The ASUS Eee DR900 e-reader has finally been launched. This is nine inches of glorious e-reader beauty that, I believe, will give the Kindle a run for its money. Offering over two inches more reading area that many other e-reader brands, the DR900 boasts a beautifully big screen that will make reading an utter pleasure.
It comes with a SiPix electrophotoretic display and the page turns are almost instantaneous. This is really impressive as sometimes waiting for the page to appear can jar you from your immersion in a good book. Although that could just be me, I tend to get very involved when I’m reading.
I recently popped several books onto the DR900 and took it out for a busy day of commuting and boy, oh, boy did I fall in love. Have you ever taken a book on a train with you only to realise that you really aren’t in the mood for it? Happens to me a lot. So the wonder of having about six books to choose from, whenever I feel like it, just isn’t wearing thin.
Add to that the fact that you aren’t carrying the weight of those six books. Not even the weight of one of those books. Instead you have a 10mm thick device that weighs in at around 440 grams and fits beautifully into most bags.
I can pick and choose from the titles I’ve installed and the 2GB of internal storage allows for me to install up to 5000 e-books. Five thousand books. On one device. Is it just me who’s drooling on the keyboard at the very idea. One minute I may feel like sci-fi, the next a page-turning thriller, and I can chop and change as and when I please.
Ohhh, and the other thing I adore is the fact that bookmarks are a thing of the past. I’ve never been a fan of them. I always lose them, or they fall out and I spend ages trying to relocate where I was (often finding out spoilers by mistake). With the DR900 I just click on the book and I’m right back to where I was when I stopped reading.
That is just awesome. The battery life is pretty cool too. It has the potential to deliver up to two weeks of continuous reading and it comes with both Wi-Fi and 3G. The latter is for those of you who, like me, are fond of instant gratification.
This slim and light device is the ultimate book lovers dream. If you know of someone who loves to read, then this is the gift you should think of getting them this Christmas.