Cybook vs. iLiad

a_dreamer · 11-11-2008, 07:08 AM

First I want to say that I have looked through different forums and I'm very happy for any answers.

Facts: I live in Switzerland. I have a Mac and I'm to lazy to download different programms to make something work (like the Sony). It's my first ereader and it'll be so much easier and cheaper to get english books here.

I've decided on either a Cybook Gen 3 or an iLiad book edition. I'm willing to pay the price of the iLiad if it's worth it. I'm a fast reader and long page loading would annoy me, I think... I have no experience. I like being able to read files from Gutenberg and various other free sites rather than just mobipocket.

I'd like to hear experiences you've had or pros and cons of each device...

I will have a lot of books on it.

a_dreamer · 11-11-2008, 07:15 AM

I'm sorry for posting again but I must say this: If you know the 2 devices what's the difference in page loading speed. From what I've seen and heard it seems the iLiad is a lot slower. Is that true?

LazyScot · 11-11-2008, 07:43 AM

It's a difficult one to answer. Certainly the iLiad can take an age to turn pages, but I find that is usually for large, complex PDFs that I would never try on my Cybook.

I don't use mobipocket on the iliad much these days (but it is the format that I use most between the two), but I wouldn't say the speed is massively different. Slower? yes. Noticeably? yes (just). Troublingly? Not for me.

Also as the iliad display is larger, I need to do the refresh less often. That might be a factor to bear in mind.

I'm very happy with the Cybook for reading books (rather than textbooks or PDFs). If you're after something just for literature, rather than complex PDFs the Cybook should meet your needs.

Whereabouts are you in Switzerland? It might be worth seeing if there is anyone nearby who can show you one or other of them.

HarryT · 11-11-2008, 08:34 AM

I sold my iLiad and bought a CyBook for a number of reasons:

1. The iLiad is rather slow to boot - 45s against about 25s for the CyBook.

2. The battery life is much shorter - roughly 10h reading on the iLiad, against a couple of weeks on the CyBook.

3. (And most importantly): the MobiPocket Reader implementation on the iLiad is extremely poor, and reading Mobi books is my main priority.

For me personally, the CyBook was (and still is) a much better choice.

a_dreamer · 11-11-2008, 08:57 AM

thank you for answering so quickly and I live near Aarau, in the north part of Switzerland.
I will not be using pdf so much since I'll mostly be reading .txt and .mobi. I've heard that pdf is a pain to read. I'm leaning more to the Cybook. But I'll be reading, sometimes, a few books at a time and if then it doesn't remember bookmarks that would be a pain. And is the navigation really that bad if you have many books in the Cybook?

a_dreamer · 11-11-2008, 09:01 AM

Anyway I go I'll be so happy to be able to read lots of free english literature on a screen that doesn't hurt my eyes.

HarryT · 11-11-2008, 09:01 AM

I suppose it depends what you mean by "many books". I currently have about 320 books on my Gen3 (using just over half the internal memory) and I don't find navigation to be difficult at all. You wouldn't want to have 1000 books on it, but there again, why ever would you want to? I keep my main eBook library on my PC, and have on my Gen3 probably my next year's reading.

Both the iLiad and the Gen3 automatically store your current reading position in each book. In addition, the Gen3 allows you to set "bookmarks" in a book; the iLiad doesn't.

LazyScot · 11-11-2008, 09:52 AM

I'd support what HarryT has said, though I don't seem to get quite as much life out of the Cybook battery as he does (maybe if I spent less time looking up all those words I don't understand....).

If anything, the navigation is nicer/faster on the Cybook if you have multiple books (you can configure how many books to display in a screen full, up to, I think, 25 -- I don't have the Cybook with me at the moment -- and you use the up/down/left/right to get to the book you want). Whilst I love the iliad's interface, wacom tablet and flipbar, the Cybook seems faster to get to books.

That said, I've not had that many books on the Cybook -- I try to keep the numbers down to one or two screenfuls, moving books off once I've read them, and on when they're "about" to be read.

One point other people mention is the fragility of the Cybook. I've not (yet

) had any problems, and I suspect that if you treat it gently and keep it in its case you should be safe with it. But that might be something to bear in mind.

