Here is something different in the ereader world, an ereader that you can bend. Using the newest screen technology, the LG flexible ereader screen, this device is effectively indestructible and amazingly thin and light.

Please note that in spite of this publicity photo, they are currently saying that it will only be available in black, and not in any of those other cheerful pastel tones shown here….  Pity.

The ereader for you if you are a cluts.

As far as I can see, the only reason to use a flexible screen on this ereader is to make it both extremely light, thin and capable of withstanding the most appallingly bad treatment. I have read descriptions of test in which they have dropped the poor thing from a height of 1.5 meters, repeatedly whacked it with a plastic hammer, and such unlikely actions, and none of these tests damaged the thing in any way. Of particular interest to me was the fact that even hitting the screen repeatedly with that hammer didn’t succeed in even scratching the screen (something the Nook GlowLight could learn from).

So, obviously the right ereader for the more clumsy members of the ereader world I would say.

And also, with this one you will not really need any sort of cover to keep it in pristine shape as you live with it. Which will save you both money and weight. On this last point, it is also the lightest ereader in the world, at about 107 grams. It also boasts of being the thinnest ereader, as the main part of it is a mere 4 mm thick, though this claim ignores the fatter section in which I assume the battery is lurking.

Reading possibilities.

As you will see in the video below, this ereader can be read in both portrait and landscape mode (tall narrow screen or wide short screen), and has a whole slew of different font styles, word arrangement and so on, so no matter how good, or bad your eyes are, you set this one up in the way that works best for you and your reading comfort.

It is apparently pretty good at showing images, so reading magazines and ebooks with illustrations will work fine, even if they are all in grey tones rather than pretty colours.

Soft casing.

This ereader seems to have a very soft plastic case, which as you will see is both very flexible and probably very comfortable to hold, as it will give you a firm grip and be non-slip.   Looks great to me.

I have included a video here which shows pretty clearly how it looks and works. It is in Russian I am afraid, for those of you who do not happen to speak good Russian (in which group I am placed as well) but the video is perfectly easy to understand without speaking Russian.

So, now you know what it looks like, roughly how you can work with it, and so on… All clear?

Old tired sandwich

I know, it does look rather like a sandwich that has been left out in the sun for a few hours, with that rather sad curl to it…

As you will have seen, in most respects it works more or less exactly as does the cheapest of the current range of Kindle ereaders, no touch screen, so you use what is known in the trade as a D Pad to move around the various menus. This is a slightly retrograde step, and puzzles me, but I assume that in order to maintain the thinness and indestructible qualities this is essential.

No WiFi or 3G

Sadly, in another retrograde step, it also has no 3G or WiFi connectivity, so you will need a computer to get hold of ebooks to stuff into it – This I really find a pity, as I had thought that we had now more or less moved away from that unhandy and primitive way of getting hold of ebooks.

Apparently it will become available sometime in May , but I am not sure how much it will cost, in Russia they are advertising it for 8990.00 Roubles, which at today’s exchange rate is $303, so not the cheapest ereader by a long way. And given that apart from its screen being flexible, it is in all other respects a pretty normal ereader, they will have to think carefully about that price if they want to go head to head with any of the well established comparable ereaders out there, that are all in the $60 to $150 area.

As you will see, it supports all the world standard formats, so you will be able to buy ebooks from almost any ebook store, (the only major format they do not appear to support is Mobi, so that more or less precludes buying ebooks from Amazon).

Further, for the Russian among you, they have of course given thought to ebooks as well, and have an online ebook store for Russian ebooks, with a very large range of ebooks, so nip along to www.wexler.ru to see what they have for you there.

Conclusion:

Well, what we have here is a virtually indestructible monochrome e-Ink with a very high screen resolution (so easy on the eyes for long term reading), a very rapid screen refresh rate and in all other respects a very standard ereader of a somewhat old fashioned sort I feel. And at the price that it may cost, way too expensive.

So a mix of good and less good qualities.

Pro:

• Indestructible
• Very light
• Supports all standard ebook formats
• High resolution screen
• Long battery life

Con:

• No WiFi or 3g support
• No touch screen
• No colour
• Probably too expensive

Technical specifications:

Screen	6” E-Ink ( EPD – Electronic Paper Display), 1024×768
RAM	8 GB
Outputs	USB 2.0
Text support	TXT / RFT / PDF / DOC / CHM / HTM / HTML / EPUB / FB2/ DJVU
Battery	Li-ion 900 mAh
Working time without charging	2 weeks
Sizes	151х134х4 mm
Weight	107 g
Warranty	12 months
Color	Black
Complete set	E-reader, USB-cable, power adapter, pouch, User manual

Link to Wrexler site: http://wexler-global.com/products/79/347

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So, does the idea of such a lightweight and sturdy ereader interest you, or are the several old fashioned features a problem for you?