Best E-readers.com

Augen is a small Florida-based electronics company specializing in inexpensive MP3 players, netbooks, and tablets. Their first foray into the eReader market is with a 7-inch device called The Book. The device bears some physical resemblance to the black Kindle, but its Kindle ambitions end there: the Augen is more of a multimedia device than a dedicated eReader.

As expected from an Augen, the device is intended to shake up things in the eReader segment through low pricing. With its MSRP of $99.99, the Augen Book Reader is for those looking for a bargain eReader that also offers some alternatives to reading.

Features – Hardware and Software

The Augen Book Reader is actually larger and thicker than the Kindle 3, measuring 8.9 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches, and heavier, as it weighs 10 ounces. TFT LCD screen is also wider at 7 inches. However, screen resolution of 800 x 480 is slightly lower; the Kindle 2 sported 600 x 800 pixels. Nonetheless, color and images are bright, and with no touch added layer to the screen, the Augen eReader doesn’t have much reflection as the iPad. Also, brightness settings can be adjusted to make reading more comfortable. Under direct sunlight, simply tilt the screen away from the light source to make the text fairly readable.

There are page turns on both sides of the device, allowing one-handed use by either right- or left-handed users. Under the screen is a QWERTY keyboard for searching on the web, typing emails, and the like. On the rightmost bottom is the Menu and Home button; it comes in an arc shape that half encircles the small D-pad.

A device designed to provide multiple alternate entertainment to reading, the Augen Book Reader comes with a full web browser and video and music player. Built-in WiFi provides flexibility in accessing the Internet.

Like the Kindle, the Augen Book Reader is equipped with a text-to-speech function; the device can read out loud ebooks and PDF-based documents. Though the device doesn’t support book annotations, you take down notes and edit text on WordPad. 

The device can display Adobe ePub and PDF, TXT, DOC, CHM, RTF, FB2, HTML, MOBI, and PRC text files; BMP, GIF, JPG, and PNG image formats; MP3 and WMA audio formats; and AVI and MP4 video formats.  2GB onboard storage can hold up to 1400 books at a time. If you plan to store hundreds of videos and music, too, there’s an SD expansion slot; it can support up to 32GB. The Augen eBook Reader can last up to 8 hours on a single charge – good enough for 2 to 3 full movies and several chapters of books.

The Bottom Line

The Augen eBook Reader has the potential to corner the budget segment of eReaders.

That it is currently out of stock in Kmart, one of the few stores that carry the device, offers a glimpse at this. However, Augen needs to fix the device’s firmware bugs and add new features if it hopes to attract more consumers.

Pros

Augen the eBook Reader is pre-loaded with 150 eBooks to help you start your library collection. Font type, line spacing, margins, and alignment of texts can be modified, except in PDF files. The device also has a G-sensor that automatically shifts orientation of page. However, the device’s biggest draw is price. At $99, is about $50 cheaper than most budget eReaders like the Kobo and the Nook WiFi.

Cons

What the device lacks is a built-in bookstore for easy ordering and downloading of books. Though the device comes with a QWERTY keyboard, it doesn’t allow you to add notes to books. DRM ePub functionality needs improvement, as books tend to have missing sentences and paragraphs. You cannot adjust the huge margin or the layout, too, and when a page is set on the landscape mode, the texts are squeezed to the center. PDF reader isn’t very good, too. It doesn’t support text reflow, is slow to load big files, and freezes too often. It doesn’t seem to support automatic screen orientation either. To set the page to landscape mode, you have to set the page first to the highest zoom level.

What’s in the box:

• Augen the Ebook Reader unit
• User Manual
• Leather Carrying Case
• UL Certified AC Adapter

Main Features

• 7-inch TFT color LCD screen
• Buil-in WiFi modem
• 600 x 480 pixel resolution
• 2GB built storage
• Expansion slot supports up to 32GB SD card

Key Features

• Text– to–speech
• Auto-page orientation
• Supports multiple text, video, and audio formats
• Good for one-handed use

Bonus Features

• 150 free Classics