Is the iRex Digital Reader your next device?

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Canterbury Tail

This is of course assuming the new reader will allow a level of zoom to fill the page with text without the margins, and will have a user friendly page skipping for them.

All we have is images of the interface, but it looks good so far. Goto http://irextechnologies.com/dr1000images/ and click on menu (4th image). The NY Times New Summary in the image is almost certainly a PDF.

[dobbyone]

Well, I maybe screwed myself, but I ordered one 1000. Will see how it compares to the cybook that I have.

[kacir]

You should have included option:
Impressive but Waaaaaaaaay too expensive.

Perhaps I would consider it, If I was earning an USA or Western Europe salary ...
Here in my country I earn fraction of what Americans or Germans earn in my position.

I want to take my reader with me everywhere. The only time I leave it home is when I go to work. They do not want to allow me to read there ;-). I have to work instead.

To be able to take my fiction reader with me *everywhere* it has to have a small form factor (6" is ideal for text-only, fiction reading), and it has to be cheap, because sooner or later it is going to be damaged. I would not dare to take 500 Euro device for a camping trip or for a holiday on the beach.

I would like to have a large format reader for an occasional technical book (mostly computer related). So far I have managed by printing a few selected essential books (that I have been able to get only in electronic format) out and binding them by hand (**)
Again, 500 Euro pricetag is prohibitive for me.
Also, a technical book, or a textbook has to be more responsive than recent generation of e-ink readers. When I pick up a reference book I need to find desired information quickly. Flipping one page after another in "browsing" mode 1 second per page is not fast enough.

(**) By binding by hand I mean making a "classical" high quality hardback sewn together by hand using needle and thread (thin string). I can bind a 1000 page book in 90 minutes this way using coptic (***) binding

(***) I found this video and learned how to bind a book. It is very easy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BMSrm0QOt0

[Over]

I'll be waiting for December to have more information about Astak and Plastic Logic. If no information is given (or the given information doesn't please me), i'll take the plunge with the 1000S. For Christmas.

I'm very curious about the prices. Any more updated info on that?

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Canterbury Tail

No, the screen isn't large enough for this format. I'd want to read PDF books, mainly my role-playing collection which are formated for normal letter size books. The screen is just to small to be legible properly for these books. I'll wait and see what the Plastic Logic one is like. The resolution is fabulous, but the screen just too small to really fit into the market area it's going for. I'd want a minimum 12.1", and ideally 14"

You will need to buy a tablet pc or something similar. The plastic logic screen is only 10.7" although the overall size of the machine is A size.

Dale

[frimbob]

I would have to wait for the touch screen to be released for a few months, just so they can work the bugs out before buying it.

That and finding the money of course.

I don't really understand why someone would want to buy a model without a stylus.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by kacir

You should have included option:
Impressive but Waaaaaaaaay too expensive.

Perhaps I would consider it, If I was earning an USA or Western Europe salary ...
Here in my country I earn fraction of what Americans or Germans earn in my position.

Trust me, us Americans and Germans think it's pretty pricey, too.

[drago]

I would not buy it. In the protective cover it obviously needs (the drop in the video did not look that fierce to me – so it is a fragile machine) it would be bigger or almost as big as my ThinkPad X, and the screen size of my Iliad seems ideal for reading fiction. So I’ll stick with my Iliad for a while I guess.

[nekokami]

I can't afford any new hardware right now anyway, but even if I could, iRex gets no more of my money on "promised" features. I got my iLiad used at half-price, and it meets my needs fairly well. I bought it after the SDK was released, there were plenty of 3rd-party apps ported (especially FBreader), and it was possible to re-flash the unit. At that time, iRex was still promising some kind of suspend feature, before they realized the hardware design of the iLiad wouldn't support it. Then they delayed on stylus calibration, until volunteers from the developer community finally worked on that problem.

Since I use my reader for a combination of professional and academic reading and note-taking as well as reading for pleasure, I like the idea of a large screen with stylus input, but I don't think iRex is good at direct-to-consumer sales and support. It's not the business they wanted to be in. I'd need to see some evidence that they've improved their skills in this area before I'd buy any more of their products.

[mvoosten]

using the iliad, no more irex products for me...