HarryT · 11-11-2008, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LazyScot

I'd support what HarryT has said, though I don't seem to get quite as much life out of the Cybook battery as he does (maybe if I spent less time looking up all those words I don't understand....).

The battery life is a slight "guess" on my part, because I tend to keep the battery fully charged. I've only once actually used the Gen3 without charging for a long time, and on that occasion I took it away for a week's holiday during which I did a LOT of reading (it was a cruise, with a lot of "relaxing time"). At the end of the week, the battery meter was showing 40%, but I've no way of knowing how accurate that is.

All I can really say is that the Gen3's battery life is so long that I never even consider it, whereas with the iLiad it was always an issue.

a_dreamer · 11-11-2008, 10:56 AM

Well thanks again for the many posts. I'm going to order the Cybook. When I have it I can maybe contribute something about the Cybook.

a_dreamer · 11-11-2008, 11:05 AM

Oh and one last question: I've noticed now that most of my ebooks are .txt not any of the "bought" formats. I know that it works with Cybook but does .txt have any problems? (like slowness, worse quality or even the almost unreadable pdf quality)

LazyScot · 11-11-2008, 11:55 AM

I've not used txt on my Cybook -- unlike you I have a PC, so I can easily convert txt to either PDF(*) or mobi. If I get a chance I'll try some Gutenberg txt's tonight. I wouldn't expect any problems, though.

As for the txt's, depending on what they are and where they come from, there may be a lot of them available in other formats. For instance have a click on the "E-Books" tab on the blue bar near the top of the page, and that will take you to a wealth of content...

(*) If you don't want to change the font size, and the PDF is correctly formatted for the device, don't necessarily be put off by it -- just make sure it really is the right size.

HarryT · 11-11-2008, 01:03 PM

Text files display OK but (obviously!) don't have any formatting. That's why many people here spend a long time converting PG text files into nicely formatted eBooks and uploading them to the "Book Uploads" forum.

a_dreamer · 11-11-2008, 03:20 PM

Well thanks again for the very quick answer.
I'm getting the Cybook anyways so depending on the quality of the txt files, I'll maybe have to convert them maybe not.

DDHarriman · 11-11-2008, 03:31 PM

The text files have a nice format “thing” in the Cybook.

If you like to read right justified text, the Cybook permits this to text files too.
Also you see the text files with the font you have selected - remember you can have lots of fonts in the Cybook if you want!

Reading text files in the Cybook is great.

11-11-2008, 07:08 AM	#1
a_dreamer Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: none	Cybook vs. iLiad First I want to say that I have looked through different forums and I'm very happy for any answers. Facts: I live in Switzerland. I have a Mac and I'm to lazy to download different programms to make something work (like the Sony). It's my first ereader and it'll be so much easier and cheaper to get english books here. I've decided on either a Cybook Gen 3 or an iLiad book edition. I'm willing to pay the price of the iLiad if it's worth it. I'm a fast reader and long page loading would annoy me, I think... I have no experience. I like being able to read files from Gutenberg and various other free sites rather than just mobipocket. I'd like to hear experiences you've had or pros and cons of each device... I will have a lot of books on it.

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11-11-2008, 07:15 AM	#2
a_dreamer Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: none	I'm sorry for posting again but I must say this: If you know the 2 devices what's the difference in page loading speed. From what I've seen and heard it seems the iLiad is a lot slower. Is that true?

11-11-2008, 07:43 AM	#3
LazyScot DSil Posts: 3,201 Karma: 6895096 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Hants, UK Device: Kindle, Cybook	It's a difficult one to answer. Certainly the iLiad can take an age to turn pages, but I find that is usually for large, complex PDFs that I would never try on my Cybook. I don't use mobipocket on the iliad much these days (but it is the format that I use most between the two), but I wouldn't say the speed is massively different. Slower? yes. Noticeably? yes (just). Troublingly? Not for me. Also as the iliad display is larger, I need to do the refresh less often. That might be a factor to bear in mind. I'm very happy with the Cybook for reading books (rather than textbooks or PDFs). If you're after something just for literature, rather than complex PDFs the Cybook should meet your needs. Whereabouts are you in Switzerland? It might be worth seeing if there is anyone nearby who can show you one or other of them.

