I’ve just noticed that N.A.E.B. (Not Another E-Book) has posted the pricing for the Bookeen. It’s $375, plus shipping. They are selling the deluxe unit with "…its own battery + 1 USB cable + 1 USB AC charge device + 1 cover + 1 SD card 1 GB + earphones … This is the deluxe version and it’s $75 less bought through us than it is bought retail : http://www.bookeen.com/shop/ebook-shop.aspx."
Personally, I think selling the deluxe version is a mistake. There is nothing in the package, except maybe the case, that is worth a premium price. If I were ever going to buy one of these then this package has certainly steered me away. I would much rather buy the basic unit which Bookeen sells for $350. I have earphones, SD cards, USB cables, chargers, etc. and I can’t see paying a premium price for them. With their discount (they say: "Ordering 1000 readers at a time gives us a price break and we pass that price break along to you. This is what a buyers club does and that’s what we’re doing.") they could have sold the regular unit a a price competitive with the Sony Reader. This has killed the deal for me.
I don’t really understand how that is competitive with Sony’s version even though it has an open platform. A 2 GB branded SD card can be had for under $30. Everyone has headphones. The only benefit is the charger which the Sony doesn’t have, but I actually prefer to charge my Reader from the computer (USB) because that is just one less cable to haul around.
I thought it was a good deal, myself. You can look at it another way – the reader is $350 and the leather cover is almost $40 from Bookeen. I see it as getting the reader and cover at a discount and also getting some extras for essentially free.
I think it’s a good deal from the previous Bookeen deal.
About Sony vs. Cybook, I guess we can argue about that, but they’re belong in the same class of devices. Bookeen has done a great job of supporting their older device, and the mobipocket and pdf zooming are great new features.
I also think the ability to add new fonts is a win-win too for the Cybook.
My only question: will NAEB’s version mean I can obtain it by my birthday (November 27?)
They best birthday presents are always the ones you buy for yourself 🙂
I read an estimate in the Economist about 5 years ago that the typical adult’s spending for Christmas presents is about $700, and about $300-400 of that are presents bought for oneself.
I doubt, that you willl get the NAEB reader before December. And the price is good. NAEB will not really earn any money on that deal. Bookeen just cannot produce in the same price range as Sony can. But i personally prefer the CyBook over the Sony.
I wish Americans would stop whinging about US$ prices.
In Rip-off UK these are the prices in POUNDS. Quite frankly I can buy a laptop for the price of an eBook reader!!! I would like an eBook reader but NOT at these prices. The demand in the UK is so low (because of the high price) that not even PC World carried them.
Ther manufacturers are going to have to get their act together with reasonable prices.
“I can buy a laptop for the price of an eBook reader.”
But you cannot* use a laptop as an e-book reader, so the comparison is moot.
*) Generally speaking; perhaps you personally are able to use a laptop to read books from, but if everybody could, no e-book readers would be sold.