• Review: Infibeam Pi2

    Review: Infibeam Pi2

    Jayesh Limaye, Aug 08, 2011 0923 hrs IST

    A good dedicated eBook reader for the voracious Indian bookworm.

    Excellent readability; Supports audio eBooks; Supports Indian languages; Supports wide eBook formats; Web browser; Battery life

    Price; Greyscale display; No backlight

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Infibeam Pi2

MRP: Rs 9,999

EBook readers have been around for a long time and while eBooks have been widely popular abroad, they are surely gaining wider acceptance in our country as well. While the Amazon's Kindle has been synonymous with the term "eBook Reader", this product is not available in India off the shelf. Infibeam has the Pi2 (pronounced "pie square") eBook reader to fill this gap and it actually seems to pack in some better features such as a touch screen and lots of freebies.


Review: Infibeam Pi2


Infibeam Pi2 with stylus.


Bundle

Infibeam Pi2 with stylus
USB AC charger
USB data cable
Earphones
Quick start guide
Warranty card
100 Free eBooks stored inside the device


Design And Features

The Infibeam Pi2 has a form factor similar to a small handbook, but it is probably thinner than most at just 11 mm. Weighing just 235 grams, it is also very light. The body is made of black polymer with a non-glossy pixie dust shimmering finish, giving it a touch of class. Although it is a resistive touch 6", it is quite receptive to finger touch; you can also use the provided stylus embedded in the device if necessary. The screen also has a non-glossy finish and it does not get smudges by fingers. The immediate advantage of the touch screen is that a physical QWERTY keyboard is no longer necessary, it being replaced by an on-screen keyboard, which reduces the size of the device.


Review: Infibeam Pi2


Front of the Pi2.


Navigation controls are provided by a 4-way joystick near the front-bottom. A Back button is present on its left, while an Options button is on the right.


Review: Infibeam Pi2


Navigational control joystick on the Pi2.


Page Up and Page Down keys are present on the front right and these double up as volume control keys during music play. The placement of the buttons is quite intelligent because your fingers on them will not obscure the screen. A green activity LED is present near the top right.


Review: Infibeam Pi2


Page Up \ Page Down buttons on the side of the Pi2.


The back of the device has a rubberized section to ensure that you maintain a firm grip on the device. This goes to show that some thought has been put in the design of the Pi2. The overall build quality seems to be very good. However, we must mention that the screen of the review piece splintered when we accidentally dropped it from a height of half a meter and it fell flat on the back. Of course, this is not really a con because you need to be careful enough to not a device like this.


Review: Infibeam Pi2


Back of the Pi2.


The power button is present on the top and there is a small reset button just beside it to reset the device to factory default settings. There is also a micro SD card slot supporting up to 32 GB capacity to augment the internal 2 GB capacity.


Review: Infibeam Pi2


Top of the Pi2.


A 3.5 mm audio jack is present at the bottom of the screen, and a mini USB port is present just besides it for PC connectivity.


Review: Infibeam Pi2


3.5 mm headphone socket and miniUSB port.

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Discussion Board
(3) Comments
Sumit
,Mumbai, on Aug 08, 2011 04:57 PM
cant these ebook makers come up one "JUST A EBOOK READER" . I dont need mp3 playback, nor do I need a web browser and offcourse wifi or 3g etc... my paper backs do not come with these... my books dont sing , dont distract ....!!!!! And in the process bring down the price to something around Rs.3000/4000. Why is it that the target function of this device always bloated with such extra add-ons .... that too for a price. I Why will I use the wifi to surf net on a e-ink screen, why music ??? Are there any such ebooks in the market which have excellent e-ink displays with perfect text rendering, nice interface, a minimum memory of 1 GB or so. Bluetooth connectivity will be an added advantage... download the ebook on the mobile/ pc /laptop and den transfer it to the ebook reader using BT.
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sathish annira
,virajpet,karnataka, on Aug 08, 2011 07:42 PM
That is right selling point for an exclusive ereader should be its crystal clear eink display without any glare. it should have a good dictionary, faster page turns and huge libruary of ebooks nothing else.
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Manju
,Bangalore, on Aug 08, 2011 12:58 PM
"No Backlight" is a downer? Come on guys this is a eBook with eink technology ..how did you expect backlight for this ...then one would go for tablet right (and of course strain your eyes by reading for 30 mins)...Eveyryone seems to not realize ebooks are difffrent species then a backlit notebook or a tablet
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