Cool-ER reader device information - where is it?

[orwell2k]

I'm really at a loss as to where to post this - I put a comment in the Feedback thread on the Opus forum:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...52430&p=678588

But thought I should ask here also.

Where do Cool-ER owners go on these forums for help, to share tips and tricks, write reviews, and so on?

I see Cool-ER threads spread across various forums - "announcements," "which device," and so on. But we still have no Cool-ER thread, and I for one can't find it included in any of the device threads already here.

I have read it is a Netronix device, but don't see a Netronix thread. Somehow they're related to Cybook, but I can't find much there.

So Cool-ER users and owners, let me (and others) know where you share your information, and if you are (as I suspect) essentially stateless, speak up!

The Cool-ER may have had its problems, but it's still a nice device and one some people may wish to consider. I'm not a Cool-ER owner, but am considering it as one of my devices, and some points in their favour seem to be:

(1) From a consumer point of view, they seem to have a pretty simple approach to the device and usage - buy it, buy some books, read.

(2) They're not region limited (i.e. they'll sell to you worldwide and you don't have to use their bookshop, although they have a reasonable selection and I have bought a book from there that was hard to find elsewhere) and they at least attempt to set their pricing with some kind of parity in different regions (US, UK and Euro prices, and availability to other regions as well).

(3) And whilst offering ePub (ADE) - and a pretty good implementation by all accounts, as well (if you can find them buried in the forums! ) they also support another popular non-DRM format in FB2, as well as TXT, RTF, HTML, PRC, etc.

And of course, if you'va had major problems with the device and/or support, potential buyers should also be made aware of that.

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by orwell2k

I'm really at a loss as to where to post this - I put a comment in the Feedback thread on the Opus forum:
And of course, if you'va had major problems with the device and/or support, potential buyers should also be made aware of that.

You're obviously right, Orwell! I will report this to my fellow editors and will come back with a solution. Thanks for bringing this up!

[codeMonkey]

Cool-ER owner here!

The Cool-ER and the Cybook are both a type of Netronix.

I've had the same problem tracking down posts related to the Cool-ER.
Please admins/moderators - give us an area so we can stop cluttering up other sections.

I've even released a small firmware modification for the Cool-ER that I put into the News and Commentary section because I couldn't find anywhere else suitable for it.

[codeMonkey]

I've just noticed that Interead have put up a new firmware update.
Also put into the Cooler finally arrived thread so people will notice it

[mtravellerh]

I already took good note of the fact! Thanks for pointing it out!

[Ivel]

Yess

It's a good idea to start a separate thread to inform each other about Cool-er's problems and solutions.
Any information about the changelog of the new firmware?

I'm from Hungary and I have problems with font sets , or unicode settings I don't know , but my Cool-er have issues with displaying special hungarian fonts (e.g.: ű, ő)

[codeMonkey]

I've emailed cooler support asking for information about what has changed, but I'm still waiting for a response at the moment.

From visual inspection the following changes have been made:
* Turned off automatically opening the last book you read where you left it.
* Added date/time section so you can set this - although the only place you can view it is in the library, not whilst reading.
* Replaced a bunch of graphics, they're still a bit tacky though.
* Turned off the greyscale loading rainbow and instead replaced it with progress-bar style loader.
* They broke the turn-off-whilst-device-is-horizontal power-off image display. In the 0828 firmware version if you turned the device off whilst it was horizontal the power-off image was displayed correctly - now the image is truncated slightly because they don't reotate back to portrait mode before switching the device off.

I haven't seen much difference in terms of reading.

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by codeMonkey

I've emailed cooler support asking for information about what has changed, but I'm still waiting for a response at the moment.

From visual inspection the following changes have been made:
* Turned off automatically opening the last book you read where you left it.
* Added date/time section so you can set this - although the only place you can view it is in the library, not whilst reading.
* Replaced a bunch of graphics, they're still a bit tacky though.
* Turned off the greyscale loading rainbow and instead replaced it with progress-bar style loader.
* They broke the turn-off-whilst-device-is-horizontal power-off image display. In the 0828 firmware version if you turned the device off whilst it was horizontal the power-off image was displayed correctly - now the image is truncated slightly because they don't reotate back to portrait mode before switching the device off.

