Your thoughts on the Cybook Gen3/Opus

Hobohodou · 10-25-2009, 05:07 PM

Hmm, I can't think of a good title for this thread...

The general idea of this is to pinpoint what it is that you like or dislike about your device/bookeen...especially as there sure seems to be a rather negative view of bookeen on the forums...

FIRSTLY~ let's not let this get out of hand...try and keep the silly arguments for elsewhere, I'd like this thread to simply be what you like about the device, do you like the hardware and the device yourself? Is it the software that you dislike? Is it a case that you love the hardware, don't mind the software/firmware but simply hate bookeen's service..

If there, is something that annoys you about the cybook/firmware/bookeen...explain in detail why it's such a pain for you, maybe that way others may be able to understand why you feel this way

After all...in the end, maybe we can all hold hands in a circle and dance happily, huh? \^^/

I'd also really like to see what people used to use before e-readers or before the cybook, so that maybe people can remember how convenient these devices are

by now, people probably already think i'm insane, and love bookeen, well, i'm not...So my thoughts are below, i'd love for people to give an in depth posts about these things..

What I love about the device :

The hardware, the size and the weight
...Below i'll attach an image showing why, before getting the cybook, i used to read on a 15.4" laptop...now that's pretty big and heavy...one day I got my Dell XPS M1210, which to me was a blessing, for around 6 months i used it to read everyday on the bus with an extended battery and cdisplay (the best image viewer EVER). Now there's a comparison image here with everything for me, Including a DVD and a standard volume of manga...Now I read around 5 volumes on average a day...which can be quite a pain....espcially if I have to carry them around, also the M1210 is heavy
At least now i have a much lighter load

To be fair, I love the device itself, considering it's not really made by bookeen and is really made by netronix, I love those guys for the nice design...It's not full of too many features as well..

THINGS I HATE

Ah, To read anything on the cybook, I have to start out with an annoying conversion process, sometimes renaming every image...Converting them all to RGB, resizing and finally making a PDF of them (just so it'll save my position)
now with my laptop, I can just add a .zip/.rar or even just a directory, read and continue reading when I restart easily...

Navigation, it's nice, but if i have many series, I have to wait for each page to load and make thumbnails, if I have multiple series'...then i have to move past them all to get to the other..
Next firmware update I hear has folder view, so...looking forward to it...

things that don't bother me

E-book format support
waiting time for new firmware

It'd be nice if we could get everyone's opinions of their devices and find out just what it is that makes some people dislike bookeen/the cybook so much...

EDIT : I also know that there's a similar thread for the cybook gen3, But i'd really love this to be a thread for both, and I'd like to provoke a little more thought into why you feel this way, thank-you for having me !

rireed3 · 10-25-2009, 06:12 PM

Gen3. I have a new choice, BeBook, if I give up on Bookeen.

I think I like (don't have enough money for lots of comparisons):

The hardware works. No fading in sunlight.

The software, such as it is, works and doesn't get in my way. I get along without much freezing. It has zoom and deals ok with PDF in landscape.

What I don't like:

I'm a little worried about fragility -- E-Ink screens break if twisted, and Gen3 is too thin to resist twisting. I had to build my own cover to save £20.

Software is outdated. DRM isn't going away soon and the world, especially in Europe is going epub for DRM. The lack of directory support is becoming inconvenient. Reports of Opus epub firmware not supporting multi-level Table of Contents are discouraging.

Bookeen has shown either inability or no desire for communication with customers. In my view they have lied to Gen3 owners about an epub upgrade to keep them from buying other machines and dumping Gen3 on auction sites. This and the silence lead me to believe that Bookeen is in some kind of legal or financial bind, as no trouble-free business would behave in this manner. BeBook came out with separate epub and Mobipocket firmwares eight months ago. Bookeen gave out a beta of theirs 4 months ago in Paris, so the problem cannot be technical.

Richard

MichaelGade · 10-25-2009, 06:26 PM

Before I begin, let me just say that I love my CyBook. I love to read, and I read a lot. But reading on a backlit screen for more than a couple of hours gives me a splitting headache.

Quote:

To read anything on the cybook, I have to start out with an annoying conversion process, sometimes renaming every image...Converting them all to RGB, resizing and finally making a PDF of them (just so it'll save my position)

Dude, you are missing the point.

First off, a comic is not a book. So reading comics on a dedicated book reader is not a good idea. (You can do it, it's just not a good idea).

Second. (and dont flame me for this) PDF is not ebook. Never has been, never will be (and i dont care what Adobe says). PDF is a format for moving preformatted pages between computers. Adobe tries to "fix" this fact with "reflowable" PDF's, but you still cant make it reflow across pages.

