Cybook ordering

[High 5]

I'll not be ordering for a while yet.
Too much info on the Gen3 is still missing.
I still haven't seen any indepth info on battery life, startup time and/or sleep mode.
Perhaps I missed all that in the posts over the last few weeks and somehow I must have missed that "Here is the review!!" post I was expecting.

[BKeeper]

You are not alone. (and you didn't miss a thing) We are all still expecting that review.
(probably even more than we expect the cybook... nah, not that much)

I have the feeling we can't expect a stellar battery life. It will be measured in days (as opposed to the iLiadan hours, but not in weeks as the Sonys)

Maybe we'll finally get that review next week. (or maybe even the cybook in 2 weeks...)

[tompe]

Why do you think the battery life will only be days? Anybody know if it will charge via the USB? If it charge via USB I suppose I can live with charging it often.

I really do not see an alternative reader to buy in Europe if you want a warranty that works without to much trouble. And I like the poilcy to support a lot of formats.

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by BKeeper

You are not alone. (and you didn't miss a thing) We are all still expecting that review.
(probably even more than we expect the cybook... nah, not that much)

I have the feeling we can't expect a stellar battery life. It will be measured in days (as opposed to the iLiadan hours, but not in weeks as the Sonys)

Maybe well finally get that review next week. (or maybe even the cybook in 2 weeks...)

Things have *changed* a bit with the current firmware. The Cybook now can be set to Auto Power Off after a set period of inactivity. Me, I like the 45 minute setting, but each user can choose between 5, 10, 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes as well as set it to not do an Auto Power Off.

With that feature, the reader will probably have a battery charge life measured in weeks. After I get done taking the menu images, and the 'ghosting' when not using the 'flashing-between-page-flips' feature, I will specifically reset the Auto Power Off to a comfortable 15 minutes and see how long it takes for average use and shut-down to drain the battery.

Derek

[brecklundin]

FYI...I have Mobipocket on my newly acquired NX73v Clie and it supports bookmarks. It's version 5.3 build 582 for Palm OS 5.x...

No matter I STILL want one of these Cybook readers but am gonna wait until maybe spring of next year...I have fallen off the early adopter treadmill.

And I LOVE this thread and the great reviews Derek has given us out here...from my experience the issues encountered so far are nothing to be concerned about at all. In fact Bookeen's rapid responses show their idea of pre-release testing is serious and done right. Not many companies really care enough to do this anymore. Who knew I would ever say this about a company that likely has statues of Jerry Lewis in the lobby!!

But unless something else develops in the way of price from some somewhere like Amazon of the NY Times themselves...Bookeen is gonna get my business.

I still want a smaller more paperback/pda sized version though but am sure I can adapt...

[BKeeper]

Originally Posted by tompe

Why do you think the battery life will only be days? Anybody know if it will charge via the USB? If it charge via USB I suppose I can live with charging it often.

I really do not see an alternative reader to buy in Europe if you want a warranty that works without to much trouble. And I like the poilcy to support a lot of formats.

With amazon awfully quiet, the cybook is virtually my device of choice in the 6 inch camp. Not only for warranty and support (we still have to see about that ) but also formats suuport, and flexibility. On a 6 incher if you want to maintain compatibility and minimize conversion efforts, mobipocket is one of your best options. (until ePub support spreads that is)

- -- -

With the new timer feature that Derek mentioned I guess we'll get a bit over a week of battery life. Far from Sony, but far from the iLiad as well.
Derek will correct me if I'm wrong but I think the cybook charges through USB.

Don't get me wrong 1 week is a very good BL, just not book-like enough.

For battery life there is a critical point (that AFAIK only Sony has hit) where you never actually run out of battery, 'cause the little you connect it to your USB (just for content) it's the little it needs to recharge.

[Barcey]

Well if Derek is going to do a battery life test hopefully we won't see the results for a couple of weeks. ;-)

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by Barcey

Well if Derek is going to do a battery life test hopefully we won't see the results for a couple of weeks. ;-)

Maybe, maybe not!

