Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaggy
Is your opinion primarily based on the software?
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It's both.
I compare to Sony 900 and BeBook Neo primarily. But of course nook and some of my other (high ranking) readers are in the equation as well.
Material: It's plastic. Lots of them are, unfortunately the trend in many areas is "cheap" instead of "advanced". It's not worse than most others, but it's 30% more expensive than most and certainly only average in that area.
Build quality: Mine isn't very good. The flipbar for example isn't even with the light and the menu button (I understand, for pushing it down, it's not quite horizontal. May make sense from an ergonomic perspective, but looks like a flaw).
Features:With the actual firmware, it's more than disappointing. Significantly less than both former iRex units (no zoom at all, neither the "intelligent" one, nor any at all. No file management [adding comments or changing book title/author's name, copying/deleting files, ...]). Even less than most recent competitors. BeBook Neo (far from being my favorite) beats it hands down (zoom, WiFi, file management, shortcuts, more than 30% cheaper, ...).
Looks: It's minimalistic and I don't have any problems with that. But there's no "wow" factor at all. It's not more "boring" than BeBook Neo. But in comparison to nook, all Sony readers and even iRex 1000S it's functional, but that's it.
Usabilty: The flipbar is great, already did like it on iLiad. But personally, I don't want to use the stylus for every single detail. Changing font size or things like that without stylus, only with flipbar, aren't very convenient in my opinion. I prefer for example the combination of stylus/5-way-buttons on BeBook Neo (adds to the units size of course, but that's not really a problem for me).
So far, the only really convincing thing I found is
PDB (DRM) support. It's very cleverly solved, being able to add more than 1 account data.
I guess,
it's all about "gut feeling".
You either "love" your reader from the very first moment (often without being able to explain why) or you never will. I've written, iRex 800 "is growing on me". But that's not a very good thing. It means, I didn't like it at first and over time I get more fond of it. "Love at first sight" certainly is more than that.
Admittedly, this didn't happen for many readers. I "love" my Sony 900. Yes, the display is close to inacceptable. But it's okay (for my demands) and the rest simply is fantastic (with permanent zoom, functionality would be perfect for my needs).
For all my favorites, there's something special:
nook: Surely, it's "only" a typical end user product, not an "enthusiast's" dream. But it has some cool aspects: Exchanging SIM card, having WiFi access to my main source, very nice design. And for $ 259 (I don't care about costs for my gadget, but I'd like to see some value for my money) it's a catch.
Sony 900: I simply love the form factor. I found, I don't "need" units > 6". I never take iRex 1000S or Kindle DX with me, I even rarely use them at home. The 7.1" of Sony 900 wouldn't be necessary - but they don't "disturb" me at all. It still rests perfectly in my hand. And I still (after nearly 3 months of having it) enjoy, taking it off the shelf.
BeBook Neo: A mixed package for me. It's really no beauty. But one has to admire the featureset they put into that unit. Benchmark in many features. And again, for € 299 it's a catch.
iRex 1000S: I even find arguments for iRex 800's predecessor: I love the capacitive buttons. On other readers, like Kindle for example, I'm a bit worried about durability: Will the readers "survive" permanent button presses over years or will they crack? On iRex 1000S I don't worry, I barely have to touch them. And I love, having buttons on both sides. And I perfectly can use it without stylus. I find tons of argument for
iRex iLiad as well: "Intelligent" zoom, clever combo of stylus and buttons, changing book title or author's name for all file formats on the fly, adding comments to every single book, ...
For iRex 800, it's way more difficult for me, to find arguments: I don't really care about the
small bezel. Would it be 1 cm wider and higher, I wouldn't really care. BeBook Neo takes more space, but I gladly pay that price for having the additional 5-way-buttons.
The
cream colored frame may enhance the contrast. But I can't find any difference to, let's say, BeBook Neo. And I think, nook even has higher contrast. And I prefer iRex 1000S.
Basically, it comes down to a single point:
I've always been an iRex fan, but here I don't see any significant progress. In another thread, someone stated, progress to him is lower prices and the products becoming affordable for a wider audience. Using that argument, maybe some might consider iRex 800 a progress from iRex 1000S. But that's not my point of view: I'm an early adopter and I usually don't care about costs (as long as they somewhat match the competition). Progress to me simply means more (or more advanced) features, even if the price increases. But iRex 800 (for now) has way less than iRex 1000S. For a "no name", iRex 800 would be a nice enough unit. (On the other hand, Onyx was a "no name" for me and with BeBook Neo/Onyx Boox has been able to deliver a state-of-the-art initial unit). But for the "veteran" iRex I'd hoped for way more. Firmware updates will certainy solve some issues. But again: Wouldn't the "veteran" iRex have been able to implement (just as an example) "zoom" from the very beginning (BeBook Neo does have it)? Maybe I'm a bit harsh here. But I don't have the patience, to check the units again and again. If it doesn't have what I want I move on to the next. If then they implement it in 3 months, I long have moved on and usually just don't care anymore.
Let's say, they incorporate "zoom" in 2 months: Why should I bother? In 2 months, I'll already have Que and iPad. Will a standard feature (half of my readers have it) like zoom then make me re-activate any former reader? Others of course may stick to their reader and hope for permanent improvements. I myself always will have 2 or 3 momentary favorites, based on the featureset "now and here". iRex 800 right now doesn't make it into those top 2 or 3 readers. And I'm sceptical, whether it ever will make it. They always may remain behind BeBook Neo with the very same distance: For every feature, iRex 800 adds, BeBook Neo will have another one as well and might remain ahead.
And of course it doesn't help, that my iRex iLiad just dies on me. After 18 months, I suddenly have 2 line errors. My very first defective reader. And of course it's one of the more expensive ones...