Model:
Sharper Image Literati (1636377)
Release Date:
August 2010
Original Price:
$159
Processor:
Samsung S3C6410 ARM11 @ 667 Mhz
Memory:
512mb Flash RAM
I have been looking for a while at several e-ink ebook readers including the Amazon Kindle, the Barnes and Noble Nook and the Sony eReader. While I am impressed with the way the e-ink displays look, they are still out of my price range. So I started looking at LCD display readers. Still a little pricey, but then I found a deal on the Literati - $50. At that price, I figured I'd give it a try.
I'm not quite sure what all of the other reviewers of this device on the internet were using, but contrary to what others have said, I am relatively pleased with the device overall. The first thing that struck me was the packaging. Yes, the packaging! The Literati comes in a box that is shaped just like a book complete with flip up cover and the look of pages on three sides. It's really pretty cool!
Battery life - I charged this up the required six hours when I got it and I have read for about an hour almost every night for two weeks before having to recharge it. I read that it gets about five hours a charge, but who reads for five hours continuously anyway? I did dim the display to about level 2, but any higher than that in indoor lighting was overkill. One drawback that you'll notice right away is the fact that there is no charge indicator. Not only does it not tell you that it's fully charged but it doesn't even show that it's taking a charge. No LED no nothing. You just have to plug it in and hope that it's working. And while the manual warns about "over-charging", nowhere does it tell you how long you can safely leave it on charge. An intelligent charge circuit that could detect a fully charged battery and switch to trickle mode would have been great!
Ergonomic - As much as I hate that word, as large as this thing is - 4.5" x 8.5" - it fits comfortably in on hand. the only exception would be if you are reading a PDF in landscape mode. Then it's is a little awkward, but that's for later... so moving on. The "Next" and "Previous" page 'buttons' work well, although they're not actually buttons. They are capacitive touch sensors, with a "Next" and "Previous" on each side of the screen. There's a full QWERTY keyboard below the screen, which really could have been eliminate. Other than logging in to the Kobo bookstore, I haven't found a real use for it. The four-direction menu buttons are a little hard to press being so small. It might have been better if these had been touch pads as well, but...
The screen is 7", measured like all screens - diagonally. It's about the same size as a paperback, so it's very easy to see. Plus, you change the font size from super-tiny to extremely-large. I already mentioned the brightness setting, but there is also a night reading mode which gives you white text on a black background instead of the traditional black on white layout. Personally, I find the regular mode (black on white) easier to read, even at night, but the setting is there if you need it.
It is able to read EPUB, HTML, PDF and TXT formatted books, but if you use the free ebook management program calibre you can easily convert any format to one of the four that the Literati can understand. Plus, calibre can connect directly to your ereader and transfer the books that you select from your collection. calibre is available for the PC, Mac and, my preferred OS of choice - Linux. While it's true that the Literati can display PDF files, it's doesn't do so with any panache. If you have to use PDF, you are better off switching to landscape mode and zooming in just enough so that you don't have to scroll left and right. You'll have to use the directional buttons to navigate up and down, because the "Next" and "Previous" 'buttons' go to the next page, not up or down within the same page.
Transferring books is easy. Like I just said, you can use calibre or you can drag and drop the files to the device just like you would a flash drive. You can also transfer books to an SD card and pop that the slot on the reader. This gives you almost unlimited storage space, although getting the card in and is a real pain! You have to use a key or a pen to press the card down in the slot far enough for it to catch. Not very good design, in my opinion - it doesn't need to be recessed that far. But why anyone would want more than a few books on their reader at a time is beyond me - and I actively read three or four books at the same time! Finally, you can also sign up for an account with Kobo Books and download ebooks directly to the reader.
To top it all off, I have just discovered that you can trick the Literati into accessing the internet - not just the Kobo book store. All you have to do is modify the /.kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf file to point to your Start page - either a simplistic search engine or an html page that you create with your favorite bookmarks are two good choices. You can find detailed instructions here.
Although this runs a form of Linux, to my knowledge, as of the date this page was written, there has not been any successful attempts to put another OS on the Literati.
One qualm I have is the boot time. It takes about 30 seconds to boot up once you turn it on. You can put the reader in sleep mode instead of turning it completely off, from which it will come back on instantly, but I have found that that drains the battery pretty quickly. While it takes so long to boot, I have no idea. The HP iPaq that I have turns on instantaneously and yet doesn't pull the battery down at all in sleep/off mode. Oh well...
I have seen reviews that said some Literatis had problems connecting wireless to the network, while others couldn't connect through USB. The unit I got was refurbished (although it was supposed to have been new), but I'm not complaining because mine works flawlessly. You will want to let the Literati update it's firmware to the latest version - which it will do as soon as you connect it to a network - for all of the features to work correctly. If, for some reason, you are unable to connect your device to a network, you can update it manually with the firmware packing below.
>> Click here to download the Quick Start Guide (black version) (7 mb)
>> Click here to download the Quick Start Guide (black version) (7 mb)
>> Click here to download the Instruction Manual (white version) (7 mb)
>> Click here to download the Instruction Manual (black version) (7 mb)
>> Click here to download the latest Firmware [2.0] (59 mb)