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There’s a Surprising Number of Obscure eBook Readers Turning up on Amazon

ebook-readersTopJoy is one of many obscure, tiny Chinese gadget makers we sometimes see in videos from Computex but whose products we rarely see in the market in the US (under their own brand name, at least), and here’s your chance to buy a device no one else has.

This ereader maker set up an account on Amazon earlier this week and is peddling its wares to US consumers. It’s offering an odd collection of ebook readers with either a 4.3″ or 6″ screen. They’re all listed as used but in very good condition, and are priced anywhere from $53.80 to $86.50, with free shipping from China.

The ereaders come in a wild range of shapes and sizes. Most have 6″ screens (some even have frontlights with Pearl HD E-ink screens), but themodel I find seriously tempting is the one with the 4.3″.

topjoy d30 invesThe D30 sports a 4.3″ E-ink screen with a screen resolution of 800 x 600. Few details are listed, but we do see that it has 128MB RAM, 4GB internal storage,and is running Ucos. That’s probably only very basic software, but the listing does mention that it supports audio and a number of ebook formats (Epub, PDF, Mobi, etc).

This a very basic ereader but it is also small enough that it could fit into an average pocket. And at $54, it’s cheap.

The product images carry the brand of Inves, an obscure Spanish gadget maker, but it does not match any Inves model I can find online. I would guess that TopJoy is or was Inves’s manufacturing partner, and had some stock left over. These might even be returns, so I wouldn’t recommend buying one unless you felt like gambling.

On the other hand, I have bought new devices from China which did not a retail box, so there is a chance that these devices are actually new from the manufacturer’s warehouse.

Does anyone want to buy one and find out?

Do you see another model you like?

Amazon

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Comments


fjtorres July 9, 2015 um 5:12 pm

The gray frontlit 6 incher with paging buttons for $84 looks very interesting.
Actually a nice design. Especially if it allows screen rotation.


Frank July 9, 2015 um 5:28 pm

The 6″ with MP3 e-readers are showing Russians words.


Talia July 9, 2015 um 7:42 pm

The 6″ D20 for 69$ looks nice. It has page turn buttons and looks like it would support audiobooks.


Feda July 10, 2015 um 6:59 am

And the wait for a good 8″ or 9.7″ with front light continues …

Reader July 10, 2015 um 11:35 am

Indeed. I recently purchased a Kindle DX. The 9.7″ screen is much better for reading PDFs than a 6″ screen. But after purchasing a Kindle DX for $100, I am not likely to spend around $300 for a 9.7″ screen, which appears to be the going rate.

kurt July 13, 2015 um 12:30 pm

sadly, yes
the Kobo HD (6.9ish) I have is nice but the line spacing and font size I need to use makes for a whole lot of page turn swipes


Go Set a Watchman – Link to free excerpt TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics July 10, 2015 um 10:09 am

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Shari July 10, 2015 um 10:25 am

Do you have a link for the 4.3″ one? All of the ones that I can find from TopJoy say that they are 6″. Although, from the pictures, at least one of them is either mislabeled or being held by a person with extremely large hands.

Nate Hoffelder July 10, 2015 um 10:56 am

I think I may have gotten the last one, sorry.


David July 10, 2015 um 11:48 am

Man, I wish one of these ran Android. That’s what I want. A cheap ereader that runs android. That way I could read both my Kindle and my kobo books.


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