Rating: 
Summary: VERY disappointed
Review: I ordered the eBookman because I liked the fact that it would allow me to organize my day and read books. What I found was that the organizer applications are adequate, but VERY, VERY slow. As far as the book reading applications, it is indeed a "one book at a time" eBookman. I downloaded a couple of books from Franklin's free library and found that I could not open either one of them as long as both of them were loaded on the eBookman. I had to delete one to open the other. Given all the other flaws and inadequacies that have been mentioned in previous reviews, it's clear that this product is definitely not "ready for prime time." I ultimately decided not to keep Franklin's "experimental" eBookman product and I would caution others to read the reviews carefully and understand the severe limitations of this product before deciding to purchase.
Rating: 
Summary: great features, bad design
Review: I preordered this from Amazon back in early December and finally received it last week. After playing with the EBM-911 for a week, this is my impression of it. The Good: Big screen size compared to other PDA's. The ability to listen to music and audio books as well as basic PDA functions. The main reason I bought this thing was for its ebook capabilities. I had my doubts but reading on the eBookman is not bad at all, the text is very sharp and clear. I just hope Microsoft releases the MS Reader soon so I can actually start downloading stuff I actually want to read since there is not that many titles available in the Franklin reader format. The Bad: If anyone is thinking of buying this primarily for its mp3 capabilities, don't. You would be happier getting a dedicated MP3 player. The eBookman doesn't play mp3's; you'll need to convert your mp3's to Franklin's proprietary compression format. I can live with that but wish the sound quality was a tad better. The two songs I transferred sounded a bit worse than FM quality. Also, on my unit there was a high-pitched humming noise that was emitting from the tiny speaker. It's not noticeable at all unless it is totally quiet in the room, very annoying if you are trying to read in bed. The eBookman is not easy to setup, you'll need to download the manual from Franklin since the quick start guide included in the box is useless. Buggy software. The Ugly: I just changed the battery the other day and everything was gone when I turned the unit back on. I had to transfer the OS and applications all over again! I removed the battery two more times to see if it would happen again and it did. Imagine that you are on a trip and do not have access to the computer that syncs with your eBookman and your battery runs out...can you say screwed big time? I understand now why they sell the power adapter accessory for the eBookman. I like the features that the eBookman has, it is everything that I would want or use in a PDA but I don't know if I would have purchased it if I had known about the issue with the battery. Losing all of its memory every time you change the batteries is a big problem.
Rating:
Summary: Franklin dropped the ball bigtime!!
Review: I purchased the EBM-901 along with a 32MB MMC to be used primarily as an e-book reader and secondarily as an MP3 Player. It was a thorough disappointment. It's far too small to be an effective e-book reader, the titles available limited and the text itself plain ASCII text. To be an e-book reader it should be at least twice the size (like RCA's reader). It's a glorified organizer with a purely ASCII text reader funtion. As an MP3 player it was abysmal. The sound quality is terrible, it CANNOT directly play MP3s, it must convert them. Converting and loading the music files takes a long, long time. At half the present price it would not be worth it.
Rating:
Summary: not happy with franklin electronics
Review: I purchased the ebookman 901 and i do enjoy the product but i bought the product with a...rebate from franklin that they offered and after 6 months and 3 inquiries to franklin i have still not received my rebate or even an answer from them so while my amazon.com experience was very good i do not recomend trying to deal with franklin electronics.
Rating: 
Summary: Great reader ...
Review: I read all the bad reviews of the eBookman and still wanted one. After mulling it over for several days, I saw Amazon had it at a price I could not pass up. It is great. There are several programmers who are writing programs for FREE to make the ebookman even better. All you have to do is search the internet. It is more than I could ask for at the price. I download enews every morning (more than I can read). And there are lots of sources for eBooks. It shouldn't be overlooked. The larger screen is very readable without making the device so big it won't fit in a shirt pocket. The PDA functions serve their purpose. Audible content like book reading sounds good - through headphones. The built-in speaker is wimpy. Don't get it if you want a great MP3 device. The processor just isn't fast enough. Overall, I am VERY satisfied.
Rating:
Summary: EBM-901 PURCHASED NOVEMBER, 2001
Review: I rented a Rocket ebook from library and got hooked on
handheld ebook readers. After playing with my new Franklin
reader for a couple of days, I will figure that I have made
a great deal if I get my (...)rebate because then my total
cost will be way below what the library would charge
me if I should happen to damage their Rocket reader.
I still do not know how to change fonts nor read plain txt
files but I do have one franklin book loaded and running fine.
