Rating: 
Summary: Very Pleased
Review: I am very pleased with the product that Franklin has put together. I purchased the EBM-911 essentially as a e-reader and secondly as a PIM. I feel that it handles the e-reading functions quite capably and meets my expectations for as a PIM. The real benefit to it as an e-reader is that it will handle various text based documents, Franklin's proprietary *.seb, plain text, HTML, and the MobiPocket reader format. If one is adventurous and well versed in Unix and SGML than one can convert plain text documents, like those found on Project Guttenberg, into a *.seb with the Franklin Content Developer's Kit (CDK). For myself the MobiPocket CDK is easier since it uses HTML instead of SGML and runs in Windows instead of the Cywgin shell for Unix. What this translates into is any text you can convert into HTML or SGML can be read on the EBM series. For me this makes the EBM worth the money. The second benefit, though a little obtuse at first, is the installation of the operating system. I like the fact that Franklin establishes the operating system as a download from their site. This means that uses can get regular updates or patches. The only suggestion I have for Franklin is to be a little more explicit in how to install the OS (I had to find it in Explorer and from there launch its installation to the EBM. The os file is not visible in the desktop manager (a minus). As for the cryptic file names in the desktop manager, I found it to be a refreshing flashback (anyone remember sifting through C:\>dir ?) Two thumbs up for Franklin!
Rating: 
Summary: I like mine fine!
Review: I've read several negative and wishy-washy reviews of the 911 and thought I'd put my two cents worth in. This is a new product. I got mine through Franklin's developer program before the public release and have watched the progress Franklin is making on progressive improvement of the operating system and software. I've watched the egroups mailing lists devoted to eBookman. My impression is that the hardware is first rate. I've watched development of the software for eBookman since before the public release and believe 100% that Franklin will eventually make good on all promises of future software enhancements. At the present point the software is many many times better than it was in the era before the public release when I tried it in beta, and I think this improvement will continue. I personally have gotten good support from Franklin, and a lot of folks on the egroups mailing lists report the same. The hardware at this point seems to be very nice. A few people who reported problems have indicated on egroups that they got replacement units by Fedex from Franklin. I find reading books on my unit quite enjoyable. It plays MP3's OK although external powered speakers or good earphones are a must. I got an MMC expansion card and it works fine for stashing MP3's. Audio books work fine for me. Text input with the stylus works fine, although I could wish for a nice USB keyboard - most PDA's are in the same boat. So, with good hardware and progressively better, upgradable software I like the eBookman just fine! Don't let the negativism of others steer you wrong. Give the eBookman a try and decide for yourself!
Rating: 
Summary: Still waiting
Review: I waited and waited for this thing to come out and now I am still waiting. As mentioned in other reviews the software and features are really still in the beta stage if they exist at all. I too bought a mmc card and can only put "unsecured music files" on it-so it is basically worthless until the fix is in. The most disappointing thing for me was the promise of Microsoft reader, but this is not expected until July. I have many Microsoft reader books and was looking forward to them, now I have to wait until July. I am going to keep this becuase it does offer alot of promise, especially in the reader and audiobook features. Although, I cannot use either one at the moment I will wait. So if you can find a good price or rebate it may be worth getting if not it would be best to wait-like I am.
Rating: 
Summary: Needs some work
Review: I like some of the eBookMan's features. It shows promise but it is not quite ready yet. I will omit the good points, others have mentioned them. Here are some negative observations...The expensive MMC card only stores music, Nothing else. There is no voice memo capability. The unit arrives without a complete manual - this needs to be downloaded. The entire Operating System needs to be downloaded. It is neither pre-loaded nor provided on a CD. The download is from 1.6MB to 6.0MB. One of the reasons I bought the bookman was to be reminded of meetings when I was out of the office. This has not worked for me. I have tried dozens of test appointments, about three of them actually sounded the alarm. All of these were with the unit on, it shuts off automatically after 5 minutes. I find seeing the screen difficult. It is very mirror-like so that when I try to see the text I have to force my eyes to focus off of my reflection and at the image underneath. This may just be me, I have not used any other PDA or bookreader. When I asked Franklin about this all their tech' support had to say was the bookman has "...a polarized screen to prevent reflection". So, I must be imagining it. In a completely dark room, however, the screen is very clear. This is because in a dark room the backlight can be used. With the backlight on, light is being emitted from the bookman rather than reflected and the mirror effect goes away. It is comfortable to use this way. There are no nifty peripherals to attach like there are for the Palm or the Compaq iPaq. I don't know if there ever will be because I don't know if other companies will be allowed to make accessories for the bookman the way they do for the Palm. The software to communicate between your PC and the bookman ("Desktop Manager") is crude, it just lists a bunch of cryptic file names on one side representing the files on your PC and another list of cryptic filenames on the other side representing the files on your bookman. It looks like something thrown together by engineers to test the bookman while they were designing it. Programs, books, calendars, music, audio clips are all jumbled together as individual files in an unsortable mess. Very unprofessional. Franklin is unresponsive and cryptic in addressing concerns. When they do respond they make statements like the one I quoted above and "that feature is expected to be available in the spring" - very vague and non-committal. I am waiting to see if: They fix the non-functioning features with a new software release (or at least commit to a date for a fix), I get used to the reflective screen, The bloating of files and conversion to their own proprietary formats (e.g. MP3s) is changed, I figure out how to make the alarm work, More user-friendly programs become available, They start communicating with people about their plans and schedules, Peripherals are made available. I may be sending mine back.