I haven't seen much difference in terms of reading.

Same here. About time someone comes up with a good hack!

[orwell2k]

How is the reading on the Cool-ER? I was under the impression that, when it wasn't crashing or freezing, the ePub and FB2 displaying were quite good in terms of readability and options. Is this correct or a myth?

[panda53]

Hi -

I put in a request to the mobileread.com forum in October for a dedicated Cool-er ebook device subforum, and never got a reply. As you've all commented, it's really hard work finding relevant information across all the forums.

Let's hope they do implement this!

As for the cool-er as an ebook reader, I think it's pretty good, and I really like the open system philosophy. Easy to read, lightweight and easy to use. Yeah, there are things that could be improved but hopefully the firmware updates will keep improving the product.

I ordered a super neoprene sleeve for mine from Amazon.com and even with the postage it was under £9. However, I've just seen today that there are now sleeves and covers available on ebay uk.

Has any one had any difficuly installing the latest firmware? I'm just waiting until I finish the book I'm reading.

best,
Pamela

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by orwell2k

How is the reading on the Cool-ER? I was under the impression that, when it wasn't crashing or freezing, the ePub and FB2 displaying were quite good in terms of readability and options. Is this correct or a myth?

No the reading part is actually quite good and the screen is okay (does a nice PDF reflow, too). I might just be a bit spoiled by the PB firmware that has a lot more possibilities!

Originally Posted by panda53

Hi -

I put in a request to the mobileread.com forum in October for a dedicated Cool-er ebook device subforum, and never got a reply. As you've all commented, it's really hard work finding relevant information across all the forums.

Let's hope they do implement this!

As for the cool-er as an ebook reader, I think it's pretty good, and I really like the open system philosophy. Easy to read, lightweight and easy to use. Yeah, there are things that could be improved but hopefully the firmware updates will keep improving the product.

I ordered a super neoprene sleeve for mine from Amazon.com and even with the postage it was under £9. However, I've just seen today that there are now sleeves and covers available on ebay uk.

Has any one had any difficuly installing the latest firmware? I'm just waiting until I finish the book I'm reading.

best,
Pamela

Installing the new FW is okay! Well you still have to have really big hands or, better, three hands, for the update reset!

[codeMonkey]

Originally Posted by mtravellerh

Same here. About time someone comes up with a good hack!

Yeah, OpenInkpot was in the works for a little while, but currently not
I've been considering joining up to try my hand at it.

Originally Posted by orwell2k

How is the reading on the Cool-ER? I was under the impression that, when it wasn't crashing or freezing, the ePub and FB2 displaying were quite good in terms of readability and options. Is this correct or a myth?

I think the readability is quite good. mtraveller mentioned the pdf reflow, and I enjoy that for books, but it can leave a bit to be desired for technical documents - a really good alternative is to rotate the display to horizontal and then it's very readable without having to reflow.

[sony_fox]

How is the reading on the Cool-ER? I was under the impression that, when it wasn't crashing or freezing, the ePub and FB2 displaying were quite good in terms of readability and options. Is this correct or a myth?

OtherHalf bought one particularly because it's lightweight compared to my Sony. Has had no touble with it crashing or freezing (or at least no worse than my sony). And EPub display is totally equivalent to the Sony. Reading in general seems absolutely fine.

Minor downsides are that the bookmark feature is through a menu rather than the Sony'd dedicated button.

[panda53]

Minor downsides are that the bookmark feature is through a menu rather than the Sony'd dedicated button.

That's true, although the Cool-er does remember the last page you were on, but if you want more bookmarks you have to do that in the menu.

The menu could also be better organized, with the things that we're likely to use the most frequently (go to page, font, bookmarks, library) at the top rather than much further down the list.

I agree with codeMonkey that the cool-er is really best for reading things like novels, sequentially. I can imagine that it would be really combersome to have to naviage around alot with either the bookmarks or go to page command.

Epubs are great on the cool-er, and in general, have much better appearance. The new version of calibre does a great job converting pdf's into epubs.

[panda53]

Just installed the new firmware... which went fine, although you will need a .rar programme to open it before copying all the files onto sd card.