Comments on: $130 handheld with seven-inch color screen: So why isn’t it reading ePub, Mobipocket and the rest?

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:21:34 +0000

Hi, Cabocook. Sorry about your bad experiences. We made it clear that serious questions remained as to its the device’s fitness for e-reading. In your shoes, I’d sent it back if you haven’t already. Meanwhile thanks for sharing your experiences. David

By: Cabocook

Cabocook — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:37:44 +0000

This is completely a photoshare device! Same frame, components, etc… made the mistake of trying it and am now out $130 for a horrible product with no service from Photoco… leaving me=dumb consumer!

By: JDKunk

JDKunk — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:57:48 +0000

I have been looking into book readers. Jetbook, Sony’s and Amazon’s each have one that I am aware of. All of those are in black and white. They use LCD, but they use a non-reflective LCD screen. Which means they don’t illuminate themselves like desktop monitors. And they are all about 160-170 ppi (pixels per inch).

But what does this have to do with video? Well I would like something like the LCD non-illuminated stuff. The ppi in color does not pose too much of a problem. Look at the iPhone which has 160 or 170 ppi. Personally I would look for some other company that makes something like the iPhone, but can support video more easily than an iPhone. Samsung has a iPhone-like product, but I have not seen video being the main point of the advertisements.

Another thing to be concerned about is how long a battery on a video player could last.

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:54:15 +0000

Thanks, Jim. Actually I was wondering why Photoco didn’t play up the genuine book capabilities more, if they do exist. Remember, the miBook might be able to display popular e-book formats–by way of text-to-image conversions, a big point I made in the second post. What counts, from a consumer perspective, isn’t Photoco’s intent but what people can do with the thing. Meanwhile I agree with you re confusing name.

Thanks,
David

By: Jim Lester

Jim Lester — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:41:26 +0000

David,
If you read the mobileread thread that Nate is pointing, you’ll find the answer to your question. It was not designed to be an eBook reader, but instead was meant to be more a PMP with some custom video format, so I doubt they’ll get around to putting in rendering of the popular eBook formats.

I do however agree with the other posters in that thread. If you don’t mean for it to be an eBook reader, naming miBook will certainly lead to confusion.

By: Nate the great

Nate the great — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:57:10 +0000

I found some more info on it. Enjoy.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25521

By: Nate the great

Nate the great — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:12:45 +0000

It’s already available from QVC for less than $130. Mine is arriving on Monday.

By: Mike Cane

Mike Cane — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:37:36 +0000

And now I wonder: what OS? Linux? If so, maybe the 1337 crowd can hack at it and produce the first $130 full-color true ebook reader! I wonder if tnkgrl has seen it?

By: Mike Cane

Mike Cane — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:27:53 +0000

Huuuh?

Why is it so thick? Why are there air vents on the back?

I looked at that and thought, Those eejits at Palm. Focused on PDAs and phones. Never realizing they were in the *gadget* business. Why don’t these things have Palm logos slapped on them?

Screen seems to be LED. I doubt the res is anything better than an EeePC at 7″.