DR800 sources posted

[cmdahler]

Originally Posted by Kolenka

What sucks is that no matter what the iPad does to the eBook market, it's built-in reader is extremely poor. TOC, Font changing, linear view of book covers and a store... full stop. That's all you get in terms of functionality.

No annotations? No tweaking readability beyond font family/size? No organization of my 300+ book collection? No mention of grandfathering us existing types into the ecosystem?

Ummm, what exactly were you hoping to see with the DR800, then? Have you read anything about the device yet? Let's see, just going down your list: TOC, font changing, linear view of books... whoa! full stop! Nope, no annotations, no zoom, no organization of your library, no support for older file types... hmmm, sounds to me like you shouldn't be getting so excited about the DR800SG, then.

[electrotype]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

What you're missing is that you're not an Apple fanatic.

No, I was not missing this part!

Well, the iPad is out for me. Folder navigation now possible on the DR800? Hummm, nice. Let's add PDF zooming and the DR800 will be my first ebook reader!

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by cmdahler

Further, iRex has already responded to some user inquiries who have posted the replies on these boards and iRex's own forum boards that iRex now has no plans to update the firmware to include annotations.

I've seen users post a reply to an email from a tech support person saying that they won't support annotations (which also stated several other incorrect things that iRex has since corrected), but iRex has said in other places that they have an update planned. I don't think we really know either way.

Have no fear, though, Shaggy will hold your hand and soothe you through the whole thing.

Apparently you don't really read much of what I say. I've been stating for a long time that I recommend people don't buy a product based on promises for the future. Buy it based on what features it currently has, not what a company says it will eventually have. If annotations are a requirement, then don't decide to get a DR800 until they add it.

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by cmdahler

Ummm, what exactly were you hoping to see with the DR800, then? Have you read anything about the device yet? Let's see, just going down your list: TOC, font changing, linear view of books... whoa! full stop! Nope, no annotations, no zoom, no organization of your library, no support for older file types... hmmm, sounds to me like you shouldn't be getting so excited about the DR800SG, then.

Hmm, side-loading, access to eBook stores... and hey, sorting is a form of organization (which /still/ beats the iBooks demo, go figure). I can bookmark (can't seem to bookmark in iBooks from the demo). And in this very thread (which was a mighty successful hijack of the SDK announcement for the iRex I might add), it was mentioned how the iRex has additional organization features which were disabled in shipping firmware.

Zoom isn't a feature I much care about, and you miss the difference between 'grandfathering existing content' and 'grandfathering old formats'. ePub isn't an old format, iBooks uses the same format, so why are we expected to plunge in without taking our existing content for a ride? I can definitely take my existing collection to the iRex and vice versa without being expected to rebuy it.

[Mr. Goodbar]

It's rather amusing to me that the ipad is hailed as the killer of eink when it has a claimed 10 hour battery life. The same battery life which was ridiculed in the iliad! Not to mention that the actual battery life will likely be somewhat less than that, probably in the range of 8 hours or so if we can draw any correlation to what we see with the iphone. It's not a bad device, but I don't see it as the ereader killer, I see it as a netbook that is better than the current crop and can also be used as the occasional reader.

I'm sure they're going to sell a ton of them, but it doesn't really appeal to me and I'm a gadget freak.

[Matthijs]

Originally Posted by pauli

@Mackx Any idea how to enable the zoom function for pdf files? Is there a registry hack for that too?

No, I'm afraid not.

[Iñigo]

Originally Posted by cmdahler

Good luck with that. You have followed iRex's pattern on promised delivery dates and firmware updates, haven't you? If they're saying April, you'll be lucky if a firmware update is released by the end of the year. Further, iRex has already responded to some user inquiries who have posted the replies on these boards and iRex's own forum boards that iRex now has no plans to update the firmware to include annotations.

That's exactly the reason I'll wait until they release a version with annotations and zoom. Then the DR800 will have all my main requirements for ereader.

Btw, I own an Iliad since almost 3 years ago so I know iRex perfectly.
All in all I'm pretty satisfied with the Iliad.

Have no fear, though, Shaggy will hold your hand and soothe you through the whole thing.

