Dual firmware announcement

[Idoine]

Originally Posted by CyGuy

It is all fine and dandy if you have 4 or 5 books. But as soon as you attempt to put 50 books or more, it becomes unmanageable. They definitely discourage putting more than a few books on the device. Now if it had folder view it would be a whole different story. Is it defective? Perhaps. It is at least very poorly designed software/firmware, which should have been rectified many months ago. I am through with Bookeen products for sure. If this firmware ever does come out I will upgrade, but I will never purchase another product from them.

I can't agree with you. I have about 450 ebooks on my Cybook, and it goes pretty well.
I would do with folders management, though (it's a little tiring for my thumb to go from the first page of 20 books to the last ! )

[Snuffi]

Originally Posted by tompe

All Cybooks are defect. For example PDF-files crash all the times. And if you bought it in the first batch you got a Cybook with some serious bugs concerning dictionaries and books failing to open. These bugs were fixed in a firmware release but they reduced the battery time with 3-4 days in this update. So you could choose which defect to have.

Hate to say this but from what we know will be in the update it will most probably change little to nothing to the problems with PDFs. There might be better PDF support in the ePub version because they used the Adobe SDK there. But for the mobi version they cannot use the Adobe SDK so there will be little difference in PDF behaviour I would think...

I wouldn't wait too hard for the FW if PDF is what you're interested in...

[Snuffi]

Originally Posted by Idoine

I can't agree with you. I have about 450 ebooks on my Cybook, and it goes pretty well.
I would do with folders management, though (it's a little tiring for my thumb to go from the first page of 20 books to the last ! )

450 books? And how long does the Cybook take to boot? That was the main problem for me, it's quite possible to organise the various books in appropriately named directories and use directory so I more or less find what I'm looking for. But the boot time was way too long when I had several hundred books on my device...

[Idoine]

Originally Posted by Snuffi

450 books? And how long does the Cybook take to boot? That was the main problem for me, it's quite possible to organise the various books in appropriately named directories and use directory so I more or less find what I'm looking for. But the boot time was way too long when I had several hundred books on my device...

About 25 seconds... I turn it on first time in the morning on my way to public transports, and turn it off when I go to sleep.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Idoine

About 25 seconds... I turn it on first time in the morning on my way to public transports, and turn it off when I go to sleep.

Have you timed it? If you have all the books in the top directory it should be longer. If you have them in a sub directory then 25 seconds sound correct.

[Idoine]

Originally Posted by tompe

Have you timed it? If you have all the books in the top directory it should be longer. If you have them in a sub directory then 25 seconds sound correct.

All but the dictionaries are in subfolders (by genre, then by author).

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Idoine

All but the dictionaries are in subfolders (by genre, then by author).

Then it will boot as fast as possible. It is probably the search for dictionaries in the top directory that increases the boot time when you have a lot of books in the top directory.

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

For Mobi? There are GUI versions floating around.

are there ?

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

are there ?

At least two that I can think of.

[Hobohodou]

Originally Posted by tompe

All Cybooks are defect. For example PDF-files crash all the times. And if you bought it in the first batch you got a Cybook with some serious bugs concerning dictionaries and books failing to open. These bugs were fixed in a firmware release but they reduced the battery time with 3-4 days in this update. So you could choose which defect to have.

Okay, regarding this

The Cybook i bought came with an early firmware, updated it, PDF worked like a charm...

Regarding battery life/PDF Support, all i have to say is, what the hell !?

FOR THOSE WHO AREN'T INTERESTED IN WHAT I READ AND HOW IT'S CONVERTED, well, who cares what you think...you get the option to read below

Okay, so i read a lot of manga, not actual books...i used to scantlate a little, so...when reading through JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (97 volumes), I decided an e-reader would be perfect, i'd heard good things about them.
Oh~ the cybook, your JPG/Folder support sucked... Previously i had always used cdisplay to read, so i was used to when closing it...hitting R to resume reading...or my bookmarks...wait, i can't have this on the cybook? darn...
Okay, maybe i'll try a zip file....no luck....
hmmm...Looked around on here, tried to convert it to the cybooks default format (no idea what it was, conversion failed, i moved on)

And then i came across this site ! I read the topics about conversion to cybook formats...Came across two programs...Mangle and probably manga2ebook...Both worked kinda well, but at the same point didn't impress me...Mangle is VERY good for renaming images, manga2ebook is okay for splitting images (for bad scans).
However before these programs are used, i use my own photoshop scripts to convert the images in a batch, and after that, create a PDF presentation...
An average volume for me is 32MB, I don't reduce any colors..leave them as they are, However, they're all in PDF and renamed...
BUT WAIT, SURELY THAT MEANS YOUR PDF'S ARE KIND OF OPTIMIZED FOR THE CYBOOK !?
Well...yeah, i mean, it has to be, it's a low powered reading device, it can't resize images perfectly...especially when text is there...and especially not on files with indexed colour =O !!!

