Cool-er: light, trendy, inexpensive e-book reader

[Sweetpea]

This review only shows again that I apparently have a completely different point of view regarding ebook readers...

No keyboard is a plus, I don't care that the books on their site are more expensive that on Amazon, which I can't buy anyway.

Besides, right now, there's only one device out there with Whispernet. None of the other devices have that ability (yet). So, I wonder why they constantly compare it to that, as if that's the standard.

I'm still waiting for an in-depth review that not only mentions the Kindle and Sony, but also the CyBook, Hanlin (or any of its clones) and any other ebook reader that's out there.

But I do agree with one thing, at $250, I think it's too expensive.

[galavanter]

Here's another review, by Mr. Pogue.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/te...ewanted=1&8dpc

[rixte]

My very favorite part of the Gizmodo review is where the reviewer says:

"The only thing going for it is that it works as an eBook reader if reading is the most important part of the package (which it is, to many people)."

Well. That's going to ruin the plans of the legions of prospective customers who wanted to buy an ebook reading in order to play chess.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

But I do agree with one thing, at $250, I think it's too expensive.

It seems to be competitively priced with other devices. I don't think $250 is too outrageous.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It seems to be competitively priced with other devices. I don't think $250 is too outrageous.

No, not too outrageous, but from every review I've seen so far, I understand that the firmware is rather... basic.


And about that review by Mr. Pogue.

Again, the kindle is put up as the standard again, with whispernet and a keyboard. While none of the other devices out there has one...

[Hatgirl]

Yep, many reviews don't talk about what I want to know about (weight, ergonomic design of buttons, refresh rate, search, dictionary support). Whispernet is not an issue outside of the States.

Still, Mr. Pogue's review has some new and interesting facts:

...The company says that it will offer additional batteries for $5....starting this fall, you’ll be able to sell books you’ve written on Coolerbooks.com; you’ll keep 50 percent of each sale.....you can share a Cool-er book you’ve bought with four other people....Even when you’ve successfully registered a “next page” button press, it can take several seconds for the screen to change accordingly.....performing a type-size change requires — no joke — 16 key presses..... It doesn’t play Audible audio books....

Hmmm... food for thought.

[Hatgirl]

Residents of Great Britain can enter a competition to win one of two Cool-er Readers. The link is at the end of this Techradar article.

[readdiction]

I've been having a few problems with my Cybook - the support team gave me a replacement but it was still faulty It's just too frustrating to even look at! So, I'm on the lookout for a new reader.

The Cool-er has a lot of potential but I personally wouldn't buy the first generation. Plus, if you're in the UK, might as well get the sony prs-505 from John Lewis (if you want red/silver) or from waterstones for £199. The offer ends 1st June for JL.

I think for just £10 extra, I'll go for the Sony (*red*) even though I really REALLY love the Cool-er's colors! *so pretty*

[Cabe]

Or form Play.com for 179.99 with fre delivery - silver only though, no blue

[Tuna]

I'm currently weighing up the Cooler against the 505 as they can be bought for very similar money.

It looks like the cooler has slightly faster hardware, but the 505 has more flexible input (buttons for menu navigation and so on). I can't see any deal killers in terms of formats supported. As far as display is concerned, it appears that the cooler offers a wider choice of font and size. Both appear to offer a landscape mode. The replacable battery on the Cooler is a big plus.

The weakest point for the Cooler is that it is essentially just an OEM device. That's allowed them to get it to market commendably quickly and cheaply. However, it also means that the firmware is probably pretty much out of Interead's hands and that could be a problem. They need the device to deliver the best possible user experience and to do that, they need the firmware to sing.

By all accounts, Netronix (the OEM) are a hardware company and I think that shows in the UI. For all that you can make something look like an iPod, it's got to have software that makes the most out of the few buttons that the user has to interact with the device. Good user interface design is a black art and there are a very small number of people who have the skill to carry it out. It's not something that you can just read up on (ironically enough). I've been involved in work like this for clients and the subtle difference between 'functional' and 'beautiful' in the hands of a user can require more effort than implementing the main functions of the device.

(As an aside, I think the OpenInkpot effort is going to fall foul of this at some point - they appear to have implemented something that depends on the hardware having particular buttons for the user to press. Porting it to new devices presents the problem not only of mapping different controls, but then making sure that the controls remain logical and effective with a user interface that was designed to work best with a particular configuration).

Already some reviews have mentioned difficult to navigate menus and couter-intuitive controls. Again, these aren't really deal killers - most of the time you just want to turn the page and that's easy - but it makes the difference between an iPod and any of the thousands of other MP3 players that haven't become a household name. Unfortunately I'm not sure Interead have the ability to do much about it, so I suspect the Cool-er is going to be more of a workhorse product than an object of desire.

All of that doesn't really help me make a decision between the Sony and the Cooler.

[Tuna]

One other thing. If the SD card slot supported SDIO (I doubt it does), the Cooler could pull a rabbit out of the hat by supporting wireless SD cards. One simple purchase could upgrade your cooler to download books wirelessly and in one sweep remove any significant percieved difference between the Cooler and the (much more expensive) Kindle. For that matter a USB dongle could provide similar functionality though it wouldn't be nearly as slick.

Personally, I don't see the benefit of wireless update though I understand that for first time users it makes the whole experience fantastically easy. I'm rarely so far away from a PC that I can't download stuff to my Ebook in preparation for journeys or holidays. It's also nice to know that my library is on a PC that is properly and regularly backed up, rather than an ebook that can be dropped, drowned, lost or broken at any point.

[DaleDe]

Have you been able to determine how many levels of gray scale there are on the device?

Dale

[Godzil]

I seriously doubt that it will have more than 4 shades of gray if it's a standard netronics EB600. (IE Appolo driven, not Metronome nor Epson Broadsheet)

[Tuna]

The website says 8 shades, which seems consistent with the current generation of displays.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Tuna

The website says 8 shades, which seems consistent with the current generation of displays.

Exactly, this is an important point. Either the web site is misrepresenting the product or the Netronix info is out of date. The display is not the issue here. The issue is the display controller. The new generation controllers have the ability to support more gray levels and other features as well but this is the key indicator. That is why it needs to be tested. It is not just a matter of whether you like gray or not.

Dale