Opus What's wrong with Opus screens ?

[olaghair]

I don't know if I am doomed. I bought an Opus last September. As I read in forums that the case provided with it was kind of unpracticle I bought a special "wallet type" case from Bookeen. Everthing was fine until January. One day, as I opened the wallet, the upper part of the screen stayed blank apart from some scribbles in the left corner. The bookeen people told me I had broken the screen from a "shock or a pressure". (It's true I turn the pages using a heavy hammer or a crow bar and I have fun throwing the reader from the twelfth storey window of my flat.) They charged me 60 Euros to replace the screen. (In fact I was given a new Opus because I had made a small mark inside the back cover and it had disappeared.) I received the 'repared' Opus on the 10th of this month. Yesterday the screen was f...ed up again the same way!.
I suppose one shouldn't "read" an Opus but merely "glance quickly" at the pages in case the weight of one's look is too heavy for the screen.
Has any one experimented such a inconvenience?

[EowynCarter]

e-ink screen ARE fragile.
Managed to break one (my gen3), despite being careful with my stuff. Though there was a clear mark on the case, proof that the reader had taken a hit, even if I can't say when or how. Since then, I put the reader inside the bag, rather than the front pocket. Maybe the screen did got hit, or the bag the reader is in, and you don't remember. Or the way you put stuff in you bag means that the opus is indeed submitted to pressure.
Then, there is still the possibility of a defective screen.

[olaghair]

Ah come on, the Opus is in a case. I do not carry it about in a pocket, it lays on a shelf in my room. The only time I transported it was last November, in a suitcase between cloths and in it's case. I own a Pocket PC, a portable CD reader, an Archos mp3 and video reader. I never had any trouble with those. This is definitely a defective screen (the second in a month). Or if e-ink are THAT fragile then I'll turn to any other technology...

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by olaghair

Ah come on, the Opus is in a case. I do not carry it about in a pocket, it lays on a shelf in my room. The only time I transported it was last November, in a suitcase between cloths and in it's case. I own a Pocket PC, a portable CD reader, an Archos mp3 and video reader. I never had any trouble with those. This is definitely a defective screen (the second in a month). Or if e-ink are THAT fragile then I'll turn to any other technology...

More fragile than LCD, but not that fragile. I carry mine in my bag everyday, it don't break. Except the time it was actually hit.
Guess defective screens is possible, but IMHO, they don't break by themselves. If you managed to break two of them, either you're really unlucky and got not only one, but two, defective screens. Or you're not taking care enough of your stuff. Sorry to say it, but #2 is the most probable....

[olaghair]

I must definitely be a big mountain troll unaware of its strength. Or a Medusa whose only look suffice to kill a screen. What I really think is that the screen is OK but the system (although a Linux) is faulty and can't address the screen correctly. So when you turn to Bookeen, they say you screwed up your screen and charge you 60€ to have it mended. This amount must be the price Bookeen buys an Opus from his chinese manufacturer. So for them no money waisted, you just bought another Opus at cost price.
Well if they ask me for another 60€, I'll tell them to go to hell, wait a while that e-ink technology improves and buy another reader. Definitely not a Bookeen!!!

[EowynCarter]

What I really think is that the screen is OK but the system (although a Linux) is faulty and can't address the screen correctly.

Software can't break a screen IMHO.

There is only two possibilities :
- Screen is badly manufactured from start.
- Screen was pressured / hit / bent whatever.

I have 3 cybook, no problem with screens save for the one time i was stupid enough to get it hit. I carry the cybook with me everyday, without particular precaution. (Save the don't use front pocket ! one). While e-ink screens are more fragile, you still need to mishandle them to break them...

[Poppaea]

This seems to be a common problem with screens. There are threads about it in the Sony forum as well

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=114190

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...=broken+screen

in the Kindle forum

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...=broken+screen

I am sure there are more threads on this issue, but am to lazy to find them now.

[HarryT]

eInk screens really aren't that fragile, if treated with a moderate degree of care. The thing that breaks the screen substrate is not so much knocks, but twisting forces, or pressure applied to a point on the screen. Treat it as you would, say, a laptop, and it should be absolutely fine.

[olaghair]

I am flabbergasted! I read the other threads and it seems that it's not only Cybooks screens that have this problem but any e-ink screen. When I say it "lays on a shelf", I mean most of the time. As I work away from my home, I take my Opus on Mondays into the breast pocket of my coat. Then back home on Fridays in the same way. May be the pressure of the seat belt is what is causing the problem. If the Opus is fixable, I'll have a flight case made for it by some people I know who make flight cases for musical instruments.

[dart5]

I also broken my screen recently.

http://i.imgur.com/PWUSg.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/u6gFr.jpg

Not sure how it happened. What is interesting they replaced mine for 50 EUR. But being not from France i had to pay "premium price" for shipping 30 EUR.

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by dart5

I also broken my screen recently.

http://i.imgur.com/PWUSg.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/u6gFr.jpg

Not sure how it happened. What is interesting they replaced mine for 50 EUR. But being not from France i had to pay "premium price" for shipping 30 EUR.

When olaghair says 60 euros, I think he is counting the 10 euro shipping back.

[blak4dr]

I broke three Gen3 screens in a year and a half, so yes I can vouch for the fact that eInk screens are fragile.

I have had my opus for almost two years now and still haven't broken it. But I take good care of it and pay attention to the way I put it in m bagpack or in which of my coat pocket I put it. The screen being smaller than the Gen3, it is probably less fragile too.

I guess it is just a matter of learning how to handle the thing

[olaghair]

When olaghair says 60 euros, I think he is counting the 10 euro shipping back.

It's right : 60 € counts the 10 € shipping back (in France)

I guess it is just a matter of learning how to handle the thing

I am going to handle it with extra-super-hyper-tender-loving care from now onhttps://www2.mobileread.com/i/smilies/wink.gif

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by olaghair

May be the pressure of the seat belt is what is causing the problem.

From the sound of it, almost certainly. The Opus is flat. Your body isn't. A seatbelt passing over the opus in a pocket gives just the kind of uneven pressure that might break the screen.

I had hoped that by now E-Ink screens on a plastic substrate would be widely available, but it seems not.

I have had two CyBook Gen 3s, A Sony PRS-505 and a Kindle 2. Bothe the Gen 3s suffered broken screens, one I got repaired and then broke the screen again.

In my experience, the Gen3 is significantly more prone to broken screens that other 6" E-Ink readers. Perhaps because it is the smallest and lightest.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

In my experience, the Gen3 is significantly more prone to broken screens that other 6" E-Ink readers. Perhaps because it is the smallest and lightest.

The Gen3 was, in terms of its hardware, a Netronix EB100 (later an EB600) device. There were numerous other devices which used exactly the same hardware. They would, I imagine, be precisely as prone to hardware breakages as the Gen3.