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The Astak EZ Reader Pocket PRO reviewed
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Astak Pocket PRO
I had the opportunity to spend a month testing the new, Astak EZ Reader Pocket PRO. This eReader is equipped with a five inch e-Ink screen and is about the size of a paperback book. It’s significantly thinner and lighter than a paperback, weighing in at only 6 ounces.
The design on the Pocket PRO has some definite advantages to Astak’s original model, the EZ Reader. The Pocket PRO has similar memory specifications, allowing you to load about 500 books onto your reader, and, if you add an external memory card (up to 16 GB), you can carry somewhere in the neighborhood of 15,000 books in your pocket. I noticed to major changes in the device other than the size. First, the pages turn faster. The Pocket PRO takes a second or two, compared to the EZ Reader’s four seconds per page turn. This creates a better flow and easier reading. The second big change is the addition of a switch on the right hand side that allows for a more natural feeling page turn.
Loading books to the Pocket PRO is an easy process. You simply load the desired text onto your computer. With the help of a USB cable (included) you connect your Pocket PRO and add the books. The Pocket PRO allows use of folders, so if you have five books by Michael Connelly you can put them all in a Connelly folder, making it easier to locate.
The basic operation of the device is similar to the EZ Reader design, the bottom of the Pocket PRO has two rows of numbers – to access a book, you press the number of the book designated on the screen. Your book will load to the last page read in a few seconds.
As when I tested the EZ Reader, the book Let the Great World Spin, downloaded in proper format from Oprah’s website crashed the Pocket PRO. Graphics and the Astak line don’t seem to mix particularly well.
The Pocket PRO allows books to be downloaded in twenty different formats: Adobe Digital Editions, PDF, EPUB,DOC, BMP, TXT, MP3, PDB, HTML, LIT, PRC, and ten others. Despite that array of formats, I was unable to get a book I purchased at BooksonBoard.com to load onto my Pocket PRO. After going back and forth with their help person, I eventually gave up on the book. As a result, I was very wary about purchasing other books and what format to use. I spent a lot of time corresponding with online booksellers confirming proper format for the Pocket PRO and making sure it would work before ordering. The advantage to a Kindle or Sony device is that you know that books purchased from their websites will work without adjustments.
On the other hand, the Pocket PRO has text-to-speech capabilities, a user-replaceable rechargeable battery (both Sony & Kindle require you to send them your unit to have the battery replaced), MP3 capabilities that allow you to listen to music while you read (they even provide you with the headphones), a very useful carrying case. With the SD/SDHC feature, it allows you to expand easily and trade music and books with others on the memory cards.
The Pocket PRO sells for $199 and comes in six different colors – white, black, pink, maroon, blue and purple.
Overall, I enjoyed the Pocket PRO. The changes from the EZ Reader were good ones, and the Pocket PRO quickly became an indispensible part of my life. I was traveling quite a bit while testing this model and it invariably got passed around. People were pleasantly surprised by the clarity of the text, the lightness and the overall ease of use.
Would I recommend the Pocket PRO over the Sony Reader Pocket, also priced at $199? The Pocket PRO has quite a few advantages, especially the battery issue and the multiple formats. My concern remains the ease of purchasing books, and I did not have an easy time of that with the Pocket PRO. If and when the purchase issue resolves (Astak seems to be in the process of adding a store of their own soon), I would unequivocally recommend the Pocket PRO.
For my review on the EZ Reader, click here
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