So, on my device, i carry about 25 Volumes around, Boot time is absolutely fine, Turn on my device in my bag, get my bus pass from my pocket, change song on my zune HD, look up to see if the bus is arriving, take out cybook...wow, it's booted...No long boot times =D

NOW IT'S REALLY NOT A BATTERY ISSUE

I love music me, so i owned a first gen zune (zune30) which had the manliest (read : Laziest) battery ever, it lasted about 6 hours...HELL YEAH !!!!
Zune80 - Battery lasted longer...12 hours if you're lucky...WOOO !
Zune HD - Player is used everyday at work, is charged twice a week, charges in two hours...but wait....wait...the ZuneHD has a long battery life !? an impressive battery life for a media player, well, what does that have to do with the cybook?

I don't always read, but i'll always listen to music =O!
However i do read about 2.5 hours per day minimum on my bus journey, I read PDF's at 32MB each that put quite a strain on a small device, i have optimal refreshing on...and i leave my device to switch off after an hour...even so...

I ONLY HAVE TO CHARGE MY DEVICE EVERY 2-3 WEEKS !

End of my post, it's not a problem, if you have a battery problem, buy an extended battery, or even better, just stop doing it wrong....

Post may be recieved as harsh or stupid or silly, or make me seem like a fool, but oh well...Reason i'm hoping for folder support is for better navigation, then i could start taking over 100 volumes with me =O !!!

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Hobohodou

End of my post, it's not a problem, if you have a battery problem, buy an extended battery, or even better, just stop doing it wrong....

Doing it wrong? Why do you think that people preferences about how to use a device can be wrong or right? For people that read a couple of minutes waiting in queues or for a bus a long boot time like 30 seconds is not acceptable so you have to have the device on all the time.

[Hobohodou]

Originally Posted by tompe

Doing it wrong? Why do you think that people preferences about how to use a device can be wrong or right? For people that read a couple of minutes waiting in queues or for a bus a long boot time like 30 seconds is not acceptable so you have to have the device on all the time.

Rarely do I reply to a post, I usually lurk, but I feel just this once...I can make a change and step out of my cave...

Firstly, I have no problems with the boot times, and other people shouldn't either, If you have a cell phone, i have a challenge for you, turn it off...now, turn it back on and time how long it takes to start up..now as soon as you get the chance, go into messages, scroll down and select the third message...now, how long did that take?
Nokia 5310 : 29 seconds
HTC S620 : 56 seconds
ZuneHD : 27 seconds (tested using 3rd album)

Feel free to post your own results...
Now, what does this tell me? Time to test the cybook?
cybook : 29 seconds.....
I'll edit in the space filled onmy cybook and the number of items on it afterwords !
Cybook itself, 24.8MB used - 79 files 7 folders
SD Card, 911MB - 142 files 8 folders

Now i know what people may be thinking, "but, those are devices intended to be left switched on, a cybook isn't" well, yes, that could be said, but my cybook also outlasts all of them when left on, with a full charge cycle...wether you choose to turn it off, well, that's up to you, but if you also choose to turn of every one of your other devices, then you will encounter the same problems (and i'm not talking about crappy standby! I mean proper Cold booting all of your devices...)

Anyway, I'm leaving this up to everyone, the devices aren't defective ( a small number may be, but that's the same for every device, RROD anyone?)

and about queues, well, personally, I know how much of a pain in the ass it is when there I am just walking along and BAM! there's a Queue, they just jump out at me~ Does anyone else have this problem? well, I don't have ADHD, so I don't need to read, and to be honest In my opinion unless it's a disneyland/comicon/TGS queue...I don't see how you have the time to read in them...

FOR THE VERY BOTTOM OF MY POST
people have said i've been a bit harsh with you, but hell, you were MORE than extremely harsh with bookeen, stating that their devices are defect/defective, you know, that's the kind of bad publicity people don't need to give for a small issue, i work in an electronics or phone store, praise the positives, everything will have a negative, if you keep showing people the negatives, well, they'll never buy it for example:
When selling a blackberry, you do not say to the customer - oh but it takes FOREVER to start up, it's SO~~ inconvenient, Man, if only you had a nokia 5310 ! that thing'd start up in under 30 seconds man !!!