I tried to install a pci-to-usb card on my P100 Win95 machnine
but the franklin software would not load so I moved over to
another P100 with Win98 and installed a pci-to-usb card and
all if working well. (The win95 I have supports usb) I really hope that the ms-reader is
added soon because I enjoy reading the ms-reader ebooks on
my pc and sure would like to put some of them on the hand held.
I did not get a cd-rom so had to download the OS but that's
best if it keeps changing. It took me a long time to figure
out how to turn on the backlite but it's not needed except in
total darkness. I like it for ebook reading better than the
Rocket only in one area; the Rocket with chargable battery is
too heavy to hold for extended periods whereas the Franklin is
very light; about the weight of a paper back book and you don't
have to hold the book open thus saving the thumb. With the
advertised price down this year over last and the current rebate,
I think this is a really good deal.
Rating: 
Summary: The eBookMan is going to be great
Review: I signed up for the Franklin eBM developer program in December, and got my eBM911 early in January 2001. In that time, the tool has gone from moderately useful to very useful to me. Software releases in this time frame have steadily improved the usefullness of the device to where I now rely on it to help me keep my schedule. As a developer, I have a number of utility applications in mind or that I am currently working on. A number of others out there are developing games, and entertainment software. The multimedia features of this device are attractive, as is the Open but Secure architecture of the OS. Franklin still has a few features to add that are not in the current shipping version, but upgrading the system is easy, and all of the software (incl. upgrades) will be available on their web site. As the OS matures, I anticipate improved stability and robustness. Overall it is quite a usefull device. The MS Outlook synchronization is very well done. Reading eBooks is comfortable, and intuitive. If you are adventurous and a bit technically minded, you can even DL their content developer kit, and create your own e-books with a bit of effort. I did the required SGML mark-up on an entire ascii-text Bible(KJV) last night in about 2 hours...all I used was MS Word, employing some self designed macros to divide up the Old/New Testament, all the books, and each chapter. Of course that is for personal use only, as the KJV is copyrighted...Franklin will sell the same e-book version ...I just like the challenge of doing it myself. I still look forward to improvements, but the shipping device is well worth the price. Erik T.
Rating:
Summary: Normal launch at hot market
Review: I think Franklin has done good job in sensing the eBook readers have great potential in near future. The eBookMan seems to have arrived a bit earlier, though. The lack of documentation is really disappointing, especially this is eBook reader, after all: I expected that the manual will be in the device itself! Well, the good side is that it can at least easily be fixed in future releases. Here are few advices to other enthusiasts: - Do not expect easy start; eBookMan will be probably great after another few months. Since it is mainly the software that needs improvement, you may consider purchasing the device now and playing with it; - Publishers should wait for Microsoft's reader release; the Franklin viewer does not justify investments yet; then again, there is also a MobiPocket reader, so consider that as well. - Consumers, buy from Amazon, not from Franklin's website: it's cheaper and arrives faster (I got mine from FEP, I know) - Form factor is good for reading ebooks, screen is clear and if you don't mind the high pitch in quiet rooms it's OK - Get the 911 model, the 901 does not have enough memory! - There are still only few places you can get any additional info/software for the eBookMan: I highly recommend the Yahoo! egroup "eBookMan", which was created recently by eBookMan enthusiasts; they have growing list of resources for the device, eBook references and eBookMan third-party application sites Conclusion: eBookMan has a lot to grow yet, but I think what matters is that the concept beyond it allows for it; it will come at no cost to Franklin and customers to continue upgrading the experience. At present, it is unclear whether Franklin will be able to hold to it, but it surely has a chance.
Rating:
Summary: Too Good to Be True
Review: I was so looking forward to getting my Ebookman. Ebook reader, datebook, to do list, address book, etc - all in one. I was ready to organize! But when I did get the ebookman home what a disappointment! It took me 2 hours to figure out how to get all the software loaded. What a headache that was! As for the applications, more frustration. The handwriting recognition software is much too sensitve, thus very difficult to use. Also, you can't input any of your data (for datebook, to do list, etc) in the desktop software forcing you to enter it directly into the device which is a huge waste of battery life or use Outlook which I don't have on my home computer. I sent mine back, and bought a regular organizer.
Rating:
Summary: Avoid this one like the plague
Review: I was very disappointed in this device. I purchased one in Dec. 2001. Dispite claims to the contrary, you cannot change the batteries without wiping the system! This means you must then sync the e book with your PC and download everything again. Battery life is a miserable 7-10 days, even if you don't use the thing. It just sucks the life out of the batteries. The e book is basically unsusable for any serious application. The screen is not especially clear, and the PDA functions are pretty bad. You'd be better off with any palm or Win CE based device.
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