E-book PocketBook Pro 912: review, features and reviews of the owners

Since the release of PocketBook Pro 912 has already passed some time, and this is a significant plus for those who do not like to buy a cat in a poke: reviews from users have accumulated, so you can focus on them to understand if this device is suitable for requirements or not. So, let's begin.

Training

Pocketbook Pro 912 Education - the name implies the use of the device for educational purposes. The goal of the developers was really an attempt to facilitate the life of schoolchildren. A heavy knapsack with a bunch of books can easily be replaced with a small cover with a boukrider. There were rumors about a large state order for these devices, but it remains unclear whether he really was. Reform, as a result of which stacks of textbooks will be replaced by one light device, takes time. Even the choice between a tablet and a E-ink-based screen reader is not as simple as it seems at first glance: the tablet is faster, the screen is brighter, it also allows you to watch video or animations - this can also be included in the learning process. Of course, it is discharged faster, but is this a problem in case you equip classes with a sufficient number of outlets?

Why are still paper books on the desks? They are completely autonomous and do not require any food, are not afraid of blows and falls, they are easily repaired. On the pages of the book you can leave notes and comments and not be afraid that they will "fly off" in the event of a system glitch. The book makes it easy to work with several pages of text at the same time: for example, when solving an example, you can look at the rules described in the paragraph, and in similar examples on another page.

A paper textbook is a book that has evolved and evolved over hundreds of years. And working with an e-book is an innovation. Therefore, the technical device "called" to compete with its paper prototype, must be perfect.

About external

E-book PocketBook Pro 912 - the device is quite large, solid, with a diagonal screen nearly ten inches. It has a silvery-gray case with a metal fringing, many functional buttons and a stylus. But this is not just a beautiful wrap: the design of the model is quite consistent with the heaped toppings.

The front panel is equipped with a joystick with a four-position ring for navigation and a central OK button. To the left of the ring is a button that closes the program or returns to the previous menu. To the right of the screen there are two more keys: the one that is larger, is responsible for page turning, and the smaller one returns to the main menu or calls the context menu.

Convenience

The design is ergonomic: both the joystick and the page turning buttons fit well under the fingers of the right hand. The joystick itself is so biased to the left so that it can easily be reached with an extended finger. When operating the mechanical buttons, the device is easier to keep in an upright position.

The stylus for PocketBook Pro 912 is also fixed to the case, and next to it there is a power button, which provides three types of depression: double, long and short. For each such command, you can assign your own function or leave the default settings. In the upper left corner is a small Wi-Fi switch. At the bottom is a pair of small speakers. The case for PocketBook Pro 912 is not always included in the package, its presence or absence should be clarified immediately from the seller.

Filling

Internal equipment PocketBook Pro 912 provides the user with rich functionality and flexible settings. Convenient in the configuration and the "Main Menu", consisting of two required parts, and several connected to your taste widgets. Obligatory areas are the "Desktop" and "Recent open". The bouder is equipped with a gyro sensor, so the screen rotates automatically, but this function can be turned off.

In the "Desktop" item, in any orientation, there are always nine items: Settings, Search, Photos, Music, Dictionary, Applications, Notes, Favorites and Library.

The widgets themselves, their number, as well as the location of the "Main Menu" items can be changed in the settings, selecting the "Appearance" item, and in it - "Main Menu". And if you select "Themes" here, you can change the look of your desktop to your liking. Three themes are available. Theme Education significantly changes the design not only in the visual plan: when you select it in the "Main Menu", there are such subsections as "Textbooks", "Summaries", "Dictionary", and the Calendar widget changes to the "Lesson Schedule" and displays the schedule On today's date. In addition, a new widget called "Information about the student" becomes available. The "Schedule of lessons" widget displays a convenient schedule for a week, and in a small calendar at the top you can change the week, but it's not entirely clear what to do with this schedule. However, there is a possibility of using the device in the educational system. Perhaps, if the model is finalized, it will be an excellent substitute for a stack of paper textbooks.

