Gen3 What do you love/hate about your Cybook - G3?

[glynes]

Spent my first full weekend with my new Gen 3, and I'm delighted. Being brand new to the ebook world, I don't have any experience to base an opinion on, but any complaints I have are minor in comparison to what I love about it.

On the plus side: Set-up was a breeze, and so far it works exactly as it's supposed to. Downloading books is a snap. The font and font-size choices, which was the big selling point for me, do the trick (allowing me to read with my glasses on, so I don't have to fumble for them if I want to look at something farther afield ... sat on my deck reading yesterday, and could just glance up at the gorgeous view occasionally ... no fuzzy trees!). I've begun just with free ebooks, and have several collections of classics already installed (thank you Gutenberg Project!), plus some other miscellaneous sci-fi and mystery works ... I'm off work today, so suspect I'll up the current 382 book count considerably, especially now that I've eliminated all the demo stuff that came on the gadget. The reader is snug in its nice cover, comfy to hold, and fits nicely in my purse, so will go with me absolutely everywhere. I'm getting used to the nav button, although I still occasionally reach for the upper right corner to turn the page!

On the minus side: Getting through the library is cumbersome. I would forego the folder idea if I could just sort by Genre. In fact, I would like to have the genre listed ... anywhere at all ... and would gladly trade the cover art thumbnail for that information. My memory isn't all that great, and by the time I get around to reading some of these, the titles won't mean much to me! 8-)

Things I'm ambivalent about: the screen flash took a little getting used to, but not a problem. Because I'm busy downloading content, I haven't had to worry about charging, but I've made a place on my little homemade charging station, and ordered a second USB cable to go with the AC adapter, so it will get plugged in along with my phone every night ... I have to reach across to get my car keys, so there's no worry about every forgetting it (besides which, having reorganized my purse, stuff would rattle around too much without it in its place!)

Overall I give it a very satisfied 9 out of 10.

[gerraldo]

Originally Posted by glynes

I have to reach across to get my car keys, so there's no worry about every forgetting it (besides which, having reorganized my purse, stuff would rattle around too much without it in its place!)

Excellent review! But please be careful, the screen is very vulnerable - you can read much about broken/repaired screens around the forums (with all readers)...

Maybe an extra sturdy box - some advices in the accessories section - can help prevent damage.

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by glynes

Spent my first full weekend with my new Gen 3, and I'm delighted. Being brand new to the ebook world, I don't have any experience to base an opinion on, but any complaints I have are minor in comparison to what I love about it.

On the plus side: Set-up was a breeze, and so far it works exactly as it's supposed to. Downloading books is a snap. The font and font-size choices, which was the big selling point for me, do the trick (allowing me to read with my glasses on, so I don't have to fumble for them if I want to look at something farther afield ... sat on my deck reading yesterday, and could just glance up at the gorgeous view occasionally ... no fuzzy trees!). I've begun just with free ebooks, and have several collections of classics already installed (thank you Gutenberg Project!), plus some other miscellaneous sci-fi and mystery works ... I'm off work today, so suspect I'll up the current 382 book count considerably, especially now that I've eliminated all the demo stuff that came on the gadget. The reader is snug in its nice cover, comfy to hold, and fits nicely in my purse, so will go with me absolutely everywhere. I'm getting used to the nav button, although I still occasionally reach for the upper right corner to turn the page!

On the minus side: Getting through the library is cumbersome. I would forego the folder idea if I could just sort by Genre. In fact, I would like to have the genre listed ... anywhere at all ... and would gladly trade the cover art thumbnail for that information. My memory isn't all that great, and by the time I get around to reading some of these, the titles won't mean much to me! 8-)

Things I'm ambivalent about: the screen flash took a little getting used to, but not a problem. Because I'm busy downloading content, I haven't had to worry about charging, but I've made a place on my little homemade charging station, and ordered a second USB cable to go with the AC adapter, so it will get plugged in along with my phone every night ... I have to reach across to get my car keys, so there's no worry about every forgetting it (besides which, having reorganized my purse, stuff would rattle around too much without it in its place!)

Overall I give it a very satisfied 9 out of 10.

you've done a good review here and echoed much of common consensus on the forum about the Cy. I don't think there is anyone who hasn't moaned about the library navigation (or lack of)....

enjoy and welcome to MR...

[etherspin]

the current thing bugging the hell out of me with it is the page turn , the hard press you need to make it turn or rather the long hard press, it wouldnt bother me if i believed it needed to be held this long for the device to register something has happened but this isnt the case, the status light flashes green the millisecond you press the button but if you dont hold it long after this ........ nothing happens !!

[Ortep]

Originally Posted by etherspin

but if you dont hold it long after this ........ nothing happens !!

No problem here, it is more like a short 'tap', just enough to click the button and that is all it takes

[GeoffC]

nothing more than a wee tap on the end of the button ....

[gerraldo]

same here with me... just a little klick does the trick...

[Jovvi]

I love my Cybook, and for me it does what it is supposed to do, read books. I see people complaining about delayed firmware upgrade, but for me that really doesn´t matter. If I didn´t hang around here all the time I probably not even had known a firmware upgrade was possible. Of cause folder support would be nice, but essential? I don´t think so...

What irritates me somtimes though is when I plug my Cybook in to my computer to transfer some books, and it thakes forever for the computer to "find" the Cybook.

Clara

[CyGuy]

Love:
The screen
The form factor
The capacity
Battery life
Takes SD cards
USB mini interface

Hate:
No folder view. This is a huge fail on their part.
Can't organize books at all
PDF docs don't flow
Vendor slow with firmware updates
Too expensive

[Idoine]

Originally Posted by CyGuy

Love:
The screen
The form factor
The capacity
Battery life
Takes SD cards
USB mini interface

Hate:
No folder view. This is a huge fail on their part.
Can't organize books at all
PDF docs don't flow
Vendor slow with firmware updates
Too expensive

That's not true.
Personally I have some 480 ebooks on my Cybook.
I made folders by Genre, then Author, and view them Sorted by File Path.
I'd like Folder view (I'll love it when it will come ), but I can manage as it is now !

[Godzil]

Originally Posted by CyGuy

PDF docs don't flow

Even if there is some "hack" with PDF for reflow, the PDF is not a good reflow format. Some PDF can be reflowed correctly, other will never, and some will looks like crap if you try to reflow them...

[marcinJ13]

Love:
* Size
* Weight
* Battery life
* Reading experience

Don't like:
* One folder for everything
* Long startup time when having more than few hundred books
* Not recognizing soft hyphens

Hate:
* Support
* Support
* Support
* Support
* Support

Some of the "don't likes" will be probably resolved with next firmware. However next relase will be "around noon on second doomsday of first quarter of XXI century" - hence my "hate" list.

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by Idoine

That's not true.
Personally I have some 480 ebooks on my Cybook.
I made folders by Genre, then Author, and view them Sorted by File Path.
I'd like Folder view (I'll love it when it will come ), but I can manage as it is now !

Well, now than i folder view and got used to it, i wouldn't be able to live without it. It's on my "reader must have it for me to consider buying it'" list.

[HarryT]

Folders are very, very useful (I'm using a separate folder for each author on my Opus), but for me it's not a "must have" feature.

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Folders are very, very useful (I'm using a separate folder for each author on my Opus), but for me it's not a "must have" feature.

It is to me now.
Damm usefull to read scan trads with picture view.