Customer Ratings & Reviews

I bought this reader due to the price. For what I paid for this, it is pretty good. It has some drawbacks, it is nothing like the Kindle, it is bulky and heavier than a Kindle. It does have some features, like full color and you can read in the dark. It does take a little time to load the books to your device. If I had it to do over again, I do not think I would have chosen this model, simply because it is bulky and a little slow and you can not surf the internet, like I thought you could. But I guess you get what you pay for.

The package came with an awesome cover that protected the reader and opened up as you would a book. The free book selection was great. Full of classics and almost every book that I was required to read in middle school and high school. For that reason alone, I would recommend for students. I was disappointed in the Wi-Fi connectivity. Very slow even when in same room with router. Most disappointing was that there is no sound so you can't use it for audio books. Otherwise, good purchase overall as a starter e-reader.

I love the Literati! It is user friendly, in color for children's books etc. The display options are good and it is easy to purchase books or magazines/newspapers. Also, if you need to read documents on the go, you can upload your work and read on the e-reader. Although the Literati uses Kobobooks.com (Borders), you can get an ecard from the library and borrow ebooks free!. It also comes with a great amount of free domain books. I would suggest purchasing the additional storage if you are an avid reader. Love it, love it!

I bought two one for a friend and one for myself. I got the black ones at another store for less than BB. I am very happy with mine. I have downloaded on free book and I can also read it on my computer. The set up was a little confusing at first but in time I got the hang of it. This is my first digital reader and I am very happy with Kobobooks so far. People have been saying they run slow but when I started mine they downloaded a software update and I am having no problems with speed. Just got it today so not sure if its a 5 but it is doing great so far!

I'm the type of person who thoroughly researches a purchase. Lots of reviews and some videos prepared me well for what I'd be getting and for the fact that the Literati might not be something I'd take out of the (very clever) box and just start using. Following the tips I'd read I had no problems setting up the device. What I was looking for: Just a reader, no bells and whistles. I didn't want to pay for color and I figured most of my reading is just black and white pages anyway. I wanted ePub so I could continue my habit of buying a few books but mostly borrowing from the library. I also wanted a device that would let me add documents. What I got: A basic reader that allows me to buy, borrow and add docs, but it's the color that adds so much more enjoyment than I expected. Bookshelves look great with real covers just like the library's special display shelves. Covers are more important to the reading experience than I realized and I like the fact that I"m not sacrificing any part of the real book. I've loaded art books and comics that would have been pointless to have on a b&w reader. The best thing: There's now an update to v.2 which, among other things, adds the ability to have multiple bookmarks, and for purchased books you can now highlight and add notes. I look forward to future updates (there's been about one a month so far) that will continue to enhance the device. Would I recommend it to a friend? Only if I knew s/he had the technical skills to manage it.

The Literati is a basic e-reader..........which is exactly what I was looking for.............the $49.99 on-line price was FANTASTIC! When I went to pick it up at the local store, they were being sold for $120!

I am on my 5th Literati. No trouble downloading books. Display is good. Would prefer a touch pad, but didn't think of that first. Night display is great. However, all of the Literati had the on/off button break. Two of them stopped charging. Average read time with a full charge? 3 hours - and that's with all 5 Literati. Customer support stinks. My daughter is happy with her Literati. I'm going out to buy a Kindle or Nook this afternoon.

This is the least expensive machine that I could use to download my textbooks (PDF). It gets the job done, but is very slow to boot and the battery life is horribly short. I am a single mom and in school, but I think the price difference would have been worth getting a better machine.

If you purchase this, do the two firmware updates as soon as you get this. I read this in the forum before purchasing and I did the updates right off the bat. I have not had any troubles with my Literati. Yes, it takes time to figure out how to work it and may require a quick review of the literature that came with it. All in all for $50 it was a great buy for an ereader especially for one with a color display!

