Cybook,or BeBook?

[tompe]

Originally Posted by igorsk

Some points can be debated, but I'm curious about #5. How is BeBook "open, unlike the Sony readers or Kindle"? At least Sony and Amazon provide the Linux sources used in their readers. Where's Hanlin's source?

Yes, that is one reason I have not bought a Bebook yet. Otherwise it seems to do what I want much better than the Cybook.

[Greg Anos]

I have both liseuses now. (Got the Bebook a couple of days ago.) Here's my short comparison. -

First, neither of them meet my Gold Standard for ebook readers, which is mu-book on Win CE. It reads lots of formats and reads them well. I'm giving the list of the warts for each.

Navigation.

Bebook - Folders! loaded 1 GB of e-books onto a SD chip. Could scan thru list of folders, the go into folder to andother folder and another folder to start reading my book. No extra slowdown for large library.

Cybook - No folders. Twenty titles a screen. Not so good for a 1000+ title library.


Fonts - Cybook has more size flexibility than Bebook. Both allow adding new fonts.

Case - Cybook has the best case of any liseuse I've seen. However, the Bebook's case is not bad.

Ergonomics - Bebook is a better design for lefties. (I'm a righty myself)


Firmware -

Bebook - checked out my standard formats, which are HTML, RTF, unencrypted MOBI, and TXT.

HTML - 1. No internal hyperlink support. In other words, you can't use the TOC links. No so bad if your reading a novel, but a real pain for a collection of short stories. Can't jump to the one you want.

2. Paragraph support. Call me a old reactionary, but all p-book are printed with a next line/indent style. Most HTML e-books are stored in a skip line/no indent format. My Gold Standard software automatically converted the skip/no indent to no skip/indent. The Bebook does not. It rather spoils the reading experience for me.


RTF - 1. No picture support. This is not just for covers. Some books use images as plot items - maps, ect. It spoils the reading process not to be able to see what the charaters are talking about a crucial times. (A workaround for this it to convert back to .doc (Microsoft Word) files. I don't want to go from a less propriatary format to a more propriatary format. But Orwell2k)

2. Hyphenation. The justification/hypenation is bothersome. The justification does not follow the English rules for hyphenation, and will also hyphenate the last word on a page, which is a real pain while waiting for the page turn to complete. I'd rather have a ragged edge than bad hyphenation.


TXT - Has the same hard line break problem that every other liseuse has.


Mobi - No title jump (like HTML). No external style overrides. If you want paragraph indents, they must be embedded in the e-book. (Some do, some don't) Lousy text justification, sometimes spread all over the screen, sometimes the text overlaps. (This is with the most recent firmware.)


Cybook -

HTML - No external file calls. Must be a single file HTML. (I've never bothered to test a file internal hypertext jump.) Sometime get lost in shifting in and out of italics. Very rudimentry.

RTF - No support.

TXT - Same limits as Bebook.

Mobi - Handles very well. (MOBI is the main supported format of the reader.) Handles hyperlink jumps easily. provide external paragraph, font size, and other overrides. Exceeds my Gold Standard for format. Drawback - propriatary format.


There's my quickie comparison. Neither one gives me the experience I want. Both have provided a series of firmware fixes, but not to the level I want. The first one to get there gets my recommendation. So far, no recommedation for either.

[zelda_pinwheel]

thanks Ralph Sir Edward for this review. interesting to see how the two compare. i'm quite interested in seeing how the Bebook evolves, as others have mentioned they seem to be working actively on improving the fw, as is Bookeen. so things could change soon.

[ProDigit]

You say the bebook has less flexibility in fonts, do you mean with that that you would prefer the bebook to have larger or smaller fonts, or do you mean it doesn't have bold or italic or underscore, or you mean the font type?

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

You say the bebook has less flexibility in fonts, do you mean with that that you would prefer the bebook to have larger or smaller fonts, or do you mean it doesn't have bold or italic or underscore, or you mean the font type?

