The latest gadgets in technology like wireless reading devices allow busy people to bring along their favorite books and magazines. Digital data format for sure is much lighter than the same amount in books. Further more, the ease of gaining access to the latest best seller or sought after readingmaterial while being mobile is unchallenged. Amazon’s Kindle design and Sony have the right of calling their wireless reading devices the most popular portable Ebook readers for now. Other good eBook Devices are HanLin, iRex and StarEbook.
| With all the new ereaders on the market competing with each other, it may help you to review their features through an ebook reader comparison. When Amazon came out with their Kindle wireless reading device, there really were no comparable digital readers on the market, but other manufacturers are now competing for the wireless crowd of readers.
Let us first tackle the two ebook reader versions offered by Amazon. There is the Kindle International version and the Kindle DX. The main differences is the current Kindle DX only has 3G wireless capability in the U.S. whereas the International version is available now in over 100 countries. The Kindle DX also is larger in both screen size and capacity. The DX has a nine inch screen, whereas the normal Kindle only has a six inch screen. The Kindle DX also has a larger memory size and can hold 3,500 books versus only 1,500 books in the Global Kindle.
A fairly new competitor is the Barnes and Noble Nook ereader. It has a lot of the same features as the Kindle Global version with a few added features. The Nook has Wi-Fi capability, whereas neither of Amazon's Kindle's do not. In addition, the Nook has memory expansion as an option and the ability to share media with friends through their Nook reader or through an iPhone, or iPod Touch, select BlackBerry and Motorola smartphones, as well as Windows or Mac PCs.
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| EBOOK READERS & WIRELESS READING DEVICES |
| -- Click on pictures for more description & buy online -- |
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| Newly released is the Sony Reader Daily edition. Their previous Touch ereader did not have wireless capability so was not really a contender in the ebook reader race. But the Daily now can compete with the best of them offering both 3G and Wi-Fi wireless connection and downloads. It does not have sharing capability like the Barnes and Noble Nook, but does offer an expansion slot and touch screen which Kindle lacks. The only drawback is the current price which is $100 more than both the Kindle Global and Nook.
Running close behind in the race is the latest Irex Digital Reader. Like the Sony Reader Daily, it is priced $100 higher than the Nook and Global Kindle without offering too much in upgrades. It does have a larger screen size at eight inches and access to over 750,000 book titles, but no Wi-Fi. The 3G network is through Verizon with a Gobi chipset for worldwide use.
One important note to mention is content availability. The Amazon Kindle has a closed proprietary format which will always limit your media collection to a Kindle unit. The Nook, Sony Reader and Irex support the ePub open format which will always give your more flexibility for your library collection.
Based on the current choices and what each has to offer, there is no clear winner. It all depends upon what each individual user is looking for in an ebook reader. Do you want a larger size ereader for easier reading or ability to download books when on vacation in France? Think about how often you like to read, where you like to read and how many books you have purchased over the past year. Hopefully this ebook reader comparison will help make your decision a little easier.
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| EBOOK READERS ACCESSORIES |
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| FIND AND BUY ALL YOUR EBOOKS RIGHT HERE |
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| 5 " READER DEVICES COMPARISON TABLE |
| Brandname
| Sony Portable Reader
| Bookeen
| Pocketbook
| HanLin eBook
| Polymer Vision
| Hanvon
| Azbooka
|
| Model
| Pocket Edition PRS-300
| Cybook Opus
| 360°
| V5
| Readius (unreleased)
| WISEreader N526, N520, Elonex 511EB
| WISEreader N518
| HandyBOOK N516
| WISEreader 516
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| Manufacturer
| Sony
| Netronix
| Jinke Electronics
| Polymer Vision
| Hanvon
|
| Picture
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
| Screen Technology
| E Ink Vizplex
| Rollable organic TFT backplane with Vizplex frontplane
| E Ink Vizplex
|
| Display Size
| (76 × 102mm) 5" 600 × 800 pixels, 200 ppi
| 5" 240 × 320 pixels, 85 ppi
| (76 × 102mm) 5" 600 × 800 pixels, 200 ppi
|
| Grey Levels
| 8
| 4
| 4
| 8
| 16
| 8
| 8
| 8
| 8
|
| Touch Screen
| no
| no
| no
| no
| no
| N526
| yes (finger or stylus)
| no
| no
|
| OS
| Linux
| Linux
| Linux
| Linux
| WinCE
| WinCE
| WinCE
| Linux
| Linux
|
| Boot Time
| ?
| 15s
| 21s
| 16s
| ?
