Mine isnt going to be with me until December by which time i'd like any 'glitches' all ironed out please :wink:
In the meantime i'd love to read some about how all you lucky new owners are getting on with the Cybook!
Thanks Harry already and it's really good to read that it compares favourably with the iRex ..
*waiting with baited breath*

Loopy!

My first impression is favorable. The screen has some reflections in certain angles but that might be how en E-ink device is. Playing around just an hour now the thing I miss most is folders so I can sort my books sensible. I also miss sorting by author name.

I like the lightness and thinnes. The button to change page is hard to press sometimes. The pdf files from feedbooks looks really nice and the page turn is fast for pdf.

Come on people, snap some pictures. You can never have too many pictures. Take some pictures in bad lighiting condition. Show us the menus. Show us side view. What is the smallest readable font size? how many lines per page do you get in that case.
Do kind of a visual review. Each new happy owner donate a picture :grin2:. Help the undecided make the switch...

http://www.idzerdamedia.com/ebook/DSCF1701.jpg
http://www.idzerdamedia.com/ebook/DSCF1702.jpg
http://www.idzerdamedia.com/ebook/DSCF1703.jpg
http://www.idzerdamedia.com/ebook/DSCF1704.jpg
http://www.idzerdamedia.com/ebook/DSCF1705.jpg
http://www.idzerdamedia.com/ebook/DSCF1706.jpg

Wow, Zandor, thanks. Way to go.

http://home.kabelfoon.nl/~ellruss/cybook/DSCF0056.JPG
http://home.kabelfoon.nl/~ellruss/cybook/DSCF0057.JPG
http://home.kabelfoon.nl/~ellruss/cybook/DSCF0058.JPG
http://home.kabelfoon.nl/~ellruss/cybook/DSCF0059.JPG
http://home.kabelfoon.nl/~ellruss/cybook/DSCF0060.JPG
http://home.kabelfoon.nl/~ellruss/cybook/DSCF0061.JPG
http://home.kabelfoon.nl/~ellruss/cybook/DSCF0062.JPG
http://home.kabelfoon.nl/~ellruss/cybook/DSCF0063.JPG
http://home.kabelfoon.nl/~ellruss/cybook/DSCF0064.JPG

These pictures are all so beautiful and are going to make the next month an eternity :)

Thank you!

Great pics thx,

wow! awesome pics and feedback so far .. thanks everyone! ..
like someone else said .. the month wait is going to feel like an eternity!!

Loopy

Mine is scheduled to be delivered November 7. Two days from now. Luckily for me, I'm in a training class this week, which will keep my mind off things, and prevent me from refreshing the FedEx status page every 30 seconds.

Looks nice. But, that packaging isn't very "green" is it. Seems like alot of wasted space in that box!

I've got to admit that the matte finish is way better than the old one.
And the leather cover looks very good, much better than the prs one IMHO.

It's hard to refrain from buying it, these photos are teasing me :p

The leather cover looks good but I will have to see how it works. The magnet seems to be not powerful enough. It works OK without the Cybook but when I put the Cybook in the cover it does not work so good. Maybe it will be better when the leather becomes softer or more used.

And with the cover it is hard to find a good position to use the buttons on the left side. When playing with the reader I noticed I used the back button a lot. But maybe when reading books that will not be the case.

Thanks Robert. The leather cover looks much better than the prs500 one. How is the readability in low light situation considering it's just 4 gray level and not 8 like prs505?

Thanks Robert. The leather cover looks much better than the prs500 one. How is the readability in low light situation considering it's just 4 gray level and not 8 like prs505?

I am a bit surprised by this sort of question. There is no reason for the number of gray scale levels to influence the brightness of the display or readabilty. White is White no matter how many grays there are. Cybook has 16 levels of gray but achieve the rest by dithering which is done quite well from the test that have been posted. It might be worth reading how e-ink is accomplished on their web site if this is confusing.

Dale

Yes I agree. Low light readability will depend on the contrast, i.e. the difference in brightness between brightest white and darkest black. White is white is also a little misleading. We call many things white but generally white is something that reflects a high proportion of the light striking it and all wavelengths equally. Some things are whiter than others is what I am trying to say in my clumsy fashion.

