iRex DR800SG vs BeBook NEO

[jjansen]

Hi everyone, It really disappoints me that I can't hold and test and compare the ereaders I am interested in. This audience is my best option I believe. I currently have a Sony 505 which I am thinking of giving to my mother so she can read some of my books. I just bought my husband a Sony 300 to carry around in his pocket. I have come down to wanting to buy either the BeBook Neo or the iRex DR800SG as a replacement. I have seen a few comparisons in these forums but none address some of my requirements. I have no interest in wireless as all my novels are stored on my PC and I won't be finished reading them for a very long time. Price, at these price points, is also not a major concern. If a feature is announced as available soon via new firmware that is fine with me. I am not only interested in whether the device can meet my requirements but also if one reader is more awkward than another. Reading is supposed to be simple and mindless!

Environment: 2,000 novels (mainly epub thanks to Calibre) plus 500+ technical PDFs many with images. Working with my novels well is of prime importance.

1) If possible I would like to keep my novels separate from my technical PDFs. I would like to access my technical PDFs through the folder structure only.

2) I would like to access my novels both through the folder structure and also through indexing of author and title and date. Collections, tags or genres would be great but I haven't seen that on either device. I would prefer not to see my technical documents in my list of titles or authors. I don't want to have to index or scan all my books every time I power on.

3) The search feature within a novel is important to me. A dictionary would be nice. (are the devices even here?)

4) Ability to open mulitple books at once and be able to return to the page I left off would be good. I don't mind using bookmarks for this if that is what I need to do.

5) With my Sony I often read with one hand and I switch hands sometimes. This is very easy to do on the 505. I don't think that iRex even has this capability in their latest announced firmware. Correct me if I am wrong.

6) I very much like the 800 screen size but I am concerned that navigation becomes awkward. I certainly don't want anything larger than the iRex. I actually liked the size of my Sony and both these readers are larger.

7) Screen clarity is important to me. The new Sony's aren't clear enough for my eyes. I assume that with the Wacom tablet both readers will be similar and hopefully similar to my 505 clarity.

Any comments, particularly about the folder structure vs the indexing etc. would be great. Does anyone in the US know if they have the iRex on display at any of the Best Buys? I will be in Boston in April.

Thanks again............................Jackie

[HarryT]

The Neo has no indexing, but it does have support for a full folder structure which permits you to arrange your books however you like. It also has a "Most recently read" page, which gives rapid access to the books you've most recently opened. It has search (within a book - not between books) and supports dictionary lookup with any dictionary in the popular "Stardict" format.

You can't have multiple books open at once, but you can switch between books with two button presses or stylus taps - press "Back" to return to the "Most recently read" screen, then tap the book you want to open.

The nice thing about the Neo is that, although it has a Wacom touch screen, the user interface is fully operable with the buttons, too, and can be used equally well left or righ-handed, since the navigation controls are in the centre. It can comfortably be held one-handed. The only thing you have to use the stylus for is things like text highlighting.

I've leave it to someone else to comment on how the DR800 compares, since I have no personal experience of that.

[HorridRedDog]

Originally Posted by jjansen

....

Environment: 2,000 novels (mainly epub thanks to Calibre) plus 500+ technical PDFs many with images. Working with my novels well is of prime importance.

1) If possible I would like to keep my novels separate from my technical PDFs. I would like to access my technical PDFs through the folder structure only.

2) I would like to access my novels both through the folder structure and also through indexing of author and title and date. Collections, tags or genres would be great but I haven't seen that on either device. I would prefer not to see my technical documents in my list of titles or authors. I don't want to have to index or scan all my books every time I power on.

3) The search feature within a novel is important to me. A dictionary would be nice. (are the devices even here?)

4) Ability to open mulitple books at once and be able to return to the page I left off would be good. I don't mind using bookmarks for this if that is what I need to do.

5) With my Sony I often read with one hand and I switch hands sometimes. This is very easy to do on the 505. I don't think that iRex even has this capability in their latest announced firmware. Correct me if I am wrong.

