STAReBOOK vs. Iliad speed video!

CommanderROR · 01-23-2007, 07:17 PM

Well, I have something here that might be interesting to many users of this forum.
Since several people asked me about the booting speed and pageturn speed of the STAReBOOK I thought I'd take a little video of the device in action. To spice things up a bit I added the Iliad as a comparison.

The things I did:

I put both devices on the couch, switched completely off (no standby).

I then switched the camera on, picked up the Iliad and turned it on, then turned the STAReBOOK on (I could do that without picking it up since the powerbutton is on the top).
Then I selected the "Last read book" on both devices (it's actually the same book in both cases, file-sizes are also about the same, around 900K and both books are at roughly the same page (hard to be sure since the screensize-difference makes the pages different as well).

I then flipped forward 3 Pages (please note that I did not press the page-forward button on the STAReBOOK properly the first time and had to repeat (you can see the device lighting up the green LED but not flipping pages), I did not want to do the whole recording again just because of that) and then flipped back three pages and shut both devices down again (Iliad first again).

Three things to note:
1) The quality is bad, but I don't have any better equipment and I guess you can see all that is neccessary.

2) I could actually finish the whole procedure on the STAReBOOK before the Iliad was even done booting despite the fact that I missed the "Page-forward" button at the first try and the Iliad was switched on several seconds before the STAReBOOK. Of course the Iliad has a lot more to load, but it is also a lot more powerful where the Hardware is concerned.

3) The books were both loaded from SD card. Both cards were 1GB, the one in the Iliad was a Sandsik Extreme II, the one in the STAReBOOK was a simple Kingston with no speedrating provided (it was 7.90€, so I guess it's not spectacular)

The File is in .avi format, I compressed it down from 29MB to 1.xMB using the XVID codec.

delphidb96 · 01-23-2007, 08:23 PM

Thanks, but my Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player doesn't recognize your .avi format.

Please don't say I must use RealPlayer!

RWood · 01-23-2007, 08:25 PM

Interesting video. Seems to be iPod like graphics for the opening and closing splash screens on the STAReBOOK. It is revealing that you were able to turn on, select the last book, advance 3 pages, and go backward on the STAReBOOK all before the Iliad had completed its boot up process.

{Edit: No problems with the video format, just expanded and ran. (WinXP)}

Anchoku · 01-23-2007, 09:29 PM

Delphi, you probably need to install a video codec. Try getting a codec pack like Cole2k from a shareware site.

Commander, does the screen look like it refreshes faster? I'm interested in this more than improved computing speed.

yunhaid · 01-23-2007, 09:38 PM

the starebook movies, created by rhh888.

http://www.baizhan.com.cn/index.php?...=post&id=65617

Almagne · 01-23-2007, 09:41 PM

I could not figure out how to play the video. It seems that one has to buy a program that can read RAR files.

Bob Russell · 01-23-2007, 09:50 PM

No purchase necessary.

I use IZArc, which is a fantastic freeware program for Windows...
http://www.izarc.org/index.html

It handles all kinds of archives, including rar files.

Bob Russell · 01-23-2007, 09:55 PM

And for a free cross platform media player that doesn't require any separate codecs to be messed with, try VLC.. http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

I've found it to be great, and can be a lifesaver. For example, a buddy was headed overseas and had a bunch of video files, but couldn't play them or get the codecs to work on his laptop. In 5 mins I had him download VLC and he was watching the videos with no problem, just in time for his flight. Simple and easy.

Leaping Gnome · 01-23-2007, 10:09 PM

I usually just use winrar for rar files.

jæd · 01-24-2007, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CommanderROR

Well, I have something here that might be interesting to many users of this forum.
Since several people asked me about the booting speed and pageturn speed of the STAReBOOK I thought I'd take a little video of the device in action. To spice things up a bit I added the Iliad as a comparison.

Impressive... But how long does it take to convert content to a format the STAReBook can read...?

CommanderROR · 01-24-2007, 03:08 AM

@jaed

it takes about as long as it takes to make a pdf for the Iliad, but the results are a lot worse on the STAReBOOK at the moment.
staretek contacted me today to say that they will solve this and other issues with a software update. They gave me a timeframe of 30-45 days for completition...

jæd · 01-24-2007, 03:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CommanderROR

@jaed

it takes about as long as it takes to make a pdf for the Iliad, but the results are a lot worse on the STAReBOOK at the moment.
staretek contacted me today to say that they will solve this and other issues with a software update. They gave me a timeframe of 30-45 days for completition...

It reads pdfs as well...? Might be worth looking into...

mill0r · 01-24-2007, 03:28 AM

Nice video.

