iRex announces development of colour device for 2011 delivery

[junkyardwillie]

Yup, meant Plastic Logic, not Paper Logic.

With its slow refresh rate (compared to a tablet pc), B&W only display and lack of ability to load software on it, are people really looking at a DRS versus a Tablet PC. There is a vast gap between what the two products are able to do, they are more competing against everyday paper that you would have to carry around with you or print out not a tablet pc that is far more versatile. I'm not sure how they would even begin to compare the two, if you did the drs should be even cheaper as it lacks so many features of a tablet pc.

But to get back on the topic of their announcement, I hope they are able to meet their timeline, it seems like every year color eink is 12-18 months away and it never gets any closer. Whoever is developing it needs to speed up the timeline as there are so many new technologies coming out (PixelQi netbooks, iphones, tablet netbooks) that people can use to read on their target market is going to get smaller and smaller as people get more options

[brecklundin]

Yet iRex could have a device before this holiday shopping season if they used the 3Qi display. There would be the irony but also perhaps a very smart intermediate term decision. Sure the batter life might be less but, it could be done. None of the typical netbook hardware needs exist, of course a different display controller, some new firmware and not much else, oh, a somewhat modified case. They could even hold off on a change in their UI to add color and give them time to see if people will buy the device. If they do, *boom*, a firmware release with a color UI.

This is a saddle point for iRex, and this is business where a company either adapts...or dies. We it me I would chose to adapt, bring out a reader/slate like device even with say 40%-50% of the battery life. Consumers only want shiny...3Qi delivers shiny today not in 2-3 years which is as good as never in business.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by junkyardwillie

With its slow refresh rate (compared to a tablet pc), B&W only display and lack of ability to load software on it, are people really looking at a DRS versus a Tablet PC. There is a vast gap between what the two products are able to do, they are more competing against everyday paper that you would have to carry around with you or print out not a tablet pc that is far more versatile. I'm not sure how they would even begin to compare the two, if you did the drs should be even cheaper as it lacks so many features of a tablet pc.

You can install additional software on a DR1000 - that's always been one of the strengths of the iRex devices. The device is ideal for those who need to carry around lots of reference material - eg lawyers, doctors, etc.

[harpum]

I never used DR1000. So I might be wrong.
I have an iliad. I tried to use it as viewer for reference paper.
But I realized it was impossible. I did not use it for five month.
It is very hard to access a correct paper and a correct page.
There is no TOC, no search functionality. If you have a lot of paper, it is very hard to organize.(If you use folder a lot, because of speed, it takes a lot of time to move from one paper to another.)
If you have scanned paper, it take a lot of time to see it.
So I used prs-500, instead. If you make TOC well with pdflrf.exe, it is much more faster to access.
Unfortuntely, screen of prs-500 was broken. So I am thinking Kindle DX seriously.

I think iliad was just testing model. Usual company like sony, amazon does not sell such a incomplete product. I believe many usual users of iliad, not power users, will not trust IREX anymore.

[junkyardwillie]

Originally Posted by harpum

I never used DR1000. So I might be wrong.
I have an iliad. I tried to use it as viewer for reference paper.
But I realized it was impossible. I did not use it for five month.
It is very hard to access a correct paper and a correct page.
There is no TOC, no search functionality. If you have a lot of paper, it is very hard to organize.(If you use folder a lot, because of speed, it takes a lot of time to move from one paper to another.)
If you have scanned paper, it take a lot of time to see it.
So I used prs-500, instead. If you make TOC well with pdflrf.exe, it is much more faster to access.
Unfortuntely, screen of prs-500 was broken. So I am thinking Kindle DX seriously.

I think iliad was just testing model. Usual company like sony, amazon does not sell such a incomplete product. I believe many usual users of iliad, not power users, will not trust IREX anymore.

I agree. I got my Iliad because it was the largest reader available at the time, about 2 years ago. Its served me well and I use it all the time but the lack of ability to search and get to the correct page in a PDF as well as the time lag between switching docs makes me want to scream half the time. Not to mention the odd page jumps that occur on a regular basis (I press the page turn for one page and it jumps 5 pages, or text docs randomly adjust so one page turn is 6 pages and you have to figure out how to get back). I haven't used the DRS to know what "programs" you can install on it but if the PDF functionality is as bad as the Iliad it does nothing for me. I think Plastic Logics operating system (what I've seen on a couple of youtube videos, not much) looks much better than what Irex has in terms of moving through documents and the product looks lightyears ahead of what the DRS is, not sure what they were thinking there why not just make it look like a larger Iliad rather than the fugly device that it is now ?

