Rating: 
Summary: Great deal for the money!
Review: I've read other reviews for this product that have people complaining about losing their data when the batteries are changed. THIS IS NOT TRUE if you're carefull. First of all, my ebookman came with a bright blue warning flier stating that your ebookman needs to be turned OFF when you change the batteries. Pretty simple, huh? Also, don't wait for your battery to completely die before you change it. The main menu screen has a battery meter in the bottom right hand corner, and I just switch out the batteries when the meter reaches 10%. I primarily use my ebookman to read ebooks and I love it!
Rating:
Summary: Great deal for the money!
Review: I've read other reviews for this product that have people complaining about losing their data when the batteries are changed. THIS IS NOT TRUE if you're carefull. First of all, my ebookman came with a bright blue warning flier stating that your ebookman needs to be turned OFF when you change the batteries. Pretty simple, huh? Also, don't wait for your battery to completely die before you change it. The main menu screen has a battery meter in the bottom right hand corner, and I just switch out the batteries when the meter reaches 10%. I primarily use my ebookman to read ebooks and I love it!
Rating: 
Summary: Decent E-book reader, passable PDA...
Review: If you're looking for a PDA with e-book capabilities, then you might want to consider a Palm/PocketPC/Zaurus- if you're looking for an e-book reader with some PDA features, this may be the one you're looking for. The PDA functions are adequate, but are a little primitive compared to other offerings and you don't get reminders, etc. which limits the usefulness of the PDA functions. It does, however, excel at e-books; Franklin and Mobipocket format books are supported and I've been taking advantage of Baen's free library offerings. This model gets four stars because it's a little limited once the OS and apps are loaded- only about 3Mb of usable ram is available. Get a Multimedia Card and/or get the EBM-911 with it's 16Mb of RAM if you're going to be serious about the use of this PDA/E-book reader.
Rating:
Summary: unbeatable deal
Review: It took less than 5 minutes to set it up and running (It DOES come with CD)
I found it to be much easier to use than Palm. (I had to purchase extra Palm software for outlook sync, which never worked, Ebookman has it built-in and works!).
It seems the product is designed for people who want to focus on what they need to do, rather than on the product itself.
The price is now so low that is beyond imagination!
Rating: 
Summary: Great Potential, Poor Implementation
Review: Like many I waited anxiously for shipment on this device. The specs were almost too good to be true-- 8 mb of memory, backlighting, larger screen than any other handheld in this price range and all the software you'd want in a handheld. Unfortunately, the reality was far from the hope. The unit arrives with no real manual, just a 2 page 'quick start' guide, guaranteed to confuse anyone but the most computer literate (the most useful information is the sentence that tells you to look on their website for setup information.) It also arrives without any operating system and no cd to install it, all software must be downloaded from the Franklin Website -- don't expect to use this unit right out of the box. No doubt the operating system was under development when the unit was manufactured and boxed. The instructions for how to get the unit up and running are incredibly confusing, often cryptic or misleading. Instead of putting all the directions in one place, half are on the 'setup' page and half are on another web page you access after installing their software. The lack of documentation is extremely annoying. The unit has a 'Control Wheel' on the back, with no clear indication of what it does. I had to search posts on a discussion group to find out how to turn on the backlight! There are no help screens, not even a real manual to download from the web site. The box indicates a voice recorder, but the system doesn't include it -- evidentally still 'under development'. The backlighting is completely unusable in anything but almost pure darkness, when turned on the text takes a silvery sheen, impossible to read in light. The unit is heavy and bulky as well -- a brick compared to Palm and Visor handhelds (though to be fair the larger screen accounts for some of the bulk.) The stylus is cheap plastic, bends easily, and will no doubt fall out and get lost in no time. In the leather case the unit ships with it resembles an old WalkMan. It has a passable address book, but a very poor calendar. Those buying this unit (as did I) to use primarily as an organizer will be disappointed. To-do list items don't link to the calendar, the display is buggy (items seem to disappear from views) and it's cumbersome to enter multiple items. As an mp3 or audiobook player the unit has too little memory by far. Once the base applications are in over half the memory is taken up, leaving 3.5 mb for downloaded ebooks, music, etc. Anyone planning to use this unit to store volumes of information or music will need to get extra memory. As a book reader the screen is still just too small for comfort, though it is one of the most readable screens on a handheld. The fonts appear clunky and inelegant, with no apparent way to change them. All in all the unit could be a great value, if they work out the software issues and provide more robust applications,and if you don't mind the rather ungainly, bulky look. I would definitely recommend holding off on this until Franklin finishes development, look at a low-end Handspring Visor instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Garbage
Review: Lousy product, claim they are going to get the Microsoft Reader for the product, but so far it has not shown up, still cannot download secured eBook files to the MMC card, the audio for the Music Player is lousy, even with headphones. Extreamly short battery life, under 2 weeks of normal use, everytime I replace the batteries, I loose everything and have to reload all the files from the computer. Basically it is a pile of junk and not worth the purchase price.
