Well, I have charged it & switched it on and I have a MAC. I erad the manual yesterday and was a trifle concerned.

Anyway, in the MAC does eventually see it as a usb device, but it is probably quicker to remove the SD card & use a reader.

I then (in spite of the manual) just dragged some folders full of pdf files ont the card, re-inserted & found the files.

Now it has taken a while to get this far (2 hours!) and digging the camera out to photograph some results is also a challenge as the flash does get in the way. (I hate flash).

Overall:
The screen is lovely
It takes about 55 - 60s to switch on:( I did think it would be quicker.
Whenever you do anything it flashes & this can be on numerous occasions. Quite why it must flash so often I have no idea. You cannot appear to stop this, unlike the cybook which you can minimise the flashing.

The capacitive keys are frustrating as they are a bit too sensitive, but disabling them is almost as frustrating.

The stylus is okay, though for the best part of £470 you would think a better quality one would be provided.

The menu structure is not the easiest to get around, familiarity with the numerous key combinations may eventually help here though. Why you have to go through the menus to rotate & zoom & pan etc rather than create a few buttons or stylus press areas on the display is beyond me.

Reading.
For pdfs it is brilliant. Even A3 are readable without zoom, and A4 is more than adequate. The photo's do not really do it justice as some of the pdf files are scans.

text and html books are fine, I haven't yet registered the device to see my Mobi books, but I would expect a nice display. However for just holiday book reading, get a Cybook (or equiv)

I hope to download a newspaper and see what that is like later.

When in its case, it does get heavy and so it is designed for use on desk or table in my opninon.

The writing side is delayed & so while you can write, you have to assume it will catch up & it does.

Anyway, familiarity should improve some things:)

For pdf's though it is definitely the one to go for.

For pdf's though it is definitely the one to go for.

Cool :cool: That's the sentence I've been waiting for.

Thank you!

Congratulations on being the first posting-receiver. :p

Those landscapes photos look really amazing. Shame about you saying that a CyBook would be better for 'just' holiday reading, but supposing I mix up both tech. books with normal paperbacks at home and on holiday, I'm guessing I should be fine.

I'm begging for your comment concerning the difference in render time with the CyBook.

Shame about you saying that a CyBook would be better for 'just' holiday reading, but supposing I mix up both tech. books with normal paperbacks at home and on holiday, I'm guessing I should be fine.


I assume by "holiday" reading he means recreational/fiction type reading.

BOb

The DR1000 is quicker in rendering the pdf's than the cybook. I have just stuck on a mobi book now & it is very easy to read with a big font, no glasses required here :-)

But it is a bit heavy just for reading books. The cybook (or I dare say others ) are better suited to that task IMHO. The Cybook was okay reading pdfs, a bit slow and you had to pan & zoom a lot which was frustrating. Not with this though.

All the photos are of pdfs bar the last which was an attempt to write :-)

Is that the "Flip-Over" cover? Can it be folded back to be out of the way when holding the device?

I always use HarryT's Dickens, Charles: A Tale of Two Cities (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17594) to test MOBI (no PID required). Screenshots from the iLiad here (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=150265&postcount=19). Can the DR1000S switch fonts for MOBI ebooks, and how does it compare to the Cybook (which has a better MOBI reader implementation than the iLiad at least)?

Right, just timed a couple of graphic rich pdfs.
In both DR1000 & Cybook the first time you open the pdf it takes ages. 60s+ No real difference, you just get bored rigid.
The next time you open however, the DR1000 takes 2s, the cybook 60s
Another one, 2 - 5s on the DR1000 15s on Cybook.

Clearly the processing engine & processor are making a difference here.
Howard

Yeah, thanks BOb, that's what he meant; a misunderstanding on my part.

Hmm, that's great news, pthwaite! I've been really eager to hear that, and I'll probably will go and buy it tomorrow. Depends on whether the shop next to my university will have a demo available. Thanks again!

The DR1000 can switch font size, but not font as far as I can tell.
The cover is the flip-over & has been flipped since I started playing :-)

The DR1000 is not the easiest interface to get used to, or at least not after cybook, but it is coming

The screen is lovely
Reading. For pdfs it is brilliant.
For pdf's though it is definitely the one to go for.

YES!! Thank you for taking the time to share your first impressions. It's going to be a long week...waiting...waiting.

Thanks again!
CJP

Can you do a video which shows pdf browsing and stuff like this?

