I admit honestly, I didn’t expect that the PocketBook A10 device would fall into my hands. You can say - caught off guard. However, I can not take this opportunity not to write a first-hand review for the Habrasoobshchestva.

To be frank, I always referred to such a class of devices as either "peknigam" or "nedokompyuterov." In any case, it smelled of a flawed compromise. Although I'm sure a little more than completely that a huge number of devices have found their grateful users and have done an excellent job with the task all these years!

Anyway, waiting for the arrival of the "test subject", I was thinking of something gray, monochrome. And I was pleasantly surprised! And judging by what others are writing on this topic - I'm not the only one.
')
Today in Ukraine it is a “prototype”, which should go on sale within 2 weeks. Let's take a closer look - what awaits us? ..

At first sight

Well, the first thing that catches your eye is, of course, the external design of the device. Black and white body, contrast, high-quality materials and pure colors make a pleasant impression. And if you hold it in your hands, the impression becomes even more pleasant. Of course, today the weight of the device may seem excessive to a pampered and picky user. In my opinion - quite normal. Yes, and it is not necessary to keep it all the time on the weight.

* I apologize in advance for the poor quality of the photo.







On the front panel there are control buttons, including return to the previous menu and arrows “forward” / “backward”, a microphone, a webcam, two speakers on the edges of the case. Well, and oddly enough, here is a 10 ”multi-touch screen.



Everything else is located on the back of the device. On the left - headphone jack and volume buttons. On the right is the “POWER” button, a microUSB connector for connecting to a computer or a charger, and a slot for microSD cards.



The overall impression is excellent. In the hand, the device sits well, it is pleasant to hold, due to the back black panel, nothing slides anywhere. With horizontal orientation, the device is better to hold with both hands on the sides - and the control buttons are more convenient to press. The case does not creak, there is no backlash, the buttons are pressed clearly.

Specifications

As it is written on the manufacturer’s website:

Dimensions	207 x 244 x 15 mm
Display	10 '' TFT, 1024x768 px, 262000 colors
Colour	White
Battery	Li-Polymer 3.7V (6600 mAh)
CPU	TI OMAP 3621 (1 GHz)
RAM	512 MB
Flash memory	4 GB
Interface	Micro USB (12Mb / s)
Memory slot	MicroSD up to 32 GB
Audio output	3.5 mm plug, 2 x 0.5 W speakers
Book Formats	PDF (ADOBE DRM), EPUB (ADOBE DRM), PDF, EPUB, FB2, TXT, DJVU, RTF, HTML, DOC, DOCX
Image Formats	JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF
Audio formats	MP3, WAV
Video format	AVI, MKV, MP4
Weight	670 g
Gyro sensor	there is
Touch screen	Capacitive, multi-touch
Wireless connection	Wi-Fi b / g / n, Bluetooth, optional 3G
Additional functions	Text-to-Speech, browser, email client, audio player, video player
Body material	Plastic, soft touch coating

This table already shows a lot. You can add to this the fact that the device works on the basis of the operating system Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread.

Software, work with the device

What can you say about the software? In principle, the standard interface for Android devices is user-friendly, intuitive, intuitive.

For its immediate task A10 copes well. Firmware makes reading comfortable and convenient. To move through the pages, you can use not only the touch screen, but also the individual arrow buttons. The program remembers the position of the reader in the book, and also supports many other related useful functions.

And although everything is sharpened for reading books, the functionality of the device goes far beyond the e-book: watching videos, playing music, browsing the Internet (browser, mail, Skype and other software, connecting via wi-fi), dictionary and translator, organizer, office programs. Plus, everything that you install yourself, including games - among the programs there is the Android Market.

Camera

On the front of the A10 posted 2MP camera. Frankly, the camera is weak. It is difficult to make high-quality photos because of its location and the small number of megapixels. But for video conferencing, it is not very good because of an unsuccessful angle. There is, of course, a solution - you can simply flip the device 180 degrees.

Conclusion, conclusions

What can I say - the device pleased me pleasantly. A10 is a tablet rather than an e-book. This is manifested both in the appearance of the device and in its software and hardware. It's great that the Ukrainian company has released such a worthy product. I heard that the PocketBook has high hopes for this model, and it seems to me that they are mostly justified.

Now it is difficult to say how much the device will cost, but according to preliminary data it is $ 400 or (most likely) even less .


Links to the manufacturer's website:
News about the presentation of Pocketbook A10 at IFA 2011
Product page

PS Special thanks to the company MOYO for providing a copy of the device.