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Old 01-24-2007, 04:03 AM   #46
mill0r
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There is talks about DRM support on the iRex forum http://forum.irexnet.com/viewtopic.p...r=asc&start=30

seems like it might be mobipocket
http://www.mobipocket.com/forum/view...?p=18286#18286
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Old 01-24-2007, 03:33 PM   #47
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scotty1024 is right! The near instant on/off has been the "Killer App". Too bad iRex iLiad can NEVER have this feature, looks like I've made the right decision. iLiad users would have to dole out another $700 for iRex new reader to get this feature.
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Old 01-24-2007, 04:27 PM   #48
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rsuryase
scotty1024 is right! The near instant on/off has been the "Killer App". Too bad iRex iLiad can NEVER have this feature, looks like I've made the right decision. iLiad users would have to dole out another $700 for iRex new reader to get this feature.
For you it might be, for me I don't care about this feature. It is very personal what features are important to you and you should ma ke a decision by comparing the two (or more) devices closely. The bigger screen alone of the Iliad makes the Iliad for me a winner. Find the device that fulfills as much as possible of your requested features (like creating notes in PDF's )

By the way, I read about a Dutch school today that is going to experiment with supplying study books on Iliads to their students. Great initiative and I think that these are the B2B-opportunities that Irex is heading for.
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Old 01-24-2007, 06:06 PM   #49
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Must be a school for the wealthy to be able to spend that kind of money plus the repairs costs they WILL get in the future. Imagine children handling such fragile products.

True, true. Touch screen, larger screen, writing capability and WIFI do justify a higher price but I think $600 would have been more appropriate. I would have purchased the iLiad if there weren't so many complaints from technical issues such as fragility, low battery life and high repair costs.
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Old 01-25-2007, 02:53 AM   #50
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rsuryase
Must be a school for the wealthy to be able to spend that kind of money plus the repairs costs they WILL get in the future. Imagine children handling such fragile products.

True, true. Touch screen, larger screen, writing capability and WIFI do justify a higher price but I think $600 would have been more appropriate. I would have purchased the iLiad if there weren't so many complaints from technical issues such as fragility, low battery life and high repair costs.
I think someone should tell this kid about economic differences, differences in political systems and life-style, and the idea of "correct-choice-for-purpose"...

But I think we'll need to get that book uploaded to the Connect store before he'll be able to read it...
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Old 01-25-2007, 04:21 AM   #51
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You mean social class? I'm middle-class, are you upper-class?
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Old 01-25-2007, 04:23 AM   #52
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Originally Posted by rsuryase
[...]
True, true. Touch screen, larger screen, writing capability and WIFI do justify a higher price but I think $600 would have been more appropriate.[...]
The enormous price difference is partly because of the strong euro. In the Netherlands (and rest of Europe) I pay 649 EUR, which is expensive, but compared to the Sony (very difficult to get here) the price difference will about 200 EUR. In my opinion this isn't that much for the extra features you get.

Shortly, Irex international (outside the EU) sales will be hurt by the strong EUR.

BY the way, for the same reason I buy my books in the US currently. Including the shipping costs it is still significant cheaper than buying the same book in The Netherlands and also more convenient.

Also, I'd wish Irex stopped advertising with 21 hours reading pleasure as they cannot make this statement true and will cause disappointed customers.
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Old 01-25-2007, 05:50 PM   #53
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Instead of hours, why not use number of pages turned, like SONY? This is how eink works right? It only uses electricity when the page is turned.
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Old 01-25-2007, 07:27 PM   #54
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Whew, this thread is being beat to death (which is good, mind you, so everyone can air their opinions). IMO, I'd probably have adopted the iRex a while back, but at it's current price I'd rather pick up a second-hand TabletPC and do all it can do plus more. I know Tablet's aren't even a part of this arguement, but given the pricing issue and arguement about capabilities... Since I have only done preliminary research into the device, I can only base this on initial observations of what existing users have posted in open forums regarding battery life is; one thing I do know for certain is my Tablet's battery life is ~5 hours of constant on, while searchs indicated ~7 hours for the iLiad. Of course when it comes down to it, I've used my Reader almost every day and have only had to charge it once (not including the initial charge), and I received it over a month ago. I've left the screen on many times, came back hours later, and noticed no indication of power consumption (since the Reader only uses power on page flips). During this time, I've read several books and about a couple of manga books (~200 pages each). Try that with either of the two previously mentioned devices; not gonna happen.

From a pure book reading perspective, the large screen sells me when reading computer tech PDF's; but on the flip-side, there have been some pretty darn good conversion tools out there that have made PDF's much more viewable. I am absolutely impressed with the size of the screen compared to the Reader's, just wish Sony would have opted for a little larger screen.

While it is cool that you can install "other" apps on the device, I wouldn't use this for such purposes, as that is what my PDA is for and my PDA is much more portable. I can't believe Sony actually put an MP3 player in the Reader, what a waste (plus, it looks like an after-thought).

