Cybook Muse Frontlight - first thoughts

crAss · 05-17-2016, 10:18 AM

2008 was coming to an end the first Kindle had created media fuss over the electronic book and I had yet once again been looking for a book in Japan because I had finished what I had brought with me from home. For short trips the books I carried were comparable to the rest of my luggage. So, I thought, maybe I should give it a go and try an electronic one...just as a traveling companion...the feel and the smell of paper I could never live without I said...
After some looking around I got the Bookeen Cybook Gen3, started using it for trips and was so happy that after 6 months I read electronically books I had bought in paper...
Throughout these years I read hundreds of books in the ebook reader and did just that. Get the book in the pc, convert it if needed and then copy/paste it in the ebook reader.
Apart from a battery change the biggest trouble I faced was the ON/OFF switch that broke about 3 years ago. A friend of mine with a steady hand and good at soldering replaced on the PCB the ON/OFF switch with one of the never used switches on the side of the ebook reader.
Currently cybook gen 3 is still operational, but needs a new battery...and also the leather cover is so beaten up after traveling all around the globe. Since I could not easily source a replacement battery through ebay, I thought why not to get a new device...my loyal ebook reader was my longest daily operating electronic device to date.
So, I decided in the end to buy a cybook yet again...and I wrote all of this just to make you understand better my point of view and how I will comment on the new device.

The new one is the Bookeen Cybook Muse Frontlight. The first amazing impression was how smaller it is in its case than the previous device. I know some of it is attributed to the case, but nevertheless it is considerably more compact still featuring a 6-inch screen.
The software, as I had read, is a bit on the peculiar side. Some options are not where you expect them to be and you have to go searching around to get to it. Still, after 10-15 minutes of fooling around the menus, you know where everything is.
It indeed needs 4 taps on the screen to make a bookmark...in Gen3 I needed 5 clicks to get there. They could add a shortcut when you press the middle button so it gets down to 2.
For loading up books I really wanted it to be as simple as copy/paste and this is the case. You can just create a folder when connected to the pc, put the ebooks there and then navigate through folder view to it. Easy and it works. Calibre also supports it, so things can be really straight forward.
PDF support...oh well...at least now it has Adobe Reader installed. It is much better than before and the reflow works well with text. BUT do not expect to be able to reflow well scientific articles with many equations and figures. It's better than before but still not usable (to be honest I would rarely read scientific pdfs on a 6 inch screen).
Now the frontlight...at last I do not need a lamp by my bed or to turn on the overhead light in airplanes. The hue is blueish in darkness though, which I don't really like; I would prefer a warmer yellow hue...anyway I set it to the point it makes the text readable (around 1/4) and have no trouble. The lighting is uniform around the screen. I do not use the front light during the day.
The new font (Caecilia) is really good and I enjoy it. The carta screen is also great.
I also enjoy a lot the physical buttons of the device.
The dictionaries are there (English language as well), and are working as they should.
All in all, I am very happy with it and to be honest the only thing I would like to see in a firmware update is a faster option for bookmarks.
Finally the price is 109.90 € making it also cheaper than the competition.

Closing this post I would like to note that I would have liked some sort of magnetic closing of the leather case and a bit more protection at the edges, should it drops to the ground.

Verdict: Very Happy!!!

crAss · 05-28-2016, 01:04 PM

A small but important addition.
There are already existing touch shortcuts in the interface. The most important is the bookmark one. You can add one bookmark easily by just pressing on the upper right corner. Doing so when a bookmark already exists, just removes it. So, my only concern with the device is solved...

EowynCarter · 05-29-2016, 03:44 AM

Whoo, from Gen 3 to Muse, that's a jump

Love my muse too.

JSWolf · 05-29-2016, 04:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crAss

A small but important addition.
There are already existing touch shortcuts in the interface. The most important is the bookmark one. You can add one bookmark easily by just pressing on the upper right corner. Doing so when a bookmark already exists, just removes it. So, my only concern with the device is solved...