I meant in size of font, my bad. The cybook allows 12 different font sizes, while the Bebook allows 3 different. I find that the 3 diferent sizes are adequate for me, but others might prefer the greater flexibility of more font sizes. Both allow the importation of new fonts. Bold, itialic, and underscore are usually part of the individual format inplementation (HTML, RTF, ect.).

[cbell]

The HanLin V3 supports hyperlinks in Mobi, so I expect the BeBook will.

When the book's open, click on the OK button and select "6. Follow link". This will add a number to each hyperlink and you select the number to follow the link.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by cbell

The HanLin V3 supports hyperlinks in Mobi, so I expect the BeBook will.

When the book's open, click on the OK button and select "6. Follow link". This will add a number to each hyperlink and you select the number to follow the link.

Sorry, yes it does. I didn't see that in the instructions, and it was not intuitive.

[lunohod]

Originally Posted by T-bag

Why Bebook ! check it out !

5. It's open，unlike the Sony readers or Kindle.

BeBook(and other Hanlin clones) is not open. Their firmware(made by Jinke) is a proprietary shit. It is based on linux, but they do not give you any sources(GPL violation!). You cannot fix their stupid bugs and your V3 will keep freezing and rebooting forever.
In fact, you can write a new application or another viewer plugin, but it is almost impossible to use them. You cannot change the bookshelf in order to recognize a new file format and start your new plugin when you open that file. The possibility to run new programs from the bookshelf is inexistent.

You can't call it open.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by lunohod

In fact, you can write a new application or another viewer plugin, but it is almost impossible to use them. You cannot change the bookshelf in order to recognize a new file format and start your new plugin when you open that file.

It is very strange to have a SDK and then not allow the software to be deployed. I was surprised that BeBook do not seem to mind folk running alternative firmware on their device. Amazon is presumably releasing all the source code it needs to, but they are never going to make it easy to run 3rd party firmware on the Kindle.

[ProDigit]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

I meant in size of font, my bad. The cybook allows 12 different font sizes, while the Bebook allows 3 different. I find that the 3 diferent sizes are adequate for me, but others might prefer the greater flexibility of more font sizes. Both allow the importation of new fonts. Bold, itialic, and underscore are usually part of the individual format inplementation (HTML, RTF, ect.).

Say you have very good or very bad eyes, and you prefer the font to be larger or smaller than the default font sizes.
Can you install or mod / edit the default fontsizes inside the device's firmware or something?

I mean even when installing a font that's just smaller in size, or larger for easier reading, can it be done on the BeBook?

If it can, then I don't really see any reason why the reader is not flexible enough concearning fonts.
Generally a device is only used between one and 2 users. If each of them has a favorite size for reading books, (say: 14 and 32pt) then you still have one size left to choose from (eg: 24pt).

Normally people who prefer a fonttype, will not often change it (or so I believe), unless the book's formatting is lousy and you need another size for better reading.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

Say you have very good or very bad eyes, and you prefer the font to be larger or smaller than the default font sizes.
Can you install or mod / edit the default fontsizes inside the device's firmware or something?

I mean even when installing a font that's just smaller in size, or larger for easier reading, can it be done on the BeBook?

If it can, then I don't really see any reason why the reader is not flexible enough concearning fonts.
Generally a device is only used between one and 2 users. If each of them has a favorite size for reading books, (say: 14 and 32pt) then you still have one size left to choose from (eg: 24pt).

Normally people who prefer a fonttype, will not often change it (or so I believe), unless the book's formatting is lousy and you need another size for better reading.

Sorry, I didn't look under the hood (so to speak). There are three sizes regular, large, and extra large. I don't know if you can fiddle with the font size of the regular font. Please, this was just a quickie comparison from a non-technical user's perspective... (Personally, I follow the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid (referring to myself, of course)) with consumer electronics. I use the defaults, unless they are very simple to change. That way, if the device croaks, I don't have to go thru the frustration/learning curve all over again. But each to their own.)

[Marcela]

Hi, I have been following this thread closely, cause I'm trying to decide myself to go with either the cybook or the EZReader (american name for the V3). Is the Bebook the same as the V3? or is there significant difference between them?

[HarryT]

It's the same.