What I love:
The weight. I can read this with one hand for hours with no problems.
Fonts. This is a big plus. I can use ANY font I want. 10 thumbs up.

What I hate:
The lack of ePub support. Especially when this page
http://bookeen.com/specs/ebook-CybookGen3.aspx
claims that : ePUB support can be available via firmware upgrade.
Thats a lie, no let me rephrase that. That's a DAMN lie. (and where I live, lying about features gives the buyer the right to cancel the purchase, no questions asked).
I bought this device for the ePub support, but I guess the jokes on me for believing what they tell me. (and not checking with a third party before handing out cash).

The "Stonewall" treatment.
Nobody can get any response out of Bookeen. Comments on the "official" blog are moderated, and any comment they dont like is just not published.

Their "FAQ".
Come on... Nobody EVER asked those questions. So it's not really a FAQ, its a list of questions they WISH people would ask, because then they can brag about how wonderful everything is.

The lack of "Folders"
Finding anything on the device becomes boring really fast.

Things that don't bother me
DRM. I refuse to ever own a book that is dumbed down.
PDF. See above.
Adobe. There is no such thing as Adobe ePub. There is Adobe, and there is ePub. And if you believe that Adobe ePub is a good idea. Take a good hard look at Microsoft XML (its not XML).

I even suggested that they release a firmware without any DRM support. (I would PAY for such a thing). It should be no surprise that I got the "Stonewall".

They say that hell has British cooks, German lovers, Italian police and French government.
They may be right.

rireed3 · 10-25-2009, 06:39 PM

Quote:

They say that hell has British cooks, German lovers, Italian police and French government.
They may be right.

...and American news media

Adobe: I can't buy nearly as many books as I want unless I either strip ADE or use an ADE registered device. That's what I meant by the world going epub for DRM -- Adobe picked epub, and all the sellers here use ADE. After the "1984" debacle, I'll never buy a Kindle -- rather go back to paper.

Richard

Hobohodou · 10-25-2009, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelGade

Dude, you are missing the point.

First off, a comic is not a book. So reading comics on a dedicated book reader is not a good idea. (You can do it, it's just not a good idea).

Second. (and dont flame me for this) PDF is not ebook. Never has been, never will be (and i dont care what Adobe says). PDF is a format for moving preformatted pages between computers. Adobe tries to "fix" this fact with "reflowable" PDF's, but you still cant make it reflow across pages.

Thanks so far for moving this thread the right way by explaining why you like things and why you don't :]

Yeah, i know it's not a format for reading on an e-reader, but it supports JPG and other image files, which most scantlations (read : all apart from one group's) are released in..
To me, they're not comics, they're proper print media released in black and white, with the same price point as a book, and printed mostly on the same paper...
EDIT : also, I guess, the reason I also bought this, even as described above, is...I'm confident that i'd make it work, the conversion process can be a pain...But mostly it's easy (just gets awkward when everything in a volume for every chapter is named page 1-20...=/)

As far as i'm concerned, the device is not just a portable book reader (it even supports audio files, i can see the point, but i ignore it). It's a portable image viewer, and a LOT better than a laptop (see above images)
This is a plus for many fans of manga...what's better than a small portable device capable of letting you read outside? (especially for many series' not released in the west and not available in your regions)..
I also see most readers also, while not explicitly marketed as being marketed for this, being some peoples main use of one

Finally PDF, before using the device, I had only used it, and I only used it for it's true purpose, printing...
It just so happens this seems to be the best way for me to read my media on the device =O !

But once more, thanks for your input !

user_none · 10-25-2009, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hobohodou

Ah, To read anything on the cybook, I have to start out with an annoying conversion process, sometimes renaming every image...Converting them all to RGB, resizing and finally making a PDF of them ...

calibre supports cbr and cbz input for converting comics. It has a number of options for transformations and if you use the cybook profile will size the images in the PDF output to the size of the Cybook's screen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hobohodou

Navigation, it's nice, but if i have many series, I have to wait for each page to load and make thumbnails, if I have multiple series'...then i have to move past them all to get to the other..

Another useful feature of calibre is it will generate the thumbnails using your computer when using send to device. This way you don't have to wait for the Cybook to generate them. The Cybook's cpu is no where near as fast as your computer.

Like
1) Size.
2) Weight.
3) Screen clarity. It has one of the whitest screens which I prefer.
4) Battery life. I can go a week without charging and I read anywhere from 2 - 6 hours a day.

Hate
1) Cheaply made. The battery cover has broken once and it feels like it will break just by holding it.
2) Lack of many cheap accessories. I made my own cover because I was afraid of breaking it.
3) It freezes all the time. Hard lock up that requires the reset button on the back to be pressed.
4) Takes forever to turn on. I have to power it off after each use otherwise the freezing issue is worse.

