DR800 The 'best' cover for the Irex DR800S

[iliasme]

Hi there! I'm the proud owner of an Irex DR800S for about 4 months now, and I can say I looooovveee it! You just turn it on, and you forget it's not a book on your hands. Terribly sorry they don't make them any more...
I purchased it around christmas. I found out that the leather pouch given, was useless, and I had problem carrying it - I was afraid of pressing the screen too much without breaking it. Also, sometimes it was touching wet surfaces, or I had to hide it from the babies - troublesome and dangerous. So I decided I had to get a decent cover.
After reading posts here and elsewhere and browsing on the net, I decided on this from ebay.co.uk:
Attachment 70679
which is, actually, a cover for the Iliad, but I had some vague ideas about making it fit.
When it arrived, I realised the differences between DR800 and Iliad: less wide, less tall (only a margin below the screen), and the socket on the bottom... But I discovered that the cover came packaged with a hard foam the size of Iliad, to keep its shape. Using a paper cutter, I cut two pieces of it - one about 20X1.2cm for the side, and the other 15.5X3cm for the bottom, with a cut corner for the finger to slide the on-off switch and a notch for the usb cable (proved useless). Here are the pics:
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Here you can see how the pieces are cut and they fit, along with the rest of the hard foam.

With this cover, the book was transformed: It is much more easy to carry, you don't touch the screen. You can leave it on any surface. You can drop asleep with it on your lap. When you're done reading, you just close the cover - no worry about stashing away for safety.
There is a very convenient holder for the stylus on the spine, and the push bar is accessed with no problem.
I don't know how much real abuse it can get, whether or not it would stand on a hitch on a backpack. The cover is hard, but I don't know how much abuse it can get. I don't care, if I have to carry it on a trip, I'll put it in the original box, in the cover, with the foam around it.

There are a few things that can be done to improve it: For example, I discovered that it had the feel of a book so well, that I was carried away and turned the cover side-down while walking, and the Irex just slipped from the top hitting hard to the floor (thankfully, no damage done). To fix this, a piece of leather from the original cover can be sewn on top. Another: Instead of one 20X1.2cm piece of foam, two 20X0.6cm left and right would be a little better. Also, plugging the cable is a little awkward, so I ordered a cable about 15cm long, to be plugged permanently to the reader. It's end will be somewhere outside, where it will be convenient. Also, I ordered a 4-AA USB charger, with the thought to make a permanent 4-AA charging case in the spine. I Will follow up with this idea when the charger arrives and I try it.

Also, I found some very cool and useful gadgets: A metal book holder and a LED light. The first I found on a supermarket sale it cost about 3€, I think it can be found on bookstores. The other cost 5€, but I have found it on dealextreme.com for 2.34$ - it will take weeks to arrive though. On the beginning you could read on the dark easily, but now it doesn't have enough light. I am waiting for new batteries and another 2-led reading light, will follow up with results. Also, if the problem is the batteries and the spine-charger works, I'll just connect it there... we'll see... anyhow, pics on these here:
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And, all together, in all their glory:
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Here is the link for the cover on ebay.co.uk:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/iRex-iLiad-Rea...#ht_953wt_1139

Search it with 'iRex iLiad Reader Cover ereader jacket case' if the link doesn't work.
It costs 9 british pounds, around 10€ or 15$ I think, from a top and quick seller. Definitely worth it, a must have.

Tell me what you think, ask whatever you want. If the pictures or the dimensions aren't clear, ask for more detailed pics. Will be glad to give - I am trying to convince you to share the wonderful reading experience that using this cover allows.

[iliasme]

What happened to the images? I spend an hour writing that post...
I'll post them again here.

The image of the cover on ebay.co.uk:



Pics of the cover and the assembly of the hard foam slices:





Pics of the gadegts:


All together:

it's indeed fantastic reader. we bought them april last year and check many other in the meantime. Our DR800SG is just great. a pleasure to read with.

what is a pitty that the old crew doesn't bring another software update anymore. There some others who believed they would.