With everything that has happened over the last few months, I feel there is a need for electronic book reader reviews to be brought right up to date, to take in to account the recent price cuts and many new models that have entered the market. What was is no longer so here’s my Bebook review. Let’s see how it stacks up against the new breed of electronic book reader, not only in specification but also in price and where it fits into the new ebook reading device landscape.
I have spoken, over the last few months, of my concerns for the future of the smaller device manufacturers. They are being squeezed really hard from every which way, price, service and specification. Bebook are one such company, they’re looking to survive on the sales of one electronic book reader model. So lets have a look at the Bebook electronic book reader and see what it can offer potential purchasers.
Not much as changed with the Bebook, as other bigger, better known manufacturers up date their range with new models or reduce their ageing ones, the Dutch company Endless Ideas who market the Bebook have remained very quiet.
The technology packed into this device has stood the test of time very well. The e-Ink screen gives low power consumption resulting in longer, between charge usage of up to 7000 page turns from one short battery charge, that remains up there amongst the best results. The weight and size are still more than acceptable for a portable reading device and it’s still much better to look at than the Kindle2.
And there are some definite advantages of owning a Bebook than other devices. Take the free 150 classic titles pre-loaded at the factory, and the choice of around twenty thousand classic titles, on the MyBebook website, that you can download for free,
Also, with Bebook originally opting to go down the open source road when it launched, it is well placed to handle many of the free content available on the web, perfect if you are like me and read most anything not particularly the latest best seller.
With the push from within the industry for Epub to become the standard and Google’s commitment to that format – they recently stated their intention to publish (in the format) their entire library of 1 million plus books, thousands of which can be down loaded for free – the Bebook review model scores heavily over many other readers as it handles Epub. It also supports in excess of twenty other file formats which is more than any other reader.
If you are looking at second user models, bear in mind the newer Bebook has support the Mobipocket DRM file format. This format is right up there with the most popular electronic book publisher file formats, see this as another plus because you can get many up to date free titles published in the Mobipocket format. Just a word of warning here though, with all the file formats this reader supports it is possible to use it to down load pirated files, as you will have the formats to read very much any ebook, but be warned. BeBook insist every device has onboard software that can identify copyright infringements through users downloading pirated ebooks from sites like Torrent or Usenet. I have no idea if this is correct and have never heard of anyone being prosecuted through this method of identification but I certainly can not condone using the device in this way.
That last point I would like to make is the Bebook’s ability to read RSS with the built in reader. Up load all you chosen news feeds direct from your PC and there is no reason for you to purchase a daily paper, just read the news straight from your Bebook
The big question now then is “How does it compare with other, newer, electronic book reader models price wise?”
Lets start by saying that the more you look the cheaper you will get a Bebook and if you search hard enough I’m sure you can pick a second user one up on ebay – if your quick. When I was looking around for the best deal I found it available on a couple of sites for sub £150 ($225) prices ( they were probably clearing out their stock post Sony Pocket/Kindle International launch) but expect the norm to be £170 ($255). At the moment, you can pick up the Sony Pocket for below $200 in the US and the Kindle $259 though I have seen that price below the $250 mark. With no word of reductions from the likes of Cool-er or Ectaco expect these to be around the Sony Pocket price in the US and marginally more in Europe and beyond.
It does seem to me the Bebook is now some what over priced, probably to the tune of £30-£40 ($45-$60). Christmas is fast approaching and I’m pretty sure Bebook will announce that level of discount to catch some impulse buying based on price alone. If you can pick a Bebook up for below £150 then jump at it. With Epub support you will have a book reader that is more future proof than many other higher priced models, namely the Kindle.
The Bebook review, unlike many other electronic book reader reviews on lesser known devices I have under taken, has shown that smaller manufacturers can hold their own against the big boys when their product is solid, the features and spec are compatible and the price is right. Above all, what this Bebook review discovered is that the Bebook electronic book reader is still worth checking out.
With more and more eBook Readers entering the market people looking to Buy eBook Reader are faced with some very difficult choices. Noels eBook Reader Review blog guides potential purchasers through the maze of book readers towards the perfect ebook reader at the right price.