But anyway, maybe most of us are wrong and have to change our minds and follow your wise words and buy that Apple stuff...
Uhmmm... no way, my 300EUR netbook is far better that the ipad!

[Jumpn Jack Flash]

Quote:
Originally Posted by pauli View Post
@Mackx Any idea how to enable the zoom function for pdf files? Is there a registry hack for that too?
No, I'm afraid not.

Originally Posted by Matthijs

No, I'm afraid not.

I presume zoom was part of the iRex viewer which has now been replaced with the Adobe RM though I see poppler in the 3.0 sources list.
I think that the Onyx device has it so it must be in the RM sdk, maybe Dulin can confirm this.

[Matthijs]

Originally Posted by Jumpn Jack Flash

I presume zoom was part of the iRex viewer which has now been replaced with the Adobe RM though I see poppler in the 3.0 sources list.
I think that the Onyx device has it so it must be in the RM sdk, maybe Dulin can confirm this.

The PDF/EPUB viewing is indeed based on the Adobe RM SDK. There is the possibility for zoom, but that has not been enabled on the DR800. It will definately be enabled on the DR1000.

[Mackx]

@Matthijs: As Jumpn Jack Flash indicated, poppler is still in the packages for R3.0, but you indicate that it is not used. What is the reason for leaving it in there? (I do not mind since I use poppler in the xournal-port, so for me it is easier when it is already available.)

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by catharsis

I almost convinced myself to buy the DR800, but it's too damn expensive (I'm in Europe ). Are the e-ink and the battery life justifying such a high price? If it would have been 350-400€, I would of bought it right now, but 500 seems just too much. and also, I'm a grad student, so money is not falling out of my butt, but I have hopes of tricking some professors/managers of buying some e-readers from research money...

You might want to consider Sony 900 instead. $ 400 after VAT and logistics will add up to around € 400.
Display quality/contrast/glare is a bit below iRex 800's quality. On the other hand, it's the usual "polished" Sony design. Personally I can say, iRex 800 is growing on me. I miss the "intelligent" zoom, but that's basically it. The rest is great. And the display quality is benchmark, seems close (or maybe even par) with Sony 505!

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by cmdahler

Good luck with that. You have followed iRex's pattern on promised delivery dates and firmware updates, haven't you? If they're saying April, you'll be lucky if a firmware update is released by the end of the year. Further, iRex has already responded to some user inquiries who have posted the replies on these boards and iRex's own forum boards that iRex now has no plans to update the firmware to include annotations.

Have no fear, though, Shaggy will hold your hand and soothe you through the whole thing.

Concerning firmware updates: Apple certainly is way more reliable there. They simply don't promise anything and don't react at all. It took them more than 15 months to incorporate "copy and paste" in their wannabe "business phone". (Great marketing, though).

[Jumpn Jack Flash]

Originally Posted by Matthijs

The PDF/EPUB viewing is indeed based on the Adobe RM SDK. There is the possibility for zoom, but that has not been enabled on the DR800. It will definately be enabled on the DR1000.

Ok so my limited reading into this is that the 800 is going to be consumer only and will not have zoom support and no wifi only 3G.
The professional 1000 will have zoom support. I presume it will get wifi and mail/calendaring etc or the Que will eat its market.

So is there going to be a v3 iliad, a professional 8'' with zoom and wifi and other bells and whistles.

[eLiNK]

Anything over the 6"-sized readers, though, is basically out of business now.

I do not think so.
There are not enough iFools out there.

But I would agree that the Apple's policy regarding pricing iPad will have a benificial effect on prices of e-ink devices.

That's exactly the reason I'll wait until they release a version with annotations and zoom. Then the DR800 will have all my main requirements for ereader.

Me too. But I am afraid till iRex comes out with these features, other devices would be available, like lbook's A9 or Onyx 8" device, with a broader set of features and better pricing.

[Matthijs]

Originally Posted by Mackx

@Matthijs: As Jumpn Jack Flash indicated, poppler is still in the packages for R3.0, but you indicate that it is not used. What is the reason for leaving it in there? (I do not mind since I use poppler in the xournal-port, so for me it is easier when it is already available.)

We kept it in there so the (old) UDS PDF plugin still compiles and can be used as a reference for people who want to create their own UDS plugin.