Video, hmm, not that easy I'm afraid. I have the technology, but not at present the time I'm afraid. If nobody else does one in te next day or 2 I may have time but it would be after the weekend, sorry :-(

Well okay, here is a short clip. I hope it works as I'm on a MAC & never tried this before. I'm sorry for the out of focus, it was hand held & I couldn't see clearly the viewfinder & operate the DR1000, tripod with the archery gear. But you get the idea and now, off to bed.

Hi I am wondering if you ordered through UK distributor? If so when and how long it took for the delivery? I did contact the UK guys and they say no stock in UK at the moment.

I hope it works as I'm on a MAC & never tried this before.

Works great. Nice. I want one. Just to expensive right now. Think I'll wait to see what the PLR is priced at too.... I feel the plastic screen will be much more durable.

BOb

(Viewing .avi on Mac I used VLC viewer... it shows everything with no codec downloads needed yet.)

Whenever you do anything it flashes & this can be on numerous occasions. Quite why it must flash so often I have no idea. You cannot appear to stop this,

You should be able to turn them off in the settings.

Gogolo

I have a MAC. I erad the manual yesterday and was a trifle concerned. [...] I then (in spite of the manual) just dragged some folders full of pdf files ont the card, re-inserted & found the files.That's a great relief! If you can do it on w/a Mac, I should be able to do it w/Linux. Thanks.

Can you also create resonably deep directory hierarchies without the 1000s tripping up?

Have you tried to merge scribbles using the java program for the iLiad
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9535 yet?

Have you tried higher capacity SD(HC?) cards yet?

Thanks in advance.

thomega,
the folders & files are several "deep" and I keep adding.
I do intend to try the java scribble programme , but not yet.
I haven't tried any SDHC cards, but again I only have a couple, I generally stick to 2GB.

& Yes, I got mine through Libresco the UK distributor as they were most helpful.

Congratulations for your new Digital Reader, pthwaite.

I am on the verge of going crazy and buy this one, after having bought the Cybook just a few months ago.

Could I ask you a favor? Could you check out a couple of samples in your DR?

This one: http://rapidshare.com/files/149478678/The_Magnamund_Companion.pdf (direct download) is a PDF file, with lots of images, B&W and colour, text, tables and such. My Cybook doesn't even load it. Could you check it out? And maybe take a couple of photos? Tell me if DR displays it fine and how fast, please.

This one: http://rapidshare.com/files/149475221/manga_and_PDF_samples.zip (direct download too), has a couple of manga pages (japanese comic) and a PDF file (from a AD&D book). Once again, I would be thankful for a couple of screenshots and your input about them.

I hope I'm not overwhelming you with these requests ;)

By the way, how safe do you feel, carrying around the DR in the Flip-Over?

Is the flip-cover included with the device or did you purchase it separately?

Is the flip-cover included with the device or did you purchase it separately?

It's purchased separately. It's about 50€.

Over,
I too have an 18Mb pdf that doesn't open on the cybook, it just gets overwhelmed.
I am very pleased and surprised the DR1000 was successful. see photos:2thumbsup

It does take about 10s or so to render the pages for your 20Mb document, but it works.

The case was an extra, if I was spending that much I though it worthwhile & it works quite well. It is the flip-over and doesn't get in the way. As I say though, you will find you rest this device on a desk to read it as it is heavy, especially when in the case.

Howard

Thank you very much, pthwaite! :2thumbsup

Just to clear it up, do you mean 10 seconds for each page or to load the document?

It's purchased separately. It's about 50€.

Geeez, I hate when they are cheap like that. You pay a fortune for the device and then they don't include a protective case but charge extra!?!?!?!

BTW, could you elaborate on the buttons being too sensitive?
Also how do you think they will wear over time? Will buttons degrade and fail or will they last a long time?

thanks

pthwaite
Thank you for the nice photo. Can you try the following paper and see how
the second page looks?

http://www2008.org/papers/pdf/p267-weiA.pdf

Thank you.

Could you try these files ?

http://www.zshare.net/download/17852310b7c620d1
and that one
http://rapidshare.com/files/94193345..._QUOTIDIEN.pdf

(the first one is an edition of the economist and the second one le monde (french newspapers)
I wish could read it on the ereader if yes for sure i will buy one :)

Geeez, I hate when they are cheap like that. You pay a fortune for the device and then they don't include a protective case but charge extra!?!?!?!

