Opus First impressions of the Opus

[HarryT]

I had to read the manual to figure out where the reset button was - I didn't realise that the grey part of the case was removable .

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I had to read the manual to figure out where the reset button was - I didn't realise that the grey part of the case was removable .

That's the first thing i did when i search for the reset during the meet-up.
And i think I know why soft reset won't work properly for me, that's the sd card. Taking it off gets it to work anyway.

[HarryT]

Yes, when I couldn't see a reset button on it, I figured that the first thing I'd better do was to look in the manual to find out where it was. It's a good thing I did, because it hung up on me later that day, and I'd have been in real trouble had I not known how to reset it!

Luckily, the "power button + page back" reset has always worked for me; I've never needed to press the reset button.

[Susanna Lau]

Originally Posted by Soc-psychologist

Quite nice actually. I had very few complaints of the pdf-zoom-algorithm of the Gen3. It was not perfect, nor did I expect it to be. I would say that this is even better. The 5 inch screen is used to the max and the progress bars etc. are thinner and and the DPI being higher than in the 6 inch of the Gen3, I'd dare to make the suggestion (even without measuring) that the 5 inch screen displays more information than the 6 inch screen (which was not bad in the first place). Both devices could have more zooming steps programmed in them (perhaps 5% intervals?) to make the reading yet more enjoyable.

The folder view is elegant and chick. Very stylish icons in the preselected books provided with the device. (And a good selection of public domain books I might add).

--Michael

[EowynCarter]

Im thinking to buy a book device, don't know Gen 3 or Cyber Opus is better.

+ for Gen 3
- Bigger screen size
- read mp3
- mobi

+ for Opus
- light and small, can be held one hand
- more ergonomic than Gen 3
- read ePub
- folder view
- better pdf support

[Baldrake]

So a lot of people are complaining that the Sony 700/600 have unacceptable degradation in crispness of the screen compared to the non-touch versions (505/300). Is this also a problem with the Opus, or does it compare well to non-touch readers?

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Baldrake

So a lot of people are complaining that the Sony 700/600 have unacceptable degradation in crispness of the screen compared to the non-touch versions (505/300). Is this also a problem with the Opus, or does it compare well to non-touch readers?

the opus doesn't have a touch screen, so it has not problems at all with contrast and glare. it's the same kind of screen as the 505, 300, or Gen3.

[Baldrake]

Man, I am mixing up all these devices. I could have sworn I'd read that the Opus used swipe to move between pages, but you're right, there's no mention of such on Bookeen's web pages.

[emellaich]

Originally Posted by Baldrake

So a lot of people are complaining that the Sony 700/600 have unacceptable degradation in crispness of the screen compared to the non-touch versions (505/300). Is this also a problem with the Opus, or does it compare well to non-touch readers?

I know you already have one answer on this (that the Opus is not touch-screen). However, I'd also point out another item for clarification.

I haven't seen this myself, but the word is that touch-screen isn't the problem with the screen degradation. The 700 has both a touch screen and a special layer used to provide a light for reading. This is a front light similar to a light wedge, and it is required because e-ink doesn't support a backlight. The word is that there is a small gap between this front light and the device, and that it is this gap that creates the degradation problem.

As a result, most folks seem to believe that the upcoming touchscreen Sony 600 will be fine since it doesn't have a front light -- just a touch screen.

[Vesper]

Originally Posted by emellaich

As a result, most folks seem to believe that the upcoming touchscreen Sony 600 will be fine since it doesn't have a front light -- just a touch screen.

In thread about prs600 is a message with comparison photo 505/300/600 and other combinations (sony only) and a movie. It appears that 600 is more like 700 when it comes to glare and blurriness and that only leaves touchscreen as a culprit

DrS

[Godzil]

Originally Posted by emellaich

I know you already have one answer on this (that the Opus is not touch-screen). However, I'd also point out another item for clarification.

I haven't seen this myself, but the word is that touch-screen isn't the problem with the screen degradation. The 700 has both a touch screen and a special layer used to provide a light for reading. This is a front light similar to a light wedge, and it is required because e-ink doesn't support a backlight. The word is that there is a small gap between this front light and the device, and that it is this gap that creates the degradation problem.

As a result, most folks seem to believe that the upcoming touchscreen Sony 600 will be fine since it doesn't have a front light -- just a touch screen.

To add a resistive touchscreen like the 700 and 600 you NEED to put a layer in front of the screen, so yes, it will degrade the quality of the screen like for the 700, but maybe a little less than the 700. But it's not the good topic
to discuss about it here.

[AnemicOak]

Harry, now that you've had it for a month how about an update on your thoughts about the Opus. What's good? What's bad? What do you miss from your other readers? Have any 'bugs' popped up?

I'm probably late in asking since I just ordered one, but...

[HarryT]

I like it a lot. It crashes occasionally, but not sufficiently often for it to be a nuisance. The only thing I really miss are bookmarks; Bookeen have said that they will add them in a future firmware update . All in all, an excellent machine.

[EowynCarter]

I had some crash. But none since switching on the internal sd. As well as deactivating the auto power off.

What i miss is the superior quality of mobipoket reader (did justification and hyphenation way better).
What i would love bookeen to do is ditch ade and drm altogether, to do their own ePub reader. (But that's probably never gonna happen.)

[HarryT]

At least the ADE renderer will break a line at a dash, which the Mobi renderer didn't. Even worse, Mobi would actually add a hyphen to a dash when it deemed it "appropriate" to do so .