Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward
Another problem in reviewing is that different people have different needs. Harry T. want good dictionary support. I never use that feature. What is good button placement? Each person has his own idea. Furthermore, if you don't usually use a feature, you'll most likely gloss over it.
I have a bebook on order, eventually I'll provide a Cybook/ Bebook comparision of the features I'm interested in. I can't really do justice to features I never use, and will state so on the comparison.
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I'd definitely be interested in reading that as well! I considered the CyBook but felt more comfortable with the features and formats offered by the BeBook, and their "can do" attitude to implementing new features (so far, they've done well).
Firstly I can't compare a Sony because I can't buy one (at least until recently!). Sony's xenophobic sales restrictions ticked me off no end, and although the 505 looks sexy, I'm too annoyed to consider it now (esp. given the limited format support).
Refresh (i.e. page turn) on the BeBook is approximately one second (could be 0.8s, could be 1.1s, depends on doc type, page content, etc.). I find it quite good, and would be surprised if the 505 was 0.5s. Essentially I hit the page button while reading the last line, and then it flips and I'm good to go.
The Mobi support is still a little primitive. I have used a few DRM Mobi books from Fictionwise, and whilst the reader implementation is OK, it lacks a few nice features (as mentioned previously) like font options, justification options, search, and yes dictionary lookup (as we all know, a certain board member has a dictionary fixation, but he is right - it would be nice to have the option).
I find the Mobi reader OK because I'm happy to use the Times New Roman font (the other choices are Arial and IBOOK), medium size, and the left justification doesn't bother me so much. But I expect some big improvements in future firmware updates from BeBook.
And for the avid eReader fan there is also the OpenInkpot option, which is also in the early stages but promises to provide some really nice features for the BeBook (and V3), and later other eInk devices. Keep watching the OI development, because I can see that sometime soon I may choose to switch firmwares and actually use it full time (at the moment I'm trying the "Live" implementation from my SD card, which is a little unstable).
I am very impressed with the FBReader, and as I have a lot of FB2, HTML and CHM docs, this is nice for me. Book Designer is a great tool for creating FB2 ebooks (or just about any other format!) and I have been using this for years to convert just about everything to FB2 for reading on Haali Reader on my PC and PDA, and Stanza on Mac OS X.
One surprise for me was the PDF support. Most gripes with 6" devices are to do with PDFs, and perhaps because of this I had low expectations. But I have tried numerous work documents, all formatted A4 PDFs, and I'm quite pleasantly surprised. It is not as good as the source, for sure, and not as good as A4 paper, but as a portable means to review documents and carry bundles of PDFs around, it's great. I posted some example pictures on another thread (by request) and I think the results are pretty damn good.
Physically I have no complaints about this device. I love the matte surface feel, as it provides good adhesion when holding the device one-handed, and out of the case it is light enough to do this. The case itself is nice and once you get used to the back-to-front magnetic clip, it's easy to use. The device fits securely and doesn't slide around during transit, etc.
Of course I would love to have a built-in screen light (as with the 700), as I think anyone would. I like the buttons - they have a positive feel so I haven't experienced any double clicks or such. Button position is a very individual preference, but I'm comfortable with the BeBook, although I did mention that the main buttons seem to be on the left side (for lefties it's good) so I share my time between thos buttons and the other set bottom right (the "9" and "0" keys double as page back/forward).
My review was positive because I was very positive. So far very few gripes about the device - Mobi support being the biggest, and more Font flexibility overall would be nice.
And although I've never used one I would not recommend a Sony, in protest of their bizarre sales restrictions (devices and Connect access). Sony may make nice toys, but it's only recently that they relented and started adding memory card options other than memory stick to their devices (talk about resisting a clear industry standard!). And now they are doing the same with LRF - maybe it's a good format, but it's proprietary so it sucks. The only thing worse is DRM itself.
If anyone's got any questions about the BeBook they can post in my threads or PM me, and I always try to give honest info. But at the moment, for me, it's really a great device!
Cheers!