JoinTech joins the eBook Reader fray with it’s version here the JE-100.
Just The Facts:
1. Wi-Fi (Well actually this is a USB Wi-Fi dongle… Hey, at least you can probably upgrade and change it to whatever you want like a cellular Wi-Fi dongle that has a Windows CE driver.)
2. Touchscreen (stylus included)
3. Backlight Color LCD Screen: 7 inch (Reported to be highly unreadable in direct sunlight.)
4. OS: Windows Only: Device runs on Windows CE 5.0
5. Battery Life: 3-6 hours (Wall Charger included unlike stupid Sony 505)
6. Internal Memory: 128 MB
7. TransFlash Card support up to 4gigs
8. 2 USB Connections: for charging and keyboard
9. DRM Support: Based on Windows CE… Adobe, Mobipocket, Microsoft
Interesting combination of capabilities for $270 (They take Paypal) and this gets us even closer to a cheap Tablet PC for reading eBooks.
*Noted problems: Windows CE ActiveSync program connectivity was not working properly. Loaded programs and books do not stay in built in memory if device is powered off. Have to keep them on TF Memory Card for reinstall.
*UPDATE! Aug 14th 2009 Looks like a recent firmware update fixed the problems with programs and books not staying in memory when the device is shut off so you can install away. The company also emailed the reviewer a windows driver specifically for the device so now ActiveSync works which means DRM eBooks and programs can now be easily installed on the device. Reviewer said that one of those anti-glare screen protector sheets fixed a lot of the viewing problems with the color backlit LCD screen.
This eBook Reader is looking much better for those of you out there wanting a color screen or that have Mobi and ePub/PDF and Microsoft Lit eBooks in their collection. The crazy thing is Adobe provides a reader for Windows CE but has not done anything for the iPhone yet.
Tags: eBook Readers
