I agree Mambo.
Between v1 and v2 iRex had more than enough time redesign and fix everything. I've always said Power Management should be a key design goal with e-ink. If you get this wrong... well better try something else.
Still when I realised this was the best they could do do I finally decided to buy the iLiad V2. Funny, after 40 minutes it just stopped working.
As far as I was concerned that was legally a DOA unit, so I thought iRex would immediately ship a brand new replacement.
But they have their stuff all figured out,
so I had to wait for a week for them to send me a stupid EMPTY BOX (exactly like the original box) to ship my iLiad back.
But there is more: unless one is joking, what's the point of sending a UPS express return box trough UPS standard?
Hell, wouldn't it be easier, faster and cheaper to just send an email with the UPS shipping number? (and just put a sticker on the retail box:
"Keep it for later." 
Now on top of that I'll probably get a repaired unit, after 2 or 3 weeks.
And I won't get into their abnormally high failure rate, (definitely not statistically normal....)
The only explanation I can think of is that some companies think it's cheaper to have their customers not only do their beta testing but also their quality control.
AFAIK iRex should replace every single iLiad until V2. (if iRex hasn't been sued it's because most of their customers are enthusiasts)
But what can you expect when they get the most basic stuff wrong?
Don't get me wrong I'd love to see iRex succeed. But that's the problem, for that to happen I can only wish, rather than wait.