Rating:
Summary: Great for ebooks!
Review: My teenage son has the 901 but he dropped it and cracked the screen. Now he is getting the 911 model even though he still has a palm that he could use instead. He says the ebookman has a better display and is easier to scroll through the pages. I should also point out that he is an avid reader, reading at least a book a day. I want to add that when my son dropped his new ebookman and broke the screen (about a week after he bought it) they sent out a new ebook reader immediatly and didn't even ask for us to return the broken one. I was totally impressed by the customer service all around, very professional.
Rating:
Summary: Audio books incompatible with MMC
Review: One of the main reasons I bought the ebookman was to take it when I travel to listen to audio books. I understood that this meant upgrading the memory by purchasing a 64 mb MMC card, but that was OK. Imagine my disgust when I read on the Franklin help site a new message telling me that the MMC will now only store music files. Tech support says that this will be fixed soon. And MS Reader will work soon... And the AC adapter will be available soon... And the voice recorder will be available soon...
Rating:
Summary: The One Book At A Time eBookMan!
Review: The eBookMan has a lot of promise, but potential buyers should be aware of some major problems. The screen is large, but the contrast between the text and the background makes it hard to read in anything but the best light. Controls are simple and battery life has been good, but the manual has to be downloaded along with the operating system and software. The worst problem is that after spending ... for an additional 64MB, I found that only music files can be saved to the MMC card! Since the OS, utilities and dictionary consume a majority of the built in 8Mb RAM, only 1 or 2 ebooks can be loaded at a time. Page 21 of the manual says you can store any files to the MMC, but Franklin had this to say: "At the present time you are only able to load MP3 files onto the MMC card. You will be able to load other files onto the MMC card soon. Please check our Web site for future postings on this subject." So for now, the eBookMan is actually only a very poor eMusicMan.
Rating:
Summary: Great after initial bumpy ride
Review: The eBookman is a great little product. I use it everyday to and from my commute in the city. And I can't believe I've lived without it for so long. A lot of complaints mentioned in the previous reviews have either been resolved, or can be resolved via operating system upgrades. As for having to download the OS, Franklin can also easily change their packaging of the product to include an install CD, etc. No big whoop. As for installing the OS, nothing can be simpler. I put the EBM in its cradle, downloaded the OS and ran the exe. I exported all my data from my previous organizer to Outlook then synced. Easy as pie. Really ! And I am not a PC expert by any means. I'm more of a Unix person. The current ebook reader software is quite good (Mobipocket Reader and Franklin Reader), there is a growing list of content provider links for the 2 reader formats. The MP3 player is quite good. Improvement in the compression algorithm is required (they convert mp3 to their own music file format), but that's just an OS upgrade as well. They can also improve the battery usage of the music player. Otherwise, battery life is adequate. Just buy a bunch of NIMH batteries. I was one of the few EBM owners who experienced a battery problem. But Franklin has responded very well to this issue and provided a free exchange (shipping paid for returns). The key is to make them aware of problems, and be persistent. They are very concerned about making this product a success. The only complaint I have has to do with the screen glare. In a brightly lit room, it can be difficult to see the text on the screen. I'm hoping that there is some kind of screen glare protection that might work adequately. BTW, my new EBM has absolutely no hum. BOTTOMLINE: Do yourself a favor and get this PDA. (I would recommend the 911 over the 901, since currently some files cannot be stored in the MMC, but that will change). It's a great little product (did I say that already?).
| 
