iRex Technologies files for Chapter 11

[deadite66]

such a shame i've been happy with my iliad as a book reader, its still going strong but the battery life is now getting short i was thinking about sending it off for a battery change but that won't happen now.

what are the favourite non irex eink book readers atm?

[orwell2k]

Originally Posted by deadite66

such a shame i've been happy with my iliad as a book reader, its still going strong but the battery life is now getting short i was thinking about sending it off for a battery change but that won't happen now.

what are the favourite non irex eink book readers atm?

Try PocketBook - they seem to be going strong with a number of device choices, all with a wide range of formats supported, including FB2, Mobi and ePub (DRM).

As for iRex, their devices were top-notch. I have a DR1000S and you can't get better for reading A4-formatted PDFs (i.e. standard work documents, etc.), plus the FBReader port offers support for several favourite formats, including FB2, Mobi and ePub.

Clearly their business acumen let them down - prices were always very high (my work bought the DR1000S for me, otherwise I may not have bought it myself), and people did have support complaints (although I had no complaints, but then I had no tech problems that needed support).

I hope iRex pulls through and at least keeps the European business going. I'm not being anti-American here, but us eBook fans outside of the US need some big, successful device providers to keep our options viable. If we had to rely on Sony and Amazon we would still be forced to buy devices on eBay and use vouchers or friends to buy eBooks.

Frankly, having providers like iRex, Hanlin, BeBook, PocketBook, and so on has meant there are decent alternative to having to buy, God forbid, a Kindle. The US market is obviously the big money-maker, but having a decent spread of non-US developers also means the rest of us are not completely overlooked.

And I hope iRex survives in some form because all those iLiad and DR owners may need some support in the coming years for their devices! The future will tell...

[EowynCarter]

rankly, having providers like iRex, Hanlin, BeBook, PocketBook, and so on has meant there are decent alternative to having to buy, God forbid, a Kindle. The US market is obviously the big money-maker, but having a decent spread of non-US developers also means the rest of us are not completely overlooked.

And bookeen

The iRex are a bit "unique", because of the wacom screen that are rarely fond elsewhere.
I was thinking of getting a 800, but i guess ePub annotation support will not come.

[markbot]

Anyone who hasn't bought a sony or amazon e-reader should be concerned about how long his/her product will be supported, and this goes for the nook as well.

[Spectrum]

Since they may fold up, they should free up the device so it can be modded to access wi-fi. I bought my 800SG few weeks ago. I plan to use it till it bites the dust.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by deadite66

such a shame i've been happy with my iliad as a book reader, its still going strong but the battery life is now getting short i was thinking about sending it off for a battery change but that won't happen now.

Look around on the iRex section of Mobileread. There are some old posts showing step by step how to open the case and replace the internal battery yourself. I think there are even links to places you can buy an equivalent battery online. Most people who do this are also upgrading the battery and putting in larger capacity ones.

[joblack]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

If you take the US price, convert it to Euros and then add in the high VAT and other fees that Europe typically has (which are included in the price), it actually comes out pretty close. Somebody went through the math in another post, I don't remember all the details though.

That's not true. At first you have to pay taxes in the US as well. Secondly even with the bad exchange rate 1 Euro ~ 1,20 USD it's too expensive in Europe. By the way - the plural of Euro is still Euro.

[Logseman]

Originally Posted by markbot

Anyone who hasn't bought a sony or amazon e-reader should be concerned about how long his/her product will be supported, and this goes for the nook as well.

As far as we know, the most popular Sony ereader (PRS-505) is discontinued and unsupported long ago. Ditto for the Kindle 1. Both devices are still not three years old.

[Mike_73]

Originally Posted by Spectrum

Since they may fold up, they should free up the device so it can be modded to access wi-fi. I bought my 800SG few weeks ago. I plan to use it till it bites the dust.

The company buying Irex (if there is any) would probably care about helping out. If Irex suspects to come out of this clean, they surely won't free up anything, and if they sink, I assume they wouldn't care less.

[luqmaninbmore]

Originally Posted by Logseman

As far as we know, the most popular Sony ereader (PRS-505) is discontinued and unsupported long ago. Ditto for the Kindle 1. Both devices are still not three years old.

They are still supported. You can still get repairs, replace batteries, and use them with full functionality. The Kindle 1 is supposed to eventually get a firmware update enabling collections. The Sony 500, even older than these two, recently received an update enabling the use of Epub and enhancing PDF support. There is no comparison to what will happen if iRex goes out of business.

Luqman

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by luqmaninbmore

The Sony 500, even older than these two, recently received an update enabling the use of Epub and enhancing PDF support.

Primarily because part of Sony's business model was in selling content, as well as devices. When they converted the majority of their content over to ePub, it made business sense to release a new firmware, even for their older devices that normally wouldn't get updates.

Any time you buy a product, especially consumer electronics, it's pretty much guaranteed that it's going to become obsolete at some point. I've been saying for a while that you should make sure that the product supports the features you need at the time of purchase. It's never a good idea to rely on promises of future enhancements from any company. Plans change, market focus shifts, companies go out of business, etc. That goes for companies like Amazon/Sony just as much as it does iRex.

[netseeker]

According to Financieele Dagblad and german Heise Online, the insolvency administrator said that iRex has liabilities of around ~5Mio EUR.
He also said that business will continue for now and that there is keen interest in iRex - especially from foreign countries. He is looking for investors now and seems to be optimistic about it.

Well, no surprise so far...he sounds like almost all insolvency administrators in the majority of such cases....

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by netseeker

Well, no surprise so far...he sounds like almost all insolvency administrators in the majority of such cases....

Exactly. He's not really going to say "They're doomed... now who wants to invest".

[Dulin's Books]

Most interested parties, come from abroad, says Kemp. Both the U.S. and Asian parties sign up. "It's a madhouse. More and more parties.

a bit of google translate there.

but if its true there are so many interested parties it makes me wonder why Irex wasn't reaching out sooner to form a partnership to keep them afloat.

[Fbone]

If I interpreted the translation correctly, there may have been an interested party last year but it fell through. It's usu cheaper to purchase during bankruptcy so the prospective suitor may have realized it wasnt an opportune moment yet. Why take on 5m euro debt if you can have the company for almost nothing.