Quote:
Originally Posted by BKeeper
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But iRex cannot make the same mistakes all over again, and they have.
Wanna hear something really scary, I have it on good authority that iRex is explicitly using the term beta firmware with their retail chain.
Do you realize the significance of this?
This makes us beta testers, which I'm not, beta testers don't pay for product testing, they get the product for free (maybe with a deposit) and sign NDAs.
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I am a programmer and write software for living. There are some exceptions like:
1) Google having a product in beta for a very long time
2) Microsoft running beta for Windows and other important products for a long time and with *MANY* customers
However in general beta is 99.99% identical to the final product and doesn't last very long. Certainly that is case for smaller companies with less money. As for giving betas for free, I imagine that is exception more than a rule.
The point is, once you are in beta there are no significant changes going into a product besides bug fixes. My software is not even in beta yet (another couple of months) and I already need a permission for any bug fix requiring more than a couple of days to fix. Certainly no new features are being done.
So beta is basically the final product and the dividing line is very thin. In essence some marketing or product manager wakes up one morning and declares that the beta is over and the product is final. It is more or less arbitrary.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BKeeper
....I thought they'd rather ship the DR with a car battery if they had to.
Now it looks like we are the ones getting external batteries anyway.
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This is also my frustration. Not only are they using custom battery (as opposed to more common AAs) but also it is not easy to replace. Bookeen at least gave a simple cover and a single screw so that I can replace my battery when this one is too old.
I think companies end up sacrificing *TOO MUCH* for the sake of size/weight. They use a light compact battery with a flat shape so that it fits well into overall case design, yet end up causing is so much trouble long term.
This is a pure speculation:
I assume that the mass produced battery they use is not designed for frequent change so has a delicate connector. That means that even if they allowed easy removal we would risk damaging the delicate cables and connectors these batteries are built with.
That being said, why not use a battery like mobile phones with fixed connectors? Then when needed I could carry 1 or 2 spares and use them when away from a PC for a longer period of time. It is sad that the same mistake is being made by mobile phones, like iPhone (one of the main complaints).
Bottom line is if they wish to keep the slim design then:
a) allow easy replacement and sell spares
b) add 2nd 1300 mAh battery for 2x runtime
I prefer (a) as often DR is used in office or some place near a PC and can be plugged in most of the time. Anyway I am too frustrated that companies keep making such simple mistakes and neglect power source and runtime. Still their marketing keeps making inflated claims about runtime. This is industry wide problem, though.