Although it is a bit hard to see due to the quality of the video but to me it seemed that the white of the display was a lot whiter on the iLiad than on the Starebook and gave a better/sharper contrast.

Can you confirm that CommanderROR ?

Btw can you try to put both devices next to each other and turn a page simultaneous, to give a better perception like I did with the video of the sony/iliad.

and my last request

Is it possible to load a comic on both and zoom on the images to check quality and do the same page turn test.

That would be great and if you need a comic to test with i can give you one

kacir · 01-24-2007, 04:18 AM

Thank you CommanderROR for a great video.

Now let me talk about the startup time.

Sigh ...

I can not understand it.
I really can't.

My recent "ebook reader" is in the terms of computing history only one step above the wooden abacus - Cassiopeia A-20, and my oldest "e-reader" is Cassiopeia A-11 (featuring Windows CE 1.0! and a whooping 4MB of combined memory (Yes. Program memory PLUS memory for all my documents)). To illustrate the age and technical features of both machines I will just say, that both machines have a slot for a memory card - PCMCIA sized memory card.

Yet, it takes less than ONE SECOND for those venerable machines to go from the "Off" state to the place where you last stopped reading.

Even a complete hard reboot to factory defaults takes less than it takes Starebook to start.

I simply fail to comprehend why a simple start of StarEbook takes freakin' 30 seconds. And I will not even start talking about the Iliad.

People take an almost instant switching on for pocket computers for granted. I was very deeply shocked when I learned (some time ago) that it takes more than 45 seconds for Iliad to boot. You do not need to load hundreds of megabytes from a slow harddisk like you do on PCs.

CommanderROR · 01-24-2007, 07:43 AM

@jaed

The STAReBOOK does not support PDF, what I saidis that it takes about the sma eamount of time to create a PDF file (from whatever source) for the Iliad as it takes to create a .stk file for the STAReBOOK. The .stk creation is probaby a bit faster since there a no options to set at the moment, but that also means the results are quite often rather ugly.

@mill0r

The contrast is pretty much identical on both devices, I think the different frame-color makes the difference here. The Iliad has a black fram so the screen looks whiter, the STAReBOOK has a white frame so the screen looks more grey.

I can do a comic test if you like (and if the cames still works...it was about to give up yesterday...) and try the page-turning parallel, but I won't even attempt to do a quality-control zoom...there is absolutely no sense in doing that since the camera image-quality is so disgusting...

If you send me a nice comic file (PDF for the Iliad, formatted to 12x15cm) and .jpg files in 800x600 resolution for the STAReBOOK (or you can make a comic-stk with the eRead software if you like) then I'll gladly try it out for you.

Just attach the files to your next post and i'll download them or send them to Roland.Rohde@mobileread.com

@kacir
I agree about the boot-times. However, since the STAReBOOK does not need to be turned off to preserve power, I don't reboot it. It has been running without pause (apart from the restart fro the video) and no recharging has been done for 2 Days now with lots of playing around as well, and the battery is still almost full although I did not even "train" the battery yet, so it should not have full capacity yet.

01-23-2007, 08:23 PM	#2
delphidb96 Wizard Posts: 2,999 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Citrus Heights, California Device: TWO Kindle 2s, one each Bookeen Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS-500, Axim X51V	RE: test .avi Thanks, but my Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player doesn't recognize your .avi format. Please don't say I must use RealPlayer!

01-24-2007, 03:28 AM	#13
mill0r Member Posts: 15 Karma: 194 Join Date: Dec 2006 Device: Sony eReader, iRex iLiad	Nice video. Although it is a bit hard to see due to the quality of the video but to me it seemed that the white of the display was a lot whiter on the iLiad than on the Starebook and gave a better/sharper contrast. Can you confirm that CommanderROR ? Btw can you try to put both devices next to each other and turn a page simultaneous, to give a better perception like I did with the video of the sony/iliad. and my last request Is it possible to load a comic on both and zoom on the images to check quality and do the same page turn test. That would be great and if you need a comic to test with i can give you one Last edited by mill0r; 01-24-2007 at 03:32 AM.

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01-23-2007, 08:25 PM	#3
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	Interesting video. Seems to be iPod like graphics for the opening and closing splash screens on the STAReBOOK. It is revealing that you were able to turn on, select the last book, advance 3 pages, and go backward on the STAReBOOK all before the Iliad had completed its boot up process. {Edit: No problems with the video format, just expanded and ran. (WinXP)}

01-23-2007, 09:29 PM	#4
Anchoku Connoisseur Posts: 54 Karma: 164 Join Date: Jan 2007	Delphi, you probably need to install a video codec. Try getting a codec pack like Cole2k from a shareware site. Commander, does the screen look like it refreshes faster? I'm interested in this more than improved computing speed.