Rating: 
Summary: A setup nightmare
Review: I'm having a lot of trouble with the Franklin eBookman EBM-911. I had a hard time transfering the operating system and applications to the eBookman. It took me hours to get it working. If you don't have an internet connection to download the applications this unit is useless. I bought a 64MB MMC card so I would have enough memory to transfer audio books from Audible.com, but, I can't get this unit to recognize the MMC card. I'm ready to return it. Wait until they work out the bugs before you buy this unit. Also there is no manual. It has to be downloaded too.
Rating:
Summary: Don't drop your Ebookman
Review: I received my EBM-911 last week and think it's not a bad deal for the price. But this morming it fell off my desk, about 2.5 feet, and now I think the thing is toast. The screen just flashes on and off, and I can't do anything with it. Surely a hand held unit should be able to withstand more than a fall off a desk.
Rating:
Summary: Battery Life is terrible!
Review: I'm not going to talk about all the great things this device can do. But there is one really poor thing that it does that one would never guess. First, you don't recharge the eBookman! Even the Cybiko works by being changed. With the eBookman you have to use batteries. And I had mine less than 24 hours before I ran them out! The AC adapter costs extra! But that's only so you can use it while plugged into a socket. Sure the eBookman is a great device but these short comings are very unnecessary and really disappointing. It's worth buying but this info is also worth knowing before you buy it. Sincerely, A technology columnist in Chicago
Rating:
Summary: Very impressive, so far
Review: I am so far very impressed with this device and think franklin has themselves a winner, especially, if the promised microsoft reader compatibility comes through. Even without this, though, the device fits the bill for my needs. Aside from providing for all your basic PDA needs, the ebook functions work very well. Granted, there are not many free titles yet for the native franklin reader format, however, there are plenty of compatible titles for reading in the franklin viewer format which is compatible with .txt files as well as the old palm pilot .... One of the best ebooks sites, on the web, www.blackmask.com just reformatted their entire collection of 1930+ books in the old .pdb format just to offer it for franklin ebookman buyers. This site increases their content virtually on a daily basis. Project Gutenberg .txt files are also viewable through the franklin viewer. Granted, the viewer does not yet offer, the same glitzy functions that the reader does, such as changeable fonts, bookmarks, change in orientation, etc., but it's still extremely usable and all for free. No copyright infringement, though. In addition, mobipocket reader(www.mobipocket.com) has already released their version for the ebookman, and offers some free etitles in their native format, more than franklin. In addition, copyrighted titles are available for purchase through their site as well. The software appears to work well(.prc format), though I can not yet access .txt and .htm files through it as promised( perhaps not implemented yet). The software for reading as well as basic publishing software, however, is free. The publishing software appears much more friendly than the franklin publishing software and most people will probably be able to convert any txt files of their choosing and convert into the native .prc format. Definitely worth checking out. I'm expecting some significant software updates and changes from franklin in the near future which should improve on some of the little glitches and impairments of the unit. The negative side: For true flexibility, mp3 player,etc, the unit will require memory expansion, of at least 64mb, which is all that is available at the present time. The unit is small, light in weight, but with a very solid feel. I received a nice black leather case for mine, however, this may have been something thrown in by amazon as an initial promotion. The screen is clear and usable in almost all light conditions. The unit is great to read with in bed, in the dark with the backlight on without disturbing your spouse. I recommend it and think at its present price point that it will be a winner. I am reserving the final star for some of the software glitches and problems that are still being worked on.
