Which e-reader? NONE! My e-readerdrama

[renehasekamp]

Hi fellow-readers,

I bought what looked as the best e-reader at the time to me: the iRex iLiad, book edition,with 50 classics pre-loaded. It was expensive (about EUR 500), but it was a magnificent apparatus. I collected lots of ebooks, among other places from this site, and arranged them neatly into categories. I preferred PDFs, custom made for the iLiad. They worked best on the iLiad. I was a very happy reader for about 10 months.
Then (the infamous) vertical lines began to appear on my screen. I created a ticket with iRex, and a box was delivered to my home. And when I had packed my precious apparatus into it, it was collected, all free of charge.
In about two weeks the iLiad was delivered at my home again, in mint condition and with a year new warranty on it. I was more than happy. So far so good. Now my drama starts:

About six months later much larger vertical lines appeared on my screen. You could (and can!!) even see them when the iLiad is switched off. Terrible!
But now there no longer was a ticket to be made. iRex was broke.
Although the company made a trough-start (or whatever you call that in English), the new company does not want to hear anything about iLiads. If your iLiad does not work any more, it is over and out for the new company.
I also cannot find anybody else who can repair my iLiad now.
So that was my iLiad. My ebook collection (mainly PDFs) is useless now, because it is for an iLiad screen. Most e-readers have a smaller screen.

Of course there are worse things in the world than loosing one's iLiad.
So slowly I am starting to accept that I lost EUR 500 and lots of time and energy to collect e-books. But after this experience I do not trust e-readers (with e-ink) any more. Two screens in 1.5 years? And then starting over with a Kindle or Sony or whatever, with e-ink again? Not for me! I do no longer trust the e-ink technology and I will not trust it for the rest of my life. In my experience this technology is not yet ready for the consumer market.

I now bought a tablet (one week ago), an Eee pad, which can do anything and also has two decent ebook readers (no e-readers) on board too. And now I am starting to re-collect the ebooks I had, but this time in ePub format, that seems to have won the race about the ebook format.

Anyway, I am happy with my Eee pad. And now I am reading my first ePub on it. If it fails for any unforeseen reason, I simply can take my mini SD-card out of it and slip it into a new one. But as my Eee pad has two years of warranty, I will be happily reading on it for at least two years. I do not expect it to fail two times in 1.5 years, like the iLiad, and I do not expect a different ebook format to replace ePub soon.

So, Which e-reader to buy? NONE! Buy an Eee pad (or if you must: an iPad).
Happy reading!

[VicLavigne]

Sorry to hear about your problems with the iLiad.

Personally, my experience with eReaders is quite good. I have 3 eReaders: a Sony PRS505, a Nook Classic, and a Nook Color. They all work well, never had a problem or warranty repair. I've had the Sony for 2 years. The Sony and the Nook Classic are both e-ink, and the Nook Color has an LCD screen. My experience is that for ebooks, I vastly prefer the e-ink, which means that tablets are nice but not as good for pure book reading.

Your choice for epubs is spot-on. When you collect epubs (DRM-free or DRM-stripped), they are pretty much guaranteed to be functional across many different ereaders, unlike PDFs which are a bit problematic for smaller screened ereaders. Even if moving to a Kindle, epubs can be converted very easily to the Kindle format.

Tablets are great too, and certainly can be used for ebooks if needed. Besides the Nook Color, which I have rooted and turned into an Android tablet, I have an additional Archos tablet. Both tablets can be used for ebooks, but the long battery life and ease-on-eye screens of the e-ink ereaders just make them tops in my opinion. In fact, at this point I am even considering upgrading from my Nook Classic to the new Nook touch screen reader. My tablet is my newsreader and magazine reader, my Nook is my book reader.

But different strokes for different folks. Hope you enjoy your tablet and have better luck with it.

Vic

[pidgeon92]

None of my eink readers have failed (3 Kindles, a nook, a Sony-300 and a Sony-950). Bought the first one early 2008. I'll keep buying eink devices as long as they make them, and will absolutely replace mine if they become damaged.

[vxf]

I have owned four SONYs (two 900s, one 950 and one 350). None has ever had any screen problems (the first 900 was 'borrowed' by my dad, so I bought a new one).

Two of my office mates own ebook readers, a pocketbook and a prs950. No problems with screens.

All of those get used fairly intensively - I read 3-4 hours per day, more on weekends and on vacation.

Based on my personal experience and from industry reports, I would venture that your experience is far from typical. Sorry you got burned, but don't give up on e-ink, it's a wonderful technology.

[renehasekamp]

Thanks for those replies. So there seem to be e-readers that do not fail within one or two years. I still wonder then what was wrong then with my iLiad, which I bought because of its fine, large, screen. And it was highly praised all around.
I agree with the answers above that e-ink gives a better reading experience than other devices.
But anyway, my tablet reads (much) better already than a laptop. I started e-reading on a laptop.

And, before I forget to mention this, the ebooks posted on this site are great!

[carpetmojo]

Face it, rene, you got a dog, no two ways about it !

It seems very few ereaders fail because of the eink etc..

Sadly you were unlucky - and then got the double whammy !

Doesn't the "new" concern have any legal liability under EU law ?

[voracious71]

I've had Kindles since they first came out, 2 Sony readers, a Nook Simple Touch and a Kobo Touch and haven't experienced a broken screen or device yet. Heck, my K1 still works( I gave it to a relative).

