First Cybook reflections .. - Page 3

Sparrow · 12-14-2007, 01:11 PM

The thin foam that the sleeve is made from makes a comfortable button cushion.

SandySchwab · 12-14-2007, 01:40 PM

My three hours of charging were up about an hour ago (hooray!), so I started playing around with the Cybook. My first impressions: wow! booting up is fast! The display is lovely -- the contrast between light grey background and blackish font is just great, imo. There's a lot to discover, but it takes only a while until you know which button does what.

Button pressing: yup, the buttons for page turning are somewhat awkwardly placed; the Menu button in the middle would have been a better choice. And indeed, you have to exert some pressure to make the page turn. I guess I'll get used to that, though.

Library: navigation is not ideal, especially if you've got many files on your device. I've renamed all my e-books and inserted a description of the genre in the file name, so iif I sort the library according to file names, I've got at least all the mysteries, all the romances, all the classics, etc. in one place.

As a first-time user of an e-reader I was, of course, curious how difficult downloading a book from one of the online bookstores is -- not difficult at all.

I've already bought several books on Fictionwise and registering the PID, downloading the books, and transferring them onto the Cybook went smoothly and without any problems. Hooray!

So now I just have to find time to read all those new books!

Loopy65 · 12-14-2007, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparrow

The thin foam that the sleeve is made from makes a comfortable button cushion.

Glad yours arrived Sparrow (well I'm assuming it did unless you're halucinating from all the stress of waiting!)

Loopy

tompe · 12-14-2007, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barcey

I've noticed that the page forward button on my has worn in over time. I'm not sure if others have the same experience.

I also have notice that the forward button is now easier to press then the up and down button. It has clearly gotten better over time.

Sparrow · 12-14-2007, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loopy65

Glad yours arrived Sparrow (well I'm assuming it did unless you're halucinating from all the stress of waiting!)

Loopy

Thanks Loopy. Finally got it earlier today, after a bit of foot stamping with Fed Ex - the driver tried to deliver it to the wrong address at the first attempt; and they weren't going to try again till Monday.

Still - definitely worth the aggravation, now I've got my mitts on it

Ottawa411 · 12-17-2007, 09:54 AM

I have mixed feelings after a short time using my Cybook. It has incredible text quality. The battery life is great. It is very compact. It uses many different formats. BUT! I have a problem with turning pages. Boot time is too long. It is very difficult to find out how to get cover images to display in the library. PDF files are useless. Organization of files is difficult at best. I wish that they had taken the best qualities of my Ebookwise 1150 and combined them with the Cybook. It boots instantly. It restarts where I stopped reading. It displays page numbers. For how long this took to get to market, they really should have refined it a lot more. I would also like to see support for more file formats including .lit and proper use of PDF files. I am just hoping for firmware updates. I am not too confident with their lack of support so far though.

HarryT · 12-17-2007, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ottawa411

BUT! I have a problem with turning pages.

What problem are you having?

Quote:

Boot time is too long.

If you're happy with recharging every 4-5 days, you can disable auto-shutdown and it's then available for instant use.

Quote:

It is very difficult to find out how to get cover images to display in the library.

How do you create your books? If you use MobiGen or Book Designer just set the cover image and it should display fine.

Quote:

PDF files are useless.

You're absolutely right; PDF files are useless. It's a format which was never intended as an eBook format and it's the worst possible choice of format for an eBook. This is not Bookeen's fault!

fugsly · 12-17-2007, 06:20 PM

It arrived today and I'm extremely please. My lovely partner even wrapped it in chrissy paper for me and fooled me into thinking it was a 'naughty' gift that he didn't want me to open in front of others. Best surprise evah.

I don't seem to have the problem that some have mentioned about the page turning button. I was worried it would be annoying but it's not hard to press at all (on mine anyway). The page turn time is quick enough for me and much easier than trying to turn pages quietly when the person next to you is sleeping. Ever noticed how much more noise you make when you're trying so hard to be quiet?

The screen is absolutely amazing. I have dyslexia and find reading black on white a bit difficult, especially after prolonged staring. Tends to all blur into one. The slightly more gray background is wonderful and much easier on the eyes.

It's very very light. I imagine this will be a hige selling point for my sister who has bad joints. Not having to carry around huge books will help as well no doubt! I'm looking forward to the novelty of packing for my holiday this year without the agony of which books to take. More shoe room! (damn, which shoes should i take!?)

The only problem for me has to do with Bookeen sending me a different cover than i ordered. I know that the black one is more exspensive and it's nice enough (very soft and sturdy). It's more that they didn't bother to contact me to explain or include a note. But i'll be contacting them about that and we'll see what happens.

delphidb96 · 12-17-2007, 06:26 PM

Fugsly,

That has pretty much happened (the not being notified of the change in design) to a lot of Bookeen customers. Don't know why and I'm jealous of you because they never even offered me the chance at a softcover when I bought the engineering sample back in September.

