Short Version
The hardware is a little old but the fact you can by a fairly capable ebook reader for under $150 is an interesting thing, especially in this overpriced world of iPads, Nooks, and Kindles. A great device for those who want to experience the ereader revolution with no frills.
Because this device is so old I’m approaching this as a public service rather than a full review. Essentially, here’s what’s going on with this ereader: It costs $149 online at numerous outlets and has a 5-inch LCD screen. It lasts about 24 hours on one charge and supports a plethora of formats including ePub and PDF. In short, you can drag almost anything onto here and have it work.
It is surprisingly small and light, as well, which makes it a bit more compelling than even the Kindle.
That said, who is this for? Well, my darling wife, for example. She never wanted to use the Kindle, even though we have two, and she never got into reading on her iPad. I put this little gem into her hand and she hasn’t put it down for the past week. The biggest problem, however, is a dearth of potential ebooks although you can head over to eBooks.com to purchase new titles.
The reader is especially good if you have a lot of PDFs to read. The font size can be changed on the fly although, in some cases, this ruins the formatting. The device comes with a 2GB card and 100 free ebooks.
Is the Aluratek Libre for a member of the CrunchGear Team of Readers? Probably not, but if your mom has been interested in this whole “Kindling” thing and you’d like to expand her mind a little, feel free to hook her up with this. Just remember you’ll have to load books for her, which could be a pain, because there is no Wi-Fi connectivity.
Bottom Line
An interesting – if underpowered – little bare bones ereader.