iLiad V2 screen

[Shaggy]

I don't see it as about being honest/dishonest. A press release mentioning that they're now using vizplex (if they are) wouldn't be dishonest.

Whether or not some of us think it's warranted, there has definitely been a lot of attention/hype surrounding vizplex in the eInk community. Several current threads just in this forum attest to that. It would make good marketing/business sense to publicly point out that they're using it now, if they really are. Even if it makes little technical difference, there would be a big difference in public perception.

I follow the iRex forum pretty closely as well, and I don't recall seeing anything about this on their either. Not even in their blog, where they have talked about technical details of their display technology in the past. Stranger things have happened, but I would be pretty surprised if they were using it without making any mention of it whatsoever.

[axel77]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

I was thinking just for marketing purposes. Whether or not switching to Vizplex made a big improvement, if they really did switch I assume they'd want to advertise it.

Well first out of a gut-feeling I'd say, the screens aren't vizplex... and i don't care, especially if its said to make not much difference...

However marketing wise, it might have been also a bad idea to announce a big "vizplex now" advertisment. How many people would say, oh my god, I bought my iLiad just yesterday you mean fools, now I haven't got vizplex. Followed by a dozend threads, do I have vizplex, or don't. Followed by people sending their iLiads back to demand vizplex... to get 5% faster refreshes... You know how it runs...

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

I follow the iRex forum pretty closely as well, and I don't recall seeing anything about this on their either. Not even in their blog, where they have talked about technical details of their display technology in the past. Stranger things have happened, but I would be pretty surprised if they were using it without making any mention of it whatsoever.

Well, Karel's the one who's going to know. If he tells us that they are using it, then I think that we can take that as a definitive statement that that's what they are doing.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Well, Karel's the one who's going to know. If he tells us that they are using it, then I think that we can take that as a definitive statement that that's what they are doing.

Yes, obviously.

[heb]

I went and had a look at a unit at Borders in Oxford Street yesterday and was very impressed with the screen. Compared to the Sony PRS 505 I have I couldn't see any difference in the contrast and shade of grey in the background.

The extra space on the screen makes a huge difference! The fact the fonts can be bigger without compromising the amount oftext displayed on a line makes everything far more readable. I couldn't see much a difference in the speed taken to change pages either but thats never really bothered me on the Sony Reader. I also couldn't detect much in the way of ghosting but again thats never bothered me on the Sony and seems to get worse over time anyway.

I was sorely tempted to buy one there and then as I managed to break the screen on my 505 at the weekend by dropping a beer bottle on it.

The startup time and casing were very poor compared to the Sony though.

[noanswer]

there is a fact so obviousl but seems never be mentioned, iliad screen area is much larger than the sonic 505,that is 64/36, almost double. That means while reading a book in same font you have to change almost double pages in 505.
Time of change one page? Shall we compare two devices in this way?

[Shaggy]

That's a good point.

My wife likes to read
ebooks on her Palm.
I don't know how she
does it without going
insane.

What is a 200 page
book on my iLiad
would probably be a
2000 page book on her
Palm.

That would drive me
crazy.

[haridasi]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

That's a good point.

My wife likes to read
ebooks on her Palm.
I don't know how she
does it without going
insane.

...

hehe, you know it´s love when people start making poems about their iliads

[HarryT]

I rather think that Shaggy was illustrating what it's like to read books on a Palm .

The large screen of the iLiad is GREAT, I agree. Unfortunately, though, I just couldn't live with the close to 1 minute start-up time; it's just too long if you only have time for a quick reading session. That's the main reason I sold my iLiad.

[Mr. Goodbar]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I rather think that Shaggy was illustrating what it's like to read books on a Palm .

The large screen of the iLiad is GREAT, I agree. Unfortunately, though, I just couldn't live with the close to 1 minute start-up time; it's just too long if you only have time for a quick reading session. That's the main reason I sold my iLiad.

Harry, you bring up a very good point for a lot of people. I love the larger screen of the iLiad, but the long startup time is a big frustration. I had a v1 and sold it for the Sony and recently bought a v2 to try again. Battery life is good, but slow startup continues to bug me. For someone new to ebooks it is like waiting for your pc to boot before being able to read.