That's how they all do it.

05-17-2016, 10:18 AM	#1
crAss Connoisseur Posts: 68 Karma: 20 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Athens, Greece Device: Cybook Gen3	Cybook Muse Frontlight - first thoughts 2008 was coming to an end the first Kindle had created media fuss over the electronic book and I had yet once again been looking for a book in Japan because I had finished what I had brought with me from home. For short trips the books I carried were comparable to the rest of my luggage. So, I thought, maybe I should give it a go and try an electronic one...just as a traveling companion...the feel and the smell of paper I could never live without I said... After some looking around I got the Bookeen Cybook Gen3, started using it for trips and was so happy that after 6 months I read electronically books I had bought in paper... Throughout these years I read hundreds of books in the ebook reader and did just that. Get the book in the pc, convert it if needed and then copy/paste it in the ebook reader. Apart from a battery change the biggest trouble I faced was the ON/OFF switch that broke about 3 years ago. A friend of mine with a steady hand and good at soldering replaced on the PCB the ON/OFF switch with one of the never used switches on the side of the ebook reader. Currently cybook gen 3 is still operational, but needs a new battery...and also the leather cover is so beaten up after traveling all around the globe. Since I could not easily source a replacement battery through ebay, I thought why not to get a new device...my loyal ebook reader was my longest daily operating electronic device to date. So, I decided in the end to buy a cybook yet again...and I wrote all of this just to make you understand better my point of view and how I will comment on the new device. The new one is the Bookeen Cybook Muse Frontlight. The first amazing impression was how smaller it is in its case than the previous device. I know some of it is attributed to the case, but nevertheless it is considerably more compact still featuring a 6-inch screen. The software, as I had read, is a bit on the peculiar side. Some options are not where you expect them to be and you have to go searching around to get to it. Still, after 10-15 minutes of fooling around the menus, you know where everything is. It indeed needs 4 taps on the screen to make a bookmark...in Gen3 I needed 5 clicks to get there. They could add a shortcut when you press the middle button so it gets down to 2. For loading up books I really wanted it to be as simple as copy/paste and this is the case. You can just create a folder when connected to the pc, put the ebooks there and then navigate through folder view to it. Easy and it works. Calibre also supports it, so things can be really straight forward. PDF support...oh well...at least now it has Adobe Reader installed. It is much better than before and the reflow works well with text. BUT do not expect to be able to reflow well scientific articles with many equations and figures. It's better than before but still not usable (to be honest I would rarely read scientific pdfs on a 6 inch screen). Now the frontlight...at last I do not need a lamp by my bed or to turn on the overhead light in airplanes. The hue is blueish in darkness though, which I don't really like; I would prefer a warmer yellow hue...anyway I set it to the point it makes the text readable (around 1/4) and have no trouble. The lighting is uniform around the screen. I do not use the front light during the day. The new font (Caecilia) is really good and I enjoy it. The carta screen is also great. I also enjoy a lot the physical buttons of the device. The dictionaries are there (English language as well), and are working as they should. All in all, I am very happy with it and to be honest the only thing I would like to see in a firmware update is a faster option for bookmarks. Finally the price is 109.90 € making it also cheaper than the competition. Closing this post I would like to note that I would have liked some sort of magnetic closing of the leather case and a bit more protection at the edges, should it drops to the ground. Verdict: Very Happy!!!

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05-28-2016, 01:04 PM	#2
crAss Connoisseur Posts: 68 Karma: 20 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Athens, Greece Device: Cybook Gen3	A small but important addition. There are already existing touch shortcuts in the interface. The most important is the bookmark one. You can add one bookmark easily by just pressing on the upper right corner. Doing so when a bookmark already exists, just removes it. So, my only concern with the device is solved...

05-29-2016, 03:44 AM	#3
EowynCarter Wizard Posts: 4,332 Karma: 4000000 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Paris Device: Cybooks; Sony PRS-T1	Whoo, from Gen 3 to Muse, that's a jump Love my muse too.

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