| ~20s
| 20s
| 20s
| ?
|
| CPU
| Freescale i.MXL MC9328MXLVP20
(ARM920T core, 200MHz)
| Samsung® S3C2440
(ARM920T core, 400MHz)
| Samsung® S3C2440
(ARM920T core, 400MHz)
| Samsung® S3C2440
(ARM920T core, 400MHz)
| ARM11 400MHz
| Ingenic® JZ4740
(MIPS XBurst core, 336MHz)
| Ingenic® JZ4740
(MIPS XBurst core, 336MHz)
| Ingenic® JZ4740
(MIPS XBurst core, 336MHz)
| Ingenic® JZ4740
(MIPS XBurst core, 336MHz)
|
| Memory
| ?MB RAM, 512MB Internal (440 MB User Accessible)
| 32MB RAM, 1GB Internal
| 64MB RAM, 512MB Internal
| 32MB RAM, 512MB Internal, 2M NOR Flash
| 128MB RAM, 256MB Internal
| ??MB RAM, 512MB Internal
| 64MB RAM, 512MB Internal
| 64MB RAM, 512MB Internal
| 64MB RAM, 512MB Internal
|
| Expansion Slots
| none
| Micro SD
May support SDHC
| Micro SD/SDHC
| SD/SDHC
| Micro SD
| SD/SDHC
| SD/SDHC
| SD/SDHC
| SD/SDHC/SDIO
|
| Other Interfaces
| USB 2.0 (charging)
| USB 2.0 (charging)
| USB 2.0 (charging)
| USB 2.0 (charging), headphone 3.5mm stereo
| USB 2.0 (charging), Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, GSM/GPRS/ EDGE tri-band
| USB 2.0 (charging), headphone 3.5mm stereo (micro-USB 1.1 host reserved for future use)
| USB 2.0 (charging), headphone 3.5mm stereo
| USB 2.0 (charging), headphone 3.5mm stereo
| USB 2.0 (charging), headphone 3.5mm stereo
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| Supported Formats
| BBeB (LRF/LRX), PDF, EPUB, TXT, RTF, JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG
| OEB-XHTML, TXT, HTML, PDF, EPUB, JPG, GIF, PNG, MP3
| FB2, TXT, PDF, DJVU, RTF, HTML, PRC, PDB (PalmDoc), Plucker, CHM, EPUB, DOC, TCR,JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF
| PDF (reflow), TXT, RTF, EPUB, LIT, PPT, WOLF, DOC, CHM, FB2, HTML, DJVU, MP3, TIFF, JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, RAR, ZIP
| TXT, HTML, PDF
| TXT, HTML, PDF, EPUB, MTXT, JPG, GIF, PNG, MP3
| FB2, ePub, MOBI, HTML, CHM, RTF, TXT, PalmDOC, zTXT, TCR, JPG, GIF, PNG
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| Supported DRM Formats
| Marlin DRM (BBeB), Adobe (EPUB/PDF)
| Adobe (EPUB/PDF)
| Adobe (EPUB/PDF)
| Wolf, Adobe (EPUB/PDF)
| ?
| Adobe (EPUB/PDF)
| none
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| Software
| eBook Library, Adobe Digital Editions, calibre
| Adobe Digital Editions
| Adobe Digital Editions, FBReader, PocketNews (for RSS Feeds)
| WOLF Maker, WOLF Printer, Adobe Digital Editions
| ?
| Adobe Digital Editions
| FBReader
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| 6 " READER DEVICES COMPARISON TABLE |
| Brandname
| HanLin eBook
| Sony Portable Reader
| Amazon Kindle
| Bookeen
| COOL-ER
| Pocketbook
| txtr reader
| NUUTbook
| iriver
| Onyx
| Barnes and Noble
| Spring Design
| ViewSonic
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| Model
| V3
| Touch Edition PRS-600
| Kindle 2
| Cybook Gen3
| Cool-er Classic
| 301 Plus
| 302 (unreleased)
| txtr reader (unreleased)
| NUUT2
| iriver Story
| Boox60
| Nook
| Alex (unreleased)
| Viewsonic VEB612
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| Manufacturer
| Jinke Electronics
| Sony
| Hon Hai Precision Industries
| Netronix
| txtr GmbH
| Neolux Corporation
| iriver
| Onyx
| Barnes & Noble
| Spring Design
| ViewSonic
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| Picture
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
| Display Size
| (90 × 120mm) 6" 600 × 800 pixels, 167 ppi
|
| Grey Levels
| 4
| 8
| 16
| 4
| 4
| 4(16 soft)
| 16
| 16
| 8
| 8
| 8
| 16
| 16?