The bikrider is equipped with Wi-Fi. If the school practices electronic support, the PocketBook Pro 912 can be integrated into the system for automatic synchronization via the Internet. This will allow you to instantly receive a schedule, load the necessary textbooks and other tasks.

Multitasking

Widgets in the book reader can not only change places or leave the most necessary: almost every one of them provides its own internal settings. However, the main difference between Pro 912 and many other e-books is multitasking. The device is able to open several files (like a book, or just folders or programs), switch between which the user can one click the stylus on the icon at the bottom of the screen. You can also set this function for any mechanical button.

Books

Any possible formatting settings are available in the context menu, which can be called up by pressing the OK button on the joystick (center button) or by clicking the stylus on the page. In the menu, you can change the font, style, size, line spacing and margins. Here you can also enable or disable hyphenation, set the paragraph definition. It is these settings that allow you to quickly bring the e-book into a readable form. In addition, in this same context menu, you can search by text, convert text to voice, go to content or go to the page, call a dictionary, create a note, set a bookmark.

Before creating a note, the system will give the user a short memo describing the available functions, including saving all notes to the book's summary, saving a certain area of the page as an image, erasing the pencil line or highlighting the marker, drawing in the book, highlighting the text with the marker. All the pictures, comments, selection and other actions of the stylus are saved in the book automatically. To save the selected area as an image, a dialog box appears. After saving, all the marks and selected areas are sent to the page containing the contents of the book. It is also convenient that the pictures and saved areas are represented in the form of images, and the text highlighted by the marker remains in text format and is available for further editing or correction.

PDF and DJVU

The selection of text is not available for books in PDF format. Here, only pictures and notes "on the margins" made with the stylus are possible, and, of course, the preservation of the selected area. In books with the format djvu notes are not available at all, it is possible to only select the site and save it as an image.

For such files, the context menu also differs: font settings and formatting are not present, however there is a flexible choice of scales and output of pages on the screen. Sketches, selected areas and notes are sent to the "Notes" section. From this list you can open any book, go to its contents. This section also provides some operations with all notes of a book as a whole.

In the Education topic, the "Notes" section is presented as a section "Summaries".

Advantages and disadvantages

Considering the external and internal equipment, we can say with certainty that the PocketBook Pro 912, whose price starts from six thousand rubles, fully justifies this money. Owners recognize that it is powerful in technical terms, equipped with useful software. For use in public transport more compact models are more convenient, also Pro 912 is relevant for everyday home use, convenient for a long journey. Especially it concerns formats PDF and DJVU; Many users note that not all bookcards are coping with their display well, but here everything is on top. Batteries are enough for seven thousand leaflets, so even a charger on vacation to take it is not necessary.

There are also negative reviews about the PocketBook Pro 912. Many people, using the electronic book of this model, note that it is necessary to get used not only to the interface, but also to mechanical elements. So, the side buttons, designed for paging, are presented in the form of large keys that can easily be touched by the wrist while working with the stylus. The power button is also large and pressed easily, is located next to the stylus mount. The stylus sits tightly in the nest, even if it is turned over or shaken, it does not fall out, but it is also removed with a little effort, so you can accidentally touch the power button.

For some, a big downside was a rather long screen response (still not compare to a touch screen tablet or phone). The book reader reacts to the stylus not as fast as one would like, but does not react to fingers at all. Part of the icons and pictograms are too small even for the pen, which is especially important for people with poor eyesight. This problem can be solved by assigning commands to mechanical buttons.

Despite the sufficient number of minuses, the general opinion of users is drawn to the positive side: it's flexible settings, and convenience in work, notes and abstracts, vocabulary, text voice, the ability to access the Internet, not to mention the design and overall build quality. The model is not the newest, now several more nimble analogues have appeared, but their price is sometimes almost twice as high.