6) I very much like the 800 screen size but I am concerned that navigation becomes awkward. I certainly don't want anything larger than the iRex. I actually liked the size of my Sony and both these readers are larger.

7) Screen clarity is important to me. The new Sony's aren't clear enough for my eyes. I assume that with the Wacom tablet both readers will be similar and hopefully similar to my 505 clarity.

Any comments, particularly about the folder structure vs the indexing etc. would be great. Does anyone in the US know if they have the iRex on display at any of the Best Buys? I will be in Boston in April.

Thanks again............................Jackie

First read this: The Pocketbook 360° eReader – Lean, Light, Beautiful and Blazing Fast

"You have 3 ways to view content—with icons, thumbnails, or in a list. Flags next to the icons signal whether a book is not yet read, being read, or finished. "

And then this: For the Pocketbook 360: FBReader with page breaks & wrist pageturn

The Pocketbook 360 lets you switch between the last 10 books! Returning each time to the page where you left off.

And I believe that it has several dictionaries available.

The bad - I have come to the conclusion that I need (at least) 2 readers. One for pleasure and one for manuals.

My Sony 600 has very good PDF zoom, but I have to use it too much. I need something with a bigger screen.

Now I am told that Pocketbook will be coming out with a large format reader. 10 inches they say. If it is light it may be ok.

Either way I'll probably be getting the Pocketbook 360 (5 inch reader) for pleasure. The other is still up in the air.

[Mickey330]

Hi, Jackie -

I'll give you my impressions of the DR800SG in regards to your questions. Just be warned ... I REALLY like my DR800, which I bought/use mainly to "just" read novels. With that said:

Originally Posted by jjansen

1) If possible I would like to keep my novels separate from my technical PDFs. I would like to access my technical PDFs through the folder structure only.

If you do the "folder hack" on the DR800 (add a line to the .ini file), you can keep your PDFs separate from your novels by putting your novels into the main "Book" folder and your PDFs in the "Personal" folder. The IREX will not dip into the Personal folder when it shows you a book list. So, this kind of answers part of your note 2 (keeping PDFs separate from novels).

Originally Posted by jjansen

2) I would like to access my novels both through the folder structure and also through indexing of author and title and date. Collections, tags or genres would be great but I haven't seen that on either device. I would prefer not to see my technical documents in my list of titles or authors. I don't want to have to index or scan all my books every time I power on.

As long as you keep your technical stuff separate from your books (using Book and Personal folders), they won't be "mixed" together in a title/author list. For now, the DR800 only indexes those files you have already opened - but that is supposed to change with a new update (scheduled for April release). That's good, in that if you have lots of books - it won't take that long to index. It's bad in that if you do a sort on the author, it only sorts (for now) on the indexed books. Bit awkward. You can still do a search for title or author from the home page...

You can create your own sub folders on the SD card, so you can file by genre or author (see my post (#9) that has pictures of my folders: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75646). The handy part is that no matter HOW you arrange the books - within that main Book folder - the DR800 will still show them all in a sorted list from the home page.

Originally Posted by jjansen

3) The search feature within a novel is important to me. A dictionary would be nice. (are the devices even here?)

The DR800 has no dictionary function. It does have two different search functions. You can search from the home page for an author or a title and you can search, from within a book, for any word/phrase.

Originally Posted by jjansen

4) Ability to open mulitple books at once and be able to return to the page I left off would be good. I don't mind using bookmarks for this if that is what I need to do.

The DR800 remembers where you've last been in any book. You'll have to browse to the book, but once you've opened it, it'll be where you left off. There is a bookmark function also.

Originally Posted by jjansen

5) With my Sony I often read with one hand and I switch hands sometimes. This is very easy to do on the 505. I don't think that iRex even has this capability in their latest announced firmware. Correct me if I am wrong.

Sigh. On this one, you are correct. The DR800 will only rotate the screen 90 degrees (the flip bar will be on the bottom). I did read talk on someone's post here (don't remember who/when) that there would be an update to make this fully rotational. But, for now .... nope.

Originally Posted by jjansen

6) I very much like the 800 screen size but I am concerned that navigation becomes awkward. I certainly don't want anything larger than the iRex. I actually liked the size of my Sony and both these readers are larger.

