iRex DR800SG Delayed till end of November

[nanscy]

Originally Posted by PhishStyx

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that Nanscy is someone's sockpuppet. "Her" only two posts are the same, "I emailed iRex and got back this idiotic response" kind of thing.

I'm nobody's sockpuppet , I emailed iRex and got "idiotic responses" what can I say....Sorry it's not what you wanted to hear but hey, I just wanted to share the information that's all !

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Mr. Goodbar

I agree on the looks piece and you are correct in touchscreen capability, however there is currently no advantage to the touchscreen since notations are not available at this point. I will likely get this device since my DX is feeling a little too large for normal reading and I just really like the 8" screen size. I just hope they've finally figured out the battery life and suspend features this time around. These two features have been the achilles heal of the irex products compared to their competition.

I don't make annotations, but I do like to bookmark. And a touchscreen would be required for that as well (at least, if you want to do it quickly...) And it's probably a matter of firmware to activate it. While if you bought a DX there's just no way you'll ever get a touchscreen...

[netseeker]

1. Discuss Things Politely
...
When things get controversial please disagree with the opinion, not the person.
...

-> MR Posting Guidelines

Please refrain from name-calling as well as from making hasty prejudgments. nanscy is welcome here as well as everyone else.

Michael
(moderator)

[martienne]

iRex is not a big business and it would appear that most of the people there are neither native English speakers, nor particularly used to dealing in dollars since they operate from the EU. This is the reason for some of the inconsistences. The project management of the US relased left something to be desired.

However this device is now on sale in the IRex UK shop for £450 (= 738 USD according to Google). Frankly I feel the price is a bit on the high side and I am concerned about the amount of negative feedback I am reading about iRex here.

Their technology is ground-breaking though, and they are solely focussed on eBook readers -- a niche market and a risky one at that, since eBook readers are not yet mainstream. Obviously their prices will be higher than for example Sony's. They cannot do R&D as cheaply and operate out of Europe instead of low cost areas.

I think they deserve the benefit of the doubt unless you have some very good reason for not trusting them. I am on a budget drive this month, so I will not buy it just now, but I probably will soon enough.

I can't see a release date for the Skiff although I agree it sounds like an interesting product.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by martienne

iRex is not a big business and it would appear that most of the people there are neither native English speakers, nor particularly used to dealing in dollars since they operate from the EU. This is the reason for some of the inconsistences. The project management of the US relased left something to be desired.

It's not, their basis was the research branch of Philips and they were at the cradle of e-ink. But I do agree, they could work a bit on PR and project management across the globe...

[stonehat]

Originally Posted by martienne

I think they deserve the benefit of the doubt unless you have some very good reason for not trusting them.

We gave them the benefit of the doubt, we bought Iliads which they promised to update -> They stopped supporting the Iliad before those updates.

What makes anyone think they will be any different with the DR800 and their claims that it will be updated before they move on to the next new model - or go bust ?

[Mr. Goodbar]

Originally Posted by stonehat

We gave them the benefit of the doubt, we bought Iliads which they promised to update -> They stopped supporting the Iliad before those updates.

What makes anyone think they will be any different with the DR800 and their claims that it will be updated before they move on to the next new model - or go bust ?

That's why we can all vote with our wallets. I've been an iLiad owner and have certainly been frustrated with Irex as a company, but I think their issues are just a result of being a small company and trying to over commit to please their customers as opposed to malicious intent.

I will likely give them another shot since I can always take the device back to Best Buy for a refund if it doesn't live up to it's current intent. I will never buy from a company based on promises of future functionality. There are just too many variables, particularly with smaller companies.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by cmdahler

Good God, they must have a child writing these emails. How many different prices are they going to quote? This incredible inability to even respond coherently and consistently to simple questions from customers simply makes me astonished that this company is still even in business.

It's actually consistent with what the price has been all along, other than the 499 being a mistake (I'm assuming somebody at iRex got mixed up with US vs Euros).

The DR800SG MSRP is $399. During the initial launch they plan on having a "special edition" (or whatever they're calling it) version that includes some extra things like a better stylus, etc. That price will be $449, but once the regular version is released it will be $399. That's what it's always been.

The European DR800S is 499 Euros.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by Mr. Goodbar

I just hope they've finally figured out the battery life and suspend features this time around. These two features have been the achilles heal of the irex products compared to their competition.

Yeah, no kidding. At least this time it has a user replaceable battery, which is a lot better. I bet it won't take long before you can find an "extended" battery being offered by somebody that would increase the battery life. Same way you can find them for cell phones, etc.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by nanscy

I'm nobody's sockpuppet , I emailed iRex and got "idiotic responses" what can I say....Sorry it's not what you wanted to hear but hey, I just wanted to share the information that's all !

Thank you for sharing. Their response actually does make sense if we assume that the first number (499) was just a mistake.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by stonehat

We gave them the benefit of the doubt, we bought Iliads which they promised to update -> They stopped supporting the Iliad before those updates.

There were at least two years worth of updates for the iLiad. I believe the only thing they promised which the were never able to deliver was the power management. That's always been a problem with iRex devices.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by Mr. Goodbar

I will never buy from a company based on promises of future functionality. There are just too many variables, particularly with smaller companies.

Absolutely. If you need the annotation support, then don't buy a DR800 until they come out with the update. If the current battery life is a big issue (whatever it turns out to be once people start reviewing it), then wait to see if they can improve it.

It's never a good idea to buy a device which doesn't have features you require, and then hope that the company adds them in the future.

[Mr. Goodbar]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Yeah, no kidding. At least this time it has a user replaceable battery, which is a lot better. I bet it won't take long before you can find an "extended" battery being offered by somebody that would increase the battery life. Same way you can find them for cell phones, etc.

Probably true, but hopefully we won't need a bigger one. I'm cautiously optimistic that they've figured it out this time around. They seem to understand, at least from the demo videos, that they are going after a different market segment with this device, with different needs, different usage patterns and different competitors.

If they get it right they could really capture some market share. Just think about this thing sitting on the shelves next to the Sony devices with a similar price to the Daily Reader, but still a bigger and clearer display. The purchasing decision would be pretty clear to the average consumer and it would be in favor of Irex.

[cmdahler]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Yeah, no kidding. At least this time it has a user replaceable battery, which is a lot better.

Not according to the latest email Nancy received from them, it doesn't. From her post #173 on this thread of yesterday:

"1. Will the battery be user replaceable, meaning can we replace the
battery ourselves ?

The battery must be replaced via our service desk who will be situated
in the States, so this might only take a week. We don't excpect that you
must replace the battery, within the first years, so this is not
something to worry about."

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by cmdahler

Not according to the latest email Nancy received from them, it doesn't. From her post #173 on this thread of yesterday:

There were multiple things in the emails that she got from iRex which seem like the person she was getting this information from was confused, or maybe a new employee, etc. There have been lots of things from iRex up to this point that said the battery WAS replaceable, so I'm assuming that hasn't changed.

The DR1000S and iLiad don't have replaceable batteries, maybe that's what got them mixed up.

We won't know for sure though until people start getting their hands on it and find out.