Unboxing iRex 800 and first impressions

[pauli]

Did a search for that as well.... nothing yet... found a lot of movies about a Suzuki bike though

[Jumpn Jack Flash]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

iRex iLiad won't receive any firmware updates, so there won't be any official ePUB support. iRex 1000S still will be supported and a firmware update for ePUB support is announced for end of Q1/2010.

iRex 800 is a new contender, got it 2 days ago. But it doesn't have the "free/intelligent" zoom I've described above. Maybe there will be a firmware update, but we don't know right now.
.

I am under the assumption that 1000s Q1 firmware release is the 800 firmware, once it is actually finished. I assume that they are not going to remove features are in the current 1000 and the folder and zoom are features.

[cmdahler]

Originally Posted by DeReader

Yesterday at 8:00 AM I started with a fully charged battery, I used the device for reading a few hours, but did not let it go into standby mode (which it enters automatically after 30 min.). So there was nearly the whole day a page displayed on the screen (which should only use marginal energy on e-ink devices, but the Ililad proved this wrong).

There are still 3 of 4 bars left in the battery display. So I think the power management is a lot better compared to the Iliad.

I just wonder what on earth the thing is doing in the background that is eating up that battery power to begin with. It takes no battery power to maintain a screen in a static state, so just about the only thing that ought to be operating in the background is the system time. My Sony 505 will sit there static, page displayed, for a week before it uses a bar of battery, so given the level of usage you described, it's disconcerting to me that the DR800 would have even one bar gone by that point. What on earth is it doing?

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Jumpn Jack Flash

I am under the assumption that 1000s Q1 firmware release is the 800 firmware, once it is actually finished. I assume that they are not going to remove features are in the current 1000 and the folder and zoom are features.

I only can speculate, but I'm not so sure about your assumption. If there'd be the same firmware for 1000S and 800, they could have integrated folder support and "intelligent zoom" into 800 already.
I wouldn't be surprised, if they'd "only" add ePUB support to 1000S else leaving the firmware unchanged. Whereas they may (or may not) add further functionality to 800 over time.
Personally, I don't care at all about folder support - majority of my readers doesn't have it anyway. But I really miss the "intelligent zoom", which was THE huge advantage of iRex iLiad (and 1000S) for PDFs.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by cmdahler

I just wonder what on earth the thing is doing in the background that is eating up that battery power to begin with. It takes no battery power to maintain a screen in a static state, so just about the only thing that ought to be operating in the background is the system time. My Sony 505 will sit there static, page displayed, for a week before it uses a bar of battery, so given the level of usage you described, it's disconcerting to me that the DR800 would have even one bar gone by that point. What on earth is it doing?

One can discuss about timeframes of course. But EVERY SINGLE ONE of my readers drains battery over time just by maintaining the standby.
Just an assumption: On iRex iLiad (as far as I know), display goes into low consumption mode, as soon as you insert the stylus into the unit, thus suspending the touchscreen.
On iRex 800, you can't insert the stylus. So maybe (just a speculation) it permanently leaves the touchscreen active instead of waiting for you the take the stylus out of the unit.

[cmdahler]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

But EVERY SINGLE ONE of my readers drains battery over time just by maintaining the standby.

Well, of course. I'm not arguing that - I guess I am talking more about timeframes. The battery drain described by DeReader seems to be a fair bit faster than the Sony.

On iRex 800, you can't insert the stylus. So maybe (just a speculation) it permanently leaves the touchscreen active instead of waiting for you the take the stylus out of the unit.

Though speculation, that's likely pretty close to the truth.

[Jumpn Jack Flash]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Just an assumption: On iRex iLiad (as far as I know), display goes into low consumption mode, as soon as you insert the stylus into the unit, thus suspending the touchscreen.
On iRex 800, you can't insert the stylus. So maybe (just a speculation) it permanently leaves the touchscreen active instead of waiting for you the take the stylus out of the unit.

This would be really dumb on the part of iRex if they did this. I assume there has to be some proximity sensor some where for sensing the stylus.

As for my previous assumptions, they are all pure speculations.

[Mr. Goodbar]

Originally Posted by cmdahler

I just wonder what on earth the thing is doing in the background that is eating up that battery power to begin with. It takes no battery power to maintain a screen in a static state, so just about the only thing that ought to be operating in the background is the system time. My Sony 505 will sit there static, page displayed, for a week before it uses a bar of battery, so given the level of usage you described, it's disconcerting to me that the DR800 would have even one bar gone by that point. What on earth is it doing?

It could be doing background indexing of the loaded content for the search operation. The kindle does this and if you load up a lot of content at once you'll see your battery consumption take a hit.

[professzore]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

On iRex 800, you can't insert the stylus. So maybe (just a speculation) it permanently leaves the touchscreen active instead of waiting for you the take the stylus out of the unit.

Have you ever made a test about battery life without using the stylus in any way?
Another question: how comfortable is holding the unit in hand (left) and turning pages?

[catharsis]

Originally Posted by Mr. Goodbar

I'm surprised we're not seeing any videos pop up on youtube yet. Usually the big review sites are pretty prompt with this type of thing.

Because the device was launched just in Europe and most of the review sites are American, who tend to be a bit ignorant from time to time.

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by catharsis

Because the device was launched just in Europe and most of the review sites are American, who tend to be a bit ignorant from time to time.

There are many non-US based review sites. To mention a few :

http://www.ebookreadersreview.co.uk/

There's also the trustedreviews.com which is a UK setup, but there aren't too many eReader reviews there.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Just an assumption: On iRex iLiad (as far as I know), display goes into low consumption mode, as soon as you insert the stylus into the unit, thus suspending the touchscreen.
On iRex 800, you can't insert the stylus. So maybe (just a speculation) it permanently leaves the touchscreen active instead of waiting for you the take the stylus out of the unit.

The touchscreen is permanently active on the DR1000, too. I think iRex came to the conclusion that the power drain was negligible.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by professzore

Have you ever made a test about battery life without using the stylus in any way?
Another question: how comfortable is holding the unit in hand (left) and turning pages?

Very comfortable to hold in one hand. Great to turn pages with the flipbar. You even can press the flipbar. So you can scroll through your library just with the flipbar and select a book by pressing the flipbar. Great ergonomics.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Very comfortable to hold in one hand. Great to turn pages with the flipbar. You even can press the flipbar. So you can scroll through your library just with the flipbar and select a book by pressing the flipbar. Great ergonomics.

Can you invert it and hold it with your right hand? I mean, and still read the text rightside up.

BOb

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Can you invert it and hold it with your right hand? I mean, and still read the text rightside up.

BOb

Yes. In "settings" you define the direction of the flipbar. Then you can rotate of course.
The unit is even symmetric. Upper und lower frame have identical height.