Derek

ricdiogo · 12-17-2007, 06:55 PM

I've received my Cybook today and I'm loving it. Although I think this technology is actually quite primitive. But it's extremely useful and I plan on reading the books from Gutenberg that I'd have to print otherwise. It needs folders support and text highlighting. From 0 to 20 I'd give it a 17.

fugsly · 12-17-2007, 06:56 PM

delphid: Yeah I had a feeling it would be the black one that arrived from reading posts but a quick email one have been nice

It is a very nice cover, it's the annoying 'principle' thing for me i'm afraid.

It's something about Bookeen that worry me a little but hopefully customer support will improve. Actually, change that to 'hopefully customer support will never be needed'.

Hasn't dampened my enthusiasm for the machine one bit though, I've been looking forward to it very much and it hasn't dissapointed. I think my mates were looking forward to not being annoyed about me going on about it but i fear it's going to get worse for them now i actually have it.

diabloNL · 12-18-2007, 11:36 AM

My first impression was that it looks and feels a bit cheap to be honest. The buttons and plastic used don't look like quality. The buttons look like those found on cheap mp3 players. Fingerprints are very hard to remove from the plastic housing.

The good thing is that it works really well. I didn't spend too much time yet with it, but the screen looks very nice. For my feeling more than 20% whiter than claimed. The refresh rate is also very fast and the look-up function is really nice to have.

So my first impression was that I found it quite expensive for the build quality. But when I started the puppy up and looked around I felt a lot better.

HappyMartin · 12-19-2007, 04:01 AM

I have played around a little with my wifes reader and I like it. Not like I would swop my iliad for it or anything but for away holidays I would love to have one.

The page turning button was, is, a little stiff but seems to be loosening up as it wears in. It was shipped with a black cover that is identical in every way but size to the one I bought with my iliad. Seems OK to me.

I need to double check but my wife frequently complains that the dictionary lookup fails to find words which I find odd as she has the same dictionary as I do and for me it never misses. It is the excellent Chambers dictionary recommended by Harry.

I hope to buy myself this device next year, just for carrying around you understand.

JohnFC · 12-19-2007, 04:32 AM

I just received my Cybook Gen3 yesterday. Overall, it's very impressive and the display is much more comfortable than reading my smartphone. I am a satisfied customer and wish I'd ordered the leather cover now.

I have one small issue... when I put a SD card in the slot it became jammed there. When I push the card to eject, it does not pop-out. Eventually I had to use tweezers to yank the card out of the slot. I have a Sandisk 1GB SD card that was bought in 2005. It seems like the SD slot on the top of the eBook is a bit narrower than other devices.

Did anyone else have this problem? I am not planning to return the ebook, but will probably just buy a 2GB card and leave it in the device permanently.

Do you think it's a design flaw or there's something specifically wrong with my ebook?

John

HarryT · 12-19-2007, 04:37 AM

Are you sure you pushed it down far enough? It needs pushing down a fair way before it pops out!

12-17-2007, 06:26 PM	#39
delphidb96 Wizard Posts: 2,999 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Citrus Heights, California Device: TWO Kindle 2s, one each Bookeen Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS-500, Axim X51V	Not the cover you ordered??? Fugsly, That has pretty much happened (the not being notified of the change in design) to a lot of Bookeen customers. Don't know why and I'm jealous of you because they never even offered me the chance at a softcover when I bought the engineering sample back in September. Derek

12-19-2007, 04:32 AM	#44
JohnFC Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Cybook Gen3	CyBook Gen3 - SD card does not eject I just received my Cybook Gen3 yesterday. Overall, it's very impressive and the display is much more comfortable than reading my smartphone. I am a satisfied customer and wish I'd ordered the leather cover now. I have one small issue... when I put a SD card in the slot it became jammed there. When I push the card to eject, it does not pop-out. Eventually I had to use tweezers to yank the card out of the slot. I have a Sandisk 1GB SD card that was bought in 2005. It seems like the SD slot on the top of the eBook is a bit narrower than other devices. Did anyone else have this problem? I am not planning to return the ebook, but will probably just buy a 2GB card and leave it in the device permanently. Do you think it's a design flaw or there's something specifically wrong with my ebook? John

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12-14-2007, 01:11 PM	#31
Sparrow Wizard Posts: 4,395 Karma: 1358132 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: UK Device: Palm TX, CyBook Gen3	The thin foam that the sleeve is made from makes a comfortable button cushion.

12-14-2007, 01:40 PM	#32
SandySchwab Mad Author Posts: 39 Karma: 34 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Frankfurt, Germany Device: Cybook	My three hours of charging were up about an hour ago (hooray!), so I started playing around with the Cybook. My first impressions: wow! booting up is fast! The display is lovely -- the contrast between light grey background and blackish font is just great, imo. There's a lot to discover, but it takes only a while until you know which button does what. Button pressing: yup, the buttons for page turning are somewhat awkwardly placed; the Menu button in the middle would have been a better choice. And indeed, you have to exert some pressure to make the page turn. I guess I'll get used to that, though. Library: navigation is not ideal, especially if you've got many files on your device. I've renamed all my e-books and inserted a description of the genre in the file name, so iif I sort the library according to file names, I've got at least all the mysteries, all the romances, all the classics, etc. in one place. As a first-time user of an e-reader I was, of course, curious how difficult downloading a book from one of the online bookstores is -- not difficult at all. I've already bought several books on Fictionwise and registering the PID, downloading the books, and transferring them onto the Cybook went smoothly and without any problems. Hooray! So now I just have to find time to read all those new books!

