Well, here is another option if you can’t afford the Kindle 2 or the Kindle DX. This is not a review, just a deal alert -
- Have never seen or used or owned a Jetbook. This is NOT a recommendation.
- Read the reviews at Newegg before buying.
- Both models were available on June 22nd 2009, 1:43 am PST.
The two offers are -
- Jetbook in White for $170 ($130 off plus free shipping).
- Jetbook in Black for $200 ($100 off, no free shipping). It looks pretty good -
Kindle 2 at $359 too expensive? Consider a Jetbook
Do keep in mind that -
- Have no idea of how good its PDF support is.
- The screen is 5 inches. Thats a little smaller than the Kindle/Kindle 2′s 6″ screen.
- There is no WhisperNet.
- Display is not eInk so readability isn’t as good. On the plus side, no page turn problems except on images.
- Images and PDFs that are scanned images (and not converted to text) slow down page turn times to 15 seconds per turn.
- Only 2 font sizes. Font size not changed on PDFs.
On the plus side -
- Auto-Page Turning.
- Screen Rotation.
- Very good support for English languages.
The black looks really good – the burgundy does too – However, its not on sale. White – depends on your preference.
Both have the same technical specifications -
Text:.txt, .pdf, .fb2 Mobi, PRC, ePub, RTF Image:JPEG/GIF/PNG/BMP Audio: MP3 Screen Size: 5″ Viewing Angle: 180° Features:True pocket-sized portability for thousands of eBooks. Unique support for e-Book content in Albanian, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, English, Faeroese, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Croatian, Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian and other European language. Built-in Dictionary: Yes Card Reader: SD
Hat tip to Teleread for mentioning this a few days back and to Joe for asking about low priced ereaders and reminding me.
Filed under: eBook Reader Devices Tagged: | kindle vs jetbook
I own a JetBook (~$200 at Fry’s as well), Kindle 1, and had a Sony PRS-505, so here is a review.
Overall it is a great lightweight replacement for a pocket novel/book, esp. if you have ebooks already. It is the one I carry with me every day.
It is not for impulse buyer (no wireless) or someone who needs technical documents. For this look to the iRex or Kindle DX for an 8″+ screen.
Good:
Smaller than Kindle, pocket sized and light.
Instant page turns
USB charge (like Kindle 2)
Multilingual support
built in dictionary is not bad, but not equal to Wikipedia.
Screen is LCD and IMO as good as the Kindle 1 or Sony PRS505
SD expandable (Get a Class 6 SD card or your system will slow down)
Built in file management
Half the price of Kindle or Sony
Fair:
PDF support is OK, but currently no reflow of text.
FYI: Reflow is supposed to be available in a firmware update. However, with a 5″ screen, technical diagrams and large pictures are too small to view. IMO neither the Kindle nor the Sony viewed these documents well either.
Battery life is not as good, about a week of moderate reading between charges, maybe 12-16 hours of constant reading.
Was a little slick and hard to hold, but either a silicone case (ebay) or a camera wrist strap fixed that.
Bad:
No store (like Sony) or Whispernet, you must find ebooks via other stores. Although with Amazon & Sony’s DRM issues, this might not be all bad.