Skip to main content

Pocketboook InkPad 840 Delayed Until the End of September (At Least)

pocketbook 840 inkpad handsonPocketbook’s new 8″ ebook reader was expected to ship earlier this week in Europe, but sadly it has experienced another delay. AlleseBook.de reported that the InkPad, which was scheduled to ship out on Monday, has been delayed for at least a couple weeks.

The InkPad has drawn a lot of attention since it was announced earlier this year. With an 8″ E-ink display and a screen resolution of 1,600 x 1,200, the InkPad sports a screen that is larger than and nearly as sharp as the screen on the  T68 Lynx or the Aura HD.

Alas, early reports tell us that it’s not nearly as well built as either of those ereaders. Initially released in Russia in August, was the subject of a lot of criticism from early buyers. There were numerous complaints on its build quality, screen, software, and well, pretty much everything except the cardboard box.

Several owners noted that the shell literally fell apart, and that the screen looked looked grayer and had worse contrast than Vizplex, E-ink’s second gen screen tech (which was initially released in 2008).

662-thickbox_default[1]The vast number of unhappy customers in Russia led Pocketbook to delay the European launch until mid-September, and now it has been delayed yet again.

And that includes my review unit, darnit. I pre-ordered my unit earlier this month from Pocketbook’s official website in France, hoping that it would be shipped this week. Clearly that was too optimistic.

At this point we still don’t know for sure when the InkPad will ship or if it will be up to snuff. And that’s a shame, because the 8″ ereader category has been a ghost town for several years now. A couple 8″ ereader models were released in 2012, but they weren’t on the market all that long. And while Bookeen has been planning to release an 8″ model called the Ocean, they had originally intended to release it last year (and it’s still not out).

Until I know more about the actual status of the InkPad, here is a hands on video which teases us with visions of a device which I may never get to put my hands on:

Similar Articles


Comments


Hands On With the 8" Pocketbook InkPad – The Digital Reader September 28, 2014 um 4:29 pm

[…] many of Pocketbook’s customers, I’m still waiting for news of when they plan to ship their new 8″ ereader in […]


Joel October 10, 2014 um 4:38 am

Hi Nate
Have you tryed Instapaper on e-redaers?
I would love to ha a easy way to read online contet offline.
Now i read on my rooted Sony prs-t2. (Instapaper articles on app InstaFetch)

Do you know a way to do this on Pocketbook readers?
I am very curius and vaiting for the InkPad 🙂

Many e-readers are coming now with android and app possibilities.
Have you tryed Instafech? Maybe we could make some noise about the app, and encurage the developer do make it even better for e-readers…?

Thank you for a nice blogg 😉
J

Nate Hoffelder October 10, 2014 um 10:01 am

When it comes to things like Instapaper on ereader, I know that Kindle has Instapaper integration, and that Kobo has a similar integration with Pocket.

Pocketbook, on the other hand, bundles an RSS reader into their ebook readers, and they also offer an email dilivery service like the one offered by Amazon. I haven’t had a reason to try either yet; the one Pocketbook device I reviewed was so unpleasant to use that I didn’t want to test those features. (I’m waiting for a device worth using.)


Joel October 14, 2014 um 5:21 pm

When you get the InkPad
Can you see if RSS reader is usefull offline?

You could send Instapaper to RSS…
http://theblogologist.com/2014/03/how-to-get-an-rss-feed-from-an-instapaper-folder/#comment-33721

Nate Hoffelder October 14, 2014 um 5:35 pm

They haven’t shipped it yet (seriously).


X October 15, 2014 um 5:26 pm

The price was discounted by ten euros. I sent them a mail asking if people who placed a preorder will be refunded the difference but no reply so far.

I have no issues waiting a couple of weeks, but I get annoyed when customer service ignores reasonable queries. After all, they have been happily holding on to our money…

Nate Hoffelder October 15, 2014 um 5:37 pm

I’m annoyed as well. They’ve had my money for over a month.


Mango October 20, 2014 um 6:12 pm

Have you heard any more about the arrival of your Pocketbook 840. The French website http://boutique.pocketbook.fr/index.php?id_product=104&controller=product&id_lang=3 shows it as in stock…

Nate Hoffelder October 20, 2014 um 6:16 pm

Nothing so far. I’ll go ask.


Pocketbook InkPad 8" eReader Now (Reportedly) Shipping – The Digital Reader October 26, 2014 um 12:27 pm

[…] Pocketbook’s new 8″ ebook reader holds the dual distinction of being one of the more unusual ereaders to launch this year as well as the most delayed. Following an early and limited release in Russia, a wider launch was delayed so Pocketbook could respond to complaints about performance and screen quality. The European launch was pushed back until the middle of September, and then delayed again. […]


Write a Comment