Cybook sometimes unresponsive to turning pages - is that normal?

[Alan]

I experience this behavior every now and then, too. It has nothing to do with the strength you press the button. The unit is working because the green light lits up. It is annoying but not really a problem. I own the Cybook a month now and find more and more (little) bugs. Well, I guess this is normal for version 1.0, though I will never understand, why more and more companies produce Chiquita ware (product ripens at the customer's).

Alan

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Alan

Well, I guess this is normal for version 1.0, though I will never understand, why more and more companies produce Chiquita ware (product ripens at the customer's).

Alan

Given the minor nature of the bugs which have showed up, would you really rather that the release of the product had been delayed for several months to fix them?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Schlumpf

Happens to me every 2-3 turnings. (because i often push the button very very carefully)

You can go around it when you press the button a little bit longer - its not really a problem, but its a little bit aggravating. I hope they fix it in the next firmware-release...

Are you sure it is a firmware issue and not a hardware issue?

[Alan]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Given the minor nature of the bugs which have showed up, would you really rather that the release of the product had been delayed for several months to fix them?

If it takes months to fix these bugs, they are definitely not minor.

I would not consider all of the bugs as minor anyway. Missing page numbers, bookmarks not working, no way to sort books in the library, unreliable battery indicator, no indicator at all if you are reading a book and some more - well, these are not minor bugs, they are mediocre at best.

And again - if it really takes months to find out and fix these things, I would rather they have waited a little bit longer and presented a (almost) bug free product to their customers. €350 is a lot of money. $350 is much less but still a lot of bucks. This should be considered when we speak about "minor" bugs.

But I tell you something. Two years ago I bought one of the most expensive digital satellite receivers available. I wanted a long lasting and reliable product. I chose a well established brand and paid big bucks. What I got is a box of bugs - literally. It is really amazing what that thing can do when it comes to broken software and bad programming. I emailed the company two pages full of bug descriptions. They did not even bother to reply neither do they have had any firmware updates in a year.

Would I really rather that the release of that receiver had been delayed? Yes, certainly. Same with Cybook, though the bugs there are nothing compared to the ones I find in that receiver.

For €/$350 I really expect better quality. If we report bugs to Bookeen, we are doing the work they should have done long before.

Alan

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Alan

For €/$350 I really expect better quality. If we report bugs to Bookeen, we are doing the work they should have done long before.

You do know that sometimes it can be hard to find intermittent bugs. Those are the hardest to catch and by more people using the Gen3 under different circumstances, it's easier for these bugs to pop up. So reporting them to Bookeen will help them be able to fix them for the next firmware release. However, I am surprised they have not yet gotten a new firmware release out to fix any of the known issues.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You do know that sometimes it can be hard to find intermittent bugs.

Oh yes, I know.

So reporting them to Bookeen will help them be able to fix them for the next firmware release.

Sure, and I will continue to do this (in this forum). But nevertheless: Bug testing - sincere bug testing - should be part of the development process, not something the customer has to do.

However, I am surprised they have not yet gotten a new firmware release out to fix any of the known issues.

I suppose their main goal right now is to fix delivery problems (producing and shipping more devices). But I do hope they will release an update soon.

Alan

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

However, I am surprised they have not yet gotten a new firmware release out to fix any of the known issues.

How long did it take Sony to fix the battery meter bug, Jon?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

How long did it take Sony to fix the battery meter bug, Jon?

It did take a while yes. And there was a work around for it. But, that was the only bug there was that we complained about.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Alan

I would not consider all of the bugs as minor anyway. Missing page numbers,

You can't claim that something that you think should be there, but isn't, is a "bug", come off it . Of what conceivable use are page numbers on a device where on has a limitless variety of fonts and sizes? My page 100 in a given book won't be the same as your page 100.

bookmarks not working

I use bookmarks ALL THE TIME to mark pages with errors while I'm proofreading my books. I am aware that some people have had problems with bookmarks, but it seems to be a damned elusive bug! Have you encountered it yourself?

no way to sort books in the library

Yes, there is. You can sort by title, file size, file date, or something else I forget off-hand. It would be nice to be able to sort by author or genre, I agree, but you can't claim that there's "no way to sort books".

unreliable battery indicator

Unreliable in what way?

no indicator at all if you are reading a book and some more - well, these are not minor bugs, they are mediocre at best.

Again, I have to say that "something that you think should be there but isn't" is not a bug - it's a feature request.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the v1 firmware is perfect - it obviously isn't. But I think that FOR a v1 it's pretty damned good, and I'm sure that Bookeen will improve it with future firmware releases; their history of doing that with the old CyBook (which I also have) is very good indeed.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You can't claim that something that you think should be there, but isn't, is a "bug", come off it . Of what conceivable use are page numbers on a device where on has a limitless variety of fonts and sizes? My page 100 in a given book won't be the same as your page 100.

Page numbers are of a very good usage. For one, it tells me how many pages there are at a given size. And as long as the ebook has an internal ToC, I can look at that ToC and see what page number the next chapter starts so I can decide If I want to stop reading now or continue till I finish the chapter.

[philodox]

Page numbers are next to useless for me, but I can see how others would miss them. I find the progress bar to be good enough, considering that it saves the spot where I am reading.

I haven't had any issue with bookmarks. They seem to work flawlessly. I have heard some people saying that if you loose your charge completely they don't work though.

To get a quasi-sort by author, put books from each author in a named folder and sort by File Path.

I've found the battery life meter to be pretty off as well. It seems to go from 100% to 90% with nothing in between. Also, though I haven't had mine loose its charge completely, I understand that after it hits 40% it is drained completely shortly thereafter.

All in all, I am happy with the way it works now, though I look forward to future improvements.

I have to say that the biggest 'cool factor' I've had is in using that 'new' 1913 dictionary that was posted to do lookups. Since I've mainly been reading Dickens [Thanks HarryT ], there are quite a few older and rarely used words that I've needed definitions for.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Are you sure it is a firmware issue and not a hardware issue?

Yes, absolutely certain. The Gen3 has an "activity light" which flashes when you click a button, etc. Even when the Gen3 "misses" a page turn, the light still flashes. The key press is being "registered" by the o/s, but not acted upon for whatever reason. Probably some kind of timing issue.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It did take a while yes. And there was a work around for it. But, that was the only bug there was that we complained about.

With respect, Jon, your memory is being a little selective. The original firmware on the 500 was pretty flaky, especially when it came to RTF files. I particularly remember this because RTF was my preferred reading format at the time (this was before I discovered BD). There were all sorts of RTF files that the Reader wouldn't handle - it just gave an error when you tried to load them.

Another issue was that it would randomly lose all your bookmarks. That one was particularly infuriating if you'd spent days marking all the errors in a book.

Both of those issues were fixed in the first firmware update.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by philodox

To get a quasi-sort by author, put books from each author in a named folder and sort by File Path.

That is an absolutely BRILLIANT idea! What a stroke of genius! You could use that method to sort by genre, too.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Alan

Sure, and I will continue to do this (in this forum). But nevertheless: Bug testing - sincere bug testing - should be part of the development process, not something the customer has to do.

I a not sure they are reading the bug reports here so you should really email them.

I have emailed them at least four bugs report and only one of these bugs I think they could have detected in testing and they might have done it since if was a pdf document that hanged but since they are actively working on getting the pdf reader better they might just have ignored these problem for the release.

One of the other bugs were that for one book the Cybook hanged when I used the Liberation fonts. Another was that generating a book with a certain image with mobigen cause the Cybook to hang. And another was that for a certaing dictionary and looking up certain word the lookup went wrong.