I think the fact that I always have mine in a case helps. I also take great care of my electronics.

Sorry about your ereader, OP. But, I'm happy for you that you found the right device for you. That, IMO, is what really matters.

[AnneT]

Originally Posted by renehasekamp

I do no longer trust the e-ink technology and I will not trust it for the rest of my life. In my experience this technology is not yet ready for the consumer market.

Well... Doesn't the rest of your life seems a very long period for something that is not 'yet' ready for the consumer market?

I really do agree that you did have a nasty experience with your Iliad, but who knows how the technology is evolving in the next few years?
I entered the world of ebooks only recently, and already prefer the reading experience on an eInk-device over reading from a laptop or my android smartphone... In summer, I really enjoy reading outdoors, you know.

As for the format: although the 'p' in pdf stands for 'portable', I don't consider it a real 'portable' ebook-format, as it largely depends on your screen how your reading experience is. For Ebooks, I prefer ePub.

[SylvieB1984]

I must agree. I am new to e-ink also, and I love it. So easy to read in any light. But it's all a matter of opinion, as most have said, the main thing is that you have found something you like.

[Ladyrixx]

Rene, have you tried using a programme like Calibre to convert those .pdfs into epubs? That might let you salvage your collection, otherwise, can't your tablet read .pdfs?

[kdgarris]

Certainly it's a shame and frustrating for you that the screens on two e-readers went bad for you ... but it does seem like a bit of a leap to conclude that the technology is inherently flawed based on just 2 readers from the same company.

[seafolly]

I have to admit I haven't even heard of the company. It's such a shame that you had that experience though.

My experience with the Kobo has been fine. I sent one back because I felt the battery life wasn't up to snuff. Had a new one two days later. I HAVE had some issues with the "new" one lately with ghosting and, suddenly, what appears to be a shattered screen (the physical screen is intact and it's always stored in the Roots case in my purse...) so I'm not quite sure what to do about my situation. EInk is the only way to go for me. I spent far too much time looking at this computer glare. In terms of which device, well, like any technology, there are going to be some failures among a good crop of devices. You and I just got unlucky I think.

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by AnneT

As for the format: although the 'p' in pdf stands for 'portable', I don't consider it a real 'portable' ebook-format, as it largely depends on your screen how your reading experience is. For Ebooks, I prefer ePub.

The 'p' portable meant portable in a different way... it meant "portable between platforms", not "handheld portable devices". It is a file format for fixed layout publishing, which will never work well on varying screen sizes, it's just not what it was intended for.

If one were to create PDF files designed for the resolution and screen size of the 6 inch readers you could create some BEAUTIFUL books on the Kindle, but they'd lose a lot of functionality that you get with file formats that allow for reflowing. For most novels, reflowable formats are superior as they allow you to change the font size, margins, etc, but novels have seldom relied on very advanced formatting to get their meaning across, whereas textbooks, magazines, academic papers, etc, often do rely on their formatting to help convey meaning, and thus they use PDF.

[renehasekamp]

Well, thanks for your feedback. It looks as if just I was the one who had very bad luck. I must admit that it would have been possible to have the iLiad repaired if iRex would still exist. I have contacted their successors (IRX) and they said they were sorry, but they could not supply a new screen. (They did not offer any compensation).

@voracious71: You have had so many devices, that they did not have the time to break down, it seems to me!

@AnneT: Yes, during the rest of my life there may come more durable technologies, although I am a pensioner already.
But I had chosen the iLiad very carefully from all th available e-readers at that moment and I am a person who wants to use such a device for at least - say - five years. Why did I choose PDF? Because the PDF-reader was the best reader on the iLiad. Anyway, I am now very happy with my tablet and ePub (which did not yet exist when I bought my iLiad).

@Ladyrixx: I prefer to download (most of the) books again as ePub gradually. That will take less time than properly converting them to ePub. And yes, I also have a PDF-reader on my tablet, but that one is not really suited as an e-book reader. Anyway, I have survived the iLiad. I just find it a shame that one leaves you with a broken 500 EUR product and just say "Sorry".

@kdgarris: You may be right, but e-ink is nevertheless a closed book for me for quite some time.Tablets really work very well as e-readers and the e-reader apps do have a day and a night mode, which also is very convenient.

@seafolly: I can really recommend an e-reader program like Alkido or Moon+ on a tablet. They have great library functions with tons of options that the iLiad did not have. And, surprise, surprise, a tablet is not only a good e-reader, but you can do a lot more with it too.

@twowheels: I agree (now) with you about PDF. By the way, my tablet also came with a Kindle app, which also works great and had good library functions.

Anyway, I hope to meet you all again on this forum!

[linux_author]

i love reading on electronic devices (and on wood pulp, too)... have used an Apple Newton, Palm Pilot, Palm III, Agenda, 3Com Audrey, Zaurus 5500, Nokia N800, and now Nook Simple Touch...

my fav so far? the Nook Simple Touch! why? simplicity, microsd storage, long battery life, and hackable - and best of all: relatively inexpensive!

i have had numerous expensive electronics fail within and just outside warranty: Hitachi M120D notebook, IBM ThinkPad, Compaq notebook, Abit AMD motherboard, and many more...

on the other hand, i have a 2003-vintage Mac G4 notebook that has been dropped, has a broken hinge, won't properly close, that has been running continuously for nearly 8 years - and just... won't.... die....!

:-)