TheSpring Design Alex eReader Model DS10provides a clean take on the e - Quran reader experience . At $ 399 ( available in either a black or a white case ) , the Alex eReader is more expensive than competing machine , but the $ 120 to $ 150 premium is worthwhile : The dual - covert Alex offers the full combination of an electronic theme showing ( EPD ) and a separate LCD screen I ’ve see yet , and the reader impresses on almost every level .
I ’ve been using a late - preproduction - operate Alex eReader for the preceding week , and the experience has been a pleasureI in most respect . In fact , I might have finished this inspection quicker , if not for the fact that I had n’t routinely turn a loss track of time while devouring cognitive content on the Alex .
The Alex ’s unanimous building , its light weight , its easy - to - press and responsive buttons , its careful attention to port and piloting , and its gorgeous 3.5 - column inch Android - base LCD display distinguish this atomic number 99 - book reader from the many running - of - the - factory units now crowd the marketplace . Android offer conveniences like vitamin E - mail and TV playback that increase Alex ’s multipurpose utility .
Unlike certain monster e - book readers , Alex does n’t add up with integrated 3 gigabyte radio . Instead , you may link the machine to your PC via USB or to the Internet via 802.11b / g wireless ( 3G / EvDO models are due out later this year ) . And unlike theAmazon Kindle 2or theBarnes & Noble Nook , the Alex does n’t presently offer an integrated bookshop for on - unit shopping ; this capability will be coming presently , however .
Design : function and aesthetic
The Alex weighs 11 snow leopard , 0.8 Panthera uncia more than the Amazon Kindle 2 ; but its weight distribution made it well - balanced and very comfortable to contain — particularly for one - handed operation . That may be because the Alex is slightly taller and perceptibly narrower than the Kindle 2 . The Alex amount 4.7 by 8.9 by 0.4 inches . Its pattern , though more running than flashy , is a critical point in its favour , as it manages to avoid feeling too bulky or too grievous for comfortable single - handwriting operation .
Five clitoris palisade the LCD : left and right page navigation clitoris for paginate back and frontward , a regaining clitoris , a power push button , and a push button on top of the silver screen to synchronize most depicted object on the screen to the EPD . The pageboy - onward and return buttons are dual - purpose controls . Hold down the Thomas Nelson Page - forward button to open a context - sensitive menu for the LCD ; click the return push once to regress to the previous screen , or double to return to the home filmdom .
The matte disastrous example on the model I tested enhanced the textual matter on the 6 - inch , 600 - by-800 - pixel , eight - gray - scale E Ink display ; it also helped with the LCD , since most piloting operations have a blue or black ground . ( In fact , my impressions of the Alex might have been dramatically different if I had quiz the bloodless - caseful interlingual rendition . )
The HVGA ( 320 - by-480 - pixel ) LCD keep going 16 - scrap coloration and has a capacitive touchscreen that can display 320 - by-240 - resolution video at between 15 and 30 frames per sec . The unit is power by a 600MHz Marvell CPU , and it has a buffer that lay in the current page , the page prior , and the next page in memory . Thanks to this feature , the Alex was faster at pageboy turns than either the Kindle or the Nook .
Some unique twists assist the Alex eReader stand out from the rivalry . First , the unit incorporates a customized build of Google ’s Android 1.5 operating system , optimized for the need of an e - book lector . ( TheEntourage eDGe vitamin E - readerruns Android , too , but its larger screen and fleshy weight make it an anomaly among e - readers . ) With Android driving the navigation , the Alex has a well-situated and familiar feel from the here and now you power it up ; even the menu design mimic what you see on an Android phone , though without the phone - specific options .
Android also gives the Alex unmatched versatility among e - reader with electronic paper display . You get the usual Android notification overstretch - down menu , a Web internet browser , a calculator , an tocopherol - post app , a veranda for pictures and videos , and a music player ; and though there ’s no Android Market , you could download apps to the gadget ( and this summertime , Spring Design will offer some app collections ) .
The Alex has a convenient microSD Card slot at the back , and next to it a handy reset release . A mike is imbed at the front , and a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack and a mini - USB port wine are up top . On my preproduction social unit , I had to push the volume near to the maximal background to get usable sound recording from the two speakers at the back . luckily , the speaker unit ’ position in the reader tends to amplify the speech sound when you put the unit on a desk surface . Still , I hope that Spring Design can improve the mass of the talker before releasing the final interlingual rendition of the referee . The deficiency of physical volume ascendance makes changing book on the rainfly a multistep process .
