There has been little to no announcements from traditional eReaders since a month before the iPad was announced.  But Aluratek has brought its new product to market in the face of the industry-wide quiet period.

Link: to: Computerworld Review

The review is positive, finding the reading experience good (it weighs only 7oz), navigation that is competent and a 5” screen, more like the Sony Pocket Edition than the Kindle 2 or Nook.

But the Libre Pro also uses a different technology than the E-Ink that the mainstream manufacturers use.  Aluratek chose a monochrome, non-illuminated LCD screen from Toshiba that provides a stable image similar to E-Ink .  The reviewer was content with the image quality, although she did mention that the gold/green hue of the screen did not provide as good a contrast as the E-Ink machines used by the most popular eReaders on the market today.

One of the biggest selling points was the price:  suggest at $170, it can be found on some of the discount on-line dealers for as little as $157.

Formats that can be read on this device range from text, ePub, PDF, and a few others.  This is a nice touch, since it gives the owner so many options.

On the downside, the Libre Pro does not have any connectivity other than a USB cable to your PC.  Personally I find that an option I could live with.  I like the syncing that my Kindle 2 has with my other eReading programs through the AT&T 3G connection, but it is not a deal breaker.

The biggest advantage for connectivity is that you can get magazine subscriptions delivered directly to your eReader without having to jump through the hoops of download-connect, transfer.