01-23-2007, 09:38 PM	#5
yunhaid Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 147 Join Date: Jan 2007	the starebook movies, created by rhh888. http://www.baizhan.com.cn/index.php?...=post&id=65617

01-23-2007, 09:41 PM	#6
Almagne Enthusiast Posts: 27 Karma: 11 Join Date: Jan 2007	I could not figure out how to play the video. It seems that one has to buy a program that can read RAR files.

01-23-2007, 09:50 PM	#7
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	No purchase necessary. I use IZArc, which is a fantastic freeware program for Windows... http://www.izarc.org/index.html It handles all kinds of archives, including rar files.

01-23-2007, 09:55 PM	#8
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	And for a free cross platform media player that doesn't require any separate codecs to be messed with, try VLC.. http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ I've found it to be great, and can be a lifesaver. For example, a buddy was headed overseas and had a bunch of video files, but couldn't play them or get the codecs to work on his laptop. In 5 mins I had him download VLC and he was watching the videos with no problem, just in time for his flight. Simple and easy.

01-23-2007, 10:09 PM	#9
Leaping Gnome Evangelist Posts: 490 Karma: 1641 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Louisville Device: Sony Reader PRS-500	I usually just use winrar for rar files.

01-24-2007, 03:08 AM	#11
CommanderROR eink fanatic Posts: 2,022 Karma: 4924 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Germany Device: STAReBOOK, iRex Iliad, Sony 505, Kindle 2	@jaed it takes about as long as it takes to make a pdf for the Iliad, but the results are a lot worse on the STAReBOOK at the moment. staretek contacted me today to say that they will solve this and other issues with a software update. They gave me a timeframe of 30-45 days for completition...

01-24-2007, 04:18 AM	#14
kacir Wizard Posts: 3,462 Karma: 10484861 Join Date: May 2006 Device: PocketBook 360, before it was Sony Reader, cassiopeia A-20	Thank you CommanderROR for a great video. Now let me talk about the startup time. Sigh ... I can not understand it. I really can't. My recent "ebook reader" is in the terms of computing history only one step above the wooden abacus - Cassiopeia A-20, and my oldest "e-reader" is Cassiopeia A-11 (featuring Windows CE 1.0! and a whooping 4MB of combined memory (Yes. Program memory PLUS memory for all my documents)). To illustrate the age and technical features of both machines I will just say, that both machines have a slot for a memory card - PCMCIA sized memory card. Yet, it takes less than ONE SECOND for those venerable machines to go from the "Off" state to the place where you last stopped reading. Even a complete hard reboot to factory defaults takes less than it takes Starebook to start. I simply fail to comprehend why a simple start of StarEbook takes freakin' 30 seconds. And I will not even start talking about the Iliad. People take an almost instant switching on for pocket computers for granted. I was very deeply shocked when I learned (some time ago) that it takes more than 45 seconds for Iliad to boot. You do not need to load hundreds of megabytes from a slow harddisk like you do on PCs.

01-24-2007, 07:43 AM	#15
CommanderROR eink fanatic Posts: 2,022 Karma: 4924 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Germany Device: STAReBOOK, iRex Iliad, Sony 505, Kindle 2	@jaed The STAReBOOK does not support PDF, what I saidis that it takes about the sma eamount of time to create a PDF file (from whatever source) for the Iliad as it takes to create a .stk file for the STAReBOOK. The .stk creation is probaby a bit faster since there a no options to set at the moment, but that also means the results are quite often rather ugly. @mill0r The contrast is pretty much identical on both devices, I think the different frame-color makes the difference here. The Iliad has a black fram so the screen looks whiter, the STAReBOOK has a white frame so the screen looks more grey. I can do a comic test if you like (and if the cames still works...it was about to give up yesterday...) and try the page-turning parallel, but I won't even attempt to do a quality-control zoom...there is absolutely no sense in doing that since the camera image-quality is so disgusting... If you send me a nice comic file (PDF for the Iliad, formatted to 12x15cm) and .jpg files in 800x600 resolution for the STAReBOOK (or you can make a comic-stk with the eRead software if you like) then I'll gladly try it out for you. Just attach the files to your next post and i'll download them or send them to Roland.Rohde@mobileread.com @kacir I agree about the boot-times. However, since the STAReBOOK does not need to be turned off to preserve power, I don't reboot it. It has been running without pause (apart from the restart fro the video) and no recharging has been done for 2 Days now with lots of playing around as well, and the battery is still almost full although I did not even "train" the battery yet, so it should not have full capacity yet.

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