I’m packing like crazy for my trip to Costa Rica in just over a day. (A DAY!!) One of the items that will stay close to me throughout my trip (and especially on my long airplane and taxi rides to and from the beach) is my new Literati eReader.
I love to read, and often have a novel in my purse (thank goodness for big purses!). I always struggle when I go on a trip deciding how many books I should bring along. There’s nothing worse than being on vacation and finishing your only book on the plane trip to your destination (I know–it has happened to me). There is nothing more relaxing to me than reading a book next to the pool or on a lounge chair on the beach. Luckily, this trip I am prepared with about 40 books loaded onto my Literati (one of which I couldn’t help but start a few days ago when I really should have been preparing for my trip).
Here are some of the features of the Literati Wireless eReader by the Sharper Image:
- The Literati by The Sharper Image is a dedicated color wireless electronic reader – all features and functionality were thoughtfully considered.
- The Literati is one of the few color eReaders and has a 7” color LCD screen (480 x 800 resolution).
- A built-in bookstore through Kobo gives users access to more than 2 million books, magazines and periodicals.
- An SD card slot allows users to add storage (up to 8GB).
- The Literati development team is dedicated to ensuring users enjoy their Literati for years to come. Ongoing updates and new features will regularly be added. Sneak peek: In the November / December timeframe, a number of reading enhancements will be available, including: Night-reading mode, custom bookshelves and bookmarks and “dog ears” (a way to mark your favorite pages).
- There is a storm of color content coming – everything from children’s books and cookbooks to textbooks, magazines and newspapers.
- The Literati brings great flexibility to the reading experience. Not only can the Literati store hundreds of titles, it also lets users enjoy those titles on their laptop, smart phone and desktop computer.
- Has a list price currently set at $159 (which will likely drop as we approach the holiday season and Black Friday)- making it a great holiday items for the teens heading off to college or frequent travelers on your holiday shopping list.
I’ve had all week to test out the Literati’s features. Honestly, it took me a little while to get used to it, but the more I use it, the more I like it.
What I love:
- I have access to hundreds of books in one device. No more being without a book to read.
- It’s a great size, not too heavy, but very comfortable to read on.
- The matte surface is easy on the eyes and can be read at different angles and in different lights (I love falling asleep with a book in bed!)
- It’s easy to purchase and download books form the Kobo bookstore
- Turning pages is fast and easy. The page turning buttons are in a very convenient location for me.
- It’s perfect for travel.
- It comes with a good quality case to protect it inside my purse.
- Library can be accessed everywhere.
- Wifi!
What I don’t love:
- The main D-pad is too small for me and it’s sometimes hard to navigate through the menu because of it. I found that it was easier to use the D-pad with the tip of a pencil eraser. I would have designed the buttons differently than how they are currently set up.
- Sometimes I can’t turn off wifi (which eats up batteries). And then other times, I cannot connect to wifi. Argh!
- I’ve had troubles hooking it up to my Mac. It seems to work much better linked to my PC (which is not my main computer).
- The power (and sleep) button is covered up when I put it in the case.
How I’m feeling about it after a week:
As annoyed as I was with some of its quirks at the beginning of the week, I am now loving it. I can’t imagine being without an eReader now. I love reading on it, and realized that once books are downloaded onto the device, reading is easy (in other words–I don’t have to deal with the quirky D-pad).
Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of The Sharper Image and received a Literati eReader to facilitate my review. The thoughts expressed are my true experience with it.
© 2010, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.
The BBC app will work over Wifi or a 3G connection, which matches the PC version
of the app for those who are already using it. Thee name is supposerd too clearly reflect the purpose of an app.
The Droid, Verizon Wireless and Motorola’s answer
to the i – Phone, was only recently released to the public, but already, the
Android Market is loaded with hundreds of free apps.
Hello! I am like you and am an avid book reader!! I can’t imagine my life without my e-reader and the Literati is a STEAL of a deal and has more good features than bad. I find if I charge my ereader at night, it’s ready to go for another full day. I always have the wi-fi OFF, I sync books from my computer to the reader with no problems. So for anyone that is confused what to get, the Literati has all kinds of features for a very affordable price. I got mine for $79.99 and the books at KOBO are very reasonably priced. So you get your bang for the buck, so to speak. GO LITERATI!!!
5 hours isn’t enough for a long trip :-(
Although it may be OK for use at home.
I’m glad to hear it wasn’t just me! :) As frustrated as I’ve been, though, I really like having an eReader.
I’m got the exact same list of complaints…already typed up.
And, the battery life, yeah I’d say 5 hours is about right (and I read the Kindle is like a month)…I haven’t been able to tell with the wifi off, as I’ve also had a hard time turning it off.
I haven’t experienced it’s full battery capacity yet, but I’ve heard it’s about 5 hours per charge.
Can you tell anything about its battery life yet? It looks great in all respects, but if it lasts less than 8 hours on a single charge, I’d rather stick to my old Palm IIIc.