12-17-2007, 09:54 AM	#36
Ottawa411 Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Ottawa - Ontario - Canada Device: Ebookwise 1150\Bookeen Cybook Gen3	I have mixed feelings after a short time using my Cybook. It has incredible text quality. The battery life is great. It is very compact. It uses many different formats. BUT! I have a problem with turning pages. Boot time is too long. It is very difficult to find out how to get cover images to display in the library. PDF files are useless. Organization of files is difficult at best. I wish that they had taken the best qualities of my Ebookwise 1150 and combined them with the Cybook. It boots instantly. It restarts where I stopped reading. It displays page numbers. For how long this took to get to market, they really should have refined it a lot more. I would also like to see support for more file formats including .lit and proper use of PDF files. I am just hoping for firmware updates. I am not too confident with their lack of support so far though.

12-17-2007, 06:20 PM	#38
fugsly living dead girl Posts: 40 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Glasgow, Scotland Device: sony 505	It arrived today and I'm extremely please. My lovely partner even wrapped it in chrissy paper for me and fooled me into thinking it was a 'naughty' gift that he didn't want me to open in front of others. Best surprise evah. I don't seem to have the problem that some have mentioned about the page turning button. I was worried it would be annoying but it's not hard to press at all (on mine anyway). The page turn time is quick enough for me and much easier than trying to turn pages quietly when the person next to you is sleeping. Ever noticed how much more noise you make when you're trying so hard to be quiet? The screen is absolutely amazing. I have dyslexia and find reading black on white a bit difficult, especially after prolonged staring. Tends to all blur into one. The slightly more gray background is wonderful and much easier on the eyes. It's very very light. I imagine this will be a hige selling point for my sister who has bad joints. Not having to carry around huge books will help as well no doubt! I'm looking forward to the novelty of packing for my holiday this year without the agony of which books to take. More shoe room! (damn, which shoes should i take!?) The only problem for me has to do with Bookeen sending me a different cover than i ordered. I know that the black one is more exspensive and it's nice enough (very soft and sturdy). It's more that they didn't bother to contact me to explain or include a note. But i'll be contacting them about that and we'll see what happens.

12-17-2007, 06:55 PM	#40
ricdiogo Gutenberger Posts: 142 Karma: 700 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Lisbon, Portugal Device: Cybook Gen 3	I've received my Cybook today and I'm loving it. Although I think this technology is actually quite primitive. But it's extremely useful and I plan on reading the books from Gutenberg that I'd have to print otherwise. It needs folders support and text highlighting. From 0 to 20 I'd give it a 17.

12-17-2007, 06:56 PM	#41
fugsly living dead girl Posts: 40 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Glasgow, Scotland Device: sony 505	delphid: Yeah I had a feeling it would be the black one that arrived from reading posts but a quick email one have been nice It is a very nice cover, it's the annoying 'principle' thing for me i'm afraid. It's something about Bookeen that worry me a little but hopefully customer support will improve. Actually, change that to 'hopefully customer support will never be needed'. Hasn't dampened my enthusiasm for the machine one bit though, I've been looking forward to it very much and it hasn't dissapointed. I think my mates were looking forward to not being annoyed about me going on about it but i fear it's going to get worse for them now i actually have it.

12-18-2007, 11:36 AM	#42
diabloNL Gadget Force® Posts: 705 Karma: 2733 Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: The Netherlands Device: Sony PRS-300 + Cybook with funny screen :P	My first impression was that it looks and feels a bit cheap to be honest. The buttons and plastic used don't look like quality. The buttons look like those found on cheap mp3 players. Fingerprints are very hard to remove from the plastic housing. The good thing is that it works really well. I didn't spend too much time yet with it, but the screen looks very nice. For my feeling more than 20% whiter than claimed. The refresh rate is also very fast and the look-up function is really nice to have. So my first impression was that I found it quite expensive for the build quality. But when I started the puppy up and looked around I felt a lot better.

12-19-2007, 04:01 AM	#43
HappyMartin Martin Kristiansen Posts: 1,546 Karma: 8480958 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Johannesburg Device: Kindle International Ipad 2	I have played around a little with my wifes reader and I like it. Not like I would swop my iliad for it or anything but for away holidays I would love to have one. The page turning button was, is, a little stiff but seems to be loosening up as it wears in. It was shipped with a black cover that is identical in every way but size to the one I bought with my iliad. Seems OK to me. I need to double check but my wife frequently complains that the dictionary lookup fails to find words which I find odd as she has the same dictionary as I do and for me it never misses. It is the excellent Chambers dictionary recommended by Harry. I hope to buy myself this device next year, just for carrying around you understand.

12-19-2007, 04:37 AM	#45
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Are you sure you pushed it down far enough? It needs pushing down a fair way before it pops out!

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