[bbusybookworm]

I've purchased two Gen 3's over the last year or so, and while I don't currently actively use either (Ones with my Mum, the other an Uncle) I'll though I'll drop in and List what I like and Dislike.

Likes -

* Size and Weight - Much lighter then the PRS-500 I used previously, and definitely lighter then my Laptop (Dell M1210 as well). While My PDA Phone was lighter, the screen size difference was quiet an improvement.

* Language Support - The Support for any TTF was one of the key reasons I went for it as I had Several Asian Language Document I wanted to be able to display on it. That was something I sorely missed on the PRS-500.

* Format Support - Native Support for PRC, PDF, TXT and Html was an advantage, as I could just copy HTML and PDF's when needed without having to convert everything. While I did convert books, Articls, short stories, etc I could get away with.

* Dictionary Support - While Still a little cumbersom, Its got a very nice ability to look up words, which while not used that often, is still pretty useful. I Have to admith however, Amazon's Approach does look a little better.

* Interface - While not the best (I thinks Sony's is better) The Interface is pretty polished, and usually consistant. I did Not think Much of it until I got the Pocket Pro, which while a great device, has a comparatively Raw interface. The Lack Of folder support is a Pain, whilch I'll go into in the Dislikes.

* Replaceable Battery

* Expandable Storage


Dislikes -

* Fragility - The other side of the coin to the Light weight is the Apparent Fragility of the device. While I've not suffered a breakage, the fear of one, has had me treating them with kid gloves, which is often at odds with using it for its intended use. The Sony and now the Pockey Pro Feel Much more Solid and as such leave me less concerned about protecting it all the time.

* Organization - While the Thumbnail Interface is nice, It a Pain to navigate, especially if you have more then a few dozen files on the device. If you want to keep a large part of your library on the device, Its navigation becomes pretty unusable. The lack of Support For Folders (Which Bookeen has been talking about for years but has not surfaced) is an issue, especially for users who like to organize their books using their own system.

* Resume - Every time the device is powered down it returns to the main menu. as such you have to relaunch the book. While it in self is not that big of an issue, the lack of Recent Bookmarks / Recently Read link can be very irritating, especially if you are in the habit of reading more then one book at a time.

* Support - Support is pretty hit and miss. Of the few times I had to contact them, while they have responded pretty fast a couple of times, on other occasions, getting a reply or any response has take days or weeks if ever. What I've found that if the problem can be solved with a form response, the reply is pretty fast.but if its a complicated or difficult issue the response is poor.

* File Formats - While The Formats supported are good, and an improvement over the Sony, I still prefer if more formats were natively supported, to completely remover the issue of having to reformat anything.


So Overall, while I was pretty happy with the Gen3, I decided to try the Pocket Pro (Hanlin / Bebook) this time, as I want to see how well it handled the issues I've had. So Far, the response has been pretty positive, though it does have its own limitations.