Bookeen Opus Announced

[Soc-psychologist]

I ordered one as well. But I really do think that Bookeens customer service is a drag. If they keep up with this bad service I will buy my christmas gifts from elsewhere. Imho Cooler seems like a good alternative (mt gf has one -- so far no complaints).

[Mrraow]

I have ordered also. Being able to put it in my pocket when not in use is a big selling point.

[EowynCarter]

Be careful with putting any reader in you pocket. It tends to pressure or bent the screen and beak it.

[Gaurnim]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

Be careful with putting any reader in you pocket. It tends to pressure or bent the screen and beak it.

It depends on the pocket, to be frank.
While I wouldn't put an EInk reader in my trousers' pocket, I think it's pretty harmless to put it in a shirt or jacket pocket.

EDIT :
Well, now taht I'm thinking about it, it can also be dangerous to put it in a shirt pocket in case you bend over ...
So let's stick with the closed jacket pocket

[mjmcleod]

I've ordered one. It'll be my first e-ink reader. The design appeals and it does what I need.

As long as it does what it says on the tin I'll be happy -- not buying it with any expectation of additional functionality later.

[scgf]

I've ordered one too. I wonder when we'll get them?

I was tempted to wait for the rumoured UK launch Amazon Kindle but had mixed feelings about being tied to the Amazon store. I was also not keen on all that gubbins around the screen. I'd hate to read a book with furniture around each page!

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by scgf

II was tempted to wait for the rumoured UK launch Amazon Kindle but had mixed feelings about being tied to the Amazon store. I was also not keen on all that gubbins around the screen. I'd hate to read a book with furniture around each page!

The Kindle "wastes" a large fraction of the screen to get a consistent look and feel. Based on reading area, the 5" Opus may end up with more text per page than the 6" Kindle at the same font size.

[orwell2k]

The device looks nice and sleek, although the white colour is a bummer - I just don't like it but that's personal taste. What disappoints the most is the lack of FB2 support. I know ePub looks to become the dominant format, and perhaps that's a good thing as it is basically a wrappered XML format, but I would like to see legacy support for other equally good or perhaps better open formats such as FB2. Even the somewhat crappy Cool-ER device supports FB2. Perhaps it's possible to install CoolReader or FBReader on this device - I'm not a CyBook user so I'm unsure?

[HarryT]

What bookstores sell FB2 books? Come to that, what book creation tools create FB2 books? It's a format that I've never come across in the "real world", I have to admit.

[Godzil]

FB2 seems to be used a lot in Russia

[EowynCarter]

I've ordered one too. I wonder when we'll get them?

I wonder too. Still o mail to tell the reader is on it's way. They are probably dealing with a lot off order a once.

[HarryT]

Bookeen told me yesterday that they should be shipping either today or tomorrow, so, fingers crossed, those of us in Europe should get them by the weekend.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by HarryT

What bookstores sell FB2 books? Come to that, what book creation tools create FB2 books? It's a format that I've never come across in the "real world", I have to admit.

You obviously do not frequent Russian and Ukrainian e-book sites ;-)
Only bookstores that sell DRM-free books would use fb2 format.
Here is one example of such bookstore: http://bookland.net.ua/
If you want to compare prices just put into Google search engine something like this:
6.75Ukrainian money in GBP

Fbreader was build specifically to read the fb2 files.
fb2 file format tells you abou the structure of the book, it lets you decide how do you want the body text or heading text formatted.

There is program called fbwriter for creating fb2 files.
I think that there is special plugin for OpenOffice.org Writer that lets you create fb2 book.
And, of course, there is Calibre.

You can download an example of fb2 file here:
http://craphound.com/littlebrother/C...le_Brother.fb2

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by kacir

You obviously do not frequent Russian and Ukrainian e-book sites ;-)

Strangely enough, no, I don't .

Thanks for the info, anyway.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by orwell2k

What disappoints the most is the lack of FB2 support.

Calibre (0.6.X) can now convert FB2 to ePub (or MOBI). This is a new capability, so I don't know how well it works. You may need to add some CSS overrides to get the ePub to display the way you like it.

There are two schools of thought about multi-format support, one is to provide "good enough" support for many formats and the other is support one format very well. Actual devices tend to fall short of these goals. There isn't a "very good" Reader on EInk (unless it is Sony LRF, which I have not tried, or perhaps FBReader on the DR1000S targeting the FB2 format). This is because DRMed Readers are provided by the DRM vendors who are not concentrating on EInk devices. Multi-format devices tend to be buggy and sub-par on several "supported" formats. On the other hand, since every device has almost the same DRMed Reader the multi-format support is not reducing the quality of the "primary" format and is extra functionality overall.