eBook Reader Reviews

In addition to being an e-book reader, the eBookMan also plays audio files (both audiobooks and MP3s), records voice messages, and functions as a respectable PDA. A flip-up cover and hard rubber outer coating afford protection for the device. With a USB-connected cradle, transfers between desktop and the eBookMan proceed quickly.

While the eBookMan offers a date book, address book, memo application (using natural handwriting recognition), and voice memo recorder, its main angle is still as a book reader. The large screen and powerful backlight makes reading literature in the Franklin Reader format clear, though the backlight did seem to drain the batteries rather quickly in our demo unit.

Ironically, the eBookMan's versatility also draws attention to its limitations. While the unit will play MP3 files, it can only store four to six songs at once with its 16 MB of memory. However, if you pick up an optional MultiMediaCard with up to 64 MB of memory, it is possible to adapt the eBookMan into a more respectable MP3 player.

While you'll need to spend a little extra to money to get your eBookMan to reach its full potential, the unit's low original cost and variety of applications make it an excellent gateway into the world of electronic literature. --J. Curtis

Pros:

• Very versatile--PDA, e-books, audiobooks, and MP3s in one device
• USB connection
• Large display

• Not currently compatible with Microsoft Reader
• Short battery life
• Gray scale only

This is a new product. I got mine through Franklin's developer program before the public release and have watched the progress Franklin is making on progressive improvement of the operating system and software. I've watched the egroups mailing lists devoted to eBookman.

My impression is that the hardware is first rate.

I've watched development of the software for eBookman since before the public release and believe 100% that Franklin will eventually make good on all promises of future software enhancements. At the present point the software is many many times better than it was in the era before the public release when I tried it in beta, and I think this improvement will continue.

I personally have gotten good support from Franklin, and a lot of folks on the egroups mailing lists report the same.

The hardware at this point seems to be very nice. A few people who reported problems have indicated on egroups that they got replacement units by Fedex from Franklin.

I find reading books on my unit quite enjoyable. It plays MP3's OK although external powered speakers or good earphones are a must.

I got an MMC expansion card and it works fine for stashing MP3's.

Audio books work fine for me.

Text input with the stylus works fine, although I could wish for a nice USB keyboard - most PDA's are in the same boat.

So, with good hardware and progressively better, upgradable software I like the eBookman just fine!

Don't let the negativism of others steer you wrong. Give the eBookman a try and decide for yourself!

Pure and simple: I bought ebookman 911 'cause it reads books. I have a whole pasel of 1930's pulp fiction stories in my pc and i don't like being stuck reading in front of it. Ebookman allows me to read in a comfortable environ. The screen is huge, the fonts r big and comfortable and now i can relax and read all those fun electronic books. This product is great because you don't have to sit there and buy ebooks, there is an application called franklin viewer that reads text and html files. The fun thing about that, is that there r tons of sites w/ loads of free books on them right for the taking. I mean why pay for an electronic copy of Dracula when you can get it free? I've downloaded a whole bunch of edgar allen poe stories. More cool ideas . . . write a report or whatever, copy and paste it in notepad or wordpad, save this copy as a text, shoot it to ebookman and now you can see your material on the go, whether its a list or a short story. The product features 16 meg memory, huge for books and its expandable, again, don't buy this for a mp3 player, if you want one of those, buy one of those w/ the right memory qualifications and features.
The bad, they say if you pull the battery, plunk, you lose your memory, mine didn't do it, and i tested it on purpose! Maybe that prob is fixed . . . but if it doesn't, well, try this, buy the adapter. I mean people whine and whine, but look at it this way, those pocket pcs w/ rechargeable batteries will lose all memory if you run them out; which is kinda like what happens when you yank out your batteries in the machine. If you have the adapter that plugs in the wall . . . you have an external power source, you can replace the batts and machine doesn't know. Don't say the adapter isn't a great idea, it is, especially if you do lots of reading at home. You're on the run, business, personal? If you can take the ebookman you can take the adapter; afterall guys, there r lots of outlets in the world! Take spare batteries w/ you, and be aware of the power already in the machine. There's a meter which tells you.
The only bad thing i have to say concerns the set up. The machine should be already set up for you, but it is not. If you turn it on, you get a demo, and the quick set up sheet should be thrown away as it is zero help. To help you out, go to franklins web site under setting up your ebookman, read it first. Download the files your pc needs, then hook up the cradle and your machine, then you have to download the operation file for the ebookman, I accidently did that; but knowing that, you're better off than i was. That was the only crummy thing, plus i had a problem w/ one of my drivers for it, but now that i have it up and running, its irreplaceable. Again, 'cause it bears repeating, ebookman mainly reads books, I don't use it as an organizer, 'cause I already have one, I don't use it for mp3, because I don't use them, I don't use it for digital voice messages, because i have one of those, I have it for books, books, and more books. Thats all i want it for. I love it, no matter what anybody else says.

