Amazon ’s Kindle electronic book reader be $ 359 – but you ca n’t get one until at least February . Sony ’s PRS-700BC cost $ 399 – also middling darn costly . ButFoxit Softwarewill before long begin transport an eBook reader that costs only slenderly more than half what Sony ’s reader does .
TheeSlickwill trade for $ 229 when it first goes on sales agreement in January from Foxit ’s site ( and eventually in retail store ) , then for $ 259 after . It is about the size of a medium soft-cover , but at 0.4 inch , it ’s much flimsy . Its 6 - inch , 600 - by-800 - pixel “ electronic paper ” screen is made by the same company that throw the Kindle ’s ; it has the same easy - on - the - eye , grayscale reflective screen ( light is reflect off of word and images on the screen , rather than shell at you with a backlight ) . you’re able to resize text edition , and the machine will reflow your papers ( rather than plainly magnifying what ’s on the CRT screen ) . Those are all features that make the Kindle such a great gadget on which to take books , magazines , blogs , etc .
uncommitted in fateful , gray , or white , the equipment will have 128 mebibyte of interior memory , plus USB and an Coyote State circuit card slot ( it ’ll come in with a 2 GB batting order , too ) . Because its blind draws very little magnate , battery life should be super long ; Foxit says it ’ll go for 8,000 pageboy deform between recharges ; it recharges via either USB or an included AC adapter . It use an embedded Linux operating organization , too .
However , at least in its initial interpretation , the eSlick wo n’t have wireless connectivity , so you wo n’t be able to sync newspapers or blogs unless you win over them first on a microcomputer ( using included PDF rebirth computer software , which Foxit is better sleep with for ) and copy them over manually . It ’ll read PDFs and text files , and you’re able to convert any printable document for reckon using the PC - establish software . you could download digital books , of course , from online libraries and eBook stores , and transfer them to the eSlick .
you may also play MP3s on the eSlick ; it has a headphones embrasure and ships with a Seth of earpiece . Foxit says it anticipates adding wireless , an even good screen , and/or perhaps content sync in a manner standardised to AvantGo at some point in the futurity .
But until then , the enquiry is whether you ’d be o.k. with give the sack up your computer in the morning , culling your own content , change it to a eSlick - readable format , and transferring it yourself . At least that appendage is barren ; automatonlike newsprint rescue to a Kindle costs at least $ 10 per month – each . blog be $ 1 to $ 2 per month – each . At least with the eSlick , you do n’t have to email your own documents to yourself , as you must with the Kindle .
I care record electronic books , and doing so on a lightweight machine that I do n’t have to hold open , without asthenopia , would be a great thing . For books and my own documents , it does n’t matter whether the machine I use has wireless capableness , so if that ’s your anticipated use , the eSlick might be a great inexpensive alternative to the Kindle .
But I reckon the Kindle – as expensive as it and its subscriptions are , and as flawed as it is ( in its initial version)–set the ground rules for this variety of gimmick . I ’m too cheap to pay its multiple monthly subscriptions , but with the path thatnewspaper outfits are going , we may all be force into read the news on Kindle or Kindle - like gadget one sidereal day very soon .
