Pocketbook has redesigned their entry level Basic 4 e-reader and it will be coming out at the end of the month. Unlike previous models, this has page turn buttons on the bottom of the display and there is a bright and bubbly home button. The entire device does not look like a budget device, instead Pocketbook basically changed the entire industrial design.
The Pocketbook Basic 4 features a six inch E INK Carta HD display and it should have a resolution of 1024×758 and 212 PPI. It is powered by a Freescale 1GZ processor, 256MB of RAM, 8GB of storage and has an SD card that is capable of up to 32GB of additional storage. The dimensions are 161.3 × 108 × 8 mm and it weighs a paltry 145g.
One of the great things about the Pocketbook brand is that it is running Linux, so speed and stability are hallmarks. It also does not track you or monitor your reading habits like Amazon or Kobo. There are 14 supported ebook formats such as PDF, PDF(DRM), EPUB, EPUB(DRM), DJVU, FB2, FB2.ZIP, DOC, DOCX, RTF, PRC, TXT, CHM, HTM, HTML, MOBI.
The design of the Basic 4 is obsidian black and there are some small accents along the side of the bezel, at the front of the device. One of the downsides is that it does not have a front-light, but that can be appealing to some users.. It will be released at the end of July and you can pre-order it on Good e-Reader for $99.99.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
