Ectaco jetBook Lite Electronic eBook Reader
ECTACO is happy to present you its second line of electronic eBook readers: ECTACO jetBook Lite - the most affordable eBook Reader on the market with better performance than in most of its competitors.
The main difference between the ordinary jetBook and the jetBook Lite is the fact that the accumulators are replaced by usual AA batteries which does not only make it possible to reduce the price, but to also economize energy used by the screen. Now you can read not 20, as it used to be, but 23 hours nonstop without a recharge. (Please, note, that ordinary rechargeable batteries can be used as well.) Lightweight and super-portable, ECTACO jetBook Lite is the ultimate pocket library. Capable of storing thousands of books in the world's most popular languages, plus music and picture files, it is a universal mobile library for professional, business and leisure reading. With an easy to scan high-resolution 5-inch display and a viewing angle close to 180 degrees, it is fully customizable. Even readers who have difficulty seeing print books will benefit from its adjustable text size and font face. And weighing in at only 9 ounces, this handy device fits perfectly into the palm of your hand. When reading, jetBook Lite allows text to be searched and cross-referenced using bookmarks which makes it an excellent choice of format for dictionaries and other reference books. Readers can begin reading as soon as they download a book without needing to visit a bookstore ever again. And ECTACO jetBook Lite is eco-friendly too, because it doesn't consume the paper, ink, or other resources that are used to produce printed books. Moreover, e-books downloads are always less expensive than the same books on paper; with hundreds of thousand available online for free! To help you get started, jetBook Lite comes pre-loaded with the CIA World Factbook to make every trip you take more informative and enjoyable.
Ectaco jetBook Lite Electronic eBook Reader Features
- Pre-loaded CIA World Factbook. Bookmarks and auto page turn functionality. Adjustable font type and size.
- Bidirectional dictionaries for certain European languages (including German and Spanish) are available.
- Support for eBook contents Screen rotation support for both portrait & landscape modes. SD card slot. Batteries 4xAA
- Support of DRM format through Barnes & Nobles. True pocket-sized portability for thousands of eBooks.
- Support of ePub, Mobi, PRC, RTF, txt, pdf, fb2, jpg, gif, png, and bmp file formats
$148.89
The JetBook Lite ereader performed well for the first two battery changes; with the third set of batteries, it refused to turn on. I finally got it going (several hours later) by hooking it into my desktop and I'm not sure how we got from there to 'on' but now it will not open several .EPUB books (the biggest offenders) and will only stay 'on' (which it must be to transfer books onto it from the desktop computer) for minutes at a time. Then it cycles off and one must restart it to finesse more titles (whether on or off). I ended up purchasing a card-reader elsewhere just to save my sanity. (Oh, yes, it takes a SD card.)
The 'dictionary' seems to be tied to format, as well. Sometimes there is one, sometimes there is not.
With many book formats, one can only change pages with the left hand; there are no page turning buttons on the right hand side. Except sometimes.
There is no User's Manual on-line. The quick-start pamphlet doesn't get you anywhere near troubleshooting or answers. And it is either translated from another language, or English was nowhere near the writer's first language, so it is difficult to figure out exactly what they might be trying to imply with what few directions are there.
Little is intuitive with this device. Trial and error can take a long time to figure things out.
The automatic page turn isn't a scroll but an actual page turn, so you dial in your frequency preference in seconds and either dally waiting if it is a short page or scrambling to figure it out if it is densely written.
There is no case or protective wrap to purchase for this unit. Traveling with it, even slipping it into a purse or pocket (or, EEK, into a suitcase) seems to be asking for a broken screen or jammed device.) I bought a neoprene sleeve intended for a netbook to protect mine.
All this being said, as long as one stays away from EPUB documents (well, they are the worst offenders so far, anyway) and don't find the above too much of a pain, the JetBook Lite is really a nice machine. It takes a while, as I said, to figure it out, but the font is clear and precise (even if, again, the ability to change fonts seems to depend on the book format), it is, for the price, a nifty little gadget.
If you are looking for rock-solid ease and stupid-simple operating functions, you might want to pay more and buy something else. But you may pay a LOT more for the 'something else' and I hear that those 'elses' are also have problems with various formats. -- Gotta say, I'm disappointed
I've had mine for almost 3 months now. It's a nice little e-reader. Problem is that they don't last. Tonight I was reading and finished the book and it locked up. It's not an isolated problem. I've been reading the forums and seems like everyone that bought theirs around the same time I bought mine is encountering this problem now. So it's a nice brick. I am sure they will fix/replace it but who wants to go through the hassle of it.. and who knows if the new one or fixed one will last more than 3 months again. Spend a little more and get a better brand one. -- Good E-reader... disposable though
I bought one for my wife as a birthday present and I find that it is a great backup to my primary ebook reader the Aztak EZReader Pro 5" which is the most versatile reader in it's size/price range. -- A great second reader!
