Augen “The Book” eBook Reader
(Update: The full written review for this device is now finished and is located on this new Augen The Book Review page.)
“The Book” has a lot of interesting and advanced features; if everything works as listed on the spec sheet, at $129, this could be a great deal. The only drawback is that the device has a 7-inch LCD (TFT) screen with a pixel resolution of 800 x 480, so it won’t have great battery life like E Ink ereaders—the spec sheet says up to eight hours in reading mode, 4-6 using other applications.
The Augen ebook reader is being marketed as an ereader, video player, and word processor rolled into one. It has Wi-Fi built-in, a full web browser, an open-source SDK, and supports Adobe DRM. It comes with a leather cover, 2GB of internal memory, and has an SD card slot for cards up to 32GB.
Here’s a look at the owners manual for the Augen ebook reader, via The Shopping Channel.
Interestingly, the manual insinuates that the device comes with Calibre on an install disc to use for managing your ebook library.
Augen “The Book” Specs
- Screen: 7″ diagonal 800 x 480 pixels color TFT.
- Built-in 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi.
- Web browser.
- CPU: Ingenic 4755, Arm9 400 Mhz.
- OS: Linux 2.6.24.
- Open-source SDK.
- 2 GB internal memory, SD card slot up to 32 GB.
- Full QWERTY keyboard.
- Includes WordPad for note-taking and text editing.
- Text-to-speech supported.
- Portrait and landscape modes.
- Built-in speaker and headphone jack.
- Comes with leather case.
- Dimensions: 8.89” x 5.12” x 0.51”.
- Weight: 10 ounces.
- Comes with 150 free classic ebooks.
- Text formats: Adobe EPUB and PDF, TXT, HTML, CHM, RTF, FB2, and MOBI/PRC.
- Image formats: JPG, BMP, GIF, and PNG.
- Audio formats: MP3, WMA, FLAC, and AAC.
- Video formats: WMV and MP4.
Related posts:
- Augen The Book e-Reader Video Review, First Impressions
- Augen eReader Review
- The Skytex Primer 7″ Color eBook Reader
Filed under: New eBook Readers | Tags: augen, ebook reader, the book | 15 Comments »
Nice how the cover straps cover the buttons. Thats a bad sign.
I noticed that too. And it covers a large part of the screen on top. It’s probably just a prototype design that they’ll change before the release . . . hopefully.
Hello,
I’m thinking of buying one of those ereaders, but i really like to read in bed, and i need one that i can read in darkness, could you guys help me?
Thanks.
xD
If you want to read in the dark then you’ll need one like the Augen, Pandigital Novel, or iPad that has a backlit LCD screen, or you’ll need a reading light for an E Ink ereader like the Kindle, Sony, and Nook. It all depends if you prefer reading on an LCD screen or an E Ink one. Many people don’t like reading on LCDs because they can cause eyestrain and the battery only lasts a few hours. But other folks prefer them. It’s all a matter of taste.
Ok, thanks Nathan.
I went to the Augen website this morning and had a live chat with one of the tech reps re this product. I’d like to update a few things that are on this site:
1. The case has been changed so it no longer covers the screen and buttons.
2. The unit accepts SD cards up to 32gb.
3. Although it is not indicated in the user manual, one can listen to music while reading.
4. The user manual has been updated, so the link on this page does not contain correct information.
For more info, go to the Augen site and click on Support. From there you can get to a live chat option and ask all those pesky questions.
Thanks for the updates!
It goes on sale for $89.99 at Kmart—Sunday, July 18. I called my local store and it looks like they have 3 in stock.
Just went to their site and tried to click the links at the top, all 404′d. I’m getting flashbacks of delstar openbook here.
I just stumbled on your blog today as I was searching for eBook info. Great site, good reviews, nice human touch. I am going to put a link on my blog to yours. You have some great information.
Thanks,
Bill
I bought one and took it back for a refund. Found lots of issues.
1. The wifi interface is not configurable and the range is horrible. Connection rely on DHCP being active and it appears ready to hook up to only unsecured wifi hotspots. I needed the MAC Address to enter into my wireless router as I have MAC address filtering activated. The MAC address was blank in the System Info screen. So, I tried tech support. Really hard to get an answer from them, but perseverance won out.
2. The tech support staff was not very helpful. The first guy told me to download a patch from
http://rapidshare.com/files/408236101/EBA701_V6_0721_-MAC_address.zip.html . Well I got the patch and the instructions (Readme file) may as well have been in a foreign language. None of the instructions worked. Some of the file referenced weren’t in the zipped file. I carefully typed each command line and triple checked it before entering. I could not get the patch to work even with – my second call to tech support. This guy wasn’t helpful at all. Also, I was wondering why, AugenUS.com would have a support page with a folder for The Book but you have to go to rapidshare to get the patch. Why have to go to a site that throttles download speeds unless you pay for their service when you have a web site that can be used.
Bottom line on patches and firmware upgrades, if you are supporting GUI machines make the installation GUI also.
3. The user manual that comes with the product is also woefully lacking and had two errata sheets inside the manual that you could not read without a magnifying glass. The online version include in The Book was equally unhelpful with the machine’s operation.
4. I could get the USB connection to connect to a Vista Operating System, but Windows 7 wouldn’t connect.
5. I tried two different SD memory cards and it did not recognize either (one 8GB SanDisk and one 8GB PNY), although when I insert then in my computer they worked fine.
6. The case is a wonderful idea, but some sort of pocket to hold ear phones, the USB cable and the power cord would be nice.
7. A cigarette lighter adapter for a vehicle would be a good idea also as well as headphones. Guess they needed to keep price under their $100.00 market survey.
8. The switching display from landscape to portrait is wonderful, but it’s too touchy. Barely move the device and it switched from one mode to the other.
9. There joystick button when press only sometimes acts and the enter button.
10. The power button is difficult to get and should possibly be put on top near the keyboard. But this is a minor inconvenience.
11. The reset button and access hole could be a bit bigger. I couldn’t even get a normal paperclip in the hole when the tech told me to reset the device.
Maybe The Book II will fix some of the problems if they ever release one.