| 8
|
| Touch Screen
| no
| yes (finger or stylus)
| n.a.
| no
| n.a.
| n.a.
| yes (finger or stylus)
| n.a.
| n.a.
| n.a.
| yes (Wacom)
| Separate color LCD touchscreen, 480 x 144 pixels
| Separate 3.5" color LCD touchscreen
| no
|
| OS
| Linux
| Linux 2.6.23
| Linux 2.6.22
| Linux 2.6.18
| Linux
| Linux
| Linux
| Linux
| Linux
| Linux
| Linux
| Android 1.5, Linux 2.6.27
| Android 1.5
| ?
|
| Boot Time
| 16s
| 15s
| ?
| 20s
| 30s
| 9s
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
|
| CPU
| Samsung® S3C2410 (ARM920T core, 200MHz)
| Freescale i.MX31L (ARM1136JF-S core, 532MHz)
| Freescale i.MX31L (ARM1136JF-S core, 532MHz)
| V1, V2: Samsung® S3C2410 (ARM920T core, 200MHz)
V3, Gold: Samsung® S3C2440 (ARM920T core, 400MHz)
| Samsung® S3C2440 (ARM920T core, 400MHz)
| Samsung® S3C2440 (ARM920T core, 400MHz)
| Samsung® S3C2440 (ARM920T core, 400MHz)
| Freescale i.MX31L (ARM1136JF-S core, 532MHz)
| ARM compatible (300MHz)
| ARM11 (533MHz)
| Freescale i.MX31L (ARM1136JF-S core, 532MHz)
| Samsung S3C6410 (ARM1176JZF-S core, 667MHz)
| Marvell’s ARMADA 166E
| ?
|
| Memory
| 512MB, Internal 2M NOR Flash, 512MB SD Card included
| 128MB RAM, 512MB(NAND) Flash (~420MB user accessible)
| 128MB RAM, 2GB Flash (1.4GB user accessible)
| V1: 16MB RAM, 64MB Flash
V2: 16MB RAM, 512 Flash
V3: 32MB RAM, 512MB Flash
Gold: ??MB RAM, 1GB Flash
| 128MB RAM, 1GB Flash
| 64MB RAM, 512MB Flash
| 64MB RAM, 512MB Flash
| 64MB RAM
| ?MB RAM, 1GB Flash (512MB user accessible)
| ?MB RAM, 2 GB Flash
| 32MB RAM, 512MB Flash
| ?MB RAM, 2 GB Flash
| ?
| 512MB Internal
|
| Expansion Slots
| SD/MMC up to 4GB
| MMC/SD/SDHC, Memory Stick Pro Duo
| none
| SD/SDHC
| SD up to 4GB
| SD/SDHC
| MicroSD/SDHC, USB Host
| MicroSD/microSDHC - 8GB microSD included
| SD/SDHC, USB host
| SD/SDHC
| SD/SDHC, USB OTG
| MicroSD/SDHC
| SD/SDHC
| SD card up to 4GB
|
| Other Interfaces
| USB 1.1 (charging), headphone
| USB 2.0, headphone
| USB 2.0 (charging), headphone, EVDO/CDMA
| USB 2.0 (charging), 2.5mm stereo
| USB 2.0 (charging), 2.5mm stereo
| USB 2.0 (charging), 2.5mm stereo
| USB 2.0 (charging), 3.5mm stereo, Bluetooth, WiFi
| USB 2.0 (charging), Bluetooth, 3G/GPRS
| USB 2.0 (charging), 24-pin cell charger, 3.5mm stereo, WiFi,
| USB 2.0 (charging)?, headphone, microphone
| USB 2.0 (charging), 3.5mm stereo, WiFi
| Micro USB 2.0 (charging), 3.5mm stereo, WiFi, 3G/GPRS
| Micro USB 2.0 (charging), 3.5mm stereo, WiFi, 3G/GPRS?