Looks nice. But, that packaging isn't very "green" is it. Seems like alot of wasted space in that box!

They use the same box for the basic and deluxe packages. It's a lot "fuller" with the Deluxe package.

Thanks Robert. The leather cover looks much better than the prs500 one. How is the readability in low light situation considering it's just 4 gray level and not 8 like prs505?

The readability is excellent. I can comfortably read the Gen3 in light levels in which I'd need a reading light with the PRS500. Comparing the PRS500 and Gen3 side by side, the Gen3's screen is a lot "whiter", hence better contrast between the black text and the background. I'll try and post a "side by side" photo when I get home from work tonight.

Thanks. Though what I would really like to see is a side by side comparison with the 505...

Thanks. Though what I would really like to see is a side by side comparison with the 505...

They would look identical - for text, at least. It's the same screen.

The 505 should, in theory, show slightly more detail in graphical images, since it has 8 grey-scales rather than the 4 of the Gen3, but I very much doubt that you'll see any practical difference. I don't see any real difference between the appearance of images on the 4-grey-scale 500 compared to the 16-grey-scale iLiad - the dithering algorithm does a good job of "synthesizing" extra grey scales.

cant get book recognized as a reading device in mobipocket! shows as a storage device.

Do you have the latest version?

cant get book recognized as a reading device in mobipocket! shows as a storage device.

Please don't post the same question to multiple threads. I've answered you in the "Problem Reports" thread.

What I am most curious is side by side prs-505 and cybook. To compare their whitness, but I guess it is next to impossible to obtain because no one who recently bought 505 will also buy cybook.

What I am most curious is side by side prs-505 and cybook. To compare their whitness, but I guess it is next to impossible to obtain because no one who recently bought 505 will also buy cybook.

Harry might:D

I took the cybook on the train and underground today, had no problems reading in different light conditions. Some paperback books are more difficult to read. I would not take the reader with me without the leather case. it's just to thin and the screen is not protected without the leather case.

Great! I got the email notification of shipping this morning, and this evening the package was waiting for me at a neighbour's appartment. Of course, I'm in Paris, so it just had to cross the town to get to me. ;)

Opening the package, I was impressed by the thinness of the Cybook Gen3. And it's no heavier than a paperback. But it feels sturdy enough to be used as an everyday reader, not just as a hi-tech toy. Though I wouldn't put it in a travel bag without its leather case, too.

I had no problem charging the battery, using the charger included in the Deluxe pack. Charging time is about 3 hours, that way.

Booting the reader, I was very to navigate and read. A few e-books were already available in the reader's internal memory, which was a nice surprise. I don't think I saw a mention of that on Bookeen's website, anyway! Included are two recent SF e-books: Charles Stross's novel "Accelerando", Cory Doctorow's novella "I, Robot"; plus a few public domain e-books in French and English, and previews from a dozen of Mobipocket e-books, from "Da Vinci Code" to Clinton's autobiography to "Internet for Dummies".

The one sheet quick start notice (in French and English) is very clear and useful, but I couldn't find the complete user's manual in e-book format that it said would be in the reader's memory. It's a little annoying, but at least, that didn't keep me from using the reader, because once you have it in hand, navigation is quite intuitive. The buttons on the side are neatly incised with icons depicting their use (switch to the music library, go, back to the general menu, etc.), too.

I had no problem exchanging files with my computer, too. The Cybook and the SD card in it were quickly recognized as external volumes by Ubuntu.

All in all, I'm glad I bought it. The ability to hold a whole library in a device the size of a single book is just what I needed.

Just one thing, though: if you have small hands, be careful to hold the device in both hands to read! In some photos I've seen on the Net, it was a man with big hands holding the Cybook. ;)

I am a bit surprised by this sort of question. There is no reason for the number of gray scale levels to influence the brightness of the display or readability. White is White no matter how many grays there are. Cybook has 16 levels of gray but achieve the rest by dithering which is done quite well from the test that have been posted. It might be worth reading how e-ink is accomplished on their web site if this is confusing.

Dale
The Gen3 has 4 levels of gray because of the controller being used. The only eink device that has 16 shades is the iLiad.