The screen size is THE main reason I like the DR800. It is awesome (not to mention very crisp). I don't find navigation awkward. I use the stylus (or the flip bar) to navigate to a book I want to read. Then, I read the book using just the flip bar. I like the stylus because it makes browsing the device faster (I have a Sony PRS300 also). But, once I'm in a book, the IREX screen is wonderful and it "disappears" as I read the book. Did I mention I LIKE the reading experience?

Originally Posted by jjansen

7) Screen clarity is important to me. The new Sony's aren't clear enough for my eyes. I assume that with the Wacom tablet both readers will be similar and hopefully similar to my 505 clarity.

The clarity of the screen is great. As I said, I also have a PRS300, and I find them to be equal (while others have said the PRS300 compares well to a 505). I know that I have dry eyes and I can - and have - read comfortably on this device for hours (as reading is what I do ... can't stand TV).

Originally Posted by jjansen

Any comments, particularly about the folder structure vs the indexing etc. would be great. Does anyone in the US know if they have the iRex on display at any of the Best Buys? I will be in Boston in April.

Thanks again............................Jackie

I don't know whether Best Buy will have one in stock in April.

I hope this helps. As I've said, I bought the DR800 to read on. I don't care about wireless, touchscreen or multifunctions. I want to read a book (well, and be able to access library books - which the DR800 can). The screen is great on this and, using the stylus, navigating to my book is painless - and then I can just read.

Happy reading.

Marilyn

[jjansen]

Marilyn, Great response, thanks a lot. Quick question. I really like having my technical PDFs in my Personal folders and my novels under "Books". Apparently the April firmware update will index all books by author and title. If that is correct then I should be able to access my books (i.e. novels) both from the index and also through a folder structure underneath "Books" - correct? I am pretty sure that I am right but I just want to verify it as this is important to me.

One thing that I really liked about my PRS-505 was the ability to keep it in my purse or a fanny pack etc. As one female to another :-) have you had any issues with the size of the 800? I cut out some cardboard to try and tell but that didn't really work very well.

Jackie

[pauli]

You won't see a folder structure under "books" on the dr800. But if you apply the "folder hack"as described in the "dr800 sources posted" thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71413
you can just create your own folder structure on the device and organize your books and technical documents any way you like.

[HorridRedDog]

The "folder hack" would make it a better large format reader for me too.

How does it handle PDF manuals? A Google search doesn't pull up much.

[Mickey330]

Originally Posted by jjansen

Marilyn, Great response, thanks a lot. Quick question. I really like having my technical PDFs in my Personal folders and my novels under "Books". Apparently the April firmware update will index all books by author and title. If that is correct then I should be able to access my books (i.e. novels) both from the index and also through a folder structure underneath "Books" - correct? I am pretty sure that I am right but I just want to verify it as this is important to me.

Lemme see if I can write this better (sure is hard to just use words to describe something, ya know?):

1) Out of the box, the DR800 will allow you to put stuff in any folder you want (Books, Personal Documents, Images). You do this by sideloading from your computer (the DR800 will show up as a hard drive on your PC - you can browse through any folder or put anything into any folder). You can access a list of all items currently in any folder by tapping on the appropriate icon on the Home page. You also can sort any folder via the Menu by title, author, date added or recently opened (if you went to that folder from Home). As far as I can tell, none of the folders "talk" to each other, so they don't get mixed together in any sort function.

2) Also, as far as I can tell, the indexing only comes into play if you want to sort on Author (sorting works fine - out of the box - on title/file name). The DR800, right now, only indexes those items you've already opened on the device (and that's anything ... pictures, PDFs, epubs, txt files, etc.). If it's not indexed, it'll still show under the title/name of the item - you just won't get author data (or a pretty book cover if it's a book or a thumbnail of your picture, or, well ....). I'm of two minds if I want this to be fixed, because I have 200+ books on my device now, but I've only opened about 5. So, when I unplug it, it does index those 5 ... which makes it fast. Who knows HOW fast that'll be when the device is updated to auto-index at time of loading. Guess we'll see...

