Unboxing iRex 800 and first impressions

[Dulin's Books]

I read more and more on the web now with the Boox. I check my mail, read my rx8club.com site this sitte and google news etc. I've been using it to download raygun revival straight to the device as well. its great to have on the ereader.

[zinj]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

I read more and more on the web now with the Boox. I check my mail, read my rx8club.com site this sitte and google news etc. I've been using it to download raygun revival straight to the device as well. its great to have on the ereader.

I'm sold, but I see your store is currently out of stock. Do you plan on extending the MR forum discount so that people can purchase one when you get them back in?

[astra]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Your tone seems a bit harsh and aggressive. You don't even name any iRex unit in your possessions. So, what's your personal experience? When and how did iRex make you a "guinea pig"?
I still, after 13 units, can say: iRex iLiad's OS was and is benchmark. I've mentioned some of the features often enough.

And concerning "guinea pigs": Every single one of my units does have frequent firmware updates.

I don't have iRex.

I was considering buying iLiad v2 in Nov-Dec 2008. As always, before spending money I have done a very extensive research. Visit forums including iRex. I was flabbergasted when I realised that the only good and used by most of the users s/w was s/w created by the community. Upgrades were not always a straight forward process especially when it was for s/w coming from the community. If you were not into computer, buying iRex would be a waste of money and lots of frustration. The number of bugs found and constant f/w updates was astonishing.
I am sorry if I come across aggressively but I just could not believe that a company can sell something like iRex iLiad v1 and stay in business. Thanks to enthusiasts probably. Fine by me, to each its own. That's how I came by this attitude of mine towards iRex. In my opinion when I pay half of my monthly salary(if I don't eat ,sleep, only exist in vacuum that is) I expect the device to work almost perfectly straight from the box, maybe a few minor glitches. However, no spending hours on the forums trying to figure out how make this or that to work.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by astra

I was considering buying iLiad v2 in Nov-Dec 2008. ... I was flabbergasted when I realised that the only good and used by most of the users s/w was s/w created by the community.

I've had mine since early 2007, and I have no idea what you're talking about. There have been some additional applications for it written by the user community, but not an entire replacement. Everyone with an iLiad is using it with iRex s/w.

[astra]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

I've had mine since early 2007, and I have no idea what you're talking about. There have been some additional applications for it written by the user community, but not an entire replacement. Everyone with an iLiad is using it with iRex s/w.

PDF reading s/w from iRex?

Even if yes, was it working from the very beginning?

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by astra

I don't have iRex.

I was considering buying iLiad v2 in Nov-Dec 2008. As always, before spending money I have done a very extensive research. Visit forums including iRex. I was flabbergasted when I realised that the only good and used by most of the users s/w was s/w created by the community. Upgrades were not always a straight forward process especially when it was for s/w coming from the community. If you were not into computer, buying iRex would be a waste of money and lots of frustration. The number of bugs found and constant f/w updates was astonishing.
I am sorry if I come across aggressively but I just could not believe that a company can sell something like iRex iLiad v1 and stay in business. Thanks to enthusiasts probably. Fine by me, to each its own. That's how I came by this attitude of mine towards iRex. In my opinion when I pay half of my monthly salary(if I don't eat ,sleep, only exist in vacuum that is) I expect the device to work almost perfectly straight from the box, maybe a few minor glitches. However, no spending hours on the forums trying to figure out how make this or that to work.

Hmmmmmm...
I guess you've been to the wrong forums and have been misinformed.
I've bought my first iLad V2 (had been stolen after about 3 months and I had to buy another one) around October 2007. I'd have to check. But I estimate 2 maybe 3 firmware updates within one year. I wouldn't call that "constant firmware updates". And btw: There was no need for updates. I've been fine from the very beginning and have been able to compare to Sony 505 for example.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by astra

PDF reading s/w from iRex?

Even if yes, was it working from the very beginning?

