DR800SG now listed on Best Buy web site

[jhoff80]

Any chance the added features will be annotation support in initial release? I personally doubt it, but it'd definitely make me more likely to pick it up.

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by Mr. Goodbar

I seem to recall someone who was at the event saying it was fairly deep in the building with marginal coverage. The kindle can take a bit of time as well if the signal is weak, but in general it's probably connected in 30 seconds or so.

Considering that they would have been the ones to choose the location it was fairly idiotic to have chosen the location if signal was that bad or to have not worked with verizon to address the issue prior to the event if the location couldn't be changed.

[alism]

This is the response about the delay on the irex blog

I understand the reactions, and we are just as impatient to put our products in the stores but unfortunately there have been some delays that were out of our control. We hope to resolve these in the coming days and at that point we will be able to provide you with an accurate release date. As it currently stands I would say mid-November, but that is not yet official.

As soon as there is more clarity I will be the first to share it here. Thanks for your patience in the meantime.

[badbob001]

Originally Posted by zacheryjensen

Why are you worried about it in the case of eBook readers whose battery life is like 20 hours? It's Lithium Ion batteries, there is no penalty for you to just plug it in when not in use, so you should really never be very close to running low on batteries unless you're doing some kind of crazy long-form reading for a week straight without power... or sleeping...

IREX has a history of making products with poor battery life, even when just sitting around. And with no wifi and no externally accessible storage slot, that usb port will be used quite often for transferring personal and print-to-pdf files.

[badbob001]

Originally Posted by alism

This is the response about the delay on the irex blog

This would be the perfect time for IREX to show off their kickass new web site showing off the DR800 in all it's glory and ramping up the excitement and expectation to levels that can sustain it from now until release day. Oh wait, that's the nook. Even Plastic Logic's QUE, with nothing but a profile shot of a glossy piece of non-descript plastic and an announcement about an announcement, can generate more buzz than the dr800.

It's obvious to me that if they did originally plan to update their website to coincide with the original 'end-of-october' release, that work would have been done in parallel, be finished now, and be ready to be shown. But it looks like that dr800 rendering, leaked back in August, has blown their marketing department's financial and creative resources.

The hardware for the dr800 is pretty basic and can easily be matched by any one of the many upcoming competitors. So far, only IREX uses the 8" display (as far as I know), but it's not as if they have exclusive rights to that. IREX is not competing on price or marketing. The only thing left is software and they really really need to get that piece honed and perfected. None of this we'll add that / fix that later attitude. I would expect them to be using this extra time to fix any existing issues (perhaps compatibility issues with BN's not-quite-standard-yet DRM or really really fix the power management) and not rushing to add half-baked features.

They also mention that they have an open platform and I think they really need the support of the community to back those words. I'm talking about user-created applications here, something most other readers don't really have outside of hacks. IREX already has an SDK but didn't really have the install base to get much support, but this may change with the dr800. The android-based nook already has its toes in these same waters, so this is not the time to let things coast. C'mon IREX, talk to us. We're your real customers, not bestbuy.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by badbob001

So far, only IREX uses the 8" display (as far as I know), but it's not as if they have exclusive rights to that.

They basically do. In order to have a specific sized display, you need a display controller that supports that size. As far as I know, iRex are the only ones that have an 8" display controller (they make their own, unlike the other manufacturers).

Not exclusive rights, per say, but it's effectively the same thing if they own the only 8" controller. There's nothing that would legally stop Epson from coming out with an 8" controller in the future, but as far as I know they don't have one right now.

[nikkie]

Originally Posted by jhoff80

Any chance the added features will be annotation support in initial release? I personally doubt it, but it'd definitely make me more likely to pick it up.

No, my hopes on this matter are dashed. Received a response on this question a few hours ago.

Nope, the annotations feature wont be available on release.

I hope this information is sufficient, if there are any questions don’t hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards,
iRex Technologies

[kissyfish]

I bought a 2nd gen Iliad, mainly on the strength of it being able to get newspapers delievred over wifi (as advertised) never materialized, stuck with it after they opened it up for developmenmt (BEST MOVE EVER!) There were some good ported linux apps, but the community never got big enough to get momentum.

Their best bet would be to leverage the openness aspect and go for the android OS, as that market which will soon be flooded with expertise.

[fghxu]

Just ordered the Kindle DX cuz they have refurbished model online again. for $399.

I am glad no need to wait for this thing now. delayed available dates and the greedy Bestbuy $50 mark up price.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by fghxu

Just ordered the Kindle DX cuz they have refurbished model online again. for $399.

I am glad no need to wait for this thing now. delayed available dates and the greedy Bestbuy $50 mark up price.

Not sure if you saw the posts, but the "$50 mark up price" has been explained. Initially there will be a "limited edition" version of the DR800 sold (better stylus, etc). That one is $449. There will also be a regular version sold that is the originally stated $399.

[etienne66]

I found this on the Irex boards today.

Allegedly doesn't have wifi! BTW, I just got confirmation from IREX that the DR800 will be available at Best Buy by the middle of December.
_________________
James E. Boardman

Somehow I don't find this all that comforting. I wish they would give more detail as to why it was delayed.

If it didn't have all of the features I'm looking for in a reader, I might have given up by now.

Good thing I'm a patient man.

Etienne66