BTW, could you elaborate on the buttons being too sensitive?
Also how do you think they will wear over time? Will buttons degrade and fail or will they last a long time?

thanks

The buttons are capacitive touch buttons not physical. So, I can't see them wearing out. Of course a slight brush of the button with a finger will probably trigger it. They perhaps should put some type of time delay or something like touchpads have to determine how long you need to be touching it for it to be considered a button press.

BOb

The more I read about this, the less attractive it seems -- heavy, slow (60 seconds to boot up), recharge through USB, capacitive buttons, doesn't keep up with stylus input. Also, it is apparently optimized for A4, which makes it somewhat less useful for US consumers. The biggest drawback for the current Iliad, I think, is that it doesn't have a sleep function. If I don't turn it off, its battery is depleted very quickly. I assume the same is true of the 1000S.

I don't really have time for all these trials. wrt Flyingtablet, your papers are the sort I was looking at earlier myself and I can read them, but glasses help after a while. Minor zoom & pan help me, likewise for POLK.

I can successfully read the Guardian pdf download version of the UK newspaper:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g24/0,,1820858,00.html

generally without needing to zoom. But after a while glasses help. A little zoom & pan do make it easier.

If you imagine the page at about 70% of the image that appears on download, that is a good impression. (my screen resoloution is 1280x768). As you can see the writing is small, but okay for me. Your eyes may be younger or older....

WRT the buttons, you just can't stop hitting them if you hold the DR1000 in your hand. What's more, you will keep forgetting that the middle bottom button is ALWAYS the menu button & NOT an ENTER function. ENTER is either of the 2 side middle buttons.

It would be a lot easier if there was a stylus menu for standard functions like back, menu, pan, zoom etc dependant on mode along the bottom. As it is you have to keep returning to the menu and it does drive me mad. I am going to try to print out the key shortcuts and stick them inside the cover as I just cannot yet, remember them all.

The more I read about this, the less attractive it seems -- heavy, slow (60 seconds to boot up), recharge through USB, capacitive buttons, doesn't keep up with stylus input. Also, it is apparently optimized for A4, which makes it somewhat less useful for US consumers. The biggest drawback for the current Iliad, I think, is that it doesn't have a sleep function. If I don't turn it off, its battery is depleted very quickly. I assume the same is true of the 1000S.

I thought charge through USB was something everyone wanted? It was one of the bigger complaints of the iLiad because it was lacking.

Not keeping up with the stylus is because of the eink delay. As someone who only takes notes on the iLiad, you don't really notice this when you're actually writing. Trust that the line will show up, and all is well.

On A4 vs Letter, I found this page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:A_size_illustration2_with_letter_and_legal.s vg) that compares the sizes. Letter is only slightly wider, and is shorter than A4. I don't think you will notice the difference when reading letter documents on it. Especially when you tell it to remove the margins.

They claim that sleep and suspend are coming soon. If this is important to you, I suggest you wait until it's released before making up your mind.

....
WRT the buttons, you just can't stop hitting them if you hold the DR1000 in your hand. What's more, you will keep forgetting that the middle bottom button is ALWAYS the menu button & NOT an ENTER function. ENTER is either of the 2 side middle buttons.....

Huh????

Does it mean that the buttons on the side are so big/long that you cannot manage a decent and comfortable grip to hold it?
Looking back at your images it seems there is some space below buttons on each edge to grasp it, no? Do you mean that there is not enough room for a comfortable holding pattern?

I know Cybook is very light and I can hold it for a long time even with a single hand. How does this one compare then? Say you were in bed reading PDF manuals. How comfortable/easy would it be? Or not?

http://forum.irexnet.com/viewtopic.php?t=2910

This is gonna be a hot Q & A thread:)
pthwaite, many thx for your photos. As a big fan of Irex, I'm just shifting between this model and Irex Iliad 2. May I ask u a favor to test this Chinese File and check whether Chinese fonts are supported? Thanks

The problem with the buttons are your arm and fingers just keep touching them. You can disable them & just use the stylus, but I prefer both, despite this.

Reading in bed would be tiring on the arms & wrists. Pick up 2 new pads of either A4 or US paper & it will be similar in size & weight.

It does charge when on and connected to a PC, I'm not entirely convinced it charges or, at least charges faster when connected to a PC or usb supply & the DR1000 is switched off. No real way to tell as the leds all go off. I shall no doubt find out.

