MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - What would you like in the next gen Cybook (Gen4)

rheostaticsfan · 08-13-2008, 09:35 AM

I've only had my Gen 3 for 24 hours but here's what I see so far:

Things that could be implemented in Gen 3 (ie sofware changes only) in order of preference:

1) Support for all the .mpb fields (title, reading list, author, subject, description). Right now title and author can be adjusted using mobi2mobi..but you can change those in the desktop reader and those changes are ignored by the Cybook. Reading lists and subject are ignored by the Cybook and are very useful for dealing with large libraries. Subject=genre and I use reading lists to manage series of books. In the 5 books/page library view the Cybook has plenty of space to display the book description and that is always nice. Again, all this information is already IN the Cybook in the .mbp file. The Cybook just needs to use it.

2) One touch bookmarks.

3) Cybook power off/on returning to the same place in the book you had open when you turned it off.

4) Have the margins user definable. Just from a list of margin sizes would be good. It feels wasteful to have e-ink screen just sitting there dead as margin space.

5) User definable buttons. I never plan to use the unit for mp3s so I'd love to be able to redefine the music and + and - buttons to something else. Maybe the bookmark function I wanted above?

6) A battery indicator. This wouldn't have to take much power: it could be in the top or bottom areas with the Header of Pageometer. Refresh only on page turn would be ok with me.

7) Faster boot time. I've turned my unit to never auto power off....the boot cycle is too long to mess with it. I'll decide later if my battery life is too short to keep this up.

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Things that would require new hardware (again, in order of preference)

1) faster page turning. The faster the better. I assume this requires advancements in e-ink technology.

2) Support for SDHC cards. I have quite a few 4-8G cards. I'll have to go buy a 2G card just for the Cybook. Or maybe I won't since the large library organization is so poor that I can't see filling the 512M let alone needing a card.

3) Two flavours of Cybook: paperback sized and "letter" (Or something close to it) size. Paperback for "fun" reading and Letter(ish) for technical document reading. I am a gadget girl...I would definitely purchase both. I can imagine some would want the letter size and use it like a hardcover book for "fun" reading. Others would have no need/use for a large screen and only want the small unit for portability.

4) Color display. But not at the cost of giving up the faster page turns.

5) Either built in to the unit or available as a separate cover...a light for reading in low lighting conditions. One reader (Sony?) already has a lightwedge style light built into a case. That would suit me fine.

08-13-2008, 09:35 AM	#68
rheostaticsfan Zealot Posts: 107 Karma: 591 Join Date: May 2008 Device: kindle, iOS, Blackberry, Sony DPT (pdfs)	I've only had my Gen 3 for 24 hours but here's what I see so far: Things that could be implemented in Gen 3 (ie sofware changes only) in order of preference: 1) Support for all the .mpb fields (title, reading list, author, subject, description). Right now title and author can be adjusted using mobi2mobi..but you can change those in the desktop reader and those changes are ignored by the Cybook. Reading lists and subject are ignored by the Cybook and are very useful for dealing with large libraries. Subject=genre and I use reading lists to manage series of books. In the 5 books/page library view the Cybook has plenty of space to display the book description and that is always nice. Again, all this information is already IN the Cybook in the .mbp file. The Cybook just needs to use it. 2) One touch bookmarks. 3) Cybook power off/on returning to the same place in the book you had open when you turned it off. 4) Have the margins user definable. Just from a list of margin sizes would be good. It feels wasteful to have e-ink screen just sitting there dead as margin space. 5) User definable buttons. I never plan to use the unit for mp3s so I'd love to be able to redefine the music and + and - buttons to something else. Maybe the bookmark function I wanted above? 6) A battery indicator. This wouldn't have to take much power: it could be in the top or bottom areas with the Header of Pageometer. Refresh only on page turn would be ok with me. 7) Faster boot time. I've turned my unit to never auto power off....the boot cycle is too long to mess with it. I'll decide later if my battery life is too short to keep this up. ************************************************ ***** Things that would require new hardware (again, in order of preference) 1) faster page turning. The faster the better. I assume this requires advancements in e-ink technology. 2) Support for SDHC cards. I have quite a few 4-8G cards. I'll have to go buy a 2G card just for the Cybook. Or maybe I won't since the large library organization is so poor that I can't see filling the 512M let alone needing a card. 3) Two flavours of Cybook: paperback sized and "letter" (Or something close to it) size. Paperback for "fun" reading and Letter(ish) for technical document reading. I am a gadget girl...I would definitely purchase both. I can imagine some would want the letter size and use it like a hardcover book for "fun" reading. Others would have no need/use for a large screen and only want the small unit for portability. 4) Color display. But not at the cost of giving up the faster page turns. 5) Either built in to the unit or available as a separate cover...a light for reading in low lighting conditions. One reader (Sony?) already has a lightwedge style light built into a case. That would suit me fine.