Update: I was able to get my hands on the Pyrus Mini and post a hands-on review, which includes a video review and some comparison pictures with the Kobo Mini and basic Kindle to get an idea of the size difference.
If you’ve ever wanted a miniature ebook reader, the Trekstor Pyrus Mini is as small as it gets. It weighs in at a measly 111 grams (3.9 ounces) and measures a slim 128mm x 85mm x 9mm.
One of the more intriguing details about this tiny ereader is the 4.3″ screen. Unlike the vast majority of ebook readers this little guy does not use a screen from the company E Ink; it uses a “Digital Ink” display, which is being produced by Guangzhou OED Technologies out of China. In fact E Ink is suing Trekstor for patent infringement because of this so the Pyrus Mini might not be long for this world.
For the time being, the Pyrus Mini is available in parts of Europe for 49 euros. From Amazon UK it costs as little as £39. In fact I was able to order a blue one from here in the U.S. from Amazon UK for a grand total of £46.13, which equates to about $75.
It is scheduled to arrive on February 22nd so check back in a few weeks for a review. In the meantime, here’s a review of the Pyrus Mini in Italian, complete with a video review below (it has English subtitles if you hit the captions button).
As far as specs go, the Pyrus Mini has 2GB of internal storage space and a microSD card slot for expansion up to an additional 32GB. The screen resolution is 800 x 600, which equates to an impressive 232 dpi. That’s 20 dpi better than the so called “HD” screens on the Kindle Paperwhite and Kobo Glo.
For formats the Pyrus Mini supports Adobe DRM for ePub and PDF ebooks, as well as TXT, FB2, RTF, and PDB formats. It supports typical image formats too. The device is available in three colors: black, blue, and pink. Language support includes English, German, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, and Ukrainian.
“I was able to order a blue one from here in the U.S. from Amazon UK for a grand total of £46.13, which equates to about $75. ”
What was the cost breakdown between shipping and device? I see it is listed today for a bit more that 47.62 euros and I assume there has to be an additional shipping charge.
Nevermind, I went through checkout process.
tems: GBP 39.68
Postage & Packing: GBP 6.98
Total before VAT: GBP 46.66
VAT: GBP 0.00
Order Total: GBP 46.66
Payment Total: USD 76.91
Indeed the listed price didn’t make much sense. And it should be noted that I got it through Amazon UK as the shipper. The blue one doesn’t have that option at the moment. But yesterday the red one didn’t and now they’ve got those so it looks like they are getting more in. Funny how fast conversion rates change; mine was a total of $75.82.
Nathan I can’t wait for your review, this Italian one gave me a headache!
Looks like a nice simple and small device.
Interesting in seeing where this lawsuit goes… Henry Ford maintained that an entity can’t copyright or patent a concept (such as the automobile, smartphone, or pigment based static displays). E-ink will probably win just due to deeper pockets, but their copyright/patent is pretty specific. Unless this is a rebadged e-ink screen, these guys are in the right. If there’s no real infringement, I’m hoping for the little guy… more people producing a particular technology causes it to evolve more rapidly.