WRT the chinese pdf, there was no reason to think it wouldn't display as fonts are usually embedded in the document. Sure enough ti displays ok. I can't read it of course :-)

Cool！pathwaite, thanks again for your testing! I think now this model has completely got me, though compared to its predecessor, it seems a litttle bit "stocky". I'm desperate for one:-)

On A4 vs Letter, I found this page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:A_size_illustration2_with_letter_and_legal.s vg) that compares the sizes. Letter is only slightly wider, and is shorter than A4. I don't think you will notice the difference when reading letter documents on it. Especially when you tell it to remove the margins.

They claim that sleep and suspend are coming soon. If this is important to you, I suggest you wait until it's released before making up your mind.

Generally Letter size works better than A4 as the aspect ratio of the screens is a better fit to Letter size. A4 squeezes the vertical with plenty of room on the sides.

Ordered mine tonight from http://www.ereaderoutfitters.com/ I am very excited to see it

Just in case some of you were misled, The weight of the DR1000s without a cover is not much & it is fairly thin. but when you stick it in the cover it starts to weigh a bit (ie my reference to a couple of A4 or US paper pads as a guide) SO reading in bed in it's cover starts to get a bit uncomfortable.

Howard

Could you comment on how good the MobiPocket Reader is? Can you set bookmarks? Select different fonts? Load your own fonts? Do a dictionary search?

Harry, I don't have a dictionary yet. I keep looking and am un-decided. If it works as the manual suggests, it should be quite good. I missed your Chambers recommendation :-)

The Mobi reader, although I've opened a book and got to the start of the novel, checked you can easily change font size & you can add bookmarks, I haven't done anything else. As far as I know you cannot add your own fonts.

My newish cybook is still preferable for reading novels, it is just more compact. This device is wonderful for pdfs & newspapers though. I am presently trying to get to grips with scribbling on pdfs. Next stage is trying to see if the MAC can make sense of them.

I don't have a dictionary yet. Try Webster's Dictionary 1913 (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16419). MobiPocket allows multiple dictionaries, so you can add a more recent one later.

The more I read about this, the less attractive it seems -- heavy, slow (60 seconds to boot up), recharge through USB, capacitive buttons, doesn't keep up with stylus input. Also, it is apparently optimized for A4, which makes it somewhat less useful for US consumers. The biggest drawback for the current Iliad, I think, is that it doesn't have a sleep function. If I don't turn it off, its battery is depleted very quickly. I assume the same is true of the 1000S.

Au contraire! The DR1000S is lovely! Best money I've spent on a device in a l-o-n-g time! (I live in the US and as a doctoral student I was desperate for a reader which I could load and carry around all my journals and readings. The DR1000S is so absolutely PERFECT, I cannot ever imagine not having it.)
You should consider it if your objective is to read full size PDF readings. This baby rocks! :smitten:

Well, the dictionary is in the machine and in the place it says it needs to be. You can read the dictionary and search for words in it.

I (and possibly anyone else) cannot, while reading a mobi-book, look up a word. The DR1000s says it cannot find a dictionary and tells me to ensure it is the place I put it...

Not very successful. If their companion software worked as the manual suggested it should, the function may work but I suspect this may be a bug.

Another Oops moment.
If you decide to disable the side buttons & just use the stylus. Don't go into full page mode for a pdf etc when in Write mode as you cannot do anything but draw on your pdf!
The "unlock" on the side buttons doesn't work. You will have to hit the reset button...

I wonder if they tested this with fools? Nothing is foolproof because fools are so ingenenious.

Another Oops moment.
If you decide to disable the side buttons & just use the stylus. Don't go into full page mode for a pdf etc when in Write mode as you cannot do anything but draw on your pdf!
The "unlock" on the side buttons doesn't work. You will have to hit the reset button...

I wonder if they tested this with fools? Nothing is foolproof because fools are so ingenenious.


I guess it's a bug. How can people guess that going full screen means no stylus control? Point that out to iRex, so that they can fix it in a subsequent firmware update.

Well, the dictionary is in the machine and in the place it says it needs to be. You can read the dictionary and search for words in it.

I (and possibly anyone else) cannot, while reading a mobi-book, look up a word. The DR1000s says it cannot find a dictionary and tells me to ensure it is the place I put it...

Not very successful. If their companion software worked as the manual suggested it should, the function may work but I suspect this may be a bug.

I haven't sent a correspondence to iRex about the dictionary issue - mine is exactly the same as yours - but thought I'd wait to see if anyone here can find a 'workaround.' Do you think iRex is aware of this problem?

