Unboxing iRex 800 and first impressions

[chainring]

Hi mgmueller,

I don't know if you've viewed your own photos, but they have a very bluish cast to them. Possibly white balance, or an auto white balance on your camera that's less than stellar? In post 6, you set the readers on white paper, so it should have come out white...

BTW, thank you for the photos and your ongoing comparison of different units!

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by DeReader

Oh yes, it left the nearest Depot (thats for me "Frittlingen") this morning at 8:00. Usually UPS is very reliable with shipments to my adress, so I hope it will arrive today.

But back to the DR800S: The missing "intelligent zoom" feature is really a negative aspect, I use this on my Iliad for nearly all PDF files. So I expected that feature on the DR800S too.

Me too. And I agree, one of the main arguments for iLiad. But I don't think I've missed anything. I'm pretty sure it's not there.

[catharsis]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

It is readable. But I don't see significant advantages in comparison to, let's say, Sony 900. Significantly less glare and slightly better contrast, but PDF capabilities aren't any better. Actually, Sony 600 and 900 can zoom and reflow within PDFs. But only for a single page, so cropping margins isn't easy there as well.

Isn't the bigger screen a significant advantage? I think reflowing academic documents which have graphs and formulas and 2 columns usually messes them up. So, I'm thinking of buying a ebook reader soon (I'm in Finland right now) and the main requirement would be that it should display well academic documents and textbooks. Between Sony 900 and DR800, which one would you recommend? (I need something with a big screen, Que, Pocketbook, Skiff or Edge are too far away, timewise) Can you put some photos with the same document I sent you on both devices? What are your impressions on that? (Sorry for so many questions, I hope I'm not bothering you).

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by chainring

Hi mgmueller,

I don't know if you've viewed your own photos, but they have a very bluish cast to them. Possibly white balance, or an auto white balance on your camera that's less than stellar? In post 6, you set the readers on white paper, so it should have come out white...

BTW, thank you for the photos and your ongoing comparison of different units!

I've seen it. No idea, why quality of the pics is that bad. I certainly have bad lighting conditions here, but still it should be better. Theoretically, it's a great camera (Sony DSC-F707). I'll try again later on...

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

.mobi and .prc don't even show in the booklist. Didn't find any way to access them (DRM free of course).

Then it's a no-go for me. What formats does it read? Except epub and pdf, that is?

[DeReader]

My unit arrived , now away for unpacking and testing, will report soon!

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by catharsis

Isn't the bigger screen a significant advantage? I think reflowing academic documents which have graphs and formulas and 2 columns usually messes them up. So, I'm thinking of buying a ebook reader soon (I'm in Finland right now) and the main requirement would be that it should display well academic documents and textbooks. Between Sony 900 and DR800, which one would you recommend? (I need something with a big screen, Que, Pocketbook, Skiff or Edge are too far away, timewise) Can you put some photos with the same document I sent you on both devices? What are your impressions on that? (Sorry for so many questions, I hope I'm not bothering you).

I'm not sure yet between Sony 900 and iRex 800. But quite frankly: Given my great experience with iRex iLiad (one of my alltime favorites and my very first eInk device) I've expected a little bit more. Maybe there's a reason, why iRex 800 is cheaper than iRex iLiad?
For PDFs, the "intelligent" zoom of Sony 900 (just exploding whatever area of the screen to full screen) comes in handy. But it's only working for a single page, which doesn't help for cropping margins or issues like that.
So, for the moment, I really have to say: iRex iLiad seems to remain the undefeated champion for PDFs.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Then it's a no-go for me. What formats does it read? Except epub and pdf, that is?

So far, I've only checked B&Ns .pdb.
It's working flawlessly for my old files (bought from fictionwise, if I remember correctly). But I couldn't make it work for the .pdb I've bought 2 hours ago as a test from B&N.
Both protected by credit card, but different ones.
But still: Very nice, as long as I'm waiting for my Nook (will arrive in about 1 week).

EDIT: The new .pdb I've bought this morning from B&N is working as well. Simple password issue.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by DeReader

My unit arrived , now away for unpacking and testing, will report soon!

Congratulations. So the first 2 reviews seem to be from Germany.

[cmdahler]

Originally Posted by catharsis

So, I'm thinking of buying a ebook reader soon (I'm in Finland right now) and the main requirement would be that it should display well academic documents and textbooks. Between Sony 900 and DR800, which one would you recommend? (I need something with a big screen, Que, Pocketbook, Skiff or Edge are too far away, timewise

Not trying to sound like I'm jumping on you, but I just wanted to comment on this. I've done that many a time in my life: convinced myself that I couldn't wait for a device that would be perfect for my needs and accepted a substandard unit just because I could have it right now. If you're displaying a lot of paper-sized scientific PDFs, just a bit of advice: don't even consider anything smaller than Skiff or Que. Everything I've seen and read of those devices indicate that they will be perfect for what you need. The DR800 will be a compromise, and you'll kick yourself when those other readers do come out. Just a friendly thought.

[DeReader]

First pictures with a size and thickness comparison between my Readers (from left to right): Iliad, DR800S, Sony PRS-300.

The DR800S is actually quite thin, as thin as the PRS-300!

[catharsis]

Originally Posted by cmdahler

Not trying to sound like I'm jumping on you, but I just wanted to comment on this. I've done that many a time in my life: convinced myself that I couldn't wait for a device that would be perfect for my needs and accepted a substandard unit just because I could have it right now. If you're displaying a lot of paper-sized scientific PDFs, just a bit of advice: don't even consider anything smaller than Skiff or Que. Everything I've seen and read of those devices indicate that they will be perfect for what you need. The DR800 will be a compromise, and you'll kick yourself when those other readers do come out. Just a friendly thought.

I'm in Europe, so Skiff or Que will be launched even later here. As far as I can see from mgmueller's photos, the document looks pretty decent, so the DR800 looks that almost can do the job. My plan would be to buy the DR800 and sell it when a better device comes on the market (would lose 1-200€, though). Other advice is welcomed, as I have not decided for sure yet.

[Mr. Goodbar]

Originally Posted by DeReader

First pictures with a size and thickness comparison betwenn my Readers (from left to right): Iliad, DR800S, Sony PRS-300.

The DR800S is actually quite thin, as thin as the PRS-300!

Wow, that's great to see it as nice and thin as the Sony's as well as the size comparison to the iLiad. It looks like they've done a really good job on the hardware. If the battery life is decent I'll definitely be picking one up.

Certainly interested in your battery life experiences over the next few days, how stable you find the device and how well the suspend function works.

[Jumpn Jack Flash]

Any sign of a SIM slot? Anybody willing to pull it apart to see if a Wifi card could be put in.

It looks like a very good device but I would like Wifi so I could access some safari books.
Hmm this or wait till there is an 8'' boox.

[DeReader]

I did a comparison of a PDF-file on the Iliad (zoomed) and the DR800S, as additional bonus the page from the original book is also on the first picture.

The text is still readable on the DR800S, but beeing only a software issue it is really sad they left the zooming feature out.

On the next picture I reflowed the PDF, but then there's only text without the diagram.

The DR800S is a lot faster in turning pages of the PDF than the Iliad.