cybook problem

[rockman]

I had the misfortune to purchase a Bookeen Cybook recently. Before I could download any e-books the screen froze. I contacted Cybook support which requested a photograph of the cybook. They subsequently advised me that the backplate was broken and I must have dropped it etc

There is no break or crack on the screen and I did not drop it nor did any item fall onto it. I was offered a repair for 120 euro plus courier costs. Having paid 450 euro for the de luxe package I declined this shoddy offer.The customer support is a joke and the product I was sold is faulty merchandise . Am I unique or is this standard for this so called e-book ?.

I now have an Irex Iliad which is light years ahead of the cybook



Rockman

[HarryT]

The crack is in the screen substrate - a very thin layer of glass that's behind the outer plastic screen. You can't see a substrate break visually, but the visual effect of it on the image is entirely distinctive.

Having owned both an iLiad and a CyBook, I must, with all due respect, disagree with your assessment of the iLiad as being "light years ahead" - at least as a fiction book reader. The implementation of the MobiPocket Reader on the iLiad is rather primitive.

[Over]

So, what did you do with the Cybook?

120€? Plus S&H? I can understand their position: how can they know that it wasn't you who "broke" the Cybook? How can they know if it's a faulty product or a victim of an accident?

On the other side, what's if it's really a Cybook problem? What if it was damaged when shipped to you? Should you have to pay 120€ for it?

(BTW, I wonder if the 120€ is the real Cybook production cost, being the other 230€ profit . I say this, because I think that people who had to return the Cybook and pay the 120€, reeived a new one. I might be wrong, though.)

[HarryT]

Clearly a Gen3 which arrived with a broken substrate almost certainly got damaged in transit. However, one which was intially working and THEN develops a broken substrate is a different matter - they don't just spontaneously break; it's a mechanical breakage, not an electronic issue.

At least Bookeen do offer a repair service unlike, say, Amazon, who don't. Break a Kindle and it's garbage!

Be careful with the iLiad, by the way. iRex will charge €270, I believe, to replace the screen!

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Over

On the other side, what's if it's really a Cybook problem? What if it was damaged when shipped to you? Should you have to pay 120€ for it?

Exactly. They can never know what happens so I assume they have to trust that it arrived broken. How would it otherwise work? Should you need to have a witness when opening all packages with things you buy?

Once I got a strange screen effect on my Cybook but that must have been the controller or the software. I wonder how they can know that the screen is broken.

[HarryT]

There are lots of pictures here (although I can't find any off-hand) which show what broken substrates look like - basically curves and distorted areas on the screen. That's presumably why Bookeen asked the OP to send a photograph of the screen. It's a very distinctive problem, entirely different to screen controller problems, which generally result in things like vertical or horizontal lines, or a band of screen being entirely blank.

The OP has said that it didn't arrive broken, which is presumably why Bookeen have quoted the standard €120 for a replacement screen.

[HarryT]

Found one: if your screen looks anything at all like this then it's the substrate for sure.

If you upload the picture that you took, we'll be better able to advise you on what the problem might be - there's all the difference in the world between screen controller faults (which are repairable under warranty) and "mechanical" screen substrate faults (which aren't).

[JSWolf]

But now we have another thread (cannot be bothered to go find it) that makes us think there is some sort of manufacturing defect in the gen3 given how many screens are breaking without any known undo stress or damage to them. The screens just seem to break without any indication.

[HarryT]

I think we have to be careful in jumping to conclusions, Jon. We don't have a statistically significant sample size, and for every screen that breaks, there are (probably) thousands that don't. It's worth remembering too that the screen of the Gen3 is identical to that of the Kindle and Sony, so any "manufacturing defect" that affects Gen3 screens should, logically speaking, affect those too. Have you noticed any significant increase in the number of reports of broken Sony screens lately?

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

so any "manufacturing defect" that affects Gen3 screens should, logically speaking, affect those too. Have you noticed any significant increase in the number of reports of broken Sony screens lately?

That is not true logically speaking. The other machines are not identical with respect how the glass is mounted and the how much torque is reaching the glass.

[JSWolf]

The cases are different and that could be what's causing these issues if they are not user breaks.

[tribble]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The cases are different and that could be what's causing these issues if they are not user breaks.

I would assume this is correct. Since the Sony has a metal casing, you cannot easily apply torsion on the screen, which is probably the biggest danger next to direct pressure to the screen. The Bookeen device has a plastic casing, which makes it alot lighter, but also more vulnerable. So i guess the possibility to cause damage to the screen by twisting the casing is alot higher with the Bookeen device. The main problem i see there, is that most users are not aware, that torsion is as dangerous to the screen as direct pressure, since most people protect the screen quite well.