Unboxing and more

[allovertheglobe]

So for those interested in that old geek tradition, here are some pictures and more first impressions. I'll skip most of the quirks already discussed elsewhere and try to focus on less covered matters.

I ordered the DR1000S and Deluxe cover from eReader Outfitters and the accessories from iRex directly. Through some coincidence, they arrived together (good thing, since the Deluxe cover is not available... yet)

If the DR1000S is big, the (cardboard) box is gianormous ^_^; It came with a "Reader 101" sticker covering the screen, and still had enough charge left for me to play around with.

It's certainly the snappiest e-ink reader I have used, esp. with PDFs (not that I have any love for that format, on the Sony the newly-introduced oddball reflowing just isn't much good...) It has so far opened every file I have thrown at it, the first time you opened it it may take a while, but after that it's much faster. As an avid comic/manga fan, it is nice to just throw a folder of uncompressed images on there (no compressed folders yet) and read away, fast and almost always without scaling since most images are in the 1100-1200px height range. Add to that the fact that this screen uses 16 grayscales on top of the high resolution and a PROPER FULL SCREEN MODE and the result is simply outstanding, even for photographs.

The Screen is slightly lighter than my Sony, maybe it's the actual e-ink tech or maybe it's because my Sony is older... in practice it doesn't make much of difference though.

The weight is perfectly OK, but in bed I'll continue reading on my Sony because of the small size and the added light. The cover is nice and solid, even though the fake leather is easily scratched. Inside there is space for the pen on top (the elastic bands are two sizes, presumable to fit either pen), space for some creditcard (or the much needed reset-paperclip in my case -_-) and some paper behind it. For some strange reason the iRex logo is on the BACK (?) so I tend to open it the wrong way...

The pen (interface): I still have to get used to the fact it's there at all ^_^ I have locked the right-hand side of the sensor keys since I keep hitting them with my palm while I use the pen. I have included an image of the included pen, the "professional" pen and the current-gen Wacom pen (which doesn't work - not the same tech) The Pro pen is very comfortable and has at least one button (which isn't used yet, like the eraser on the back)

Sketching is pretty much out (I had some hopes for that) It's too slow, but I'm not entirely sure it is strictly due to the screen tech. Weirdly enough, it's all vector based (like Flash or Illustrator), and not a plain bitmap sketching app (like Photoshop or Gimp) It is clearly visible when you use the eraser: it erases entire lines at once, rather than the area you rub on. This also explains the absence of pressure sensitivity and grayscales (it seems the reader has enough trouble keeping up with drawing a fixed-width black line) I hope they will either change it, or there will be a sketching app at some point. I think the hardware is capable enough.

The interface in general works pretty well for me. I too get thrown off because the bottom sensor pad central button is ALWAYS the menu button and not an "Enter" key like the other ones. That is true in landscape format too, whichever "side" becomes the bottom, also becomes the Menu button.

The PC software is useless, as in -not working at all as described-, but also as in -superfluous-. I still have to figure out what good the "My iRex" account is, maybe once the functionality is fixed in the software.

Last but not least, some screenshot of the SDHC card issues (they mostly work, but you can't format them on the device) The "setup card" works as well, but as others have pointed out, that does not include the large files on the original card (PC software, Manuals) Download these directly from iRex if you accidentally deleted them.

Charging: Despite the huge price tag, no charger... bleh. I have successfully used my Garmin USB charger (for their GPS devices) It's very compact and comes out of the box with most international plug adapters, which is really nice.

I think that's enough for now. Ask away.