Astak EZ Reader Reviewed

 

The Astak EZReader is one of the newer entries into the eReader market. I’ve been testing the 6 inch EZ Reader Basic (which can be purchased at Walmart.com, Fry Electronic, New Egg and at www.theezreader.com for $239-$279). This open format gadget allows you to carry approximately 600 books (4,000 if using a memory card) in a device that weighs less than eight ounces. It’s thinner and lighter than a paperback. It accepts a dozen different formats including Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) and EPUB.  As I’m not a techie, I’ll leave you to check out all the specs here.

The EZ Reader advertises itself as “so intuitive that you can take it right out of the box and read more than 100 free classic eBooks for the entire family without even checking the User Manual.”
Inside the box is the EZ Reader, neatly stashed inside its pleather carrying case, giving off the scent of a beach ball on a hot summer day. Also included are a USB cable, a charger, ear buds and a User’s Manual. Turning it on for the first time, I immediately touched the screen to open the on screen User’s Manual. Oops. Not a touch screen. I looked for up and down arrows to scroll down the menu page, only left and right arrows.
 

Astak EZ Reader

Although the EZ Reader is reasonably easy to figure out, the manual was necessary for this user. To access the user manual or any of your books, simply press the number listed on the left side of the name. Easy enough, once you know this secret.

Once I figured out how to maneuver through the device, it was simple to use. One of the real joys of the EZ Reader was the ability to up the font size (although in some cases that does affect the page setup). No more squinting at tiny text.

To turn the page, you press a button in the middle of the left side. It takes a second or two for the page to flip. The screen is light grey with black lettering that is reasonably eye friendly. The Reader is not backlit, so room light is required to read. The battery life is pretty impressive. I fully charged it the first day, and despite daily usage, it remains fully charged after three weeks. One distinguishing feature of the EZ Reader is the battery, which can easily be replaced by the user when necessary.
 

Astak EZ Reader vs Paperback

The process for transferring books from a website to your Reader is simple. Go to a site that offers books in one of the dozen plus formats acceptable to the reader (word of advice: Amazon and Barnes and Nobles Format are NOT compatible). Select what you want to read (pay if necessary) and download it to your computer. Once it’s on your computer, plug in your EZ Reader with the USB cord, select the book you want to transfer and click. Voila! It’s now on your Reader. The eight books you’ve accessed most recently are kept in a separate folder so you don’t have to scroll through a long list to find them.

I did have a crash problem with the EZ Reader with one book. I downloaded Let The Great World Spin from Oprah’s site, figuring it would be a great test. The book loaded fine, but when I attempted to read the book, it crashed the Reader so severely I had to reset the device. I emailed tech support and was advised that due to several pages of subsection divisions that included graphics, it was a problematic file. They edited the document for me and I was able to read to page 7, when another shaded page caused the Reader to crash again. I’m still waiting for them to fix that file for me (my tech went on vacation). According to the techs, there are problems with large files (over 1 MB) that contain graphics. They assured me they are working feverishly on a fix.

The EZ Reader is MP-3 capable (files must be moved in MP-3 format to be usable). The transfer process is as simple as the book download. Using the ear buds that come with the Reader, you can listen to your favorite music as you read.

Overall, the screen is glare free and nicely sized for reading. The page turning beep can be turned off to allow for a calmer reading experience.

After playing with it for several weeks, I’ve come to really appreciate the EZ Reader. I read several books a week, and the ease of having them all at my fingertips in a lightweight package makes my life simpler. Waiting on line, traveling, or filling time is more tolerable with the EZ Reader in my bag. Of course, I’ll be even more thrilled when I can borrow books via eTechnology from the library.

Astak anticipates it will soon have a deal worked out with Fictionwise.com (now that it’s been purchased by Barnes & Noble, it’s not clear what impact that will have on book format availability). They also advertise their own book site, goezebook.com, but that site is not yet up and running. It will be interesting to see if the new, open Sony format will be compatible with the Astak.

The EZ Reader isn’t a perfect Reader (Wireless connectivity, note taking ability and faster page turning would be truly fabulous) but it’s handy, user friendly and priced fairly. I hate the idea of returning my test unit!  I will add that as much as I enjoyed the EZ Reader, I'm really looking forward to testing Astak's new, five inch EZ Reader Pro that is scheduled for delivery August 31. This model claims to have a faster page turn and is expandable to 16 GB. Plus it comes in colors other than flat black. The Pro is priced at a very competitive $229 and comes in six colors. I’ll soon be testing that model for all of you.

For more on eReaders, please click here and here