The setup was somewhat frustrating. You have to go out to the Franklin Electronics website and download the software and nowhere in the book did it say how to go about doing this. I think somehow the ebookman or your computer are supposed to tell you this but that doesn't work real well without an usb device driver installed in Windows. However if you go out to the Franklin site and click on ebookman you will find the downloading instructions. There is a nice red button to the right of the middle of the page and if you click on it it leads to very detailed instructions.

There are actually two downloads involved one to download the desktop software and the other to download the OS for the device itself. The rest of the instructions are pretty self-explanatory but be sure and take note of the readme instructions after installing the desktop software as they give you instructions on installing the device driver.

The final note that I have on setup is that the mobipocket reader software installs separately and you have to go to another link found on the same page as the red button.

From here on out it's just a matter of exploring the software.

I actually bought mine for the rather unusual reason that I love fan fiction and was bankrupting myself using up ink cartridges trying to print it out so I could take the stuff with me. This is a wonderful device for reading fan fiction. I have read html and txt files in Franklin viewer with no problems. It even nicely saves my spot when I have to walk away for a bit and will be sitting right where I left it when I turn it back on.

I have also read a book in Mobipocket reader format which isn't bad but for some reason if I didn't properly exit it would take me back to page 70 instead of the page I was supposed to be on when I went back to it. Still once I learned to exit properly everything went smooth and I was able to relax and enjoy the book. Hopefully this slight problem will be addressed in the final version of the software.

For the rest I am really enjoying the pda functions which for me were an unexpected side benefit and the games that you can obtain are wonderful ways to occupy your time when you are forced to wait somewhere for a few minutes.

All and all outside of setup I really love this new device and my only regret is that I didn't buy it when I first found out it was on the market.

The Franklin EBM-900 eBookman comes with a one-year warranty.

The Franklin EBM-901 eBookman is an 8 MB multimedia and content player in a pocketable format. With the eBookman, you can download and read or listen to thousands of your favorite books. For reading comfort, the eBookman has a large display that shows 87 percent more information than other handheld devices. If you need to check a definition while reading a book, the eBookman comes with an easily accessible Merriam-Webster dictionary. You can also listen to music by downloading your favorite songs in MP3 format. The built-in microphone allows you to record messages that you can play back anytime, or write quick notes using either the built-in stylus or the pop-up keyboard. The eBookman has a calendar, address book, to-do list, and scheduler. The eBookman features state-of-the-art compression, highly sophisticated search, and easy-to-use hypertext.

Display: 16-level grayscale display and high-resolution touch screen with enhanced polarizers; no back light. Hardware features: USB port. MultiMediaCard (MMC) slot. Headphone jack. Speaker. Microphone; Stylus. Removable lid ; Memory: 8 MB SDRAM. MMC slot for expandable memory;.
Desktop software: eBookMan Desktop Manager with Outlook synchronization powered by Intellisync for eBookMan; Core applications: Franklin Viewer. Franklin Reader. Audiobook Player. Music Player. Date Book. Address Book. Voice Memo. Memo Book. Calculator. ToDo Book
EBM-901 comes with the USB cable, setup CD, manual and 2 AAA batteries. The Franklin EBM-901 eBookman comes with a one-year warranty.

The eBookMan EBM-901 is different from the EBM-900 and EBM-911 models in that it comes in a black/grey case, has 8MB of RAM and has a backlight.