So on Friday I got my first looks at my new Cybook and have been using it all weekend so here are my impressions:
Comments-
On the whole, fantastic although there are a few wrinkles which I guess I'll work out around eventually. First thing I did was flash the firmware - went without a hitch from a Kingston 2Gb card. So any comments are based around that version.
Lockups / hangs. had quite a few for the first weekend, but it seems mostly to do with large files especially on the SD card. I had some large PDFs which I had tried to re-format, some MP3s and a few pictures. All of which gave me some problems even browsing the library, but in nearly all cases moving them into the main memory fixed this. I won't be using MP3's as music, but like the idea of having podcasts with me.
Ghosting. I found that turning off the black flash is fine when reading a book - every few pages it still does a full flash and I saw no build up of ghosting. But having the flash turned off when looking at pictures, or just moving around the library, very soon resulted in quite significant ghosting and the occasional full flash page refresh seems not to happen. so for now I have it back on again.
I have tried syncing using mobipocket reader, but found that a) it wants to put everything on the sd card (see above) and b) seemed to get some things a bit messed up. So now I use MPR just to sync news feeds and put all books in a folder structure (mostly) directly on the cybook.
Likes-
Ease of use
Looks (yes) in the new black case it looks as good as the Sony methinks
Multi format support - have already bought some mobi books and very happy
The vast range of font sizes
The ability to add fonts - I currently like old bookman.
Dislikes-
It seems rather fragile - it may not be, but I've heard horror stories about the screen and am treating it like eggshells at the moment
Speed of response to button presses - this is taking some getting used to especially scrolling the library or menus
Wishlist-
Faster response - not so much the screen but the button response.
Re-mappable buttons - well at least say being able to have the volume buttons work for stepping up and down font sizes when reading instead of dong nothing.
Maybe make the left side buttons a bit bigger or more accessible
Conclusion:
A fantastic bit of kit and well worth the money. Once you actually start using it as a book and start reading properly rather than playing around, most of the niggles disappear and the reading process is a joy - bright sunshine, bedside lamp on dim, the whole thing. Hopefully I'll be able to report back with an update after a few weeks of proper use. I suspect my mate is going to want to out do me and will opt for the Sony or the Iliad, so I'll be able to do some real side by side comparisons. Finally thanks to all those that advised me to go for the Cybook - so far I have to say, you were right