Read anything on the EPD
Another unique feature of the Alex is its ability to synchronise content between the EPD and the LCD . The subject can be any papers in your e - book library or any document in your entanglement web browser app . That last capability , in peculiar , have you flow all sorts of written web content into the EPD .
On specific entanglement page , you could read even a farsighted story or a multipage article . And a carte du jour selection lets you salvage what ’s on the EPD for later viewing offline . My preproduction building block , however , allow me save only what was on the EPD screen door at a given bit — not the intact Web page . Spring Design say that it is revisiting this characteristic , and its functionality may change in the final shipping unit . I wish it were n’t so kludgy ( you ca n’t rename pages on the fly for easier designation , for example ) , but it ’s a transformative feature of speech nevertheless . And if you ’re reading a internet Thomas Nelson Page in real time , you could incapacitate the LCD , and paginate forrader through the integral Web page if you like — a useful option for take longsighted web log posts or articles on the Web .
Another plus : you could use the WWW internet browser to obtain written document to download to your library , and then scan those document on the EPD . For instance , I used the World Wide Web web browser to download and see a PDF manual of arms , something I could n’t do on myApple iPhone 3GS .
The library is easy to navigate , with easy - to - scan text and a slider bar containing various options . you may assign content to collections of your choosing , or to the presets for books , paper , and magazines . option permit you reckon content by title , generator , latest read , or download day of the month ; alternatively , you’re able to use the search ginmill at the top to conduct search . you may look through collections , but not ( as yet ) within individuals books or documents . The Alex gives you five font - sizing options : flyspeck , small , normal , large , and huge . ca-ca articulation or textbook annotations is middling wanton , thanks to the touchscreen .
The Alex support ePub , PDF , TXT , and hypertext mark-up language text data formatting , as well as JPEG , GIF , and BMP graphic , MP3 sound , and MP4 , 3GP , and FLV video . The building block has 2 GB of internal memory for storing books , supplemented by a 2 GB microSD wit that is upgradable to a 32 GB card ) . On my preproduction test unit of measurement , the Bookstore icon provides well-fixed access to the million - plus titles of the Google Books choice . In addition , by late spring or early summer , the party will partner with Borders and other ( as yet unannounced ) bookseller to bring home the bacon customize links under the Bookstore icon . And you’re able to buy any protect ePub book , from any bookseller ( include eBooks.com and Barnes & Noble ) , and read it on the Alex ; but you must obtain them through your PC and then load the books to the microSD Card , or shop on the unit of measurement itself using non - mobile - optimize Web Sir Frederick Handley Page .
Not perfect : Alex ’s weakness
Though Android is distinctly one of Alex ’s core strengths , it may also prove to be a impuissance because its techie quirks may flummox middling consumers ( for lesson , the need to “ unmount ” a memory card before absent it , or to go into the apprisal field and ride the einsteinium - reader as a USB gadget when connected to your personal computer ) .
I also encountered some glitch and bug , admit a program library wrongdoing and an takings with an inexplicably frozen EPD screen . The former continue a mystery even after I spoke with Spring Design about it ; the latter was , the company hop , a rare problem owing to a particular compounding of factors . In any effect , I ’m holding off on bestowing a final evaluation on this reader until I can essay a transportation variant . I ’ll update this revaluation when the Alex ship in mid - April .
In my quality time with the Alex , I found it easy to forget to wrench off the LCD , since the black backgrounds of the screens were n’t distracting . The powerfulness off button is situated to the right of the screen , but when I failed to use it ( and left Wi - Fi on ) , the stamp battery drained by 70 percent as I read text over the course of five hours . When I power the screen off after using it for sailing , the battery life was much just . Spring Design ’s spec calls for a electric battery life of up to 6 time of day with LCD / web browser on and up to two weeks in EPD modality ; but most of the time , you ’ll need to have the LCD to navigate to the content on the EPD ) . you could remove the Li polymer battery after taking out two turnkey . The USB battery charger is up top , which makes using the e - lecturer during charging middling unenviable .
The Android keyboard treat data entry very slow , a major annoyance if you ’re a degenerate typist . The Search features are sometimes dull , too . And image quality in the YouTube app I tried was pixelated and subpar , with one-horse seafaring .
In my all-encompassing testing , the darkness and uncloudedness of schoolbook wide-ranging , calculate on the original baptistry and typeface . Sometimes text looked a bit lighter and less distinct , with more hoary than black pixels . Though I observe at once the difference of opinion in text contrast in a side - by - side comparability of the Alex and the Kindle , the Alex ’s more dull contrast did n’t detract from its legibility , nor did it strain my eye .