What I am most curious is side by side prs-505 and cybook. To compare their whiteness, but I guess it is next to impossible to obtain because no one who recently bought 505 will also buy cybook.
They should be the same as the 505 and Gen3 both use the same 6" Vizplex screen. The only difference is that the 505 achieves eight shades and the Gen3 four due to different controllers.

I am still charging mine from USB interface, so didn't play for too long.
Again, dimensions are nice - bigger than PDAs but smaller than laptops. Very thin, really cool :) and light of course.

Matte finish is great, although it shows you how dirty your hands are very quickly :(

Interface is very intuitive. Nice to see arrows adjust to all the portrait/landscape/flip combinations. I copied a mix of literature and technical docs, so I'll play with it tonight and tomorrow. As we are reviewing some docs at work, I'll try it for my work as well (including diagrams and such).

So far I am very impressed. To be balanced, there is one minor problem I found with the buttons (Ok and arrows). They are rather close to each other so I already pressed Ok by accident (when I wanted down arrow). Also they require a fair bit of pressure. Since the device is so thin, I try to place another finger underneath when pressing buttons to reduce pressure on the frame (avoid twisting it). It is not a big deal. Just have to be careful when using them. Also I wonder why +/- don't function as page up/down when not using audio functions? If audio is not active then these buttons are disabled, so might as well activate them for page up/down.

Also I wonder why +/- don't function as page up/down when not using audio functions? If audio is not active then these buttons are disabled, so might as well activate them for page up/down.

My first thought was also that this would be a good idea. Maybe these buttons are not designed to be pressed as many time as you will press a page turning button.

Yep i'd agree it would be nice if the plus & minus buttons could be customised - e.g. go to the next page etc.

Bookeen if you're reading, perhaps for the next firmware?!

Did any of you who took a few photos of your cybook have one with one of the books generated with Feedbooks displayed ?

I'd like to blog about the release and this kind of picture would be helpful.

I did take one ! Click to enlarge:

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/1811/bookeen5yv1.th.png (http://img258.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bookeen5yv1.png)

Actually, it's a scan, but the picture is quite clear. ;)

I did take one ! Click to enlarge:

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/1811/bookeen5yv1.th.png (http://img258.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bookeen5yv1.png)

Actually, it's a scan, but the picture is quite clear. ;)

Merci Irène ! D'ailleurs tu connais un peu des auteurs de Fantasy ou de SF qui diffusent sous Creative Commons en français ?

Did you liked "Accelerando" ? I had a lot of fun reading this one, love the post-cyberpunk universe at the beginning of the book. I wonder why Michael embedded "I, Robot" instead of "Down and out in the Magic Kingdom". More people downloaded "I, Robot", but the name is confusing. I guess some people expected Asimov instead...

Hi, Hadrien ! I didn't read Accelerando yet, but I'm planning to.

Sinon, des auteurs de SF et fantasy français qui diffusent en CC, j'en connais quelques uns... Moi-même, j'ai mis plusieurs nouvelles en téléchargement sur mon blog. ;)
http://www.irenedelse.com/category/nouvelles/

Voir aussi Emmanuel Guillot et le Groupe 746 de Lulu.com :
http://stores.lulu.com/gr746
http://stores.lulu.com/emmanuelguillot

BTW, if you're looking for other french language SF/fantasy works freely available, see Utopod (http://www.utopod.com/), a podcast of short stories by Johan Héliot, Joël Champetier, Ugo Bellagamba and other contemporary authors.

Come on people, snap some pictures. You can never have too many pictures. Take some pictures in bad lighiting condition. Show us the menus. Show us side view. What is the smallest readable font size? how many lines per page do you get in that case.
Do kind of a visual review. Each new happy owner donate a picture :grin2:. Help the undecided make the switch...

Some pictures showing smallest font size, largest font size and one of the demo pictures to demonstrate gray scale. I don't plan on using if for pictures though. I used the built in Verdana font.

Barcey, can you attach that parrot photo? I'd like to see how it looks on my 505.

I've been noticing that books in mobi format do use a fair bit of margin. Is there any way using Mobipocket's tools to specify the margin?

