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By David Rothman

Update: An easy download of Mobipocket for the DT 375 became available today from DT375.com. Thanks, Andy. Of interest, too: uBid is selling used 375s for $150. – DR

I’m one of the above misers, and I’ll be sharing my thoughts in the next day or so—and benefiting from yours. Feel free to email me or post below.

DT 375Meanwhile, gang, here’s a question. What freeware and shareware e-book programs if any, and appropriate versions of Mobipocket, will run on the Web DT 375 CE 8.4″ Touchscreen Tablet PC? Any TeleBlog readers own such an animal (costing as little as $150 through auction sides)? It uses an Intel PXA250 chip running at 400MHz and Microsoft Windows CE .NET 4.2. No word from the Mobipocket support forum, but maybe the Mobi folks can kindly come out of the woodwork and answer the question here, as well as related ones. If the unit does run Mobi, for example, will the software work with OverDrive-powered e-book collections from local libraries? And how about the PDF reader it comes with? Or possible installation of the Microsoft Reader program?

Granted, these questions are a tad specific, but they’re great examples of the complexities of finding and successfully using a bigger-than-PDA tablet selling for less than $250. As TeleBlog reader Joseph Gray points out, CE machines haven’t done as well as Pocket PCs, and software choices are limited, a major reason, presumably, for the bargain prices—which can get close to $100 if you’re willing to gamble on used gear. Oh, and don’t forget the issue of screen resolution. The real cheapies tend to have only SVGA (800×600 res), though you can get XGA if you shop and are willing to pay more than $200 if need be.

The Tower of eBabel angle: Oh, the joys! You’re seeing a superb example of the follies of associating specific formats with programs that may or may not run on the most affordable machines. DRM only adds to the fun. Just because a reader can display PDFs, for example, doesn’t mean it can read DRMed e-books in the core format from your friendly local library.

Detail: There’s a site devoted to DT 375s in various incarnations, and I’ve left questions with a guy named Andy at dt375.com who services the 375s and sells parts for them.

 
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