Sharper Image Literati

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Overall1.51.51.51.51.5
Usability1.51.51.51.51.5
Design2.52.52.52.52.5
Value for money1.671.671.671.671.67

 

Sharper Image Literati  ereader reviewsAlright, let’s start with the verdict: This must be the worst E-Reader we have tested so far.
But let’s start with the specs: The Literati runs on the Kobo platform, with the big difference that it has a colour screen and supports backlight, which in theory should make reading more enjoyable in the dark. Is it runs on the Kobo platform it is also connected to the Kobo bookstore, which currently boasts around 100.000 books plus a couple of free ones. We thought the main upside of the Literati was the design though, as it looks quite stylish and is very thin, making it the perfect ereader for “on the road”. Also it boasts a full fledged keyboard, which is great for bookmarks and annotations.

Sharper Image Literati  ereader reviewsBut there it starts: The Literati does not support bookmarks and annotations. Well, what do you need a Keyboard for then, you ask? Excellent question, we have no idea! There is not even a search function build into the operating system, so even that use of a keyboard is not existent.

Also is seems filled with bugs and problems, as our device regularly crashed and rebooted, up to the point where it almost got funny and we made bets on when it would crash again (awesome game, but not the intended use I guess).

So long story short: Don’t even bother. The Kindle is exaclty the same price in it’s WI-FI edition and it’s not even a question which one you should buy.

On of the weirder thing is the packaging though: It’s seriously boxed in a package that is 10x the size of the E-Reader itself. Much props to the Marketing guy coming up with this, they must spend an awefull lot in shipping and logitical expenses just to make people angry from the start. Good Job.

Anyway, we’re done here, look at other E-Reader here please…

Sharper Image Literati  ereader reviews Join the forum discussion on this post - (2) Posts

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Reviews (16)

Florian Witteq

December 3rd, 2010 at 11:50 am    


Overall11111
Usability11111
Design11111
Value for money11111

I couldn’t agree more, this thing feels like an intern has designed and produced it during a lunch break…


Gabriel Burke

December 20th, 2010 at 10:48 pm    


OverallNot Rated
UsabilityNot Rated
DesignNot Rated
Value for moneyNot Rated

Got a Literati for a gift, and returned it the next day. It took a long time to boot up, wouldn’t load the driver properly until after 3 tries, and then would not connect to the store. The website offers virtually no support, and when I sent a message from the so-called support site, it returned an error. I tried again, and got another error. So not only does the Literati not work, but neither does its support site. It’s garbage.


Cindy P

December 30th, 2010 at 1:21 am    


OverallNot Rated
UsabilityNot Rated
DesignNot Rated
Value for moneyNot Rated

I figured since it was a Sharper Image Product that it would be great. I couldn’t be more wrong. I even drove to a book store to see if it would hook up to WIFI and download books but I couldn’t get to the store site to order.Sitting in the store it reported WIFI as weak but the guy beside me with a Kindle at the girl at the next table with a Nook both had no problems at all. I ordered books on my computer to download and couldn’t get that to work either and I never did get it to hook up to WIFI at home. All in all not the best Christmas gift ever so I will return today and get on with one of the competitors. BTW never could get customer service to answer the phone.


Suzie C

December 31st, 2010 at 4:22 am    


Overall11111
Usability11111
Design44444
Value for money11111

My husband got me the Literati for Christmas and I was thrilled. However, when I finally had the time to sit down and figure it out, it took me over half an hour JUST to get the date and time in, since the stupid toggle wouldn’t move between date and time properly. When I FINALLY got it finished, I went to wifi where again the toggle ended up putting me all the way back to the start PLUS changed the date! After almost an hour, I gave up and told my husband I was going to throw it in the trash. Fortunately, sanity prevailed and I still have the box and receipt and will return it TODAY!


Brittany

January 24th, 2011 at 1:45 am    


OverallNot Rated
UsabilityNot Rated
DesignNot Rated
Value for moneyNot Rated

I got my Literati for Christmas, everything was working fine and I was having no problems with it until one day I went to turn it on and my entire screen went white and had thin black lines running up and down the whole screen. I haven’t been able to find any similar experiences and I haven’t been able to get any help. I would recommend not buying this product.


Joseph U

February 6th, 2011 at 9:23 pm    


OverallNot Rated
UsabilityNot Rated
DesignNot Rated
Value for moneyNot Rated

No multi language support. But price is good for just reading in English. Setup took me 40 minutes to download new firmware.

I believe people are returning this because initial setup is very difficult and slow.

But once you get initial setup, it does ggreat.

I got 10 of this and set all of them for coworkers. Because they got lost during initial setup.

They should hire me as a tech support


Judy D

February 6th, 2011 at 9:23 pm    


Overall11111
Usability11111
Design33333
Value for money11111

I also thought Sharper Image products were good and my husband said the tech support was great, so I was happy when I found this on sale for about half-price after Christmas. It worked to download ONE book, and now nothing will download. The battery also is short-lived so the portability is limited, and I was disappointed to find that I’m very limited as far as what websites are available for downloads. And it keeps changing the time, which is minor but most annoying.
I’m going back to my old EReader (Aluratek Libre); it doesn’t have the color or the backlight but at least it works. I wish I’d read these reviews before buying a Literati, and hopefully it’s not too late to return it to the store.