Also, indexing or not has no affect on the search function (from Home). And - it'll search through each folder for something (I just did a Search for a .gif file that I knew the name of - it found it right away .. and I had it stored in Personal Documents).

So, indexing or not has no affect on how you file/find your stuff.

3) And, Pauli has it right when saying "you won't see folders under books" if/when you do the folder hack. With or without the hack, if you tap on the IREX-provided icons - you will only get a sorted list of what is in that folder. But, if you do the simple .ini file folder hack, you will see a new icon on your Home page ("SD Card"). Just like on a computer, if you tap on that icon, THAT'S when you can see the folders that you've made ... and you can navigate through them.

Whew. I think that's clear. But, let me know if it's "clear as mud."

To make a longer explanation a bit longer - with the folder hack, I can navigate through/around my DR800 as if I was navigating Windows Explorer on my PC (by being able to directly access the SD card). That help?

Originally Posted by jjansen

One thing that I really liked about my PRS-505 was the ability to keep it in my purse or a fanny pack etc. As one female to another :-) have you had any issues with the size of the 800? I cut out some cardboard to try and tell but that didn't really work very well.

Jackie

I'll be honest with you - you ain't putting this thing in a fanny pack. But then again, my Sony PRS300 (in it's Neoprene case) won't fit in the fanny pack I have either. So, there's that.

It does, however, fit quite well into my purse; well, when I carry a purse. I don't use a big, clunky purse either. The one I use is a 8" tall multi-compartment Wal-Mart special and the DR800 (and IT'S Neoprene case) fit in there just fine.

Unfortunately, the size trade-off IS due to that wonderful big screen - but it's just an inch or so longer than a regular paperback and it's about 1/3 as thick. I'll take that trade-off to have a large clear screen, selectable-size fonts and a lighter weight. YMMV.

Good luck in your decision.

Marilyn

[jjansen]

Marilyn, You are probably fed up with me by now and regretting helping me in the first place. Believe me your assistance is appreciated. My plan is to organize my novels such that the top level is genre and the next level is author and under author is series or the actual books. Some authors will come under two genres i.e. James Patterson has novels that would come under "Mysteries & Thrillers" and other novels that would be under "Kids Books". Do I, or will I, be able to see all my James Patterson's books somehow even though they are split under different folders.............Jackie

[HarryT]

You seem to have already made up your mind, so why ask about the Neo?

[jjansen]

Harry, When I started this thread I was actually leaning towards the Neo. From some other posts I thought that it met my criteria over the iRex and I was just firming that up. It is only since hearing how the iRex works that I am thinking of changing my mind. I knew that it was between these two. I must admit that I have gone from leaning towards the Neo to leaning towards the iRex based on Marilyn's answers. This isn't final yet. I really wish that I could pick them both up and make my own decision that way. I would be interested in any of my questions to Marilyn about the iRex being answered about the Neo. It was my first choice originally............Jackie

[Mickey330]

Originally Posted by jjansen

Marilyn, You are probably fed up with me by now and regretting helping me in the first place. Believe me your assistance is appreciated. My plan is to organize my novels such that the top level is genre and the next level is author and under author is series or the actual books. Some authors will come under two genres i.e. James Patterson has novels that would come under "Mysteries & Thrillers" and other novels that would be under "Kids Books". Do I, or will I, be able to see all my James Patterson's books somehow even though they are split under different folders.............Jackie

Jackie -

Doesn't bother me a bit to answer questions. If I can help someone make a decision - then, my pleasure. Also, as you can probably tell - I LIKE talking about my new "toy"! Maybe a bit TOO much ...

Yes, you can make folders all day long and they'll be accessible. So, you can have Books>Mysteries & Thriller>James Patterson>(his mystery books) and you can have Books>Kids Books>James Patterson>(his kids books).

After you've created your folders, you then have three ways of finding your books. With the folder hack, you can access your SD card (tap on the SD Card icon on the Home screen). Then, you can manually navigate through each folder to find the books (it's not like the Sony Collections idea or Calibre's tag system where you can have one copy of a book on the reader with references/tags to other places).