Really great pick up for Christmas. Only problem I see people having is that WiFi is a must to use. It comes with version 1.6 and needs to upgrade to 1.9 to load new books. Nice big screen. It is in color so you can load magazines. Controls are a bit cumbersome, especially when I use it with the protective case (notice where the diagonal pad is, the case rides up right along the edge of it). So I mainly use the case for storage only. Forget about the page turn function, takes too long and is inconsistent. I just use the diagonal pad for everything. Miner inconvenience but a good overall product.

This is not a bad book reader once you get used to it. Little hard loading books, but you can't expect it to be a Ipad. For the price it was excellent. Only 50.00

I bought this device at Best Buy Miami last moth. It doesn’t connect to pc via USB (I tried in a XP and Vista laptop). I could also not access PDF files stored on an SD card. The manual says that I can use “drag and drop,” Adobe digital editions, or Calibre to load files onto the Literati, but none of these methods seem to work. The device doesn’t seem to recognize the existence of any files. I connect Kobo library via wifi. It seems the only way. I sent a message via Sharper Image’s web for that product 3 weeks ago and nobody answer us ! I am very disappointed with the device and with political customer of Sharper Image. I WANT ASK TO BEST BUY IF I CAN RETURN IT (please answer me) Regards/Yulia

I read all the reviews prior to purchasing, and to honest, if not for the videos of this ereader on youtube, I would not have bought it. I bought two for my kids; they love them. You must connect to the internet and get the two updates, after that they work flawlessly. I can only assume the negative ratings have come from people who didn't update, or are not too techno savvy. I am ordering one for myself today, at $49 how can you go wrong? Do not hesitate to buy one, they are well worth it. A device that has a color LCD screen, it's WIFI capable, and has access to over 300 free classic books, for $49, not to mention, you can sync it to your phone and computer.

I picked up 2 of these for $49 recently and so far, no problems what so ever. It updated from my wifi right away with no hitches. I do agree it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of some of the other ereaders out there, but what do you expect for the price? I already had to return another ereader that died after 1 hour of use, so I'm just happy this is working past the first week!

I just bought a couple of these Literati’s as Christmas gifts for my mom and grandma, who both love to read. What caught my attention more than the great price was the fact that the Literati comes with a 7” COLOR LCD screen and not just black and white like similarly priced e-readers. The color aspect will surely add to the whole experience when reading magazines, periodicals, or more importantly cook books! I’m so excited to watch them open their gift this year. I know they are going to love it!

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.

could not down load from kobe needed up dates try to get on line from dec 21 to 25 finally called rescue it they said that they could not help because the device had problems with up dates called telephone num listed in book the person i spoke to was rude and no help took it back to store would not recommend this head ache to any one . no present for me Merry Christmas.

Ok...I was scared because of the reviews. :/ But I think most ppl are expecting this to be like your higher priced named brand items. IMO...this is your basic starting ereader. It is a bit larger then the other ones at 13", but I actually like that for my son since he has larger hands. I think that it is kind of slow for me with the loading but my son could care less. It is not touch screen so I love the full keyboard at the bottom. The backlight is WONDERFUL and very bright (which can be adjusted). Perfect for night reading. Best of all....it was only $49! I recommend this to anyone looking for a good ereader for a reasonable price that will get the job done.

I bought 4 e-readers for my Grandchildren for Christmas on sale for $99 each. I was assured by your clerk that Literati by Sharper Image was a good buy and you have had no complaints. Three out of four DID NOT work at all - one worked breifly but now does not. I cannot express the disappointment felt by all as they are military and only in the states for Christmas. That was the only gift we bought them so they ended up with nothing. Not only will I NOT purchase that brand again but i feel Best Buy put their reputation on the line by selling them! I do not believe I can trust Best Buy to carry quality merchandise.I see they are on sale now for $49 but they are not worth 49 cents if they do not work!

Everything works, but if you have Windows 7 and you want to download books from your computer or from your local library don't buy this unit. Called their tech support line, was told unit won't connect to a PC with windows 7 on it. No ETA known on if and when an update will be forthcoming any time soon. Nice unit otherwise for the price, but it you have Windows7 on your PC or laptop and want to put anything on it other than buying books from the bookstore via WiFI you will be out of gas.....