MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Which e-reader? NONE! My e-readerdrama

renehasekamp · 06-12-2011, 01:39 PM

Hi fellow-readers,

I bought what looked as the best e-reader at the time to me: the iRex iLiad, book edition,with 50 classics pre-loaded. It was expensive (about EUR 500), but it was a magnificent apparatus. I collected lots of ebooks, among other places from this site, and arranged them neatly into categories. I preferred PDFs, custom made for the iLiad. They worked best on the iLiad. I was a very happy reader for about 10 months.
Then (the infamous) vertical lines began to appear on my screen. I created a ticket with iRex, and a box was delivered to my home. And when I had packed my precious apparatus into it, it was collected, all free of charge.
In about two weeks the iLiad was delivered at my home again, in mint condition and with a year new warranty on it. I was more than happy. So far so good. Now my drama starts:

About six months later much larger vertical lines appeared on my screen. You could (and can!!) even see them when the iLiad is switched off. Terrible!
But now there no longer was a ticket to be made. iRex was broke.
Although the company made a trough-start (or whatever you call that in English), the new company does not want to hear anything about iLiads. If your iLiad does not work any more, it is over and out for the new company.
I also cannot find anybody else who can repair my iLiad now.
So that was my iLiad. My ebook collection (mainly PDFs) is useless now, because it is for an iLiad screen. Most e-readers have a smaller screen.

Of course there are worse things in the world than loosing one's iLiad.
So slowly I am starting to accept that I lost EUR 500 and lots of time and energy to collect e-books. But after this experience I do not trust e-readers (with e-ink) any more. Two screens in 1.5 years? And then starting over with a Kindle or Sony or whatever, with e-ink again? Not for me! I do no longer trust the e-ink technology and I will not trust it for the rest of my life. In my experience this technology is not yet ready for the consumer market.

I now bought a tablet (one week ago), an Eee pad, which can do anything and also has two decent ebook readers (no e-readers) on board too. And now I am starting to re-collect the ebooks I had, but this time in ePub format, that seems to have won the race about the ebook format.

Anyway, I am happy with my Eee pad. And now I am reading my first ePub on it. If it fails for any unforeseen reason, I simply can take my mini SD-card out of it and slip it into a new one. But as my Eee pad has two years of warranty, I will be happily reading on it for at least two years. I do not expect it to fail two times in 1.5 years, like the iLiad, and I do not expect a different ebook format to replace ePub soon.

So, Which e-reader to buy? NONE! Buy an Eee pad (or if you must: an iPad).
Happy reading!

06-12-2011, 01:39 PM	#1
renehasekamp Member Posts: 16 Karma: 472022 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: the Netherlands Device: I use an Eee pad Transformer TF101 and a Nexus 7.	Which e-reader? NONE! My e-readerdrama Hi fellow-readers, I bought what looked as the best e-reader at the time to me: the iRex iLiad, book edition,with 50 classics pre-loaded. It was expensive (about EUR 500), but it was a magnificent apparatus. I collected lots of ebooks, among other places from this site, and arranged them neatly into categories. I preferred PDFs, custom made for the iLiad. They worked best on the iLiad. I was a very happy reader for about 10 months. Then (the infamous) vertical lines began to appear on my screen. I created a ticket with iRex, and a box was delivered to my home. And when I had packed my precious apparatus into it, it was collected, all free of charge. In about two weeks the iLiad was delivered at my home again, in mint condition and with a year new warranty on it. I was more than happy. So far so good. Now my drama starts: About six months later much larger vertical lines appeared on my screen. You could (and can!!) even see them when the iLiad is switched off. Terrible! But now there no longer was a ticket to be made. iRex was broke. Although the company made a trough-start (or whatever you call that in English), the new company does not want to hear anything about iLiads. If your iLiad does not work any more, it is over and out for the new company. I also cannot find anybody else who can repair my iLiad now. So that was my iLiad. My ebook collection (mainly PDFs) is useless now, because it is for an iLiad screen. Most e-readers have a smaller screen. Of course there are worse things in the world than loosing one's iLiad. So slowly I am starting to accept that I lost EUR 500 and lots of time and energy to collect e-books. But after this experience I do not trust e-readers (with e-ink) any more. Two screens in 1.5 years? And then starting over with a Kindle or Sony or whatever, with e-ink again? Not for me! I do no longer trust the e-ink technology and I will not trust it for the rest of my life. In my experience this technology is not yet ready for the consumer market. I now bought a tablet (one week ago), an Eee pad, which can do anything and also has two decent ebook readers (no e-readers) on board too. And now I am starting to re-collect the ebooks I had, but this time in ePub format, that seems to have won the race about the ebook format. Anyway, I am happy with my Eee pad. And now I am reading my first ePub on it. If it fails for any unforeseen reason, I simply can take my mini SD-card out of it and slip it into a new one. But as my Eee pad has two years of warranty, I will be happily reading on it for at least two years. I do not expect it to fail two times in 1.5 years, like the iLiad, and I do not expect a different ebook format to replace ePub soon. So, Which e-reader to buy? NONE! Buy an Eee pad (or if you must: an iPad). Happy reading!