Rating:
Summary: Initial Reaction is Very Positive
Review: I just received the unit yesterday, and here are my preliminary findings: First of all, I think the physical design of the casing is excellent! My biggest concern with buying a PDA sight unseen was that it would be cumbersome to carry. I went solely on the dimensions listed on the Franklin website. The size (thinner than most palmtops), shape (very "grab-able" with rubber bumpers on the sides) and light weight make this a joy to use- easily fitting into breast pocket of a coat, for example. The display is much bigger than a Palm's, although certain lighting conditions cause screen glare and can make text hard to see. I found the e-books I downloaded very readable! The Franklin Reader books are a little easier to read and navigate than ".txt" files. The scroller wheel makes it truly easy to read one-handed. Yes, the operating system and software must be downloaded from Franklin and that will initially take a little of your time. I really don't have a problem with that because since the OS isn't "hard wired" into the machine, it means you can always get the latest OS version and upgrades through software. The OS seems very modular so that it will be easy to plug in new features and with the open-source code I look forward to being able to do more and more with my Ebookman! Outlook synchronization is working well so far. Contacts are easy to scroll and search. I haven't used it enough to report any bugs with calendaring; I'm just glad it supports features in Outlook that some PDAs don't have- like recurring appointments or being able to label something an "all day event". Data entry is still sluggish for me; the handwriting recognition works pretty well, but I'm still learning how to get the text in the right spots. Certainly, it won't be time-efficient to type in any long memos (hey that's why I'm waiting for Franklin to release the voice memo feature). MP3 playback is OK, but it won't play loudly enough (through normal earbuds) to drown out rumbling background noise such as a bus (or ferry, in my case) engine. One disappointment regarding MP3: Ebookman doesn't truly play MP3, it must first convert them to it's own format. Not only was this pretty time-consuming, the converted file is about 50% bigger that the MP3 file was! This means that 10mb of MP3 recordings on your computer does NOT mean 10mb of Ebookman space. Bottom line: if you plan on doing ANY MP3 playback you *will need* MMC card memory- and lots of it!! One pleasant surprise about Ebookman memory it a utility which allows the user to allocate resources (files or programs) between the built-in 16mb of memory and the memory of any MMC card you put in. I was worried that once the card was inserted I would be stuck with keeping it installed because some of the essential applications might switch over and write to the MMC. But you can decide exactly which file goes into the internal memory and which go into MMC. This means you can have several cards loaded with a specific type of music or book library and then swap them into the Ebookman when desired. An expensive proposition, I realize, but a nice option if you can afford it. Overall, I'm happy to report that this product is performing as advertised. Like many people, I have been waiting for several months of delays and so far this has been worth the wait! Franklin has a very innovative product here.
Rating:
Summary: The good, the bad and the ugly.
Review: After a prolonged delay, and eager anticipation the Franklin eBookman finally shipped today. Its not every day that a new device comes out that features all the usual organiser/PIM/PDA function but also an MP3 player, an eBook reader and an Audio Book player. First impressions are mixed. The box comes with the device, a flimsy plastic cover, a USB cable and thats all. No user manual or instruction guide. Instead, just a leaflet telling you to download the operating system from Franklin.com. That's right! - You have to download the OS and install it before you can use it. Took me about 1 hour (and I'm not computer illiterate!). Beware - all the basic information takes up almost 5MB of memory. Leaves only 11MB on the EBM911 and only 3.5MB on the EBM900!! Finally...up and running! The screen is clear, backlight works well. The case is solid (surprisingly heavy). Touch screen is sensitive, and the handwriting recognition software is fairly accurate, even with no practice. A (on-screen) pop-up keyboard is provided if you prefer. The PC-link software is effortless. Simply drag files from the PC screen to the eBookman screen and the file is transfered instantly. Now, a few bugs emerge. The Date Book funtion allows you to view your appointments in daily, weekly or monthly format. Unfortunately, when adding a recurring appointment in the daily view, it did not show up on the weekly view(!) Easy to miss a crucial meeting this way. Also, the To-Do list is not synchronised with the Date Book. So if you have added a task to do in the To Do folder, it will not show up on the relevent day in the Date book. Annoying. The MP3 player is surprisingly good quality sound, even without earphones. But it played my test file too fast. I could not find any parameters to change the playback speed. Still waiting to download an ebook for the eBook reader. The claim is a clear type, resizable fonts, read in landscape or portrait orientation, bookmarkable, searchable text. Finally, the ugly. The stylus provided is a very cheap, plastic job that looks like it came out of a cereal box. It does not click firmly into the case, so easy to lose. Overall, this machine has potential. Some bugs need ironing out. Luckily, with the PC synchronising software, this should be an easy job for Franklin, by just providing updates to their downloadable software. The open platform allows 3rd parties to produce custom software. Applications should abound in the near future. I'm not 100% happy with it yet, but I'm going to keep my eBookman to see what the future holds.
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