Barcey, can you attach that parrot photo? I'd like to see how it looks on my 505.

I've been noticing that books in mobi format do use a fair bit of margin. Is there any way using Mobipocket's tools to specify the margin?

Ask and you shall receive.

No unfortunately there's no way to remove the margins yet. I'm hoping that will be an option in a future firmware release. You don't get the extra lines when you remove the header or progress bar either. More wasted space then I'd like.

Other versions of the Mobi reader have a menu setting to change the margin size; hopefully Bookeen will add this to their version in a future release. I find the current margin to be reasonable, however.

The current margin works OK and sometimes you need a margin since you can get a shadow from the leather case.

Some pictures showing smallest font size, largest font size and one of the demo pictures to demonstrate gray scale. I don't plan on using if for pictures though. I used the built in Verdana font.

the smallest font size is surprising large. Only about 30 lines on the page. I would expected a bit more for the smallest font.

Dale

the smallest font size is surprising large. Only about 30 lines on the page. I would expected a bit more for the smallest font.

Dale

Clearly you haven't moved Berling Antiqua to your Cybook yet! I just switched from Constantia to Berling Antiqua and got it up to *40* lines!!! :D

Derek

Clearly you haven't moved Berling Antiqua to your Cybook yet! I just switched from Constantia to Berling Antiqua and got it up to *40* lines!!! :D

Derek

Be damned if *I* can stand to *read* it at that setting for very long, though. :)


Derek

Why with the pdf format you can have the page numbers and not with prc?

Why with the pdf format you can have the page numbers and not with prc?

Probably because the PDF file has a *FIXED* number of pages (page images) and the typical ebook page count changes as the font family and size is changed. That's not to say that a 'page of... total page count' feature can't be implemented, just that it hasn't been done - yet! :)

Derek

Probably because the PDF file has a *FIXED* number of pages (page images) and the typical ebook page count changes as the font family and size is changed. That's not to say that a 'page of... total page count' feature can't be implemented, just that it hasn't been done - yet! :)

Derek
What about a ebook converted with Book designer can I insert the page numbers?

What about a ebook converted with Book designer can I insert the page numbers?

Why? I mean, this is formatted for an ebook, which by its very nature is not oriented towards specific page numbers for specific paragraphs. Now if you want to mark a specific image or paragraph, why not set up a bookmark or hyperlink?

Derek

One obvious reason to have the pagenumber that corresponds to the numbers in the printed books is when you discus the book in a book circle. It is easier to refer to specific passages.

Another reason to have som kind of page number is if you want to read one third of the book one evening. Or if you just want to read a specific amount as I sometimes want to do when it is a boring book that I want or need to finish.

Since the total page number is available in the goto page menu it should be easy to display the current and the total page number.

tompe, you should read the discussion on page numbers and other ways to identify parts of an ebook in the Content part of the forum. Just skip over the off topic posts that unfortunately are also part of this interesting discussion.

One obvious reason to have the pagenumber that corresponds to the numbers in the printed books is when you discus the book in a book circle. It is easier to refer to specific passages.

Another reason to have som kind of page number is if you want to read one third of the book one evening. Or if you just want to read a specific amount as I sometimes want to do when it is a boring book that I want or need to finish.

Since the total page number is available in the goto page menu it should be easy to display the current and the total page number.

Tompe,

But again, that doesn't make sense. If you prefer Berling Antiqua font at font level 5 and I prefer Verdana at font level 7, your 'page 255' is going to be *pages* away from *my* 'page 255'. So no, that's not reason enough.

Derek

Probably because the PDF file has a *FIXED* number of pages (page images) and the typical ebook page count changes as the font family and size is changed. That's not to say that a 'page of... total page count' feature can't be implemented, just that it hasn't been done - yet! :)

Derek
A reflowable format can have page numbers. BBeB has page numbers. At the bottom of the screen it shows (for example) 10 of 123. And the page numbers do change accordingly when you change the font size. Also, when you go to the internal ToC, you do see page numbers as well.

