Opus not very robust?

[mtravellerh]

Actualitté, a french online tech site, has ben testing the Bookeen Opus. This test, however, came to an abrupt stop when the editor was running down a stair with the Opus in his hip pocket. Result: An utterly broken screen and an unusable Opus. Actuallité insists that there was no fall or any other incident that made this happen.

Bookeen has posted some videos on YouTube that show the robustness of their device.

[acidzebra]

Pour le moment, nous nous refusons à croire qu'un simple séjour d'une minute ait suffi à venir à bout de l'écran à encre électronique : un défaut de fabrication, une particulière fragilité du modèle... toutes les hypothèses sont encore possibles. Cet incident ne remet d'ailleurs pas en questions nos conclustions sur l'objet particulièrement intéressant, mais il serait bon d'obtenir un éclaircissement sur ce problème.

Aside from the fact that people's perception often differs from reality, it seems they are still open to the possibility of a faulty model/production error etc. That spot in the lower-right corner certainly looks like mechanical impact.

It does look like a broken screen substrate, and I know some people have reported similar spontaneous screen breaks (on different ebook devides) where they swear they did nothing to cause it, I remain skeptical of such claims.

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by acidzebra

Aside from the fact that people's perception often differs from reality, it seems they are still open to the possibility of a faulty model/production error etc.

It does look like a broken screen substrate, and I know some people have reported similar spontaneous screen breaks (on different ebook devides) where they swear they did nothing to cause it, I remain skeptical of such claims.

Yeah, I say let's give them a little slack on this and see if maybe they can come up with an explanation!

[Abecedary]

One question is whether he had anything else in that same pocket or not.

[HarryT]

... and whether the machine was in its (very rigid) carrying pouch. If it wasn't, they honestly have only themselves to blame.

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by HarryT

... and whether the machine was in its (very rigid) carrying pouch. If it wasn't, they honestly have only themselves to blame.

It seems it was not in its pouch

[HarryT]

Seems pretty likely, then, that it got "twisted" in the pocket. That, as you know, is what generally breaks screens.

[EowynCarter]

Never carry your reader in your pocket, case or not. Only in your bag after making sure noting pressure the screen, and that the reader won't take any direct hit (avoid putting in in your bag front pouch).

[HarryT]

Have you noticed that Bookeen actually called the Opus a "pocket friendly" reader? In its pouch, I reckon it's pretty safe - as long as it's something like a jacket pocket. Putting it in a back pocket is just asking for trouble.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

... and whether the machine was in its (very rigid) carrying pouch. If it wasn't, they honestly have only themselves to blame.

Not according to Bookeen. The case according to them was only for protection when carrying it in a bag or similar environments. See Bookeen's statement that was quoted in some thread.

[EowynCarter]

In its pouch, I reckon it's pretty safe - as long as it's something like a jacket pocket.

e-reader screens being what they are, i would not take that risk.
Tough yeah, it depends on the pocket.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Seems pretty likely, then, that it got "twisted" in the pocket. That, as you know, is what generally breaks screens.

This is why a pocket sized reader is a bad idea. I've been against 5" eink screens from the beginning and I can easily see a lot more of these sorts of incidents taking place.

[Jack Tingle]

Originally Posted by acidzebra

It does look like a broken screen substrate, and I know some people have reported similar spontaneous screen breaks (on different ebook devides) where they swear they did nothing to cause it, I remain skeptical of such claims.

Ah, the PocketPC effect. Such memories. "Good God, sir, we didn't mean you should keep it in your _pocket_!"

After two broken HP iPAQ 1930 series PPC's I switched from HP's stiff sleeve to Rhinoskin aluminum cases. I also suspect HP (or HTC) started paying a lot more attention to residual mfg stresses. I still have my last HP1945, and it still works for many purposes. The sw is obsolete, and some of the buttons are nubs, but the screen is fine. My Dell X51, ditto, although the digitizer on it is too spiky to use much.

Moral: Armored cases. Not stiff plastic ... armored.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

[Sweetpea]

I have my PDA for 5 years, in a stiff leather (fake) cover. No problem at all with damages...

[emellaich]

As HarryT said, I can't believe someone put this in their rear pants pocket. I can believe that running down the stairs could put quite some pressure on the screen as you bend your legs.

Then again, I saw an article on transparent aluminum over on a tech site a couple weeks ago (Scotty must be here picking up whales). Maybe we need to switch to this as a substrate .