I guess it's a bug. How can people guess that going full screen means no stylus control? Point that out to iRex, so that they can fix it in a subsequent firmware update.

Well, in all fairness to iRex, the fact that fullscreen means that there are -NO ICONS TO CLICK ON- should be a big clue that the stylus might not be so useful...

There IS a bug, as ptwhaite wrote, in that the unlock key combo doesn't work, and I tried a number of different ones too.

BTW I love this mode esp. for comics/manga. I asked about it for the iLiad ages ago on here, never got a real reply, don't know if they later added it. Can't do it on the Sonys. A big screen like this is very nice, but with a proper interface-clutter-free full-screen mode, that's just the icing on the cake.

Is it possible to connect any USB devices to the reader ? A flash drive ? Anything at all ?

This is the feature I'm most curious about. I would be very, very happy if I could connect an USB keyboard for note taking.

I would be very, very happy if I could connect an USB keyboard for note taking. It isn't possible. The DR1000SW will have bluetooth, which may allow a keyboard (although these are more expensive than a USB one).

I agree that iRex has missed an opportunity by not providing host mode USB. It would have been easy to do, and might still be possible with upgraded software. One reason not to provide it is that host mode USB has to provide a significant amount of power to attached devices. Keyboards and USB sticks don't typically need much power though.

What ever happened to the video review?

It took about 3 weeks to arrive, as indicated.

I'm on a Mac, and was able to use it without problems.
As others have indicated, The SD media appears as removable drive
on the Mac.

I installed the 1.02 software by downloading it to the mac,
then unzip into the top level directory of the removable drive,
then restart the Irex.

With the 1.02 software, I got (very roughly) 10 hours of battery life,
with the sound and feedback lights turned off, but the stylus turned on.
Probably the stylus is a major drain however.

I purchased an 8gig SDhc - it works, however: *do not* format it on
the Irex, it reduces the capacity to 1gig, and you then have to reformat
on a computer. When I first popped the card into the irex, it showed 8gig.
Then I did the format and install software steps, resulting in a 1gig card.
I then tried reformatting it on the Mac as mounted through the Irex -- this
did not work, I think it resulted in a corrupted format. Finally I got
a card reader, formatted it on the Mac (as a ms-dos volume of course),
mount in the irex, install the software, all ok - after some unneeded steps.
When you first get the SDhc card it is almost certainly already formatted,
just skip the format step and install the software.
As someone else mentioned, the install software step does not copy the .pdf
manuals, so copy these off the original and resinstall them on the new SD.

The folder /Volume/IREX/System/Desktop (as seen from the host) is
a place to put things that is visible from the irex.

Positive: the screen can display a full page .pdf, small details such as subscripts are generally readable.

Some negatives:

The interface is confusing. I can see why USA Today and others gave it
a poor review. The linux foundation is presumably pretty well developed,
but it seems like they have developed an interface from scratch, it reminds
me of software the first dos computers, with additional bugs.
The hardware interface is also confusing -- there are three
left-dot-right hardware controllers, but the meaning of the middle "dot"
is different on the bottom controller. It should have a different shape.
The touch buttons do not work perfectly, and on my unit one of them
does not work well at all, requires multiple presses.
The placement of the controllers on left and
right makes it difficult to hold the device without accidentally pressing
page advance sometimes. There is a feature to turn off ("lock")
any of these controllers, but at random the lock seems to disappear
and reappear. The unit is too heavy to hold for a long period
(unlike the Sony reader, which can be held in one hand...
on the other hand, the Sony can display about a paragraph's worth of text).
The unit has frozen twice in about a day of use. The second time, it was
turned off I thought, and it would not turn on. I thought it was broken,
but a hard reset allowed it to turn on.

Due to these negatives, I'm not sure what I'll think of it in the long
term. However, it is a new device and is the only choice a the moment that is even
capable of displaying full page .pdfs, so it's silly to complain.
On the contrary I am grateful to be able to at least try this device.
No doubt the software will rapidly improve over time, doubly so
since it is open source.

Looking forward to djvu support, which is probably coming soon...

On Mac/Linux it is possible to convert djvu to pdf with djvups followed by ps2pdf
(If DjView is installed, in the terminal do
/Applications/DjView.app/Contents/bin/djvups file.djvu tmp.ps
ps2pdf tmp.ps file.pdf)