It certainly can have page numbers, but I think that what Derek is saying is that on a machine such as the Gen3, which allows you to view the text in a limitless range of different fonts and text sizes, those page numbers cannot be sensibly used to refer to a particular point in the text, which is what tompe was suggesting. It's different on the Sony Reader where the user can't change the font, and there are only three text sizes available.

It certainly can have page numbers, but I think that what Derek is saying is that on a machine such as the Gen3, which allows you to view the text in a limitless range of different fonts and text sizes, those page numbers cannot be sensibly used to refer to a particular point in the text, which is what tompe was suggesting. It's different on the Sony Reader where the user can't change the font, and there are only three text sizes available.

I was suggesting two things. The easy way to just display the page number would be useful and it does not matter that it changes when I changes font size. If I would like to read one tenth of a book I can easily do that having the current page number and the total number of pages. Now it is not so easy to read a specific amount of the book.

The other thing was to have real page numbers (displayed for example in the margin) corresponding to the printed version. That is not only useful in academic situations as discussed in the thread about this but useful when discussing the book with friends.

It certainly can have page numbers, but I think that what Derek is saying is that on a machine such as the Gen3, which allows you to view the text in a limitless range of different fonts and text sizes, those page numbers cannot be sensibly used to refer to a particular point in the text, which is what tompe was suggesting. It's different on the Sony Reader where the user can't change the font, and there are only three text sizes available.

How can you read a book without a knowledge what page you are on and how many pages there are in total?

How can you read a book without a knowledge what page you are on and how many pages there are in total?

There is a progress bar so you know approximately where you are in the book.

There is a progress bar so you know approximately where you are in the book.

I see.
I hope they will add page numbers as well. Quite often I go to TOC and look how many pages left till the end of the chapter to decide on the course of my action ...turn the lights off and go to sleep for example or something like that.
Page numbers are very important part of my reading experience. However, I understand that many people don't care. Like some people want to have a clock and I cannot stand the idea of haveing time in fron of my eyes all the time when I read.

I see.
I hope they will add page numbers as well. Quite often I go to TOC and look how many pages left till the end of the chapter to decide on the course of my action ...turn the lights off and go to sleep for example or something like that.
Page numbers are very important part of my reading experience. However, I understand that many people don't care. Like some people want to have a clock and I cannot stand the idea of haveing time in fron of my eyes all the time when I read.

Interesting. I've never considered page numbers integral/important to my reading enjoyment of a novel. However, as others have said, *IF* I were reading along with a group of people or studying a text for reference purposes, I'd definitely *want* page numbers. :)

As for deciding whether to read on or sleep... as the Cybook draws so little power, I usually just place it on my nightstand and turn off the lights wherever I am in the book. :)

Derek

Actually, pagenumbers in reflowable formats are quite complex. You have to either render the whole book to know, how many pages there are, or do an educated guess. I would like to see something like a fixed pagenumber. Best if it would correlate to the printed book, and then have subpagenumbers on the reflowable format.

Opps, guess we are OT here, arent we. Well, i am looking forward to finally gt one of those CyBooks in my hands.

Actually, pagenumbers in reflowable formats are quite complex. You have to either render the whole book to know, how many pages there are, or do an educated guess. I would like to see something like a fixed pagenumber. Best if it would correlate to the printed book, and then have subpagenumbers on the reflowable format.

Opps, guess we are OT here, arent we. Well, i am looking forward to finally gt one of those CyBooks in my hands.

It is something that MobiPocket does not have on any platform and it is a deficiency. (The iLiad is reported to have page numbers and the full page count but it is the only implementation that does so.) This is not particularly a Cybook issue but a MobiPocket one. There have been many topics in this forum on relowable repagination with regard to MobiPocket and Adobe Digital Editions.

It can be difficult but others have solved it.

Dale

It is something that MobiPocket does not have on any platform and it is a deficiency. (The iLiad is reported to have page numbers and the full page count but it is the only implementation that does so.)

Actually the Pocket PC version of Mobi Reader shows your current page number at the end of the status bar, at the bottom of the screen. The iLiad goes one further and shows the current page number in a box in the middle of the status bar, and the last page number at the end of the bar. The Gen3 obviously knows both your current page number and the total number of pages (because it has a "goto page x" facility, but it doesn't display them while you're reading.