iTomic eBook reader $29 @ Walmart, 97c SH or free pickup

I recently got an iTomic e-book reader from WalMart (2.5% FW cash-back now!) and I like it a lot.
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It is NOT an Android tablet, but for under $30 you get a terrific book reader with color back-lit LCD, 2Gb on board memory, fast OS, SD card slot, really nice leather(~ish) book case, automatic portrait-landscape rotation, MP3 playback, both power supply and mini-USB port charging. Supports many formats (ePub, PDF, etc), and it is one of the few that supports FB2 !

I did read reviews complaining that WiFi and Internet browsing on the device is slow, but I did not care about those functions to begin with.

CONS so far: No night reading mode (black page with white letters), no inactivity timeout shut off.

C'mon, gimme green, I want that FW t-shirt

Green for you OP. My best friends little brother is turning 10 and loves to read, but is a little too rough to consider giving him a nook or a kindle. This will do nicely, in for one.

In for 1. And if my wife likes it, we'll get a second.

Don't count on that 1yr warranty. The company that made it seems to be out of business. Website and phone both gone. It seems like the Wal-Mart site is the best place for help on using this. Lots of info in the reviews and the Q&A section. After reading all 138 reviews and I forgot how many Q&A's, I decided to go ahead and order one. Seems like it's a good basic eReader, esp. for $29.

The iRiver e-ink reader can be had for $50 at Target these days. Something to consider if you want the best reading comfort and battery life.

can't order more than one at a time

Reminor said:   Also I have just read the warranty card and the unit is covered with full 1 year warranty. Nice, considering that many cheap(~ish) products on the market nowadays often have just 90 day warranty.

@Janx. Good call. The color LCD is awesome for kids books (and magazines!).

From reading many of the awful reviews it appears the warranty will not do much good being the manufacturer is out of business.

I'm one of the negative reviewers. Don't buy this unless you're ready to tote it to your local WalMart for a refund. Charged mine for 10+ hours, powered it up, thought it was fine until I tried to navigate the sub-menus at which point it would not respond. Resetting does not help. The manufacturer's web site is long gone & their phone disconnected. Got my money back (minus shipping). If you get a 'good' one, you're lucky.

In4one said:   I'm one of the negative reviewers. Don't buy this unless you're ready to tote it to your local WalMart for a refund. Charged mine for 10+ hours, powered it up, thought it was fine until I tried to navigate the sub-menus at which point it would not respond. Resetting does not help. The manufacturer's web site is long gone & their phone disconnected. Got my money back (minus shipping). If you get a 'good' one, you're lucky.

Nope, it works. It is designed that (strange) way - use the Enter button (square metal button in the middle of the keyboard). It is a touch-pad. Slide your finger up and down to go around the menus. It took me some time to figure that out. But it works.

u get what u pay for

sidewinder33625 said:   u get what u pay for

Not really in this case. Here you get much more than you pay for.

As an example, recently I got another LCD-based eBook reader (Sharper Image Literati) for my mother, for about $45. While she loves it (esp. night time reading mode) I can see how slow, limited and buggy that device is compared to iTomic. But she wanted to keep Literati and she is happy with it, and I kept iTomic for myself. Clearly I paid much less for iTomic and got a better device/functions set.

She did not like eInk devices, BTW, because her eye-sight has weakened with age. the LCD is perfect for her - she loved the idea of reading in the dark with no light on.

Potluck e-device with no future services, a short-lived excitement.

Reminor said:   

Nope, it works. It is designed that (strange) way - use the Enter button (square metal button in the middle of the keyboard). It is a touch-pad. Slide your finger up and down to go around the menus. It took me some time to figure that out. But it works.

If OP is talking about the small square button between Prev/Left & Next/Right on the keyboard, I tried manipulating it every way possible. It clicked when I pressed it, the e-reader response was the same as when I pressed the enter key near the lower right corner of the keyboard. I ran my finger over it, nothing. It's definitely a button, but a button AND a touch-pad? Believe me, I wanted it to work.

Can anyone with actual experience with this device verify OP's claim, please??

RKBA said:   Obviously I haven't gotten mine yet (just ordered last night) but numerous comments and Q&A answers on the Wal-Mart website indicate the OP is correct. The square button is a tiny touchpad (swipe to move the cursor) that doubles as a click when pushed.

As for reading Kindle books, as near as I can tell it will not read DRM Kindle books (but will read free .mobi and .azw files).

As for reading Nook books, a couple of the replies on the W-M website stated that if you install the Adobe Digital Editions software to your PC and "authorize" your device, then you can download Nook books to it. Another seemed to imply that it would work for Kindle books, but I'll believe that when I see it.

Thanks for responding. Would you (or anyone) verify that the button is also a touch-pad when you receive yours, please? I tried to manipulate the one on mine, it would only function when pressed.

In4one said:   Reminor said:   

Nope, it works. It is designed that (strange) way - use the Enter button (square metal button in the middle of the keyboard). It is a touch-pad. Slide your finger up and down to go around the menus. It took me some time to figure that out. But it works.

If OP is talking about the small square button between Prev/Left & Next/Right on the keyboard, I tried manipulating it every way possible. It clicked when I pressed it, the e-reader response was the same as when I pressed the enter key near the lower right corner of the keyboard. I ran my finger over it, nothing. It's definitely a button, but a button AND a touch-pad? Believe me, I wanted it to work.

Can anyone with actual experience with this device verify OP's claim, please??

Here's a link to a video introducing this reader. At about 2:30 into the video it shows the button being used.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwUtgpCMrqk

Reminor said:   More on the device, company behind it and the current state of affairs regarding this iTomic
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If you read the comments, there's one that say that the iTomic is related to Augen.
Sounds like the Company never plan for Tech Support in the first place.

Treefarn said:   dzer0 said:   I am not sure anyone who has beheld e-ink would seriously consider anything else for reading. Battery-life advantage aside, e-ink is so much like paper you forget you aren't reading out of a book.

I'll be that anyone.

Isn't the whole idea of a book to get engaged in the story, not the process of physically holding paper? I've had this discussion with a family friend, who makes her son turn off the computer to read the sports page of the newspaper, rather than reading the exact same story online. 'There's something about reading a newspaper...' Yes, to you old lady, but not to your 11 year old kid. (I'm a year younger than the old lady). Not everyone feels the same nostalgia for paper books, and I've read voraciously all my life. I also sell tablets and e-readers, so I frequently am reading on a different device every week. Its the STORY that's important, not the delivery method.

I'm not talking about some nostalgic connection to the way old book paper smells(delicious.), but eye-strain. I can sit and read e-ink for hours, thirty minutes of a PDF textbook on my computer monitor and I have a headache. Everyone is different, but I stand by what I said, I doubt that anyone who is doing a serious volume of reading is going with a backlit LCD.

Received the unit today. Charged it up, fired it up.

Not to shabby, maybe not the zippiest thing around (compared to my nook touch), but for my nephew (I'm "Uncle" Jahx - that whole friend of the family thing), it will work out very well.

<Edit> Actually the thing handles PDF's really well. If they weren't out of stock my mate would buy one for himself.

<never mind. didn't realize how old this thread was>