11-11-2008, 08:34 AM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I sold my iLiad and bought a CyBook for a number of reasons: 1. The iLiad is rather slow to boot - 45s against about 25s for the CyBook. 2. The battery life is much shorter - roughly 10h reading on the iLiad, against a couple of weeks on the CyBook. 3. (And most importantly): the MobiPocket Reader implementation on the iLiad is extremely poor, and reading Mobi books is my main priority. For me personally, the CyBook was (and still is) a much better choice.

11-11-2008, 08:57 AM	#5
a_dreamer Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: none	thank you for answering so quickly and I live near Aarau, in the north part of Switzerland. I will not be using pdf so much since I'll mostly be reading .txt and .mobi. I've heard that pdf is a pain to read. I'm leaning more to the Cybook. But I'll be reading, sometimes, a few books at a time and if then it doesn't remember bookmarks that would be a pain. And is the navigation really that bad if you have many books in the Cybook?

11-11-2008, 09:01 AM	#6
a_dreamer Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: none	Anyway I go I'll be so happy to be able to read lots of free english literature on a screen that doesn't hurt my eyes.

11-11-2008, 09:52 AM	#8
LazyScot DSil Posts: 3,201 Karma: 6895096 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Hants, UK Device: Kindle, Cybook	I'd support what HarryT has said, though I don't seem to get quite as much life out of the Cybook battery as he does (maybe if I spent less time looking up all those words I don't understand....). If anything, the navigation is nicer/faster on the Cybook if you have multiple books (you can configure how many books to display in a screen full, up to, I think, 25 -- I don't have the Cybook with me at the moment -- and you use the up/down/left/right to get to the book you want). Whilst I love the iliad's interface, wacom tablet and flipbar, the Cybook seems faster to get to books. That said, I've not had that many books on the Cybook -- I try to keep the numbers down to one or two screenfuls, moving books off once I've read them, and on when they're "about" to be read. One point other people mention is the fragility of the Cybook. I've not (yet ) had any problems, and I suspect that if you treat it gently and keep it in its case you should be safe with it. But that might be something to bear in mind.

11-11-2008, 10:56 AM	#10
a_dreamer Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: none	Well thanks again for the many posts. I'm going to order the Cybook. When I have it I can maybe contribute something about the Cybook.

11-11-2008, 11:05 AM	#11
a_dreamer Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: none	Oh and one last question: I've noticed now that most of my ebooks are .txt not any of the "bought" formats. I know that it works with Cybook but does .txt have any problems? (like slowness, worse quality or even the almost unreadable pdf quality)

11-11-2008, 11:55 AM	#12
LazyScot DSil Posts: 3,201 Karma: 6895096 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Hants, UK Device: Kindle, Cybook	I've not used txt on my Cybook -- unlike you I have a PC, so I can easily convert txt to either PDF() or mobi. If I get a chance I'll try some Gutenberg txt's tonight. I wouldn't expect any problems, though. As for the txt's, depending on what they are and where they come from, there may be a lot of them available in other formats. For instance have a click on the "E-Books" tab on the blue bar near the top of the page, and that will take you to a wealth of content... () If you don't want to change the font size, and the PDF is correctly formatted for the device, don't necessarily be put off by it -- just make sure it really is the right size.

11-11-2008, 01:03 PM	#13
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Text files display OK but (obviously!) don't have any formatting. That's why many people here spend a long time converting PG text files into nicely formatted eBooks and uploading them to the "Book Uploads" forum.

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11-11-2008, 03:20 PM	#14
a_dreamer Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: none	Well thanks again for the very quick answer. I'm getting the Cybook anyways so depending on the quality of the txt files, I'll maybe have to convert them maybe not.

11-11-2008, 03:31 PM	#15
DDHarriman Guru Posts: 860 Karma: 4380 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Almada, Portugal Device: Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS 505, Kindle DXG and Samsung Galaxy Note	The text files have a nice format “thing” in the Cybook. If you like to read right justified text, the Cybook permits this to text files too. Also you see the text files with the font you have selected - remember you can have lots of fonts in the Cybook if you want! Reading text files in the Cybook is great.