Review: Laser EB101 E-Book Reader

Renai LeMay
Monday, 23 August 2010 16:30

Your IT - Mobility

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This review is by reader Clytie Siddall (you can find her blog here). It was first posted on Oz-E-Books.com and is re-published here with her permission.

review A new Australian eBook reader has suddenly appeared. The Laser EB101 E-Book Reader was released yesterday. The only reason we know this, is that my husband saw it in the Dick Smith shop attached to his workplace, and brought it home for me to examine (History does not give enough credit to gadget-spotters ;) ).

As a keen follower of eBook news, I was a bit staggered to encounter this completely new eReader. Why hadn’t I seen something about it online? I consulted Darryl, our Oz-E-books maven, and he hadn’t heard about it either. We did find a product page for it, but the details are sketchy.

At $149, this e-reader is competing with the wireless Kindle for customer interest.

What is it like?
It’s not bad. The TFT colour screen is crisp and beautiful. You can charge the device and transfer files directly over USB. It works seamlessly with Calibre. You can read ebooks, view images, listen to music and watch video.

So it all depends on what you want. If you want an e-Ink screen, wireless transfer and access to an eBook shop, then the Kindle does that. If you want a colour screen and multimedia, the Laser reader provides them. This device is attractively packaged, light to hold and fairly easy to use. It has an expansion slot (micro-SD up to 16GB), a headphone jack and a mini-USB port. All in all, the Laser e-reader looks like a good low-budget option.

What about … ?
Using the Laser reveals both its strengths and weaknesses. It appears to be running a Linux system, less than a month old. Someone in the Linux community will immediately work out how to flash the device and use it as a portable computer, allowing the user more access and more flexibility. Linux, a completely open operating system, is A Good Thing™.