Not just reading, but benchmark experience.
Just some highlights:
- Perfect "intelligent" zoom from the very beginning. Fast and efficient.
- Extracting metadata for book title and author's name from file header, but being able to change both on the fly, directly on the reader via onscreen keyboard. One of my alltime favorite features. Very often, even legally purchased books don't stick to the naming convention (example: Book title all in capital letters). I don't want to DeDRM them or change metadata with Mobi2Mobi. Just overwriting on the unit is way more comfortable. None of my other readers can do that. For every file format it operates.
- Great folder support. You even can add comments (again: On the fly) or thumbnails to those folders.
- Various modes for margin optimisations, rotations, ...

I've installed the community tools on my first iLiad and have decided, I don't need them on my second one, as the standard solution is more then workable.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by astra

PDF reading s/w from iRex?

You're kidding, right? PDF is the main format that the iLiad supports.

[repods]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Not just reading, but benchmark experience.
Just some highlights:
- Perfect "intelligent" zoom from the very beginning. Fast and efficient.
- Extracting metadata for book title and author's name from file header, but being able to change both on the fly, directly on the reader via onscreen keyboard. One of my alltime favorite features. Very often, even legally purchased books don't stick to the naming convention (example: Book title all in capital letters). I don't want to DeDRM them or change metadata with Mobi2Mobi. Just overwriting on the unit is way more comfortable. None of my other readers can do that. For every file format it operates.
- Great folder support. You even can add comments (again: On the fly) or thumbnails to those folders.
- Various modes for margin optimisations, rotations, ...

I've installed the community tools on my first iLiad and have decided, I don't need them on my second one, as the standard solution is more then workable.

a question for you mgmueller ..
where the device is made ?
I'mean: made in..
maybe china ?

oh and btw where the kindle DX is made ?

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by repods

a question for you mgmueller ..
where the device is made ?
I'mean: made in..
maybe china ?

oh and btw where the kindle DX is made ?

As far as I know (but I'm really not absolutely sure about it), iRex does manufacture their readers themselves. So it's from the Netherlands. Both Kindles, as far as I know, are produced in China.
Personally, I've got some reservations against Chinese companies. But that's only, if they develop, design and produce on their own. Hanlin/BeBook to me is a typical example for that: There are some brillant features in their OS. But their design is disastrous in comparison to, let's say, Sony 900.
But if those Chinese companies only are doing the manufacturing, I don't have any problems at all. Apple, for example, doesn't have any production of their own. They do the R&D and the design and that's it. All the mobile phones (most of them in Europe have been my customers, so I know their processes very well) are produced in China as well, only the assembly is done locally.

Concerning iRex 800 and Kindle DX, the units you mention, I don't see any difference in build quality, if that's what your question implies.

[pauli]

don't you just love that "made in the netherlands" sign on the back of your DR1000... I guess it's also on the DR800, am I right?

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by pauli

don't you just love that "made in the netherlands" sign on the back of your DR1000... I guess it's also on the DR800, am I right?

No, there's no sign whatsoever on iRex 800's back. Neither Netherlands nor China nor anything else.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Kolenka

If only regular people know how many known issues most software tends to ship with (when there is a sizable QA/test org). They'd probably either drop their jaw or complain even more loudly. One of the factors used when deciding to fix a bug is: how likely is it that someone will hit it? Bugs with a higher likelihood of being hit will get fixed first. Or bugs that do bad things like crash the device, delete data, etc...

Yep... that is part of the key to the whole 37 Signals concept of developing error free and usable software. Their concept is that complexity is what introduces bugs. Most software gets away from the core features that everyone needs adding option on top of option. The higher the complexity of the software the higher the bug count goes.

I read an article they wrote about this... and how the PMs of the products reject most user feature requests because it just isn't relevant to either the core reason for the app to exist or not relevant to the majority of users.

BOb

[Kolenka]

Got a question for those who have the DR800S in hand. Do ePubs show page numbers, and does the upper right corner have a hashed line for the 'click here to bookmark' function?

[DeReader]

Originally Posted by Kolenka

Got a question for those who have the DR800S in hand. Do ePubs show page numbers, and does the upper right corner have a hashed line for the 'click here to bookmark' function?

Yes, ePubs show page numbers and the hashed line in the upper right corner for bookmarking is there.