You have to understand that I'm in a position to read about 12 hours per day. Given that, even with the auto power off feature set to 10 minutes of inactivity, I'll probably drain the battery in under 5 days. Now if I were reading for 3-4 hours per day, that might rise to 10-12 days.


Derek

[Alisa]

On the bright side, it sounds like that is more than enough battery power for me. On the not-so-bright side, I'm jealous that you can read 12 hours a day! That is a treasured day indeed that I get to read so much. Unfortunately with my schedule I think the battery would last me weeks. If it can last me through a long international flight or a few days of backpacking, I'm a happy girl. I can only fantasize about extended periods of reading away from a charging source.

[balok]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I still don't think it'll be ready. Heck, they just released 0.99 of the firmware. So I'm still going by a November release date. They have yet to get 1.0 of the firmware ready. And once that is ready, they still have to make all the units and package them and ship them and so forth. So November is a lot more realistic at this time. Unless of course to be done in October they rush out an unfinished product. if they do that though, their reputation will be mud.

Looks like they're going to miss yet another self-imposed deadline. Wouldn't it be easier for Bookeen to set the release date in 2008, instead of looking like a bunch of amateurs when they say: "Ok, we know we let you down before, but this time we really mean it..." (with their fingers crossed behind their backs)

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by Alisa

On the bright side, it sounds like that is more than enough battery power for me. On the not-so-bright side, I'm jealous that you can read 12 hours a day! That is a treasured day indeed that I get to read so much. Unfortunately with my schedule I think the battery would last me weeks. If it can last me through a long international flight or a few days of backpacking, I'm a happy girl. I can only fantasize about extended periods of reading away from a charging source.

That *is* one of the beautiful things about having such a long battery life! And to think that it comes from an 800mAH battery!?!

You'd not be so jealous if you had to put up with my physical woes... But the compensation of being able to read all my books all the time, well, let's just say that it makes a *world* of difference.

Derek

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by balok

Looks like they're going to miss yet another self-imposed deadline. Wouldn't it be easier for Bookeen to set the release date in 2008, instead of looking like a bunch of amateurs when they say: "Ok, we know we let you down before, but this time we really mean it..." (with their fingers crossed behind their backs)

First off, it's only October 22nd. That means they have nine (9) days left to crank out version 1.0 and get their first retail units available. Given that version 0.99 of the firmware is quite nice - and that it has most of the utility the average consumer will want and need - I don't really see where they can't attain their goals either by October 31st or within the first week of November.

Of course, if they *did* decide to hold off for later next month, they'd probably be able to add in more features

Derek

[High 5]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

Of course, if they *did* decide to hold off for later next month, they'd probably be able to add in more features

Derek

Oh I hope not.
I want a good ebook reader not a bad "mp3-playing-contact-list-agenda-cute-games-playing-notebook-wifi-internet-photo-showing-thingy-that-you-can-read-with".

As long as the industry keeps turning out Swiss army knifes instead of cheap comfortable ebook readers, the devices have as much chance of becoming a succes as a snowflake has of becoming a snowstorm inside a working microwave oven.

[JSWolf]

Yes, and you pay more for the do everything, but none of it all that well type nonsense.

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

Things have *changed* a bit with the current firmware. The Cybook now can be set to Auto Power Off after a set period of inactivity. Me, I like the 45 minute setting, but each user can choose between 5, 10, 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes as well as set it to not do an Auto Power Off.

With that feature, the reader will probably have a battery charge life measured in weeks. After I get done taking the menu images, and the 'ghosting' when not using the 'flashing-between-page-flips' feature, I will specifically reset the Auto Power Off to a comfortable 15 minutes and see how long it takes for average use and shut-down to drain the battery.

Derek

I managed to get most of the way through the current book I'm reading, call it 85% or about 1,200 page-flips, and I thought I'd post some shots of the level of ghosting present when you turn off 'flashing' between page-flips.

As you can see, it's noticeable, but not all that unpleasant or irritating.

Derek