From the cost perspective, the Reader win hands down; especially if you lock in the $150 credit using a new Sony Card account (not SonyStyle).

Finally, as to DRM... I think it has pretty unanimously been agreed that this is really a non-issue for several reasons: a) it's a choice you make to purchase DRM'd books as opposed to open-content (although this is the only way to purchase books through Connect), b) it's just a matter of time before the DRM is busted (RE: M$'s LIT format & $ony's inability to keep any platform truly locked down; i.e., just look at the PSP, it's a battle they've all but lost), and c) there are several tools you can use to put the content you want on the Reader, even converted to the Reader's native format.

My Final Verdict: I'll stick with the Reader to do what it's made for: reading eBooks, and I'll use my PDA & laptop for what they're for. Sure, it would be nice to have an all-in-one device; we'll see one at some point in time, but until then I'll just bide my time.
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Old 01-25-2007, 09:59 PM   #55
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Since both the Sony Reader and the iRex are made in Asia the value of the US dollar vs. the Euro does not matter. Each of us have or will make our choice based on needs, wants, features, and cost. For me it was the Sony Reader. Others differ.
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Old 01-27-2007, 06:01 PM   #56
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I think one should bear in mind that iRex now have a sales partner in the US, so maybe shipping, returning et al aren't so hairy or expensive as before (http://www.ereaderoutfitters.com).

For me, screen size was the clincher when I was deciding what to buy, but since then, seeing photos of the Sony Reader and the iLiad side by side have confirmed my choice for me, the resolution is not the same, those 16 scales of grey vs. 4 (my guess as to reason) make a real difference to image quality. And being able to annotate is nice, I got hooked on Sudokus.
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Old 01-27-2007, 08:39 PM   #57
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eReader Outfitters, the US based distributor for the Iliad, does not have any stock in the US. When one purchases through them the shipment still comes from the warehouse in Europe. The advantage of eReaders seem to be that there is no VAT on the purchase and that they are based in the US.
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Old 05-11-2007, 02:58 AM   #58
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Originally Posted by rsuryase
Economics rule at the end of the day. SONY will crush iRex if they enter the EU market.
I might agree with you about the relative size of the companies, and their likeliness to be there in a few years' time, but there's a very good reason for Europeans not to buy a Sony Portable Reader.

There's a big UK market for gadgets, and quite a few people who like gadgets in continental Europe, but I started to look for other e-ink readers because I feel the European market has been let down by Sony. I waited through the Librie and the Portable Reader, assuming that the European release of the Portable Reader would turn up a couple or three years after the US release. Sony apparently have no plans to bring out the Portable Reader for Europe. I suppose there'd be language issues about trying to produce content for all European countries--but I suspect British gadget-freaks plus people from other countries who can read in English would make a big enough market for it to be worth doing.

Us European types have been watching theYanks on the forums complaining about having to deal with a European company -- it's just as bad the other way round, plus non-US Portable Reader owners apparently have to pretend they're in the US just to get content onto the device.

The iLiad is the first e-ink reader to be available in the UK, which is quite a step forward. If Sony had definite plans to roll out the Portable Reader in Europe, it might well be worth waiting for, but they're not even planning for it in a few years' time. There's a definite tone of We Might Change Our Minds And Bring It Out But Don't Hold Your Breath in Sony's statement.
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Old 05-11-2007, 10:14 AM   #59
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Yes, Sony definitely missed the ship on not launching in multiple countries at once. I think their gameplan was to see how well it performed in the US prior to launching in other countries to avoid another Librie snafu (it's what I'd have done). Hopefully, given the success of the Reader and the rampant adoption of eInk displays, Sony will get off their duff and supplant their products in other countries for other more entrepreneuring companies beat them to the the punch.

I totally feel you pain with all the taxes and tarriffs being applied to imports, guess it's all about the government wanting to make their buck on something the couldn't tax in the country of origin. Wonder where China would be if countries taxed the hell out of their imports?
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Old 05-14-2007, 10:28 AM   #60
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Azayzel
Finally, as to DRM... I think it has pretty unanimously been agreed that this is really a non-issue for several reasons: a) it's a choice you make to purchase DRM'd books as opposed to open-content (although this is the only way to purchase books through Connect), b) it's just a matter of time before the DRM is busted (RE: M$'s LIT format & $ony's inability to keep any platform truly locked down; i.e., just look at the PSP, it's a battle they've all but lost), and c) there are several tools you can use to put the content you want on the Reader, even converted to the Reader's native format.
So far as I know, .lit is the only e-book DRM that has been broken - and this is done by side-stepping the DRM rather than actually breaking it (PDF may be another example, but there are levels of PDF security and I don't think the highest levels have been broken). This has not seemed to have prevented publishers from using the .lit format, and it has probably increased sales of .lit books. I'm sure that all the existing e-book DRM schemes could be broken, but perhaps only by a huge effort that may not be forthcoming for a relatively small market segment. Note that most "breaks" of DRM are of the .lit kind, i.e. some defect in the total system rather than the actual encryption.
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