Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaggy
I guess it's in the eye of the beholder.
I just got mine this evening. I would say it has a simplistic design, but so does the DR800. I wouldn't say it's ugly/cheap looking. Not fancy, certainly, but simple can be elegant too. It depends on what your tastes are. If you paid this amount of money and are expecting something that looks like an Oberon cover, then you're going to be disappointed. IMO, those are a bit gaudy anyway.
As for build quality, mine seems pretty solid. What in particular concerned you? The stitching/lining look solid and the device locks in pretty tight with their pin system.
For me, the most important thing is the protection that it provides. Of the 3 options we have right now, the European slipcase, the US slipcase and the luxury cover, I would say hands down the luxury cover is the only one that really provides good screen protection. Similar to the equivalent iLiad cover, it has a hard shell inside the front padding that will protect the screen from impact. That, IMO, is a must. A lot of the instances I've seen of broken eInk screens come down to the screen getting hit by an object and a poor case/cover that didn't absorb the impact.
The only complaint I would have is that the stylus loop is definitely designed for either the advanced or executive stylus. The standard one is too small. I guess that iRex assumes someone buying the premium cover would also be using a premium stylus, but it would have been nice for there to be a second loop on the bottom/side that fit the smaller sized stylus. You can probably put an extra row of stitching in the loop to tighten it up though.
Yes, it's expensive. Yes, the aesthetics are a minimalistic design (whether that's good or bad is up to you). But by far it's the best protection we have available for the device. When you compare the value of the 3 covers against the cost of a replacement screen, there's no question which one wins. |
My complaints are about stitching and material.
I've got the executive cover for iLiad (from M-Edge if I remember correctly). Way better quality.
But you're right of course, most important is protection. But on the other hand, Sony can do that with very nice covers.
I guess, over all my expectations towards iRex simply have been too high. In my opinion, iRex 800 (by far) is the "weakest" of the 3 iRex readers, although being the most recent. And with this kind of disappointment, the cover and other details of course become even more obvious.