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Samsung SNE-50K Overview

As you would expect from Korean electronics behemoth like Samsung, the new SNE-50K is one amazing contraption. As its original working label suggests, Papyrus, it is both a reading and writing device. Currently available only in South Korea, it is more than just an e-reader, it’s your personal organizer, too.

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Features – Hardware and Software

With its PDA features, the SNE-50K is like one compact Filofax: one can manage schedules, view calendar appointments, and jot down memos with the accompanying stylus pen. But the SNE-50K is designed in the first place as a reading companion, and so gives a larger viewing screen than PDAs. Higher screen resolution and e-ink display also mean clearer images and less screen glare that causes eye strain.

Users can browse, shop, purchase, or download books from Samsung’s partner bookstore, the Kyobo Bookstore Company, which is one of South Korea’s largest bookstore chains.  Think Amazon for Kindle or Barnes & Noble for Pocket Reader. Currently, there are only 2500 titles – chiefly South Korean – available for the SNE-50K, although Samsung is still negotiating with publishers and trade books for more content.

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The Bottom line

Currently available in South Korea only for339,000 won (around $270), the SNE-50K is an exciting option for those who are looking for a device that makes reading and writing and other tasks in a busy world quite manageable. But how well does it stack up against the leading ebook readers in the US?  We have to postpone our judgment until 2010, when Samsung reveals its prototype for US release.

Samsung SNE-50K eReader Pros & Cons

Pros

It's nice to have one gadget that does everything for you, and surely the SNE-50K is both a virtual library and virtual assistant. Borrowing features from the PDA, the SNE-50K does more for you than a typical e-reader like Sony or Kindle such as allowing you to create a memo and storing contacts. The device is also quite versatile as you can read almost any document on your SNE-50K. It supports PDF, Microsoft Office, Text files, Powerpoint, and BMPs, although file has to be converted first using accompanying software.

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Cons

Although the SNE-50K is one of the lightest e-readers around, weighing only 6.5 ounces, and one of the thinnest, measuring only 9mm thick, its battery power is not as impressive. The SNE-50K can power up 4320 page turns only – half of what most of its rival e-readers can do.

The SNE-50K also lacks the convenience of a wired or wireless device. In order to access a book, users have to download from a PC host . With its internal storage of up to 400 ebooks only, having no SD card may also make the SNE-50K less appealing to those who want to fill the shelves of their portable virtual library with thousands of books. 

What's in the Samsung SNE-50K box

• Samsung SNE-50K Electronic Book Reader
• Stylus
• USB Cable
• User Manual
 

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Samsung SNE-50K Features

Main Features

• A5 size
• touchscreen display
• battery powers 4320 turns
• internal memory for 400 books
• bookstore contains 2500 titles

Key Features

• PDA features
• ultra thin

Bonus Features

• handwriting recognition

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