The Sharper Image - Literati Digital Reader - Black

I purchased two units for my kids and so far haven't got major issues. It took some time to do two software updates via wifi. One unit initially refused to connect to my XP laptop with the provided usb cable but once I tried with other cabIe I already have then it was connected without any problem. The display is looking great for both color images and text. It would be nicer if the left and right margins of text displays are smaller as the screen is fairly long already. And I wish it had an option to change the background color to light grey or sepia like ones. I guess these can be done through software upgrade. The setting menu shows only 256M of memory unlike best buy's saying it's 512, not a big deal though as it can be expanded using a sd card. The unit was also capable to show epub files with embedded fonts, which were created using a free epub creating software. This means it can also display ebooks with different font styles or with foreign fonts once you know how to do it. I guess the reasons why BB had to lower the price this much in short period have something to with bad reviews from the customers and high return rates, but ironically some people like myself take advantage of it. My kids also enjoy reading with Literati. I wish future software update just gets it better.

I bought my Dad a Kindle; didn't have the $ to buy another for myself so picked the Literati up on sale for $49.99 this past Sunday, recognizing that the reviews were not good to begin with. There is scant user information provided and the website is not very helpful although I did download the more detailed user manual from the website. Nice that the device comes with a case; but, the power button is hidden behind the elastic strap on the upper right once you put the device in the case which makes it kinda awkward to power on and off. No trouble charging it up, no trouble figuring out how to set the date and time, device had no trouble recognizing WiFi signal once I put in the correct password. : - ) There aren't a lot of bells and whistles on this thing, strictly a book reader and it doesn't support many EBook formats, just EPub and .PDF from what I can see; but it seems to be reading books fine. I downloaded some that I purchased on EBay onto an SD card and inserted into the device and it reads them with no problems. It responds slowly to commands, so you have to wait for it. It did get "stuck" once. I inserted a paperclip into the back and restarted it as recommended. Its fine now. Battery life is not very long, especially when WiFi is connected. Overall, I expected a basic reader and that's what it is! I would recommend it to a friend who didn't have a lot of money to spend.

My husband and my sons picked this reader out for me for christmas, at first i was so excited. That faded very soon, First lets start out with what i liked about it. The price, for only $100 how could you beat it. The color display is good, not great, but again for $100 what do you expect. That ends what i liked about it. Now onto my dislikes. 1. it takes forever to turn on 2. you can barely read the cover of some of the books in the library. 3. the "touch" buttons on the sides designed to flip pages only work maybe 20% of the time. 4. it has a really hard time conecting to the internet, and once you get on it usually kicks you right back off. 5. almost every book i tried to download said the server was too busy too download. 6. three days after opening and charging it, it turned off and never came back on. 7. the battery says it last for 6 hours, but its closer to 3. I took it back and got the velocity micro ereader, and it works 100 times better. its a full touch screen with not only wi-fi but a full browser. books download in about 30 seconds, and its only $119. so save your time and go strait for the velocity micro.