If my Iliad broke tomorrow I'd unfortunately have to just do without an eReader for a while until Plastic Logic or Pixel Qi came out. I can't imagine shelling out another $600-$900 for another Irex product. If they were in the $300-$500 price range I think it'd be worth getting but I just don't see what warrants their high premium to other readers (I think WACOM has something to do with it). Luckily its a free market and if you don't like the price you don't have to buy it

In summary and to get this back on topic, I hope that Irex is spending the same amount of time (if not more as I would personally suggest) on getting a good operating system into their readers as they are developing color. Having a color device that works like a turd won't be useful to anyone. IMHO, Eink readers in general haven't quite figured out a good way of browsing documents and moving through their system (folders is a must but you need some sort of search feature I think for documents as well as in). Its still early in their life cycle but hopefully they get it right at some point like cell phones are finally starting to do. Irex has two years to work on it so hopefully they get it right in both respects (O/S and Screen)

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by junkyardwillie

Not to mention the odd page jumps that occur on a regular basis (I press the page turn for one page and it jumps 5 pages

FYI, there is a patch available that will get rid of the "5 page turn" feature and make all of the page turns a single page. You can request it through their tech support.

or text docs randomly adjust so one page turn is 6 pages and you have to figure out how to get back).

This is unfortunately a bug in the mobipocket library and outside of iRex's control (text documents are handled by the Mobipocket application on the iLiad). Mobipocket has responded to reports in the past about this bug by basically saying that page numbers are only an approximation, and should not be relied upon. Personally, I don't find that a satisfying answer, but there's not much anyone can do about it unless Mobipocket fixes the problem.

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by junkyardwillie

If my Iliad broke tomorrow I'd unfortunately have to just do without an eReader for a while until Plastic Logic or Pixel Qi came out. I can't imagine shelling out another $600-$900 for another Irex product. If they were in the $300-$500 price range I think it'd be worth getting but I just don't see what warrants their high premium to other readers (I think WACOM has something to do with it). Luckily its a free market and if you don't like the price you don't have to buy it

What about a Kindle DX?

[junkyardwillie]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

What about a Kindle DX?

I'm waiting to see some hands on reviews of the Kindle DX to see how that one is. Its an interesting device, I might consider it if my Iliad had broke but I wouldn't buy it otherwise. I'd like to have some touch ability with it similar to a Plastic Logic or let it be a full fledged netbook like Pixel Qi so I have more freedom with the device. Since a lot of the stuff I read on my eReader are PDF docs the original Kindle wasn't interesting to me (I have a Sony 500 which was nice but was bad at PDFs).

Since Pixel Qi is close to coming out (at least according to the company hopefully they wont start pushing the time table back as the launch date gets closer) so I'd hold off for a few more months before getting a DX. The ability to quickly move around documents like I could in a netbook greatly outweighs the higher contrast levels of the Kindle, I'm still not quite sure how Pixel's color technology works (ie whether its easier on the eyes than a regular laptop with its dimmer backlight, because my comic book reading on Marvel's site would go up 200% if it is )

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by junkyardwillie

Since Pixel Qi is close to coming out (at least according to the company hopefully they wont start pushing the time table back as the launch date gets closer) so I'd hold off for a few more months before getting a DX.

As far as I know, Pixel Qi is just manufacturing the screen. The "launch date" that they talk about is just when the screen becomes available for mass production. Pixel Qi isn't actually making a device that they are going to sell to consumers. I think they're planning on letter other companies make/sell devices using their screens. I haven't see any dates yet for a usable device with the Pixel Qi screen.

It may be some time down the road before you start seeing netbooks or ebook readers that have a 3Qi screen in them.

[junkyardwillie]

They state that they will be ready to start putting these screens in Netbooks this fall (4:50 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm8Wo...204&feature=iv). They are still in negotiations on who will be releasing it but I'm sure someone will put it out once the LCDs are ready. At 11:56 mins into that same link she discusses possibly selling the LCDs separate for swapping out of old netbooks.

There is another video where they mention that they plan on having the standard netbooks that are out today with their screens in it this year, next year they plan to have netbooks that are optimized for their screens to get more battery life (having more components go into sleep mode I believe) so you get more battery life. There is another thread on Pixel Qi that has all the vids, their a bit long but definitely worth checking out. Great tech coming down the line

[Shaggy]

True, but I believe what all that means is that they themselves are not going to be selling a consumer device directly. They are reliant on other companies to design/engineer/test a device before it is put into market. That takes time.

I'm sure there will be devices eventually, but the date for such is yet unknown.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by junkyardwillie

I agree. I got my Iliad because it was the largest reader available at the time, about 2 years ago. Its served me well and I use it all the time but the lack of ability to search and get to the correct page in a PDF as well as the time lag between switching docs makes me want to scream half the time.

This has been dramatically improved in the DR - it takes two stylus taps to switch between any two open documents - one tap to bring up the menu, and a second to tap the desired document in the "Task Manager" pane of the menu.

[junkyardwillie]

Originally Posted by HarryT

This has been dramatically improved in the DR - it takes two stylus taps to switch between any two open documents - one tap to bring up the menu, and a second to tap the desired document in the "Task Manager" pane of the menu.

You are correct, I checked out a couple of the youtube vids on it and it does seem better than the Iliad interface.