While the eReader craze hasn’t been as sweeping as say, the MP3 player craze, devices like the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook are still in very high demand. Both of the aforementioned are the most popular examples of eReaders on the market today, but there are plenty of companies and devices vying for the bookworm’s attention.

One such device is the 5" EZ Reader Pocket Pro from Astak. The Pocket Pro is large enough to allow for easy reading of PDF and .txt files, yet small enough (6.0” x 4.1” x 0.4” and 6 oz.) to fit in a coat pocket, purse, or messenger bag. Available in six colors, this latest eReader from Astak is determined to give devices from Amazon and Sony a serious run for their money.

The Pocket Pro comes equipped with a 600x800, eight-tone gray-scale screen. For storage, the Pro packs 512 MB of internal memory and also comes with an SD/SDHC card slot, expandable up to 16 GB. Unless you plan on importing the entire Library of Congress, a two or four GB card will be adequate. The battery life on the Pro should last you at least a few days, even under constant use. The Pro runs on a proprietary Linux OS, and packs a 400 MHz ARM processor.

While the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader are both very popular, they are devices that rely on DRM-laden files. The Pocket Pro was designed with open formats in mind from the start. What Astak and the Pocket Pro lack in an eBook store, they make up for in wide-format support. Supporting 20 different formats, the Pocket Pro takes kindly to ADE (Adobe Digital Editions), PDF, TXT, HTML, MP3, and JPEG files formats, to name a few.

Since the Pocket Pro doesn't have its own online eBook store, you'll have to search online for content. While many will take the Torrent or Pirate Bay route, there are several sites that legally provide thousands of eBooks to the public. Project Gutenberg, ManyBooks, and eBook Directory all have online libraries of over 25,000 titles, with some overlap, of course.

Sure, the Pocket Pro is an eReader first, but the device also supports MP3 playback, so you can listen to your Pink Floyd collection while reading that PDF copy of "The Great Gatsby" you just picked up. Astak was nice enough to include a basic set of earbuds, which really didn’t sound that terrible, and even included an in-line volume slider.

Among other image formats, JPEG files are also supported, but I doubt you’ll dump your summer vacation photos to this device anytime soon, unless you have an uncanny urge to see yourself in eight-tone grayscale. If you do, the screen on the Pro is very sharp and should recreate your images with fair to good quality. One feature that we missed on the Pro, and on most eReaders for that matter, is the lack of back-lighting. If you plan on using the Pro on your next red-eye flight, the overhead cabin light will have to do.

Transferring media to the Pro is an absolute breeze. Windows recognizes the device as removable storage, so drag and drop to your heart’s content. As for the physical interface, the Pro has a zerto to nine numeric button array; previous, next, back, and menu buttons; and a up/down rocker. If you have ever used a Kindle before, you’ll be right at home.

In the box, you’ll find the reader, a manual, a faux-leather carrying case, earbuds, a philips-head screwdriver (to access the battery), a USB cable (standard to micro), an AC power adapter (for use with the USB cable), and a wrist band.

There is no getting around comparing the Pro to the elephant in the room. The Amazon Kindle includes built-in WiFi antenna and its own eBook store. If you can forgo those qualities, are eager to hunt on the Internet for your own files (not very hard), and you want to save yourself about $50 (MSRP on the Pro is $250, but it can be had for $200 if you look around), the EZ Reader Pocket Pro from Astak is a solid device, and its “open-format” philosophy is something that the Kindle is sorely lacking. --Devin Connors