Samsung eBooks are great: paper-like and pleasurable to use

Okay we’ve all seen eBooks before, but Samsung’s first foray into the field has produced some pretty desirable devices. Their eBook duo: the E60 and E100 are little treats.

Both have pleasant e-ink displays with the E60’s screen 6inches across (600 by 800 pixel resolution) and the E100 10 inch (825 by 1200). There’s a touchscreen QWERTY keyboard and a stylus, plus speakers offering audio if desired.

For me the sweetest feature was the notes function where you could scribble on with a stylus and it would either convert it to type or store it as an image. “We want to make it as much like the experience of paper as possible” the Samson demonstrator told me.

This was surprising pleasurable and the eBook table was crowded with tech journos practising the uncustomed art of handwriting. Big thumbs up for the user experience with these devices.

Content is downloaded via wifi from Google’s Books store (prints out-of-copyright texts and some new ones) and Samsung are in discussion with other publishers about getting more content. Check back on this before purchasing, could be annoying if the book range is limited. Newspapers are also available.

Both have 2gb memory and a micro SD slot.

Again prices are rough but we’re looking at 299-349 euros.

Related: Samsung’s OmniPro – hands-on with the clever microwave
Samsung NaviBot – hands on with the robotic vacuum cleaner