Nathan at The e-book Reader Blog picked one up at K-Mart for only $89US. Its being sold online (for pre-order in some cases) for $129. While it doesn't have a touchscreen it does have a full QWERTY keyboard.7" Color Screen / 2GB Internal Memory / SD Slot / WiFi capable / Built-in Speaker / MP3 and Video Player / CPU: Ingenic 4755, Arm9 400 MHz / OS: Linux 2.6.24
I hope the K-Mart price drop leads to a quick drop on the gadget websites out there. With the Wi-fi web surfing this could be a great dual e-reader/web surfer.
Augen The Book e-Reader Video Review, First Impressions | The eBook Reader Blog
Kindle-Like LCD eReader: Augen “The Book” Available for Pre-Order | e-Bookvine
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It's "ok" as far as readers go. Kindof large and bulky, compared with my Sony Pocket Edition, but not heavy.
ReplyDeleteStill charging it up for first use, but in reading the instructions, I see downsides already. One- no Upgrade. NOT AVAILABLE with this model. Better hope they got things right the first time, I guess. Definitely won't buy a newer model from this brand if it doesn't work well!
Two- talk about a slap-together job. I can understand misprints, I guess... but to have a 2-sided insert full of 'corrections' doesn't bode well for my confidence in a well-tested package!
Three- battery life. Looks like a bit of a drain, only lasts up to 4-5 hrs. on one charge. The Sony lasts a lot longer, although admittedly it has no backlight, which helps. I really hope the screen images and performance are worth the shorter battery life.
On the plus side, it IS admittedly the ONLY color e-reader in the "Under $100" price range,while having MORE memory than the Sony,as well as being an mp3 player and movie player. In other words, it's priced like a mid-grade media player, which to be honest is how ALL e-readers should be priced, as they are not phones, not pc's,and pretty much don't do anything but read books! That MAY be the saving grace on this unit, because I have heard the wi-fi is slow... I didn't purchase for WiFi, though,I wanted a color screen for an affordable price. Thank GOD it isn't a touchscreen,as those DO tend to wear out quickly,scratch easy, and the oils in your hands alone damage them!
Due to the small price ($89 at K-mart) I picked one up this last week. I already own a Sony PRS-300 and wanted to try an LCD screen. I could care less about the WiFi and web browser and seriously doubt I will ever use them at all. As an eReader, however, I find myself totally impressed. The LCD screen is crystal clear and simple to adjust. Available fonts are well chosen and work great. I've seen some complaints about PDF's, but again do not care as I convert all my ebooks to epub with Calibre software. The Book is nearly perfect with epub. After reading two short novels on it I loaded my entire library of 1039 books on it. Including the 150 epubs they give you for free, there is still well over half the space left on the device. Page turns are basically instantaneous, and the backlight means no more stupid reading lights at night. The battery charge only last about eight hours due to the LCD screen, but you can read this device with the charger plugged in, or hooked up to your computer. I read about 1 to 2 hours a day at most and am now on day four without a recharge so do not consider this a big disadvantage. The Sony is still my reader of choice when I am outside, but inside the house The Book has taken over as the reader of choice. I have heard all the arguments about LCD screens being harder on the eyes, but I honestly like this much better than the e-ink screens. I have no idea how long Augen will last in the ereader market, but I hope it is a while because this is much closer to what the public wants than most of what is on the market.
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