MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Got my Cybook

lithprinter · 10-09-2008, 06:52 AM

I got my Cybook Gen3 yesterday and have been playing around with it. Thought I'd post my initial thoughts. I was going to get the Sony 505 via Waterstones, but changed my mind when the Cybook came down to £180 and the fact that it is cheaper to get mobipocket books in the UK than Sony. Plus the terrible Waterstones site of course. I thought this might also help other people decide.

On the plus side:

It came with a case. I didn't know this and was on the verge of buying a separate expensive one. Glad I didn't now as the case provided seems adequate for the time being. I think the case is essential.

I got to grips with the page refresh pretty quickly. At first it seems like a long delay, but you quickly get used to pressing the button before you reach the end of the last sentence on a page. Don't notice it now.

The screen is nice. It is easy to read and changing font size on mobipocket books is great. I've also downloaded some 'text' books via Gutenberg etc. and they all seem fine when imported via mobipocket software.

I upgraded to the latest firmware with no problems at all. It was easy but you need to have that SD card handy.

PDFs. I use pdfs a lot at work. I am an academic so I download a lot of journal articles and reports in A4 size format. I was pleasantly surprised by how well they read in landscape format with the auto page width. Government reports were also easy enough to read without panning across. Not perfect, but adequate. Even the graphics were OK. There were no equations or fancy stuff in these though, just charts and graphs. The worst part is the overlap when scrolling. It seems to move down a page very slowly because it does not scroll the entire visible section off the screen at a time. I can live with this though.

Negatives:

I don't like the buttons. The main page turning button is very clunky and unresponsive. The side buttons could have been better laid out. I keep hitting the mp3 player button when I want the menu (why is the mp3 button at the top?) This is a minor niggle.

The worst aspect has to be the filing system. No tree structure for filing books. I can't imagine how difficult it is going to be scrolling through page after page of books in a long list when the thing starts to get a decent library on it. I am aware that you can sort by file/folder name so I guess that a good file naming and folder structure convention has to be thought out at the outset. I am still thinking about this before I upload more onto it.

The mobipocket software is also pretty poor. It doesn't seem to have a good filing system either and it is far from intuitive. Every pdf file I tried to import got screwed up so it is better to leave them in pdf. But then the software only displays imported books. There should be a dedicated software tool to sync with the reader that is independent of the book format (maybe there already is one...?) It is also hard to tell where the files are going (eg if you want some of them on the SD card rather than in dedicated memory there isn't a lot you can do about it as far as I can tell).

Overall I like it and I am glad I got it. It will help me a lot with work documents as well as reading novels especially when travelling. My wife wants one now too.

10-09-2008, 06:52 AM	#1
lithprinter Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Kenilworth, UK Device: Cybook Gen3	Got my Cybook - initial thoughts I got my Cybook Gen3 yesterday and have been playing around with it. Thought I'd post my initial thoughts. I was going to get the Sony 505 via Waterstones, but changed my mind when the Cybook came down to £180 and the fact that it is cheaper to get mobipocket books in the UK than Sony. Plus the terrible Waterstones site of course. I thought this might also help other people decide. On the plus side: It came with a case. I didn't know this and was on the verge of buying a separate expensive one. Glad I didn't now as the case provided seems adequate for the time being. I think the case is essential. I got to grips with the page refresh pretty quickly. At first it seems like a long delay, but you quickly get used to pressing the button before you reach the end of the last sentence on a page. Don't notice it now. The screen is nice. It is easy to read and changing font size on mobipocket books is great. I've also downloaded some 'text' books via Gutenberg etc. and they all seem fine when imported via mobipocket software. I upgraded to the latest firmware with no problems at all. It was easy but you need to have that SD card handy. PDFs. I use pdfs a lot at work. I am an academic so I download a lot of journal articles and reports in A4 size format. I was pleasantly surprised by how well they read in landscape format with the auto page width. Government reports were also easy enough to read without panning across. Not perfect, but adequate. Even the graphics were OK. There were no equations or fancy stuff in these though, just charts and graphs. The worst part is the overlap when scrolling. It seems to move down a page very slowly because it does not scroll the entire visible section off the screen at a time. I can live with this though. Negatives: I don't like the buttons. The main page turning button is very clunky and unresponsive. The side buttons could have been better laid out. I keep hitting the mp3 player button when I want the menu (why is the mp3 button at the top?) This is a minor niggle. The worst aspect has to be the filing system. No tree structure for filing books. I can't imagine how difficult it is going to be scrolling through page after page of books in a long list when the thing starts to get a decent library on it. I am aware that you can sort by file/folder name so I guess that a good file naming and folder structure convention has to be thought out at the outset. I am still thinking about this before I upload more onto it. The mobipocket software is also pretty poor. It doesn't seem to have a good filing system either and it is far from intuitive. Every pdf file I tried to import got screwed up so it is better to leave them in pdf. But then the software only displays imported books. There should be a dedicated software tool to sync with the reader that is independent of the book format (maybe there already is one...?) It is also hard to tell where the files are going (eg if you want some of them on the SD card rather than in dedicated memory there isn't a lot you can do about it as far as I can tell). Overall I like it and I am glad I got it. It will help me a lot with work documents as well as reading novels especially when travelling. My wife wants one now too.