[dso371]

Well, I have had my Cybook for a couple of days and am generally very happy with it. It is well designed and is very easy on the eyes. It's clearly the cutting edge of e-reader technology, but it certainly isn't the last word. More and better will come over the next few years.

There are a number of issues I have found so far. I would imagine most can be solved by future firmware updates.

1. Bookeen say the Cybook can read .rtf files. I transferred one and it was not recognized in the library and could not be opened.
2. I used Mobipocket Creator to import some .doc files, and in all cases I lost the link between footnote numbers and footnote text. In Mobipocket books, footnotes are preserved and you can select a number, which takes you to the footnote, and then you can return to the main text. I could not do this with imported .doc files.
3. The folder structure means I cannot put all my news files in a news folder, my non-fiction books in a non-fiction folder, my fiction in a fiction folder, etc. Instead they all appear on the same level, which is annoying. Sub-folders are desirable.
4. The .pdf viewing is not very good. I transferred a number of .pdf files and only one was good to read on the Cybook. There is limited zoom and no bookmarking, which makes it all but useless to try to read .pdfs. This was one of the main reasons I bought the Cybook.
5. In general, while I intend to buy ebooks, my main reason for getting the device was to read my own documents - .pdf, .doc, .rtf, etc. which I have created or downloaded for my own use. It is important that future firmware should add as much functionality as possible for reading, navigating, and bookmarking a wide variety of formats, not just the ebooks I have to pay for.
6. I hope a firmware update will allow me to use the Trash button. It is very annoying to have to connect the device every time I want to delete a book.
7. It’s a pity I have to use Mobipocket for my .rss feeds. I have all my feeds in Google Reader. It would be great if I could just download from there into my Cybook.
8. I thought the background screen would be white, like real paper. Instead it is gray, which is not as natural as a real book.
9. The navigation buttons are not very good at all. The side buttons are stiff and unresponsive, and since I have the leather cover there is hardly any room to push them. I have to use my fingernail on the silver edge to navigate, which is difficult and annoying.
10. Also, if I want to scroll down a page, going from link to link, or scroll down entries in the library, I have to push the button each time. I can’t just hold down the button and keep scrolling until I take my finger off the button. So I have to keep pushing the button again and again, which is hard on the fingers and very annoying.

I guess I will find more problems, but I would still rate the Cybook a 4 out of 5. Like much leading-edge technology (e.g. the Archos 605), the hardware always seems to be several steps ahead of the software. This is a pity. I hope Cybook pays attention and brings out a serious firmware update adding new and significantly better functionality.

David the Gadget Geek.