-OR-

From the DR800 Home screen, you can tap the Search icon, enter the word "Patterson" and it will bring up all Patterson stuff. In this instance, the Irex does not care where the books are stored when conducting this search. In fact, the Irex doesn't care WHAT you are looking for - it will look through its entire memory for your search term. So, if you have a PDF under Personal Documents titled "Patterson," a jpg titled "Patterson" and/or a couple of books BY "Patterson" - that Search function will find/show them all.

-OR-

You can tap on the Books icon on the Home screen. This will open a list of all your books on the device. You then can do an author sort (by selecting such from the Menu). On the right side of the screen is an A-Z letter list. Each letter that is highlighted signifies there is a book starting with that letter. You just have to tap the highlighted letter ("P," in your case, for Patterson).

However, for now, the author sort only works with books that have been indexed (although it works perfectly for title sorts) ... and the device only indexes books once you've opened them. So, if you haven't opened a book, the sort won't "catch" it (your list will stay in alphabetical by title sequence). Again, there is a fix to make the DR800 auto-index each time a book is added to the device - but that's for April's release. We'll see how well it works when the software is updated...

But, for now, the best sorting the device does is by title - and it sorts very well for every item that is listed under Books (and shows that A-Z list with highlights for every title beginning with that letter).

All that to say, you'll be able to find books by Patterson (for example) no matter what folder you've put them in. So, go nuts! - go layer by layer by layer with your folder hierarchies ... the DR800 will still find your books. The folder structure is very intuitive (if you use a PC and its file structure).

Hope this helps ... and good luck making that decision.

Marilyn

[jjansen]

Marilyn, Great, I really think I understand the issue now. You are a good salesperson. I started this thread leaning towards the Neo and I have just ordered the iRex. My one remaining concern is the size. If it doesn't fit easily in all my purses etc. then I may have to return it. Until my Sony eReader I ALWAYS had a book in my purse (and now I have a lot of books in my purse!). When I bought fanny packs for travelling I would take my book out of my purse and make sure it fit before my purchase. My cardboard cutout of the iRex fits in all but my evening purse at the moment. In that case I would just have to take a second purse in the car and be without at the dance. I might be able to last that long! Thanks for your help. I will let you know what I think...........Jackie

[Mickey330]

Originally Posted by jjansen

... I have just ordered the iRex.

Glad I could help. I'm not nervous or anything - but I hope you end up liking the DR800 as much as I do.

To add a bit to our discussion about folders, don't forget the first thing you need to do with the device (once it's charged and ready to go, that is) is to do the folder hack so you can see your folders on the device. I don't know if you've made notes about that, but here is the procedure all in one place (I made notes from different people here on the forum - my apologies for not giving credit ... it's all just been mashed together):

Steps in order:
- Have DR800 attached to PC
- In the "System" folder is a file "dr.ini"
- Backup/copy this file (not necessary - just for "peace of mind")
- Copy the ini file to your PC
- Open the ini file with Wordpad*
- Add this line (to the bottom of [registry])

/apps/er/sys/ctb/showdir=sdcard

- Save the changed file to the reader's System folder
- Reboot the reader
- SD support is now added (should see "SD Card" icon on Home screen). If you tap on the SD Card icon, you'll see all the folders on your DR800 (that you see when it was hooked to your PC)

*NOTE: DO NOT use notepad. It may destroy the structure (i.e. linebreaks) of the document. Use Wordpad instead (cause if the document is not readable or does have an incorrect structure, the reader will re-generate the original file and the "hack" won't have worked).

Originally Posted by jjansen

I will let you know what I think...........Jackie

Please do! I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts - particularly on it's size.

Good luck and happy reading!

Marilyn

[jen6060]

Hi - I just ordered the irex 800sg, and want to say i appreciate the really detailed instruction in this thread on the folder hack. I'm not v good technically.. I'm also wondering - and thanks in advance for help - if you do folder hack, and then you install the firmware upgrade (now beta version), does that undo the folder hack? Do you need to re-hack it? Thanks!