[daudi]

Originally Posted by Mr. Goodbar

Harry, you bring up a very good point for a lot of people. I love the larger screen of the iLiad, but the long startup time is a big frustration. I had a v1 and sold it for the Sony and recently bought a v2 to try again. Battery life is good, but slow startup continues to bug me. For someone new to ebooks it is like waiting for your pc to boot before being able to read.

You could just leave it on all the time. Plug it in to the docking station (ah, there's no docking station ), I mean plug it into the charger thingy when when you are able to and just leave it on all the time.

[orcinus]

Before i bought it, i thought the boot time will be the iLiad's weakest point.
Now, i don't even notice it...

When i wake up in the morning, i flip the switch and keep it on until i leave the flat or put it away. When i'm out and about, it's always on unless i'm about to pocket it or stow it away in a bag, at which point i turn it off. It endures a day and a half to two days on one battery charge that way.

Seriously, unless you often have some critically urgent note taking or reading to do at totally unexpected times, you won't even notice the boot times. You just have to adjust to a slightly different way of working with it than is usual with PDA's, phones and other readers - it's more similar to the way you use your computer (i.e. you keep it on unless you're sure you won't be using it for a longer period of time).

[Gogolo]

One thing I like more and more using eink is that everything's going a bit slower. It helps loosing impatience.

When eink will be fast we again will hurry up like with our PCs...

Gogolo

[Mr. Goodbar]

Originally Posted by orcinus

Before i bought it, i thought the boot time will be the iLiad's weakest point.
Now, i don't even notice it...

When i wake up in the morning, i flip the switch and keep it on until i leave the flat or put it away. When i'm out and about, it's always on unless i'm about to pocket it or stow it away in a bag, at which point i turn it off. It endures a day and a half to two days on one battery charge that way.

Seriously, unless you often have some critically urgent note taking or reading to do at totally unexpected times, you won't even notice the boot times. You just have to adjust to a slightly different way of working with it than is usual with PDA's, phones and other readers - it's more similar to the way you use your computer (i.e. you keep it on unless you're sure you won't be using it for a longer period of time).

It doesn't bother me too much unless I'm traveling then it does bug me a bit. My perspective is for these devices to really appeal to the broader market the technology needs to disappear and a one minute boot time doesn't do that.

I'll take my father in law as an example. He is retired and reads multiple books a week. Right now, he opens the book up to where his bookmark is and he is reading. This takes a few seconds. A device like the Sony is similar, a few seconds to be right back to where you left off in your book. This is just not the case with the iLiad and it may keep them from appealing to the broader market with this generation of device. I'm not knocking it since it is still my preferred reader with the extra screen size, but when I show people the Sony and the iLiad this is the point that always comes up. Now that we have the "book edition" it seems like an even more valid comparison.

[orcinus]

You've missed the point. It DOES take the same time to start reading as picking a book up and opening it. You just have to remember to boot it up (and leave it switched on) before you know you'll be using it

Let's put it this way... A day consists of 24 hours. Subtracting sleep from that, you get 16 hours. Subtracting the time you can't read because you're working or generally doing some kind of activity incompatible with reading, you get to about 8 hours.

(now, i don't believe anyone reads FULL 8 hours a day, but lets go with it, for the sake of an argument)

Ok, now how long does the iLiad's battery last on one charge? About 10 hours worth of reading. Which means you can switch it on when you wake up, keep it on until you're absolutely sure you won't be doing any reading for the next few hours, then switch it on again and keep it on until you go to sleep, at which point you plug it back to recharge.

So you see, you really don't have to WAIT for anything (except for iPDF's page rendering), as long as you dissolve with perception you should use iLiad the same way you should use the Sony Reader (i.e. switch it off when you drop it and switch it on when you pick it up).

Edit: The same goes for traveling and commuting. In fact, it works even better. I keep my iLiad always on in my vest pocket while i'm out and about, so i can just grab it and start reading while i'm waiting for a tram, in between lectures etc.