Any new info about the ASUS DR-900/DR-950?

[snipenekkid]

Originally Posted by Marcor

Seen the many things that should be improved, I am afraid that we were targeted as "beta testers", on the other I was rather tired of waiting for a 9 inches at an abborable price.

muuuuust, fight the urge to make an Enzyte crack...or worse that to get the best ya gotta pay by the inch....d'oh, this is so hard. must not get a "vacation" from MR.

[BoldlyDubious]

I have bought an Asus DR-900 a couple of weeks ago. It's my first ebook reader. I would like to offer my own thoughts about it, in return for all the useful information that I got from MobileRead users in the past months (when I was lurking around). In particular, many thanks to Marcor, who posted a thoughtful and balanced review of the device.
Now, to my own review.

First: the Sipix screen. Yes, its background is decidedly grey. It's noticeably greyer than Vizplex E-Ink screens (which are greyer than Pearl ones). I was worried about this, actually. However, I have used the DR-900 in a wide set of lighting conditions, mostly to read pdf files with small print (arguably the worst case), and I don't think this is really an issue. Reading is pleasant, and characters are crisp in their strange dark-gray-over-light-gray appearance. I'm starting to convince myself that the "need" for a white, or whitish, background is mostly conditioning from the long use of white paper...
Screen refresh is slow; slower than E-Ink, I think. In addition to that, the processor seems to have been optimized for minimum power usage, i.e., to be barely sufficient. So, it's true that if you are impatient (e.g., if you press many times a "turn page" button) you can easily choke the CPU: it seems that queued commands are not forgotten, but they take a few seconds to be executed.
This makes the experience of reading on this device all the more similar to reading paper books. In comparison to using a PC, everything is slower, less interactive... and ultimately more relaxing. This is not bad, after all :-)

That said, you can forget being able to jump quickly from point to point of a text. (So: no easy reading of scientific papers, for instance, unless you never feel the need to check a formula, definition or reference). This is a device sharply focused on one task: sequential reading. Annotation functions, while existing, are -in my view- too slow to be really useful. More generally, the on-screen keyboard is usable but not really practical for frequent use. On the other hand, the dictionary works well (I use it only occasionally, so slowness is not an issue here) and the text-to-speech functionality seems to work pretty well.
The capacitive touch screen is very good. Its presence means that the device is not much bigger than the screen itself, which is a big bonus (the Kindle DX is really too large, for instance). The main operations (e.g. page turning) can also be performed using the physical keys, so the choice is up to you. By the way: in the box you find a very good cover for the DR-900, sturdy and reasonably good-looking. Downside: it's very heavy, almost 200g (which means that you are have to lug something like 650g... not yet netbook territory, but pretty heavy nonetheless).

For the time being I have only really used the device to read pdf files. I also tried epub, html, and txt files: they all seem to be reasonably well supported, although the device gave an error while reading the very large html file of a novel. The pdf reader has the bare minimum of functions. In particular, the zoom has (few) fixed levels, does not go over 200%, and you cannot crop the margins. You can pan around with your fingers (good), but you will have to wait the usual second or so for the screen image to be redrawn. For most A4-formatted documents you can find a reasonably comfortable setting, but I have not been able to read a newspaper on it (print is too small at 200%). If you are looking at the first part of a page, "page down" takes you to the first part of the next page, NOT to the second part of the current one. Sigh. On the other side, the device remembers zoom setting and pan while changing page.
I now use pdfcrop for Linux to remove margins from pdfs before transferring them to the DR-900, then visualize the pages at 100% zoom: in this way I usually do not have to bother with panning.

Wireless connectivity is limited to networks which broadcast their SSID. Web browsing is nothing more than rudimentary. Barely usable, actually: extremely slow, bordering on the "is this thing still working?". Rendering of simple HTML pages seems good. With the last version of the firmware (394) the browser inexplicably works with the screen in portrait position, which of course is not the right form factor for the web. To sum up: you *can* browse the web if you are desperate and there is not a PC within 10 minutes of walk, but only in that case. And you will swear not to do it again.
The RSS reader is a very good idea; unfortunately, it seems to be at the same development stage of the browser (which I would define as "early beta").

