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sfrey · 01-29-2009, 03:40 PM

Hi there, I wanted some outside perspectives on whether to return my Cybook before my trial 2 weeks run out. i chose this model for the mix of price and ability to read txt, html and pdf (specifically scanned image based documents). i haven't read a single conventional ebook on it and don't really plan to, and I had no interest in net connectivity. I've got all of my student reading on it and, even though it has only been a week, it has been incredibly convenient to have around, my backpack is atleast five times lighter.

But there are some downsides and I have about a week to decide if I'm going to keep it. The price is high enough that I was already right on the edge of buying it, and there is one concern threatening to push me into a return: support.

Even though this is Gen3, I feel like an early adopter. It crashes about once a day, has no directory support (awkward!), the pdf support is enough for me, but could be much better, along with other interface features (like bookmarks) that are awfully clunky and slow.

Now if I can expect them to improve over time, then none of these things are deal breakers for me right now. Hence my big apprehension; It looks like there hasn't been a firmware update for almost a year. If I can't expect support, expecially after they release their next model and start to obsolete this one, than I don't know if it is worth keeping. But I don't know their plan for supporting older products or their timeline for the new one, and I don't know if they are devoting any developers to this release (or previous ones, was there a Gen1 or Gen2? Are they currently supported?) What do you folks know and what do you think I should do?

01-29-2009, 03:40 PM	#1
sfrey Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2008 Device: none	For to Keep? Hi there, I wanted some outside perspectives on whether to return my Cybook before my trial 2 weeks run out. i chose this model for the mix of price and ability to read txt, html and pdf (specifically scanned image based documents). i haven't read a single conventional ebook on it and don't really plan to, and I had no interest in net connectivity. I've got all of my student reading on it and, even though it has only been a week, it has been incredibly convenient to have around, my backpack is atleast five times lighter. But there are some downsides and I have about a week to decide if I'm going to keep it. The price is high enough that I was already right on the edge of buying it, and there is one concern threatening to push me into a return: support. Even though this is Gen3, I feel like an early adopter. It crashes about once a day, has no directory support (awkward!), the pdf support is enough for me, but could be much better, along with other interface features (like bookmarks) that are awfully clunky and slow. Now if I can expect them to improve over time, then none of these things are deal breakers for me right now. Hence my big apprehension; It looks like there hasn't been a firmware update for almost a year. If I can't expect support, expecially after they release their next model and start to obsolete this one, than I don't know if it is worth keeping. But I don't know their plan for supporting older products or their timeline for the new one, and I don't know if they are devoting any developers to this release (or previous ones, was there a Gen1 or Gen2? Are they currently supported?) What do you folks know and what do you think I should do?