Finally Asus decided to showcase their long awaited ebook reader called the DR-900 (or DR-950, as in early rumors). For now, we only have first impressions from the folks that managed to get along with it at CeBIT in Germany. There is a hands-on video below also.
Anyway, facing a fierce competition from the likes of Amazon’s Kindle or Sony Reader, the Asus DR-900 had to impress in order to have a chance. And indeed it does, as it is quite a looker. But also a lot more.
Asus DR-900 - quite a competition for the Kindle DX
Specs below will give you some hints on what you can expect from it:
- comes with a 9 inch resistive touch-display using e-ink, 1024 x 764 px resolution
- looks solid and is pretty compact, as all it has on the front face are the big display and a couple of buttons
- is light, probably around 350 g and that’s great when compared to the similar Kindle DX that weighs around 550 g
- battery life should be enough for just around 10.000 page flips
- comes with Wi-Fi and will also feature 3G (on some versions)
- Offers 4 GB of internal flash storage space but comes with microSD expansion slot
- supports PDF, TXT, MP3 files. Not sure whether it support DOC or XLS files, but hopefully it will
So, the DR-900 is almost the same size as the Kindle, but lighter and more versatile (Wi-Fi, card, native support for PDF files). It might have a problem with content distribution though, unless Asus manage to get a deal with some big stores (Google Books perhaps?).
Anyway, one of its main attractions was the touch e-ink display. As expected, refresh time is low, so don’t expect instant response. Also, it seems that the screen is not that responsive, having to press really hard to get the commands. But hey, you got a more intuitive touch interface and this is just an early version and many things still can be improved by the time the product gets in stores.
The DR-900 digital reader is slim
But also pretty capable
Which, as the moment is still unknown. And so are the prices for this DR-900. But stay tuned, we’ll keep our eyes on Asus and let you know the minute we find something new. Till then, check out the hands-on video bellow.
Photos and video from Engadget