Unboxing iRex 800 and first impressions

[mgmueller]

First impression: Wow, it's heavy!
To me, that's a good thing, high quality material, no "plasticky" feeling.

More pics and impressions to follow shortly.

[mgmueller]

First impression: iRex 800 seems a perfect compromise of readability and mobility. Very nice!

[rfog]

Please, put some images with ePub/PDF books with and without zoom.

What about battery duration?

Thanks a lot.

[mgmueller]

Sony 900 quickly has become one of my favorites.
Well, iRex 800 certainly will be tough competition. So far, I really like it a lot.

[Sweetpea]

It really looks awesome. Especially next to that humongous Kindle...

My most important question: can it read non-DRM mobipocket? One site says it does, the other doesn't mention it...

[mgmueller]

The sleeve is very soft. I'm glad I've ordered the cover in parallel, wouldn't rely on the sleeve for transporting in my bag.

The stylus can't be inserted in the unit itself. Don't like that at all. The stylus for Sony 900, in my opinion, is too light and "flimsy". But at least it's protected in the unit itself and I won't loose it.
Well, hopefully it can be inserted into the cover in a smart way.

[mgmueller]

Wow (one of the demo books). In my opinion, better than Sony 900.
I'll try to make comparison pictures next to Sony 505, Kindle 2 and others.

[mgmueller]

55 seconds for "cold boot".
3 seconds from standby. Of course, I haven't uploaded any books yet, so it may take longer with a fully loaded SD card.

EDIT: "Cold boot" meaning reset for the moment. THere's only standby mode right now, no switch off.

[mgmueller]

I've pulled out the Micro SD card a bit, so you can see it.
You have to unscrew the battery compartment, to exchange the Micro SD card. Not ideal, but no biggy I guess. I won't exchange my 8GB card too often (never).

[mgmueller]

The cover is not included, I've ordered it separately.
Its mechanics is similar to Sony.
But over all impression clearly is: The cover doesn't have Sony's elegance, although being within the same price range.

[Mr. Goodbar]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

55 seconds for "cold boot".
3 seconds from standby. Of course, I haven't uploaded any books yet, so it may take longer with a fully loaded SD card.

How do you put it into standby. That wasn't clear to me from the manual. Also.....thanks for the effort to post pictures and impressions as you get to learn the device. It's very much appreciated.

[Mr. Goodbar]

Another question. How thick is it? They originally mentioned around .4 inches, but the specs on the shop mention something like .63 inches. I'm curious what the real number is.

[mgmueller]

After 1 hour of usage (interrupted by taking pics):

- I'm very disappointed by the cover. Looks way cheaper than expected.
- I don't like the stylus very much. It's big, but light. And it can't be inserted in the unit itself.
- I like the replaceable battery. But I don't like very much, how to exchange the Micro SD card (within the battery compartment, unscrewing needed).

- I'm impressed by the clarity of the screen (although I'm not surpised. iRex iLiad and iRex 1000S did have great screens as well - not "harmed" by the touchscreen layer).
- I like the measurements, but I like Sony 900 as much.
- I like the flipbar, did love it on iLiad as well. Even prefer it to using the touchscreen for turning pages.
- Have to check the B&N store. But just having it is great.

Meaning: It's a great unit and I remain being a true iRex fan. But quite frankly, I'm not quite sure yet about the price difference to Sony 900. Over all, in my first impression, both units are about even (Sony 900 being more elegant, iRex 800 having better contrast). But the prices differ...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Mr. Goodbar

Another question. How thick is it? They originally mentioned around .4 inches, but the specs on the shop mention something like .63 inches. I'm curious what the real number is.

It's a bit less than 1cm, so 0.4 inches is about right.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Mr. Goodbar

How do you put it into standby. That wasn't clear to me from the manual. Also.....thanks for the effort to post pictures and impressions as you get to learn the device. It's very much appreciated.

I briefly switch the off-button (less than 1 second) for standby. I hold it (about 3 seconds) for power-off. Just tried the Sony way...

EDIT: You can't turn it off for the moment. I've always put it into standby. Accidentally, I did some resets instead of turning it on which did appear like booting from having turned off.