Video Hands-On With The PocketBook Pro 6 and 9-inch eReaders

This weekend at IFA PocketBook announced new eReaders, the Pro 602/603 and 902/903. These new 6 and 9-inch devices are thin and light and incorporate some of the features we liked about the company’s previous offering — the PocketBook 360 — while adding some new twists. But is the addition of wireless connectivity and touch functionality enough to propel them ahead of the Nook or Kindle? I had the chance to play with them at the company’s booth and came away impressed, but with reservations.

The feature set for these eReaders is impressive. Like the 360, the software is Linux and pretty basic. But PocketBook has added some useful features such as customizable widgets for the Home screen. The 6 and 9.7-inch e-Ink displays have 8 point grayscale and an 800 x 600 or 1200 x 825 resolution (respectively), so there’s definitely nice depth and good contrast. The 2GB of internal storage is big enough for most eBook libraries and the microSD port supports cards up to 32GB if you need more. All models will come with Wi-Fi (b/g) and BlueTooth connectivity. The Pro 603 and 903 models that I played with also come with a 3G chipset and touch functionality via a digitized stylus similar to the iRex DR800SG. The 902 and 602 models don’t have these features.

Both the 903 and 603 share the same overall design with buttons mostly on the right side. As with the 360 there’s a built-in G-sensor, so left-handed users will probably be able to turn the device upside down if they wanted to. But unlike the previous device, the design doesn’t work as well reversed like that.

I really like the text-to-speech feature since the voice I heard wasn’t very robotic and read the book in a pretty natural way. I don’t know how publishers are going to feel about that, though.

In my hands-on time with the device I noted that the touch functionality was responsive, as were the buttons, but the devices could be sluggish. Though they run on Linux, the 533-MHz processor and 256MB of RAM may not be enough to deliver the speedy performance we saw on the Sony Touch Edition at the show. The UI is still pretty basic and not always intuitive from what I could see. Still, I am a fan of the widgets on the Home screen.

The 6-inch Pros will be available in the U.S. around mid-October and the 9-inch will follow shortly. Prices for this market haven’t been set yet, but PocketBook says that the cost will be in line with other eReaders on the market. Since the 9-inch model is going for 350 euros we can probably expect something in the $350 – $400 range here, which is on a par with the Kindle DX.

Check out our hands-on video below where you can see the performance and user interface, plus hear the text-to-speech. Do you think either the Pro 603 or 903 will be able to compete in the American eReader space?