Just bought the Iriver Story - impressions

[melmike]

Yes, thank you for the Sort Order option...I feel foolish for not having discovered it but I guess that's what these forums are for! It was a pain having to click through to the book I was reading!

[ischeriad]

You are welcome .

[MacEachaidh]

Originally Posted by ischeriad

MacEachaidh, this sounds like you are experiencing dithering on text? I had the impression dithering only concerns images/pictures. Dithering seems best for photos while diagrams look better without most of the time. In some books, I toggle a lot.

Hi ischeriad,
You're correct, in the sense that the term "dithering" is usually only used in relation to bit-mapped graphics -- though technically it also applies to generated and recorded sound as well. The term usually applied to text is "anti-aliasing", which is basically the same idea, but applied to the edges of curves and lines rather than areas of shade or colour. iRiver confirmed that the term "Dithering" on the options menu referred to text display; since text on an e-Ink display is bitmapped rather than anti-aliased vector graphics, it's probably the right terminology for them to use.

I understand what you say about diagrams: curves and diagonals, in particular, don't fare very well when bitmapped. In application, I guess it's a matter of personal taste; since I use my Story almost exclusively for text-only documents, I prefer the dithering switched on.

[gjjh25]

I have just bought the new wifi version and am really pleased with it. It also comes with a good slip cover case for it too.

[MacEachaidh]

Where are you, gjjh25? I've read of the Wi-Fi version being available in the UK, and being hard-wired to WH Smith's, but I haven't yet heard of it anywhere else.

I'm a bit jealous of the increased grey-scales of the screen on the new one, but I didn't know it comes with a cover. Now I am jealous! The first model definitely should have come with a cover as well. The distributors of the Story here in Australia are asking nearly $60 for one of the "official" iRiver covers, which is really just a plastic slip held closed by a rubber band. That's an outrageous price, I think. There were a few other options available through 3rd-party companies, but they all seems to have been discontinued. I'm guessing the Story hasn't been a hit.

[melmike]

Don't Kindle covers fit the Story?

[MacEachaidh]

They don't actually fit, no. Bummer, eh?

[gjjh25]

I am in the uk. Yes the 16 grey scale makes a difference especially for pdf pictures etc.

[MacEachaidh]

The 16-grey scale model will apparently be released in Australia later this year.

But there's no upgrade path, of course - it'd mean buying a whole new device.

If I were going to buy that, I think I'd reconsider the Kindle more heavily this time round - especially the new Graphite model. The real drawback is that it's still firmly mired in a proprietary format tangle. Oh, and I'm honestly not all that interested in paying for wireless connectivity in an e.reader device - whether Kindle or iRiver. I'm quite happy to do my buying on my PC, where I can archive the files, and copy them across via USB.

But I would like a higher-spec screen. ->sigh!!<-

[melmike]

I'm with you on all those points. Would never buy a Kindle as long as it's Amazon only. What about Bebook?

[MacEachaidh]

Hi melmike.

I haven't set eyes on a BeBook, so I don't feel I can really judge it. In deciding what to buy, I tended to discount devices that I couldn't find a distributor for here in Oz. I know that cut out a fair number of options, but I've bought stuff from overseas before and ... well, anything can be faulty, and if it turns out to be, not having local support gets really expensive.

Anyway. My first two thoughts about the BeBook: it's pretty expensive (the website lists the cheapest model as AUD $499), and it's a bit small. I have very big hands, and while I understand the reason for people wanting things smaller, it kinda drives me nuts if things are too small for me, and it makes my hands cramp. The BeBook One doesn't have much frame space to let you hold the thing without getting fingers on the screen or pressing buttons accidentally. (Oh, and it doesn't support DRM-enabled MOBI format, so Amazon books are out.)

Apparently the BeBook is a revamped version of the Hanlin e.reader, so that might be another option too. I found an interesting website at www.best-ereaders.com, which has reasonable reviews.

Something I found out yesterday, which I didn't mention because I wasn't sure if it was announced yet or not, is that iRiver will be releasing two very different models in October here in Oz: a wireless version virtually identical to the existing Story (other than the increased colour resolution in the screen), which apparently will be similarly hard-wired into WH Smith's like the UK version (hasn't WH Smith already had a shot at the book market in OZ, and slunk off with its tail between its legs? I guess it's having another try), and a very different version with a touch-screen (you can see it here. Another iRiver-specific site. Can't be too many, as far as I'm concerned!)

Oh, and I got confirmation that the newer version of the firmware written for the new wireless model will be released for updating the original model as well, though I guess how much it improves the OS (as opposed to just supporting the wireless functions) remains to be seen.

[James_Wilde]

Originally Posted by wowen

That is intentional. Think of bookmarks as little tabs you've added to the book so you can review them all later rather than a single bookmark of your progress. It does remember which page you are up to automatically on any book you open, and you can get your most recent book by pressing MENU -> UP -> ENTER.... but again clumsy and it should just default to a menu item for "Open most recent book" on turning on with a list of the 5/6 most recent books opened below it in my view.

Ah! I've been using bookmarks to remember where I am. Before I turn off the Story I bookmark my place. When I switch on I've backed up to the top menu, found Bookmarks and chosen my place, then, when I get there, I've removed the bookmark. Now I know it goes back to the old place, I'll stop. Thanks for the tip.

Originally Posted by wowen

Everything in the books folder is my tactic (I've given up using the SD card now and decided to put all in its internal memory - so much for my plan of having all my books on an SD card for portability between multiple ereaders/tablets when they drop sufficiently in price).

Just a thought. This machine runs linux. Has anyone thought of making the root of the SD card a symlink under the Books folder? I would, but I haven't a SD card lying around, and I've still got about 1,75 GB of the base memory available.

[James_Wilde]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

They don't actually fit, no. Bummer, eh?

No they don't, but from what I've seen elsewhere, can't remember where, they're a pretty good fit, just a few millimetres wider or something. I was thinking of going this route if I can't persuade my wife to sew me one!

That is the covers are a few millimetres wider than the Story. The reverse would be untenable of course!

[MacEachaidh]

James, in the book menu, you can also hit the "Option" button and change the Sort Order from the context menu. If you choose the "Most recent" option, the menu lists your most-recently-accessed book at the top, the second-most next, and so on down the list.

Just a thought. This machine runs linux. Has anyone thought of making the root of the SD card a symlink under the Books folder? I would, but I haven't a SD card lying around, and I've still got about 1,75 GB of the base memory available.

I don't know Linux, so I certainly haven't. But if anyone does, I'd be very interested to hear how.

[MacEachaidh]

Originally Posted by James_Wilde

No they don't, but from what I've seen elsewhere, can't remember where, they're a pretty good fit, just a few millimetres wider or something. I was thinking of going this route if I can't persuade my wife to sew me one!

That is the covers are a few millimetres wider than the Story. The reverse would be untenable of course!

You're right. And I've come across a few vendors on ebay selling covers that were designed for the Kindle2 as covers for the iRiver (they've got the same serial numbers as the ones being sold to Kindle customers in the same ebay shop). So the device presumably physically fits into the covers, but what I was meaning is that the opening ports on the covers aren't in the correct positions for the Story the way the custom-designed ones by the company Tuf-Luv, for instance, are. Depending on the model, you might have to remove the device from the cover to plug io the headphones or USB cable, as an example.