Read an eBook, Save a Tree; Buy an eBook Reader, Save a Forest: Review of eBookwise-1150 reading device (e-book Reader)

Do your bookshelves groan with jumbled masses of books, some of which have been in your possession since childhood? Are there stacks of books on all horizontal surfaces wherever you look—tables, floor, couch, chairs, tops of cabinets, laps of visitors? Do you keep buying books at a faster rate than you can read them? Are you a ‘reverse library user’ who takes bags of books to the local library every month because, sad but true, there’s just no more space for them at home?

If you answered Yes to all of the above, you are either me, my clone, or an avid reader/book lover who is rapidly losing control of your home-space. But fear not. Help is at hand. Unless you have been hibernating under bookcovers for the past few years, you will have heard of e-books, perhaps even read a few on your computer. But do you really want to strain your eyes staring at the computer screen for hours on end? I certainly don’t. So when I heard of a hand-held portable device the size of a paperback that allows the reader to read with ease and maintain a virtual bookshelf stocked with dozens, nay, hundreds of e-books, I knew that, sooner or later, it will find its way into my greedy hands.

Research online convinced me that there was only one device that matched all the criteria I was looking for—small and light enough to be truly portable, yet with a big enough screen not to strain the eye. I was not prepared to squint into bitty-sized screens, trying to decipher tiny-fonted writing for the course of a novel. I wanted something that resembled the experience of reading a paperback as closely as possible. My search led me to the eBookwise-1150 reading device, aka the eBook Reader available from Ebookwise.com. Just like Fictionwise.com, Ebookwise.com. is an online seller of e-books. Without further ado, I ordered the eBookwise-1150 online and, on impulse, ordered two ebooks at the same time.

I jumped with excitement when my Reader finally arrived (it took longer than I expected, but perhaps that was due partly to my impatience), and I could not wait to rip it from the very secure packaging. It gleamed at me as I unwrapped it, my own reading device, perfect as a newborn and exactly the right size. At 7 ½ inches by 5 inches by 1½ inches, it’s more or less the size of a trade paperback, but, at 18 ounces, this baby weighs more like a hardcover. I would have been happier if it had been a tad lighter, but it’s good that it’s not flimsy. Indeed, it feels quite solidly constructed, and looks space-age and rather nifty.

Both internal modem and USB ports are built-in, and a phone cord and USB cable are included with other accessories such as a stylus, a soft carrying case, and a power adapter. The setup was pretty straightforward, except the phoneline connection did not work at first try, so I used the USB connection to connect to my laptop. I logged in, downloaded the driver from eBookwise.com and registered my reading device right away. There is a lightweight stylus that you will lose immediately, but no matter, the backlit LCD touchscreen (5½ by 3½ inches, a tad shorter than a paperback page) will respond to a tap of your finger.

As soon as I registered my device at eBookwise.com, the two books I had bought came up and I was able to download them from eBookwise.com and transfer them from my ‘online bookshelf’ to my ‘e-bookshelf’ right away. Already in the device were 5 free books (The Time Machine by H. G. Wells, The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe, A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Random House Webster’s Concise Dictionary, and the indispensable eBook User’s Guide Version 4.1).

Still with the power cord attached (the battery takes two hours to charge, more if you’re using it), I began to read my first e-book purchase: Mayra Calvani’s dark fantasy Embraced by the Shadows. The rechargeable Lithium-ion battery will last between 7.5-15 hours on a full charge, depending on how you adjust the backlight. If it’s on minimal, it can last up to 15 hours. At full, the battery life is only half that. I adjusted mine for what I consider optimal viewing and it lasts over 10 hours.

The experience of reading on this device is unbelievably good. The device conforms well to my left hand (you can customize it for either hand). The font size, contrast, and screen brightness are adjustable. You can bookmark, highlight, and make notes as you read. You can even look up unfamiliar words in the included dictionary, though I did find the latter somewhat basic and was not able to find the first two words I looked for. The power-on button is recessed into one side and cannot be knocked on or off accidentally. The page-forward, page-back buttons are sleek and well-placed. What’s more, I believe I’m reading a lot faster than with a paper book. I finished Embraced by the Shadows within a couple of days, M.D. Benoit’s cross-genre Sci-Fi/detective novels, Metered Space and its sequel Meter Made after that, and have since started another one.

And here’s another thing: there are so many different genres of ebooks to choose from, and they’re all priced much less than print books that the amount you spend on the device is soon recouped if you read as much as I do. And let’s face it, who wants to bear the guilt of destroying trees, let alone an entire forest? With the basic 4MB RAM, 8MB internal Flash for program and content storage, there is enough internal memory for approximately 15-20 ebooks at a time. SmartMedia Cards allow expanded content storage. I bought the 64MB card at the same time as the reading device. (The 64MB card is being offered with the eBookwise reader-1150 as a promotion for US $125+shipping at eBookwise.com.) A 128MB is also available and would allow hundreds of ebooks to be stored on the one device. Personal content can be downloaded into the eBookwise-1150, complete with images, so long as each file does not exceed 2 MB, up to a total of 10MB.

So look around and inhale the musty scent of your old print books, my friends. Their days may or may not be numbered, but there’s no reason to add to the destruction of the planet, not now that eBookwise-1150 is on the market. Grab yourself one and delight your family and friends with your forward-thinking and environmental friendliness. Strangers will come up to you and ask to have a closer look. Fellow subway patrons will dart curious and envious glances at your latest accessory. It’s the must-have of all-seasons, and guess what, you’ll be reading more than ever, and those bookshelves of yours need groan no more than they do now.

So sit back and enjoy the read. The pleasures of e-fiction await you.

J.C. Hall is the author of such fantasy novels as Legends of the Serai and Lady of the Lakes. Visit her website at www.jc-hall.com.