Another new E Ink device: BEBOOK

[Gudy]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Oh! Is the second set of page turn buttons the lower big button on the right? On the sony, that button is for navigating and before our friend DiabloNL wrote that wonderful little script, it couldn't be used to turn pages. Shouldn't those page turn buttons be diametrically opposite the left ones instead?

Yes, they should, and from what I can see, it's one of those things that the eBookwise got really right: true ambidextrous use. But no, here's the rundown on the V3 buttons on the front:

The two buttons on the left are for page turning.
The round button in the lower right is actually two buttons: the smaller part on the left is the Back/Cancel button, the larger part on the right is the OK and Main Menu button.
The ten buttons below the display are for numeric input (go to page number). Buttons 1-8 are also used to select an entry in the book shelf, which displays up to 8 items per page.
When reading, buttons 1-5 select (click) or set (click and hold) one of five bookmarks per book. Button 6 gives you an overview of all bookmarks in a book. Button 7 brings up the TOC. Button 8 toggles through the three zoom levels. Buttons 9 and 0 work as a second set of page turning buttons.

[astra]

They sell it in the UK as well.
only £239.

Although they claim "free worldwide shipping" the next statement is a bit of understatement (excuse the pun)

You're probably thinking how can such a device compete with Sony or Amazon?

First.
It's not that expensive. See our Bebook page

Sony Reader for anyone in the UK who order it from B&H costs £200 with all the taxes and S&H.

However, it is a good news that they sell it here. The more the better! and probably it has some sort of warranty in comparison to what we have when we order Sony Reader from the USA.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Because you usually hold the book in your left hand at the spine so your thumb will fall generally where those buttons are... Makes perfect sense to me.

BOb

As a former owner of a 500 and now a 505, I have to say that I much prefer the page turn buttons on the right side. In fact, the layout of the 505 makes it very easy for me to hold it in just my right hand. It feels a lot more natural then the 500 with the buttons on the left side.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

As a former owner of a 500 and now a 505, I have to say that I much prefer the page turn buttons on the right side. In fact, the layout of the 505 makes it very easy for me to hold it in just my right hand. It feels a lot more natural then the 500 with the buttons on the left side.

With the 500 I usually hold with the left hand and turn with the bottom left control. But, to each his own.

BOb

[jotheman]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

I would agree with this too Harry.

And why do all these manufacturers put the friggin page turn buttons on the left side? Paper Book pages are turned with the right hand, don't they know or are they illiterate?

I like to read holding the device in my left hand, so I like the buttons to be there. One reason (of many) why I will return my Cybook today. That device is what I call unergonomic.

I ordered a BeBook, BTW. Looking foreward to it.


jo.

[lcd]

I like how they offer free international shipping, I saw another reader (might have been on eBay) where it was going to cost about $70 just to ship it from the US to Australia.

If anyone else is interested in getting one, if you enter a valid email address such as amazingbebook@hotmail.com in the online application it will save you 25 euros. I think that works out to about $40.

[helten]

So it actually is only 400$ including shipping to anywhere in the world? At least according to the page. If anybody find any more information about the device, please share it

[jotheman]

Has anyone ever noticed that the text on www.mybebook.com in lage parts appears to be copy-pasted from around the web? Some parts are even from the Cybook website.

FAQ page BeBook.
Original at BooKeen.
Check the parts about Chinese support for example.

That's quite strange already, but apart from that there's no need to install Chinese fonts on the BeBook, as far as I know, because it is a rebranded Hanlin V3 and comes with native support for lots of different languages... The people at Endless Ideas don't seem to be very familiar with the prodoct they're selling.

[jotheman]

Haven't gotten mine yet, in case you were wondering.

[Soular]

Hi there,

Just wanted to let you know that I got my Bebook a couple of days ago, and I'm very impressed.

I tried the 'Chinese' font problem, and indeed Chinese wasn't displayed correctly. But easily solved with an additional font. (I can't read Chinese, though, lol)

My impression for my bebook so far :
- They fully lived up to my expectation.
- Their support is pretty impressive, I got responses from questions within hours or even minutes.
- Service level is great : instead of leaving you to convert books yourself they offer a lot of books in optimised format from their website.
- I really don't care if it's rebranded or whatever, so far I haven't discovered any flaws or major issues. Good value for money IMHO

I might sound like a 'fanboy', but I really like my e-reader.

[JSWolf]

Are they going to support any of the DRM laden formats that we can actually purchase online?

[jotheman]

Well, I'm still waiting for my BeBook to arrive.

[jotheman]

I got it yesterday an it is really quite nice. Heavier than I expected, though. (Feels heavier than Cybook).

Pros:
- page turns much quicker than Cybook and Iliad
- very quick power on
- pretty easy to use
- good format support, smart pdf zoom

Cons:
- can't delete files on the reader, only via my Mac
- Mac's system ("ghost") files will clog up the documents list on the reader, have to use HiddenCleaner every time I put stuff on it
- wasn't able to open any JPGs yet. Which isn't really a problem, but anyway...
- landscape mode is unintuitive, should be turned 180 degrees from the way it is now

I mostly read stuff I would otherwise print out or read on my Mac rather than real eBooks. So until calibre adds epub support I'll place my hopes on the second-hand Sony Reader that I bought on ebay a few days ago. In my oppinion, all these devices are far from where they need to be, anyway. All just temporary solutions until something better comes arount (Please, Apple, just do it!).

Cheers,


jo.

[astra]

What formats does it support?

[Argel]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

As a former owner of a 500 and now a 505, I have to say that I much prefer the page turn buttons on the right side. In fact, the layout of the 505 makes it very easy for me to hold it in just my right hand. It feels a lot more natural then the 500 with the buttons on the left side.

Typical right-handed imperialism. Lefties of the world unite!