[My Personal] Review of DR800SG

[Mickey330]

Hi.

My initial thoughts on my brand-spanking-new IREX DR800SG...

Me likes!

As I said in my intro post to MobileRead, I got into e-readers due to Amazon’s Kindle advertising - but went with a Sony PRS600 instead for public library access. Then, when the PRS600 proved too difficult to use (the poor contrast was making my already dry eyes burn!), I took it back in exchange for a Sony PRS300. I was (am?) loving the PRS300 but, gosh darn it, I WANTED the PRS600 functions!!

Well, the DR800 is not exactly like the PRS600, but it’s close enough ... for me. First, the screen size! Look at my (admittedly poor cell phone camera) photo of the DR800 next to the PRS300. I’ve gotten the font size about the same (both are at medium). Not only is the DR800 just as clear and legible as the Sony, it’s HUGE! I don’t know if you can tell in the picture, but I have the same book open on the PRS300 as on the IREX. I get way more text - about three paragraphs more (27 lines versus 16, to be exact). All in crystal clear resolution ... in a package that is still easy to carry in my purse, backpack or hand.

The IREX also wins as far as being minimalist goes. The only thing other than the screen is the toggle switch on the left (which works a treat, by the way). There are no button, toggles, numbers, etc. to distract me from the text I am reading. I didn’t realize how much that was in the way before with the PRS300...

I’ve installed the folder hack (thanks to the folk who found it) and I’ve also installed Kolenka’s “CBT Upgrade.” Both of these changes are brilliant (and easy to do). With the folders, I have my books arranged by genre and so I mainly use the SD access icon. Kolenka’s hack is great because it moved the “Continue Reading” icon right to the front of the home page. Awesome!

Now, a brief confession here: I bought an e-reader to read [mostly] fiction books. I am retired, so I don’t work and, although I am going to school, I don’t mind carrying textbooks (it’s only for the next two years anyway). All my e-reader needs to do is make it easier for me to read books versus trying to carry around a heavy book - or a bunch of books. And, as a rule, I never write in my books, margins or otherwise.

All that to say, that yes, the IREX does not zoom on PDFs nor does it have the annotation functions. This is fine with me. If they eventually get upgraded into the DR800SG, that’s also fine. And, I have to admit I’d love to see a function so I can turn pages by swiping with the stylus versus aiming it at those little arrows ... I’d love to have a dictionary ... I’d love to have a “turn to page ##” function ... I’d love to have a 180 degree flip to put the toggle bar on the right ... etc.

Oh, and the included Neoprene case is really too small and what was IREX THINKing when they didn’t make it so the stylus docks into the device?!?

All quibbles. Because, overall, this thing does EXACTLY what I bought it for - to read books. It’s light and very portable with a huge (!) screen display.

So, although it’s not the best out there, nor the cheapest - I am thrilled. I said at the start ... ME LIKES!

Marilyn

P.S. Oh, and for any Sony/Overdrive employees: The DR800SG will allow you to put public library (ADE) ePub and PDF documents on the thing at the same time ... with either accessible at any time. So there!

P.P.S. The coolest thing is that my 79-year old mother wants to try out the PRS300 ... she thinks it’s cool that the 1500+ page Sherlock Holmes omnibus can fit into such an easy-to-carry device. Ain’t that neat?

[wallcraft]

Seems to be about 3x as much text per page on the 8" vs the 5" screen. The DR800SG is supposed to have a fast page turn. How are page turns compared to the PRS-300?

[Kolenka]

I can tell you this: the DR800SG beats the PRS-900 on some pages, and matches it on others.

[brs]

Originally Posted by Mickey330

Hi.

My initial thoughts on my brand-spanking-new IREX DR800SG...
...I’ve installed the folder hack (thanks to the folk who found it) and I’ve also installed Kolenka’s “CBT Upgrade.”...

I found the CTBPlus.zip "CBT Upgrade?" on this forum but have not yet installed it. I'm reading through the folder hack thread now (many pages). What I am hoping to find is a better way of navigating from within the PDF documents (ie. jump to a specific page).

[Kolenka]

CTBPlus is only for browsing the content (the homescreen, the file lists). The document viewer is a separate app that doesn't have source available. Nobody but iRex could really improve that if we wanted to. We can add new file format support, but that is about it.

Jumping to a specific page is supposed to arrive in the next firmware update, so that is a good sign.

[Mickey330]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

... The DR800SG is supposed to have a fast page turn. How are page turns compared to the PRS-300?

Using my mad, non-laboratory testing skillz, I can tell you that the DR800 is a bit faster than the PRS300.

In PDF (non flowed) documents, the DR800 is a clear winner over the PRS300, plus I can actually read the non-flowed PDF in the DR800. Yes, the book I was testing was a novel, with no pictures or anything, but it was still very readable. Oh, and I tested them with the same book.

For ePub, the DR800 is just a bit faster than the PRS300. The weird thing is, the IREX device would begin to refresh, then the PRS300 would start and then they would both display a new screen at almost the same time. At those times, the Sony was miliseconds behind the IREX.

So, overall - unscientifically speaking - the IREX is faster. But, the coolest part for me, a very speedy reader, is that I don't have to turn the pages as much. The bigger screen of the IREX makes it so much better while reading.

Marilyn

P.S. One other thing I forgot to mention in my "it'd be nice if the IREC had this list" is a clock. Anyone have any idea or urge to get a clock displayed in the bottom bar? I did the Russian hack on my Sony and now I find I really miss the display...

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by Mickey330

P.S. One other thing I forgot to mention in my "it'd be nice if the IREC had this list" is a clock. Anyone have any idea or urge to get a clock displayed in the bottom bar? I did the Russian hack on my Sony and now I find I really miss the display...

People have asked for this in the past. Keep in mind that one of the big advantages to eInk is the low power consumption because you only need power when you refresh. If you had a real time clock, then eInk would need to be constantly refreshing, which defeats the power savings. You can do something like put a clock on the bottom bar that only updates when you do a page turn, but then it wouldn't be very accurate, especially if you left the device sitting for awhile.

I think some people added a clock app to the DR1000, which would probably be fairly easy to port to the DR800 (if it doesn't already work).

[MobileTechReview]

I applied a popular firmware hack to my Sony PRS-505 that added the clock. Sure enough, the clock didn't update after I was done reading and if I turned it on again, it was still at the time I'd stopped reading (after a page turn it had the correct time again).

The nook has a little clock in the menu bar, but it doesn't refresh once the device falls asleep (screen saver) or is turned off. It updates only when on.

[Mickey330]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

...[snip] ... You can do something like put a clock on the bottom bar that only updates when you do a page turn, but then it wouldn't be very accurate, especially if you left the device sitting for awhile.

That's what the Russian "hack" to the Sonys did - you could set it up so the clock only updated when the screen refreshed.

And that's good enough for me. It was nice to know- while reading - that, "I've got 5 more minutes before I need to go do this."

Does anyone know how to make this happen? I know you said:

Originally Posted by Shaggy

I think some people added a clock app to the DR1000, which would probably be fairly easy to port to the DR800 (if it doesn't already work).

... but that is well out of my talent range for doing ... or even checking to see if it CAN be ported.

Thanks.

Marilyn

[Mackx]

Well, the clock application for the DR1000 is more a gimmick then a serious application. The R3.0 firmware for the DR800 has an ipc-call called: on_page_change, maybe that can be used to update a clock whenever a page is flipped. Although I did not dive into the details.