You can download files from the internet (I tried this with my Dropbox repository). They are put in the device's own flash memory, but you cannot choose where. Actually, there's no way to organize the contents of the internal flash memory, or even to delete files, without using an external PC. The same is true for the contents of the microSD card. In theory, you can use very large SD cards (up to 32GB, I think). In practice, the device consistently hungs (System Error 11) while trying to index large libraries, which is absurd. The best I managed to do is putting 700 files (organized into directories) on the microSD. So, good-bye to my idea of keeping my whole library on the DR-900 :-(
The device allows navigation among directories, although you have to put all of your ebook files in a top-level directory called "book".

I tried the other functions (music player, ...) only briefly; they seem to be rather primitive as well. For example: you can draw (with your finger) and save sketches: but you cannot erase wrong lines, and there is only one line thickness available. Very very basic indeed.

Let's conclude. Notwithstanding the many defects that I described above, I quite like using my DR-900 for reading. Reading is easy and pleasurable, at least when the available view options are suitable for your particular file: nearly at the same level of a physical book (high praise indeed).
Most of the issues I pointed out seem to depend on the firmware alone: I warmly hope (for me and for Asus) that they will be fixed soon. If they will be, the DR-900 will easily become the best general-purpose e-reader on the market.
With the current firmware, the DR-900 is a very good reader for books (with the key feature of a large screen) but nothing more. Every other function seems to be in beta version or worse. The firmware is ridiculous in comparison to more developed products like Sony's PRS series; in particular for what concerns handling of pdf files. Which is a shame, because easy reading of pdf files is the main reason for buying a large-screen ebook reader such as the DR-900.

By the way, I tried to download the GPL-licensed code from Asus Support to take a look at it, but "strangely" the download links doesn't seem to work. Is Asus trying to prevent us from seeing how many TODOs are scattered through the code?

[rhari79]

Originally Posted by BoldlyDubious

I have bought an Asus DR-900 a couple of weeks ago.

Hi, Where did you get the DR900 and whats the price??

[rhari79]

Originally Posted by BoldlyDubious

I have bought an Asus DR-900 a couple of weeks ago.

I have now read yoru review post. Thanks for a nice review!!!

[BoldlyDubious]

Hi Rhari79;

I'm glad you liked the review.
I bought the DR-900 in Italy, where it's sold in large consumer electronics stores (it seems that they completely ignored, at least initially, Asus' usual retail channel of PC hardware stores). I suppose Asus was trying to get the very last part of Christmas sales.
I paid 300 euros for my DR-900 (well, 299).
By the way, the last version of the firmware on the Asus Support website is still the 394, but at least now they added a changelog... the content of which confirms that the code is still at an early stage (most of the corrected bugs were of type "this didn't work at all"). And the link to download the GPL-licensed source code is still not working.

[grega_g]

Thank you for your review.

Can you please explain how dictionary works in epub and pdf? Double tap the word, maybe?

grega_g

[Marcor]

You can select the dictionary you want in the basic menu, say english or the english/italian transaltor (in my case). Then you have to activate it during the reading. To lookup a word you have to highlight the word (not just click on it) It really seems to me working very well, although not that fast. I personally am using a stylus for capacitative screens (I tried several and many do not work properly) mostly to avoid finger prints. I never mis-selected a word. What they really have to work on - aside of other things - are the notetaking and highlighting which are not usable.
As BD mentioned above after now barely two months I am very happy about this purchase. I read mostly e-pub and comics (pdf, or comic formats). Not all sort of comics do the same but I use it mostly for Bonelli comics (Nathan Never, Dylan Dog, Tex Willer,...etc) and they are black and white and the original size is just a little bit bigger than the 9" screen so it reads very well.
Again on the grey screen issue: contrast is not fantastic and in certain light conditions you might need a ebook light, I mostly read before sleeping so I was already using this.
Probably the PB903 does a lot better but it costs also 170 euros more (ca. 230 USD more than the DR900)

[BoldlyDubious]

I fully agree with Marcor's reply. Actually, if the print is small and you use your finger to highlight a word, occasionally the selection doesn't work. Moreover, it seems that when the word is not in the dictionary no message is displayed: so if you don't get anything you always have to try again, to be sure that the cause for the missing definition wasn't your big and clumsy finger (well helped by the underground train's vibrations).
I'm thinking of getting a stylus for capacitive screens as Marcor did. This reduces screen smearing (actually this is an issue only if you have a dark background, which is not the standard setting, but...). Marcor, can you recommend a (not costly, please!) type? Thanks!

