I had a hard time choosing the perfect reading device and now its finally here.. i wish to share the experience to everyone..
Like every bookworm i know, i just can't get enough of reading
. I can read a book in an hour or 2, that's a novel. Believe me, i have lots of books.. as in hundreds of them. But eventually, i got tired of looking for bargain books (I used to buy old books.. like 1980's OLD since its expensive for me to buy new ones from National bookstore, powerbooks, fully booked etc). Don't get me wrong, i love book hunting especially in booksale, but yeah, it gets tiresome and i end up buying the wrong books because i usually get enticed with the front cover ugh! bad habit
.. i know.. and i also wanted to give the "new books category" a chance so, i decided to try ebooks..
The first ebook i tried is
TWILIGHT.. haha
! its really funny how patient i was back then because i read it on my desktop. I knew that it didn't help my eyes also our electricity bill so after that, i tried reading ebooks using my nintendo ds (using a program named
NDS READER)... used that method for about 3 months or so.. and then i discovered that i can read using my psp as well.. so i also tried that.
ADVANTAGE FOR NDS (DS READER): small, handy, fast switch of pages, i can read for about 5-8 hours on the minimum light, you can load your own fonts
DISADVANTAGE FOR NDS: the size is also a disadvantage since naturally, the fonts are smaller although you can set it to be bigger, eye strain, only .txt files can be read (though its not really a big disadvantage since its easy for me to convert), bookmarks are lost/corrupted once you turn off the nds
some pics of that..(notice that my NDS is also pink haha!)
ADVANTAGE FOR PSP (BOOKR) : you can choose your color combination (bg&text), you can load your own fonts, small and handy as well, bookmark works like a charm, you can read .pdf/.txt but .txt is better for me
DISADVANTAGE FOR PSP: Biggest disadvantage is the battery life, my psp is 1 year and half old so the battery is kind of busted nowadays, i can read for 2-3 hours only. the small size also becomes a disadvantage.. it causes eye strain since i don't want to make the fonts really big because i have to change pages often.
some pics...
I tried both, it worked and i love both devices ..its just that i've been wearing glasses since i was 14 years old.. i am now 21 and i don't want to make the grade of my lenses higher than what i can control.
Mid of June.. i read some posts on a certain website about EBOOK READERS. I found out that there are lots and lots of ebook reading device. I eventually decided that i would like to buy one.. and so the search began. From June- September, i looked for the perfect dedicated reading device which i can buy locally.. Unfortunately.. it costs double the price if you buy it outside the country (thru internet). I was hopeless for a while because i didn't want to use my mom's credit card. But then, i found out thru symbianize about JOHNNY AIR CARGO.. a second party courier. Apparently, they can order for me online (using Johnny air cargo's credit card) and i would just have to pay them cash IN PESO. At first i thought, this is too good to be true because it answers all of my problems. But then.. i decided to give it a go.. so on SEPTEMBER 3, 2010.. i went to their Makati Branch and filled up a form which was emailed to me two days before (i called their makati branch 2 days earlier).
The computation below is what i paid on September 3, 2010 for ordering
Cost of item $149
Inland Shipping $17
Credit Card Charge $25
Total $191 x P44.55 airline rates = P8,891.05
after ordering, i waited and then presto! after 16 days, JAC texted me last Sunday (September 19, 2010) that my package was now available for pick up .. so i went to JAC Gil puyat branch yesterday (i asked if i can just pick it up in that branch)... They charge 7.50 per pound..the ebook reader i ordered was 4 pounds
Here's what i paid for yesterday:
$4 X $7.50 = $30 plus 12% vat
45.45 FOREX = P1,781.64
ALL IN ALL I PAID: 10,672.69
So what ebook reader did i really order? Its ASTAK 5" EZREADER POCKET PRO
Specifications
Dimensions 151mm(L)*105mm(W)*10mm(H), 5.9" x 4.1" x .4"
Main Display E Ink Vizplex 800x600 pixel 3"x4" (5" diagonal) 8 level grayscale.
Storage Internal/SD Card
Memory SDRAM : 32M Byte, Internal 2M NOR FLASH; 512MB internal Flash Disk, 128 MB Firmware flash.
Weight 160g
Battery Li-Polymer 1000mAh
I/O A. 3.5mm stereo audio jack for earphone,
B. USB 2.0 Port,
C. SDHC slot (supports up to 16GB)
Working Temperature 0℃ to 40℃
Storage Temperature -20℃ to 55℃
Format Support PDF, TXT, RTF, EPUB, LIT, PPT, WOLF, DOC, CHM, FB2, HTML, DJVU, MP3, TIFF, JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, RAR, ZIP,MOBI.
DRM Adobe content server (PDF, ePUB)
Operating System Linux OS
CPU: Samsung Arm 9 400MHz processor
Accessories: USB cable, charger, User Manual, Earphone
WHY DID I CHOOSE ASTAK 5" EZREADER PRO? Well.. you can say that i'm really a fan of the color PINK , not the biggest reason, but still.. part of it. Also, it supports LOTS OF FILE FORMATS PDF, TXT, RTF, EPUB, LIT, PPT, WOLF, DOC, CHM, FB2,
HTML, DJVU, MP3, TIFF, JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, RAR, ZIP,MOBI
And for a first ereader, this is quite good. I didn't want to jump to the kindle bandwagon right away.. maybe someday when they offer a device which is bigger and better in a lower price. Don't get me wrong, i wanted to buy a K3 but then, astak made me change my mind..
I ordered it in pink.. and i love the fact that my color preference was granted
here are some pics
This is the box..it was sealed when i first got it @ JAC gil puyat branch
And here is what's inside, you can see the box of the ezreader pro and scattered inside are some foams for protection
The Box...
This is my pink astak pocket pro
A picture of when it starts up (still with plastic)
A sample picture from my BLUE BLOODS novel, still with plastic
A picture from one of my favorite Manga today.. Kaichou wa! maid sama
From Mortal instruments, City of Glass
A picture of it with the sleeve cover
The cover...
Pretty much all of the contents with the boxes
My thoughts:
Oh what else can i say? I LOVE THIS DEVICE? I REAAALLY LOVE THIS DEVICE? OR I REALLY REALLLLY LOVE THIS DEVICE? haha!
Its a handy one which i can bring anywhere.. and.... will not hurt my eyes! what else can i ask for? =)
Its great to have this device since i REALLY REALLY LOVE READING..
I believe that there is no such thing as a perfect reading device for everybody (collectively speaking).. instead, there's a perfect reader out there for you and you alone (individually).. for me.. this is it, no internet, no 3g whatsoever (i can't and won't have to use it anyway)...
Thanks again (and i won't get tired saying this) to symbianize's forums and to
Ms. diokdin for helping me out.
You can buy stuffs online without CC.
the pics are shot last night.. halos lumipad ako paakyat to ready my digicam and my subjects 
) , well pag wala.. at least i now know where and how to buy pag wala dito. hehehe 
how sad.. tinawagan ko agad eh super na excite. hehe. Maybe i'll go to MOA on my day off para maka ikot... oh well, i guess pag wala.. at least i'll get the hot pink one on the internet 
