Ok, it has been 5 days since I received my device, and it is time to write down a few things for the curious;
1) The screen size is wonderful. After some tweaking, usually selecting page flow mode, A4 size pdfs, which I'm responsible with reading are displayed very nice in terms of font size. One thing I've noticed about the screen is, depending on the angle of the light source and the color of the light (white, yellow, natural sunlight etc), the contrast and general sharpness of the screen seems to change considerably, at least for me. It is funny, but I guess I get the most satisfactory results with sunlight, but that's not an easy thing to find in London
I sometimes get the feeling that the screen kinda gets yellowish, and contrast seems to decrease, but I am not sure about it, and if there are any other owners in London, I'd love to get together for a beer and compare devices, just to make sure the display we have is same.
2) Software is buggy. I've been in the software industry for over 12 years now, so i can see the situation in irexx, hit the market with a "usable" product, and work even harder to clean the bugs. There is great potential for improving usability, and major changes that can provide this seems to be included in the software update roadmap, which can be found in this forum.
3) The battery is certainly not enough for me. That's got to do with the potential of the device. I was in a 2 day conference this week, and if the battery could suffice, I'd probably be using it from 9.30 to 6.30 for two days to get notes and take a look at relevant stuff. There is still hope here, for standby between page flips can make a huge difference. Still, I'll get my hands on a mobile charger as soon as darn bank account is opened and I get a debit card. (any shops in London where I can find Tekkeon?)
4)There are major ergonomics errors like putting the usb connection to the bottom. Spoils the whole experience whether you charge from computer or a mobile charger. A spot in the left or right long side, close to top would be better. However, a software update that allows 180 degree returns can easily handle this situation. Combined with a right angle mini usb adapter, we can have an acceptable solution. Still, I can't accept the fact that they could not see this coming.
5) The buttons' sensitivity and responsiveness of software to them creates problems. I guess these can be handled also. It is easy to hit a button accidentally and wait for 5 sec to go to previous screen unintentionally, from which you may very well come back in another 5 secs. I do not want to waste this 10 secs, so I usually swear loudly
6) The status of the companion software is a shame, and that's another one I'd like to see fixed.
7) The device does remarkably good when it comes to comics. I've scanned a few pages from my sandman collection, and the results were very satisfactory for me. I guess 16 shades is the trick here. I can not even imagine how I would feel if Irex made a color screen based device....
8) I'll definitely look for a hard case made for a 15" laptop, or something like that. I usually carry around a backback with my laptop in it, and I can't think of putting this thing in that backpack with the pressure that'll be caused by millions of other things in the backback.
Conclusion: Even if there is a long road ahead for the software, especially due to size and resolution, I do not think any device on the market is a competitor for this device at the moment. Software is what my work and studies has been all about, so I can always find ways to make most of this device. People in UCL and friends from LSE have been very interested in it, and if the price tag was not around a whole months expense for most of them, excluding the rent, I'm sure they would be in line for theirs.
If irex does not wait too long for the updates, they'll certainly have a killer product. I'd love to support these with pictures, but I've left a significant part of my precious gadgets, books, dvds etc at home during moving to London (airport baggage prices...), which includes my camera too.
Still, in case you think I can give answers to specific questions, please let me know.
Kind regards
Seref