[simple79]

Hi Guys
Thanks BoldlyDubious and Marcor for your reviews.

I was thinking to order one of the dr900 from that Italian site somebody posted in this thread, as I've just asked Asus pre-sales department and they say they will launch the dr900 on QT2 in UK under £279..

I suppose they might be expecting for a better firmware..

Two problems I am seeing after reading your reviews:

1-Speed: I am going to read computing books, and after watching videos of its page flip, I am really worried. It is really slow and it could be irritating..
How about the scrolling? can you scroll down a page quickly?
2- Waiting for an improvement on its firmware: As an terrible dissapointed owner of an Asus P320 phone, I waited for an update of its firmware that never comes (spanish version). I reckon as the phone never had success they simply forgot it and look towards another gadgets. The phone is rubbish due to its slow processor... are we facing a similar case with this dr900?

Honestly, after releasing this product and reading many reviews, I think Amazon Kindle DX is much better.. but its price is too high.

Maybe it's time to wait for its release in UK and/or an update of its firmware.

By the way, can you set the default language as English on the Italian version?

Thanks

[BoldlyDubious]

Originally Posted by simple79

1-Speed: I am going to read computing books, and after watching videos of its page flip, I am really worried. It is really slow and it could be irritating..
How about the scrolling? can you scroll down a page quickly?

I don't think that the refresh of a single page is significantly slower on the DR-900 than it is on E-Ink devices like the Kindle. It's a bit worse, but the difference is not relevant on a single page change.
You can scroll a page by using your finger to drag it. Then you have to wait for the usual refresh, say a second or so. Of course if you want to do precise scrolling or have to scroll repeatedly you can become tired of this delay. And if you try to click several times the page change keys, you don't get a large jump in a single operation; you will have to wait more or less for the sum of the durations of the single jumps.
So: if you only want to see the second half of a page that you are reading (e.g. because you're using the device in landscape mode), that's not a problem. You drag your finger on the screen and move to the second half. If, on the other hand, you have to scroll up and down (e.g., to check something) repeatedly or you have to quickly jump from one page to another, the DR-900 (and, I would add, any device with an electrophoretic screen) is not the right tool.
You could consider another forthcoming Asus product, the EA800, which has a (non-backlit) LCD screen and a faster processor. I've not tried it, but from videos it seems way more responsive. Actually I was about to buy that instead of the DR-900, but I sacrificed performance in exchange for a 2-week battery duration (instead of a 10-hour one) :-)
Finally: yes, you can switch to English the language of the DR-900 (I did it). Maybe you have to repeat the operation after every firmware upgrade, but I'm not sure of that.

[grega_g]

And when you select a word dictionary opens, or you have to select it from bottom menu?

[AdamV]

@grega_g
using a dictionary is a two step procedure: first you need to activate the dictionary from the bottom menu (after that the menu can be closed while dictionary will still be active) then you have to select a word to activate translation... I'd personally prefer double tapping on the word, but selecting works pretty good too to me

the dictionary stays active until deactivated from the bottom menu or by turning off the device - as far as I noticed it is active after waking up from a sleep mode

[BoldlyDubious]

Originally Posted by grega_g

And when you select a word dictionary opens, or you have to select it from bottom menu?

First of all, you have to activate the dictionary. From that moment, every time you highlight a word the relevant dictionary entry opens automatically.

[Marcor]

No, you activate the dictionary from the bottom menu. While reading you then simply select a word an it will open directly. Of course if you want to highlight or take notes (which they really have to work on) than you need to deactivate the dictionairy and activate those functions at the bottom.

Yes you can set english or other languages (included chinese) as a default. The difference is that you will have the longman dictionairy on all devices and a translator (i.e italina/english ) depending on the country where you bought the device.

Adam: you should get something by post.

[AdamV]

Originally Posted by Marcor

Adam: you should get something by post.

YES!!! Thank you! I was going to write you an email but since my PC just got back from service I am still installing and configuring it...

I owe you a beer or two Marco