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WikiReader Pocket Wikipedia | 
| Brand: WikiReader
Category: CE
Buy New: $99.00
as of 12/1/2009 00:54 CST details
Seller: Openmoko
Rating:  28 reviews
Color: Pure White
Native Resolution: 240 x 208
Free Memory Slots: microSD
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 3.9 x 3.9 x 0.8
Instant Search through 3 million topics
Discover new topics with Random feature
Over 50 hours of operating
Suitable for indoors and outdoors
Parental controls for protecting children from adult content
MPN: WR-01
Model: WR-01
EAN: 4712893009072
ASIN: B002N5521W
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Offers the entire English Wikipedia with 3 million topics | | • | No internet connection required | | • | Fast, portable and informative | | • | Fun and easy to use touchscreen interface | | • | Battery life runs for months, not hours |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
WikiReader delivers the joy of information by offering three million Wikipedia articles in a simple $99 handheld device. It turns on instantly, and works for months before replacement of its two AAA batteries is necessary. The large monochrome screen uses a touch interface. Articles are scrolled with a stroke of the finger and hyperlinks selected with a simple tap. Three buttons, Search, History and Random, offer the convenience of reading specific topics or the serendipitous pleasure of discovering something by chance within Wikipedia's rich array of articles ranging from Freud to Final Fantasy.
Updates for the WikiReader are provided quarterly and available for free download. A yearly subscription plan for updated microSD cards is also available for $29.
For more information including news, videos and updates, Google for: The WikiReader
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 28
 Must have!! November 29, 2009
David Carnahan (Lakewood Washington)
I bought one of these while depolyed to Afghanistan (still there now). We have limited connection and when do have internet it is slow. This has been an amazing tool for every little thing that comes up. I love this thing it is built well it is all stored and off line and it is a low battery consumer.
I think most single use items are a waste of money but this one is a home run! I mean it is al lthe Wiki articals in your hand and the random buttong can keep you entertained no matter where you are. When I get home I am putting one in my bathroom to be a new bathroom reader.
I ordered one to come to me here in Afghanistan and it did nto show up so I contacted Openmoko and they shipped TWO to me at no extra cost via DHL and they came to my instilation. I am a hero around here with my free and clear access to the wonder of Wikipedia.
No more should idle musings go uninformed! November 24, 2009
SevenCubed (Maynard, MA)
I'm of a rare breed that loves technology but doesn't use a cellphone. When describing the WikiReader to friends, I'm constantly informed of how such information is online or otherwise cellphone-accessible. For whatever reason, though, I don't see folks actually look things up with their phones when quandaries arise in conversation. What _IS_ String Theory? What's the difference between Phylogeny and Taxonomy? Who replaces Roddy Piper in the second "Hell Comes to Frogtown" movie? etc. Perhaps it's the beauty of WikiReader's single function that makes it more accessible, but I whip this sucker out FREQUENTLY. There's something beautiful about instant access to all of human knowledge*, even if it gets ingominously used to settle arguments about the Twilight series or something. It's GOOD. Very much worth what it costs and then some. I mean, srsly. "Deadwood - The Complete Series" or ALL OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE*.
-343
*(at least a primer course thereto. Somewhat moderated. Biased towards popular culture.)
 New favorite gadget, with some room for improvement November 22, 2009
R. Murphy (Richardson, TX)
A shopper encountering the WikiReader product page for the first time may be tempted to compare the it to other hand held gadgets that attempt to do everything, but charm of the WikiReader is in its simplicity. I like the fact that it gives me portable access to my favorite reference web site without the hassle of needing a connection. If I lose it or it's stolen, there's no personal data on it to worry about. It's small enough to take with you, very easy to use, does not require a data plan, and promises a long battery life. It comes on almost instantly after pressing the power button, and will turn itself off if left idle. It did not take long to get proficient at using the touch keyboard without hitting the wrong letters. I'm happy to say that foreign letters with accents are displayed correctly. I have had no trouble with the hardware, but did have some questions and found customer support to be excellent.
There is some missing content, at least for now, and that's going to cost a star. Some articles are missing. Perhaps because they are not linked from other articles. The support person who quickly replied to my email assures me that this will be fixed in a future version. More significantly, tables are not included. I understand it's not possible to include certain content like all the color photos, but the tables include some important data. The challenge is that most tables in Wikipedia are too wide for the WikiReader display and it currently does not support panning left and right. I am confident they will figure out a way to include this data in the future and predict we users will be able to update our existing WikiReaders to show it.
Pros & cons after using it briefly November 18, 2009
Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason (Kópavogur, Iceland)
I used the WikiReader briefly at a Wikipedia meetup, on flaw about it that hasn't been mentioned here already is that it only displays a subset of the articles on Wikipedia due to it parsing a limited amount of the underlying syntax.
For example it doesn't support tables in articles, they simply don't appear, so critical information stored in in tables like those in articles about countries, chemical elements and other key-value oriented things simply don't appear. Simple lists on Wikipedia are also increasingly stored in table format, when I was using the device I wanted to look up a fact that I knew Wikipedia had a list for but the article in question was almost empty because the list wasn't displayed on the device.
It also doesn't support templates at all, those are also used a lot in the main content of articles for things like displaying foreign-language names.
 It lives up to it's claims November 18, 2009
Benjamin Duell
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This product does exactly what it sets out to do; a few caveats though: The display is pretty lousy. it is difficult to read, not as fresh-looking as the Kindle or other readers... and only one font is available. The touchscreen keyboard is frustating to use.. the iPhone is so much better at this, in a smaller package. Also, it is a bit too large to carry in one's pocket, altough I think it's great for camping and for taking to the field (i.e. Military training excercise... my purpose for getting one)
Showing reviews 1-5 of 28
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