the same displays and they all start at the same price point. Good thing I bought a used 505 instead of holding out for more interesting / cheaper devices.

[Vidikron Posted Dec 30th 2009 10:11AM]

@jeti

Same price point? This one is going to launch for $90-100 more than the Kindle and Nook.

[jeti Posted Dec 30th 2009 2:08PM]

@Vidikron The point is that these readers don't get noticeably cheaper. I had hoped that competition would cause the price to drop. But the devices all depend on the same display manufacturer and its output is still quite limited.

[Carld Posted Dec 30th 2009 3:33PM]

@jeti

Prices have already dropped a lot. My Kindle 1 was $400, while the K2 and Nook are selling for $259.

[Eugene Action Posted Dec 30th 2009 7:37AM]

why would you pay $350 for a harsh text reader, and then pay more for the content, when you can just buy a book... forever...

[Ducman69 Posted Dec 30th 2009 8:46AM]

@Eugene Action - A 16GB SDHC card can hold a LOT of books, but you can only fit two or three in your backpack.

A better question is why not just use a big-screened cellphone, netbook, or nettablet in portrait mode, as then you have a backlit full color display that can not only read text but do a CRAPLOAD more without being tied to any one service.

And considering people already have big-screened smartphones and can pick up a netbook for under $300, cost savings definitely aren't a factor.

[Vidikron Posted Dec 30th 2009 10:14AM]

@Ducman69

Because the battery life on those devices is terrible compared to e-readers and reading lots of text for long periods of time is harder on the eyes. Sure, there will alway be people that prefer multi-purpose devices, but they almost always make compromises compared to specialty devices.

[Carld Posted Dec 30th 2009 11:49AM]

@Ducman69

Because all those are a lot worse for reading ebooks than an e-reader.

[Pipp Posted Dec 30th 2009 12:40PM]

@Ducman69

"A better question is why not just use a big-screened cellphone, netbook, or nettablet in portrait mode, as then you have a backlit full color display that can not only read text but do a CRAPLOAD more without being tied to any one service."

You cannot read books on those devices, you will get through 5 pages before your eyes bleed from the strain. E Ink displays mimic paper, and do it so well you can read entire novels without any eye strain.

How do people not know this yet. You cannot use traditional displays and read entire books without your eyes melting. You need to use E Ink.

[Ducman69 Posted Dec 30th 2009 3:12PM]

@(Unverified) That is utter and total bullcrap. You can set the colors to be the same shades of gray if that suits your fancy.

Battery life is a valid argument, but with netbooks offering 6+hrs of battery life, can you really see yourself wasting an entire day motionless where you couldn't take a break when your battery gets low to plug it in?

Its your money.

[Kolenka Posted Jan 5th 2010 11:27AM]

@Ducman69

Two things:
- It isn't about the color that adds eyestrain, it's the fact that anything backlit is blasting light into your eyes to make it work. Our eyes were never really built for that sort of abuse, and developed in a world where every bit of light that wasn't the big yellow ball in the sky is reflected light. Sure, it seems to work, but screens have been getting brighter in the demand of being usable in daylight, and a lot of these screens won't go as dim as older models (brightness on laptop displays is sometimes a trade-off), which tends to rule out reading in the dark on these things. eInk presents a reflective surface to display the image, so reflected, diffuse light is what reaches your eye.

- 1-2 weeks of battery is in entirely different class than 6 hours. Sometimes it isn't about convenience (although it's always nice), but the eReader will impact your electricity bill less than something with an LCD screen, and will last longer when on vacation which is the key thing.

[make Posted Dec 30th 2009 8:44AM]

So is it Onyx or Onxy?

[Nestea69 Posted Dec 30th 2009 9:24AM]

Im starting to get annoyed by these useleas thibgs, ereaders…. Juat use a iphone

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 30th 2009 11:27AM]

@Nestea69 These things are starting to annoy me, these e-readers. Why not just use an iphone.

There you go, I cleaned that mess up for you. To answer your question, believe it or not,not everyone wants to buy an iphone. Especially to have to squint at it for hours to read more than lolz text messages. They want to sit back, relax and read a whole book. A whole book! Imagine that!

[bennyz Posted Dec 30th 2009 10:00AM]

Well its a really nice e-reader. I have one and it's become my favorite way to read my books and especially PDFs. Engadget didn't even mention the Wacom stylus. Its great for taking notes and recent update even supports password protected PDFs. Can nook and kindle do that? Does kindle even have an SD card slot? I don't think so. plus i found this post while reading engadget with the browser:) I don't see any other ereaders that are this capable for only 350. remember kindle cost this much just a few months ago. Plus its Linux and there's and SDK

there's a video of it here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnFfXZ5DT8k

and another here
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/Bq10UMpPhb8/

[mtkupp Posted Dec 30th 2009 10:28AM]

What I want in an ereader, is just that, a way to read ebooks. I don't want 3G, I don't want my purchasing to be impulsive. I don't want a keyboard, I don't write in my books. I want an open format so I can purchase ebooks from anyone and read them on the reader. I don't need a web browser, my phone has one, my zune has one, I'm seldom more than 15 minutes from a computer. Wifi would be useful for transferring my downloaded books, but not if it adds $50 over a usb connection.

[Carld Posted Dec 30th 2009 11:52AM]

@mtkupp

All those things you don't want are things a lot of people do want.

[jeti Posted Dec 30th 2009 2:19PM]

@Carld Sure. But these features do add to the price, volume and weight of the device and reduce its battery life. Both simple and connected readers do have their advantages and markets.
Anyway, sooner or later there will be displays that combine the advantages of e-paper and LC displays and the readers will be replaced by multi-purpose devices like webpads and netbooks.

[Carld Posted Dec 30th 2009 11:51AM]

At $100 more than the Kindle or Nook this model is DOA.

[MAXxIKEVICH Posted Jan 1st 2010 9:14AM]

Onyx international and dulin's books is a different company. Boox has a best technical realization of touch screen in e-reader. It's the first lossless display with touch screen fuction!