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PocketBook 740 Relaunched as the InkPad 3

PocketBook has dashed the hopes of anyone who was hoping for a beautiful new InkPad model; instead this ereader maker has slapped the label on the 740.

Announced last month, the 740 features a 7.8″ Carta E-ink screen. It’s going to be a reasonably powerful ereader when it ships, but it is also missing one of the better features of the InkPad and InkPad 2: it is missing the page turn buttons to one side of the screen.

The new InkPad 3 runs Pocketbook’s own reading software on a dual-core 1GHz CPU with 1GB RAM 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage, and a microSD card slot.

It does not have Bluetooth or speakers, so far as we know, but it does have Wifi, a headphone jack, and a smartcover. It can play MP3s, and it can convert text into speech.

The InkPad 3 has a 7.8″ Carta E-ink screen with a resolution of 300 ppi (1404 x 1872 pixels) and a capacitive touchscreen and a color-changing frontlight. Weighing only 210 grams, this ereader measures 195 x 136.5 mm and has a thickness of only 8 mm.

The InkPad 3 is already shipping in Russia as the Pocketbook 740, where it  costs 14999 rubles, or $266 USD.

That is only slightly more than the $249 price of the new Kindle Oasis, but the Oasis has something the InkPad 3 lacks: well-placed page turn buttons.

I didn’t criticize the 740 on this issue when it launched, but once Pocketbook decided the 740 was also the InkPad 3, that new label brought to mind the best features of the previous InkPad models, which featured a one-handed design with page turn buttons to one side of the screen.

original InkPad

While the new InkPad 3 is a good and powerful ereader, I for one wish the it had kept those page turn buttons. They would have driven me to spend my limited funds on an InkPad 3. It would have had the ebook formatting options I liked in a hardware design I loved.

Oh, well, maybe Kobo will hear my pleading and put out the ereader I want (a fellow can dream).

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Comments


Kirek50 February 21, 2018 um 10:42 am

In Poland named InkPad 3. I’ve been using the reader for a week and I’m really happy. After installing the latest Cool Reader for PocketBook almost perfect.


ghibulo March 1, 2018 um 3:20 pm

Everybody has different priority. I can’t remember, when I used turn buttons on my old Sony PRS-T1 – control it through display is more comfortable for me.


IVO UHER March 11, 2018 um 5:49 pm

"Has dashed the hopes of anyone who was hoping for a beautiful new InkPad model"? Well, I have seen lots of readers, but this one (along with Kindle Oasis) stands out of the queue. Placement of hardware buttons don’t mean a thing to me and most others. It looks classy, it works, and that is all to it. I was hoping for a review/article fucusing a bit more on other features and characteristics other than just buttons.


RShack May 30, 2018 um 1:02 am

Am curious what about the page-turn buttons makes such a big diff for you personally? Is for the way it turns pages or the way it doesn’t?

Have never had buttons, never thought of wanting them for page turning when I can be less precise and get away with it.

But I can imagine wanting them to prevent the accidental jump of a dozen pages, to or fro, when I move the device and don’t even realize I’d touched the screen. (Oops, dammit, etc.)

Nate Hoffelder May 30, 2018 um 11:19 am

The page turn buttons on the earlier InkPad models were the best part of the device. They enabled a great reading experience that the new model will never match.


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