My DR1000s arrived on Wednesday after a really good ordering experience with eReader Outfitters (Jeff was very responsive and helpful) and I spent all of Thursday playing with it and loading on various pdfs to gawk at with the gorgeous screen. I figured out that I could drag icons from the context menu to the little row of slots on the lower-left of the interface, and began experimenting to see which ones could be used. I was moving the stylus with tremendous care and lightness---I've used an active touch interface on my friend's wacom and know how little pressure is necessary---when, after my fifth or sixth try, I heard a "scritch" noise and discovered a furrow in the glass, about an inch long, right in the middle of my screen.
After exhaustive cussing and examination of the furrow from several attractive angles and lighting variations, I felt up the nib of the stylus trying to find out what had caused the damage. It seemed smooth, so I tested it in a corner of the screen and found by rotating it slowly that there was a tiny rough patch which continued to carve the glass, even at the lightest touch. Unhappiness.
I got in touch with Jeff yesterday afternoon about the issue (after spending the day fixing my malfunctioning computer in a pall of gloom), and he responded instantly, sympathizing with my disappointment, contacting iRex about the manufacturing flaw, telling me to hold onto the nib for evidence, and could I get a picture of the scratch to send him? Very reasonable request; I started wrestling with my point-and-shoot, trying to get the light and angle and focus to work with the macro option, and after about ten or so shots, the camera slipped in my hand, bumped the screen, and fractured the substrate.
So! There's a scratch in the middle of the screen that my styli catch on (the Professional Stylus caused the damage; the included stylus is, of course, perfectly smooth and well-behaved) and looks like a hair that landed on the screen but won't blow away. There's a 3mm grey feathering splortch near the left side of the screen that looks like an entry wound and greets me from my $1000 device when I turn it off, turn it on, refresh the screen, glance down in its direction while reading, and in my mind's eye as I enumerate my regrets in the darkness of the wee hours. If Jeff had been able to wheedle anything out of iRex because of the manufacturing flaw on the stylus, I've probably tied his hands now because of the mechanical damage to substrate. The device still seems to work (for the time-being, the fracture is localized), though it's a huge, reeking misery that after a day of use and a systematic, paranoid gentleness with my electronics, my investment has a blemished screen that I'll probably have to live with since I can't justify paying for a replacement.
Lessons for you so that this post wasn't a complete waste of your time:
- eReader Outfitters is a good place to order from. Jeff was great, prompt in his replies, and I would order from his store again if I had money.
- Test out your stylus in an inconspicuous spot from all the different possible writing angles whenever you get a new one or change the nib on your current one.
- Be so, so, so careful when taking pictures of your ereader.
- Damn it.