| USB 2.0 Slave Card Reader SD Slot Earphone Jack 2.5mm Phone Jack 2.5mm - 3.5mm for audio
|
| Supported Formats
| PDF, EPUB, TXT, RTF, LIT, PPT, WOLF, DOC, CHM, FB2, PRC/MOBI, HTML, DJVU, MP3, TIFF, JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, RAR, ZIP
| BBeB (LRF/LRX), PDF, EPUB, TXT, RTF, JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, MP3, AAC
| Kindle (AZW and TOPAZ), PRC/MOBI (non DRM), PDF (non DRM), TXT, MP3, Audible (format 4, Audible Enhanced (AAX)), MP3;
| Mobi firmware: OEB-XHTML, TXT, HTML, PDF (non DRM), PRC/MOBI, JPG, GIF, PNG, MP3
ePub firmware: ePub, OEB-XHTML, TXT, HTML, PDF, JPG, GIF, PNG, MP3
| PDF, EPUB, FB2, RTF, TXT, HTML, PRC, JPG AND MP3
| FB2, TXT, PDF, DJVU, RTF, HTML, PRC, CHM, EPUB, DOC, TCR, JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF, MP3, ZIP
| PDF, EPUB, HTML, RTF, Powerpoint
| PDF, EPUB, TXT, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, MP3, WAV
| PDF, EPUB, TXT, PDF, DOC, PPT, XLS, JPG, BMP, GIF, MP3, WMA, OGG
| PDF, EPUB, MOBI, FB2, TXT, PDB, HTML, CHM, DJVU, JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF
| PDF, EPUB, eReader, PDB, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, MP3
| ?
| PDF, TXT, ePub, HTML, PRC, MP3
|
| Supported DRM Formats
| Wolf and MobiPocket or Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF)
| Marlin DRM (BBeB), Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF)
| AZW and TOPAZ (Kindle only)
| MobiPocket
| Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF)
| Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF)
| Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF)
| Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF)
| Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF)
| Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF)
| eReader (EPUB/eReader), Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF)
| ?
| EPUB
|
| Software
| WOLF Maker, WOLF Printer
| eBook Library, Adobe Digital Editions
| NetFront web browser & MobiPocket Java Reader
| Bookeen® Multi-format eBook reader
| Adobe Digital Editions
| Adobe Digital Editions, PocketBook News Reader, 3d party applications (open API)
| Adobe Digital Editions
| Adobe Digital Editions
| Adobe Digital Editions
| Adobe Digital Editions
| Adobe Digital Editions
| ?
| ?
|
| Content Partners
| MobiPocket
| Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Libri.de, Thalia.de, Thalia.ch, stauffacher.ch
| Amazon
| MobiPocket, Ubibooks, Cluster21
| Cooler Books
| ?
| online portal txtr.com
| ?
| ?
| ?
| B&N eBooks
| [1]
| [2]
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| LARGER READER DEVICES COMPARISON TABLE |
| Brandname
| Sony Portable Reader
| iRex
| Amazon Kindle
| Astak Mentor
| Pocketbook
| Plastic Logic
| enTourage Systems
| Fujitsu FLEPia
|
| Model
| Daily Edition PRS-900
| DR800SG
| iLiad
| Digital Reader 1000
| Kindle DX
| Mentor Electra
| PocketBook 901
| QUE
| enTourage eDGe
| FLEPia
|
| Manufacturer
| Sony
| iRex Technologies
| Hon Hai Precision Industries
| Netronix
| Plastic Logic
| ?
| Fujitsu
|
| Picture
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ?
|
| Screen Technology
| E Ink Vizplex
| E Ink Vizplex
| E Ink Vizplex
| E Ink Vizplex
| E Ink Vizplex
| E Ink Vizplex FlexiScreen
| E Ink Vizplex flexible plastic display
| E Ink Vizplex
| color epaper ?
|
| Display Size
| (90 × 154mm) 7.1" 600 × 1024 pixels, 167 ppi
| (122 × 163mm) 8.1" 768x1024 pixels, 158 ppi
| (122 x 163mm) 8.1" 768x1024 pixels, 158 ppi
| (163 × 203mm) 10.2" 1024x1280 pixels, 160 ppi
| (140 × 203mm) 9.7" 825×1200 pixels, 150 ppi
| (160 × 214mm) 10.5" 944x1264 pixels, 150 ppi
| (140 × 203mm) 9.7" 825x1200 pixels, 150 ppi
| (124 × 165mm) 8" 768x1024 pixels, ?ppi
|
| Grey Levels
| 16
| 16
| 16
| 16
| 16
| 16
| 16
| 8
| 16
| 260,000 colors (3 Scans); 4,096 (2 Scans); 64 colors (1 Scan)
|
| Touch Screen
| yes (finger or stylus)
| yes (WaCom Pen)
| yes (WaCom Pen)
| yes (WaCom Pen, DR1000S & DR1000SW editions)
| no
| yes (finger or stylus)
| no
| yes (finger)
| yes (WaCom Pen)
| yes (finger or stylus)
|
| OS
| Linux
| Linux
| Linux
| Linux 2.6.24
| Linux 2.6.22.19
| Linux
| Linux
| Microsoft Windows CE?