In fact, if anyone uses that technique to sell it or a nokia 5310 in store, i'll reccomend to my manager that they need to be promoted...On the other hand, as much as i may personally dislike blackberries, hell, they take a while to start up but the battery life is awesome !

And apologies for being harsh I guess, cause i'm not a total B*******

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Hobohodou

Rarely do I reply to a post, I usually lurk, but I feel just this once...I can make a change and step out of my cave...

Firstly, I have no problems with the boot times, and other people shouldn't either, If you have a cell phone, i have a challenge for you, turn it off...now, turn it back on and time how long it takes to start up..now as soon as you get the chance, go into messages, scroll down and select the third message...now, how long did that take?

Nobody turns off their cell phones so I do not get the example.

Instead a cell phone is intended to be used with the same access time as a paper book (nearly instantaneous).

[kacir]

Originally Posted by Hobohodou

Feel free to post your own results...

OK.
Let me grab my Sony Reader PRS-500
Ready ... Steady ... Finger on the On button ... GO!
One, two, three, fou... It's ON!
Three and a half seconds.
Oh, and it took me directly to the book I was reading when I switched it off ...
And look! It even displays an exact page number. Incredible.
And I only needed to reset it two or three times in the last 27 months, and that was when I went looking for trouble.

[Hobohodou]

Originally Posted by kacir

OK.
Let me grab my Sony Reader PRS-500
Ready ... Steady ... Finger on the On button ... GO!
One, two, three, fou... It's ON!
Three and a half seconds.
Oh, and it took me directly to the book I was reading when I switched it off ...
And look! It even displays an exact page number. Incredible.
And I only needed to reset it two or three times in the last 27 months, and that was when I went looking for trouble.

HELL YEAH ! points for sarcasm or points for being accurate..
Did you coldboot the device, if not, please remove your battery and repost your results ! Maybe post the results for your cell/MP3 player too!

Damn, you know, i just realised...3-4 seconds...well, my PC hasn't even decided if it's got a disc in the tray yet on booting credit to sony (!) If only the PSP and their PS3 had the same efficiency
*coughs*
and the k800,k850, c902,c905 w810, w995, xperia (wimobileslownesshellyeah!!!!) and just about any of their other phones,
Damn, even their Media players and crappy sonic stage are slow =/

Maybe someone from one department should talk to the other...right?

Originally Posted by tompe

Nobody turns off their cell phones so I do not get the example.

Instead a cell phone is intended to be used with the same access time as a paper book (nearly instantaneous).

EDIT : Guess i'm lucky i'm an ugly son of a...If i was raped, or attacked, I'd not be able to call anyone, only my little girly lungs would save me...
Wouldn't get raped, but have you ever seen a face you just want to slap...?


I turn off my cell phone, and I work in a store that sells phones, damn, I only need to switch on my cell phone to notify my work i'll be late, and a few times a day to check if I got any messages...

A cell phone is supposed to be used with the same access time as a paper book, well..Turn it off, take out the battery...ready...set....GO ! oh wait, darn, well that sure failed the test...right *rummages in pocket for book*

PAPER WINS !

Well, gotta say, using that test...Most devices and I say devices fail, since they all need to at least load an OS and drivers...


SUPER EDIT TIME GO !!!!!


Yeah, power rangers theme aside and back on topic !!!
Does anyone have any pictures or screenshots of the new firmware? i'd really love to see if the navigation is any smoother/the layout has changed at all ! thanks !!!

Originally Posted by kacir

I switched it off the only way it can be switched off. It can last for more than 3 weeks in this state.
The only ways to cold boot the device are:
- removing the battery (which I am not going to do ;-) )
- resetting it by pressing the reset button at the back with a sharp object
- letting the battery drain completely (and even then it usually just displays the "low battery" icon and refuses to react to button presses until you connect the charger. After connecting the charger the icon disappears and you carry on reading while reader is being charged.)

Next time I see my PRS-500 booting I try to time the boot and post the results. But do not hold your breath, it might take quite a few months (of daily use) until I experience another cold boot.

This is no fun D: And technically then, that's not a cold boot =/ that's just standby, but if you can post results in the future ;_; i'll send you something nice in the mail !!! (I promise it won't be a bomb ! just covering my back...)