Jennifer P.

February 12th, 2011 at 6:33 pm    


Overall11111
Usability11111
Design33333
Value for money11111

I got this as a Christmas gift and it literally took like 8 hours to set up. Once I finally got it so I could pull books from the library (I don’t buy books) and get the Literati to be recognized by Adobe Digital Reader – I loved it. Although the keyboards seemed pointless.

But then the battery life is pretty crappy. After about 2 weeks of use the battery died. I plugged it in, and charged it for a few days but the device failed to boot at all. The reset on the back did not help. I called the support line and was told I could return it, or exchange it for a new one. My mother in law had the receipt, so I’ve pretty much decided to return it- and get a nook!


carmen r

February 18th, 2011 at 5:02 pm    


OverallNot Rated
UsabilityNot Rated
DesignNot Rated
Value for moneyNot Rated

I also got this as a gift from my sister for christmas. My excitement was short lived since this ereader has been a nightmare from the beginning. I’ve never been one to return a gift, but this is one that can’t wait to return and get a nook. I have one coworker on one side reading her Nook and another reading his Kindle and here I am trying not to just throw this ereader in the trash. Do not spend your money on this cheesy ereader n if you get it as Gift run as fast as u can n return it. Now sis hurry up and send me that receipt.


Christina

February 22nd, 2011 at 1:42 am    


OverallNot Rated
UsabilityNot Rated
DesignNot Rated
Value for moneyNot Rated

ok guys…. yes….this one had the problems listed when this came out. True! But….. Ignore these reviews!!! I got one as a gift and they have introduced new updates that have completely fixed all problems mentioned! I LOVE mine!! I take it everywhere and its super fast and holds everything right at my finger tips with super ease of access. There are more expensive ones out there but trust me here, its a great bang for your buck for you other guys, just do the firmware updates. Stop being kindle and nook snobs already would ya. ;)


catiana cintron

April 17th, 2011 at 9:31 pm    


OverallNot Rated
UsabilityNot Rated
DesignNot Rated
Value for moneyNot Rated

okay u guys i agree with everbody but my thing is that u can’t get on facebook or on any e-mail so i would have to say this is so supid i would have to say i don’t like it at all mine is so slow right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1


Hmh

May 10th, 2011 at 11:02 am    


Overall11111
Usability11111
Design11111
Value for money11111

Got it as a gift for christmas, finally started messing with it a few days ago. It was slow and half the time the buttons wouldn’t work right to move from one space to the next, but I didn’t really care about that too much. However, I bought two books off of the website it uses, kobobooks.com, and now neither of them will download to the reader. The drivers won’t install when I hook it up to my pc. I can’t find any drivers to download off the internet. So now I have two purchases completely wasted. I don’t even know if they sell these any more since I can’t find them on the sharper image website, but if they do–DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY.


john

June 22nd, 2011 at 7:35 am    


OverallNot Rated
UsabilityNot Rated
DesignNot Rated
Value for moneyNot Rated

This thing really sucks! My girlfriend bought it for me bless her heart. I tried to get it to work the first couple of weeks I had it but my wifi was slow and it took forever to try to get the software to download so I quit. I now have a screaming internet connection and it still took forever to get it to download. Then it changed the time and date settings. I’ve tried 5 times to get a connection to get onto my internet so I can download some books. WASTE OF MONEY!!!!!!!!!! DON”T BUY THIS PIECE OF JUNK!!!! Where did the Sharper image get all the raving reviews about this thing on their site I don’t know. sounds wayyyy fishy to me.


Cheri

July 26th, 2011 at 7:42 am    


Overall44444
Usability44444
Design33333
Value for money55555

I bought mine in Feb 2011, it still works great. I did not have any problems setting it up. The recommendation from the company is to completely charge the ereader before even turning it on. Perhaps some people are turning there literati on before being completely charged. I don’t know, but I do know that I am happy with mine. It came with free books, I like that. The price was so low I bought 4, now the children each have one, my mother also bought one and all of them work great.


Laura

September 11th, 2011 at 12:03 am    


OverallNot Rated
UsabilityNot Rated
DesignNot Rated
Value for moneyNot Rated

My husband bought mine for me at xmas. When we finally got it to work, it did so for about 6 wks, then it just froze. I called tech support and they sent me another one, that one worked for about another 6-8 wks. So again I received another one. When we were on Vacation 4th of July, it stopped working, so again I called and was sent another one. I complained that I don’t want to keep getting more because they stop working and I want my money back. They said the warranty only covers replacement and I would have to go back to where it was purchased but that was over 6 months ago so I cannot return it anymore.
Right now I am on my 4th Literati since xmas, if this one goes out I will “junk” it and buy a kindle or nook, I know those work fine because several friends and family own them with no problems.
DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!!


JohnTacoma

November 19th, 2011 at 4:51 am    


OverallNot Rated
UsabilityNot Rated
DesignNot Rated
Value for moneyNot Rated

Found the Literati at a Sporting Goods store in WA state for $39. Decided to buy it to see if the idea of an ereader was right for me…
Had I paid more than $39 for this, I might have felt a little ripped off (perhaps even at$9 I still do a little), but it has been a nice bridge to a better machine now that I have found that I enjoy ereaders. Will most likely upgrade to Fire at X-mas time.


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