| Android 1.6
| Microsoft Windows CE5.0
|
| Boot Time
| ?
| ?
| 44s
| 50s
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
|
| CPU
| Freescale i.MX31L (ARM1136JF-S core, 532MHz)
| Freescale i.MX31L
| Intel X-Scale 400MHz
| Freescale i.MX31L 400MHz?
| Freescale i.MX31L (ARM1136JF-S core, 532MHz)
| Samsung S3C2443 400MHz
| ?
| Marvell ARMADA 166E 800MHz
| Marvell ARMADA 166E 800MHz
| Intel XScale RISC CPU
|
| Memory
| 128MB Ram + 2GB (NAND) Flash (~1.6GB user accessible)
| 128MB Ram + 2GB SD
| 64MB Ram + 128MB free Flash
| 128MB Ram + 1GB SD
| 128MB Ram + 8MB NOR Flash + 4GB NAND Flash (~3.3GB user accessible)
| 64MB Ram + 512MB NAND Flash
| ?
| ??MB Ram + 8GB (~7.6GB user accessible)
| ?Ram + 4GB (~3GB user accessible)
| ?
|
| Expansion Slots
| MMC/SD/SDHC, Memory Stick Pro Duo
| SD/SDHC
| MMC, CF Type II, USB Memory
| SD/SDHC
| none
| SD/SDHC
| SD/SDHC
| none
| SD
| SD
|
| Other Interfaces
| USB 2.0, headphone, 3G (AT&T)
| USB 2.0 (charging); 3G (Verizon)
| USB 1.1, headphone, WiFi 802.11b (NOT for Book Edition), 10/100 LAN
| USB 2.0 (charging); 1000SW only: WiFi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth
| USB 2.0, headphone, EVDO/CDMA
| 2 × USB 2.0 (one charging), headphone, Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11g, SD3G
| ?
| USB 2.0 (charging), Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11g, 3G (US: AT&T)
| 2 x USB, headphone, WiFi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth, 3G (optional), 1.3 Megapixel camera, internal microphone and speakers
| USB 2.0 mini-B connector × 1, Bluetooth Ver2.0+EDR, Stereo speakers, headphone, WiFi 802.11b/g
|
| Supported Formats
| BBeB (LRF/LRX), PDF, EPUB, TXT, RTF, JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, MP3, AAC
| eReader, ePub, PDF, TXT, JPG, BMP, PNG (via FBReader: fb2, CHM, Plucker, zTxt, TCR, RTF, OEB, PRC)
| PDF, HTML, TXT, JPG, BMP, PNG, PRC/MOBI, DJVU (via FBReader: fb2, CHM, Plucker, zTxt, TCR, RTF, OEB, EPUB)
| PDF, HTML, TXT, JPG, BMP, PNG, PRC/MOBI (via FBReader: fb2, CHM, Plucker, zTxt, TCR, RTF, OEB, EPUB, via evice: DJVU)
| Kindle (AZW and TOPAZ), PRC/MOBI (non DRM), TXT, PDF, Audible (format 4, Audible Enhanced (AAX)), MP3;
| eReader, PDF, EPUB, HTML/CHM, TXT, RTF, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, MP3, AAC
| FB2, TXT, PDF, DJVU, RTF, HTML, PRC, CHM, EPUB, DOC, TCR, JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF, MP3, ZIP
| PDF, ePub, TXT, GIF, JPEG, PNG, BMP
| ePub, PDF
| ?
|
| Supported DRM Formats
| Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF)
| eReader, Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF)
| MobiPocket
| MobiPocket
| AZW and TOPAZ (USA only)
| eReader, Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF)
| Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF)
| Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF)
| Adobe ADEPT (EPUB/PDF)
| ?
|
| Services
| Sony CONNECT via 3G
| Barnes&Noble ebook store via 3G
| iRex Technologies Delivery Service (iDS)
| Amazon Kindle Whispernet. E-mail conversion of DOC, HTML, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP and PDF
| ?
| ?
| Barnes&Noble ebook store via wiFi and 3G
| ?
| ?
|
| Content Partners
| Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Libri.de, Thalia.de, Thalia.ch, stauffacher.ch
| Barnes&Noble
| De Tijd, IFRA, Les Echos, NRC Handelsblad, MobiPocket
| Amazon
| FictionWise
| ?
| Barnes&Noble
| ?
| "PAPYLESS CO.,Ltd." on "FLEPia World" website
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