Don't care
1) Folder support
2) Format support. calibre solves this for me and if I run into conversion issues I fix them.

pieter · 10-26-2009, 10:53 AM

What I really like about the Cybook Gen3:
The hardware.
The device itself is just a very cool piece of equipment. It has a certain retro-technology thing going imo. People with iPhones and other gadgets don't really know how to respond to a stylish leather (fake, but who cares) bound grey screen, that only displays letters.
It feels perfect in the hand when reading on it. Weight is good.
And I love the fact that I hardly ever need to charge it. I charge more by having it hooked up by usb because I want to put a book on it, than I actually hook it up just to charge it.

What I don't like:
The Software
The whole setup of the software on the device and how different formats interact with the device is just as retro as it's looks.
The reason it gets charged more while I'm putting books on it, is because hardly ever am I pleased with how a book looks on the device. Reformating or changing the ebooks format hardly works satisfactory, with font sizes randomly seeming to get messed up, page endings acting weird, and paragraphs getting lost. In my experience there has always been a big difference between ebook intended for the device and those converted for it.
In the first months I found it a fun challenge to get my favorite books, pdf's and comic books converted onto the device, but nowadays I find it a very tedious and slow process with a barely satisfactory result.
Also my Cybook crashes at least once a week, which does not help the overall user experience of it.
Now with epub becoming the defacto standard in Europe, and the device unable to read epub files, the overall feeling of retro software is only getting bigger.

Next to the software my other little "hate" about the Cybook is it's company. They seem as ancient and archaic as it's software. Impossible to reach with questions which they don't like answering, and unable to deliver even on their simplest of promises concerning firmware updates. Two of my questions on their blog have been censored without any reason given.
They come across as a company that isn't coping and that will fail sooner or later, making me unsure if I'd like to stay with this sinking ship, or start already to convert my ebook collection to the epub format and just buy a less "retro" machine.

GeoffC · 10-26-2009, 11:20 AM

I have a Gen3.

I like
It is stable - no resets in over a year.
Lets me read a variety of mobi/prc books, no problem.
Dictionary support is adequate, though a little slow and slightly cumbersome when I get more than one 'hit'.

Dislikes
Library navigation.

Likes significantly outway the dislikes - I would get another one if I needed another reader or a replacement .....

delphidb96 · 10-26-2009, 02:20 PM

Likes:

Good battery life. After over two years of constant use, haven't had the contrast-dimming we have experienced with our older Sony PRS-500. Can read DRM'd and non-DRM'd mobi/prc ebooks. Light weight, placement of navigation controls. Ability to choose a wide range of fonts and font sizes.

Dislikes:

No epub support. (No, having a few select people get epub upgrades does NOT qualify as 'epub support'!) No multi-file HTML support. No folder navigation of library. (Again no, having a few select people get folder navigation does NOT qualify as 'folder navigation'!) No adequate support for older releases for greater-than-2GB SD cards - although, given the totally CRAPPY folder navigation, this might actually qualify as a blessing!

CRAPPY softcover case which is falling apart!

Don't Cares:

Can't think of anything.

Derek

Greg Anos · 10-26-2009, 03:28 PM

I own both a Gen 3 and a Bebook. I purchased the Gen3 first, and relegated it to dust-gatherer status. Why.

1. I don't buy DRM'ed files, so DRM'ed file performance doesn't matter to me. With the Gen3, nothing else works particularly well other than Mobi/PRC files. Most of my files are either RTF or HTML. Gen3 can't handle RTF at all, and handles HTML poorly. Bebook can handle both.

2. No folders, or equivalent file organization feature. The real power of an e-book reader is in the availability of large numbers of books on the device. I keep over 1000 books on my Bebook. That would be hopeless on a Gen3.

3. Typo editing. I can't edit PRC files as easily as I can RTF or HTML. I run windows as my computer operating system, so I have notepad and wordpad always available (on any windows machine) to fix typos with. I hate typos, and tend to run my e-books through spell checkers before I read them.

4. I have a choice of system firmware on the BEbook. I can run the native operating system, or I can run the open source operating system OpenInkPot (which I do because I prefer it's performance). I have no choice on the Gen3.

On the other hand...

1. Gen 3 looks spiffier. The Bebook has a old industrial look about it.

2. Both have deluxe covers for sale, which hide the look of the readers anyway. The gen3 has a better cover, but the Bebook's is not too far behind.

In the end, I went with the one that works with my files. That was the Bebook....

AnemicOak · 10-26-2009, 03:39 PM

I've got an Opus...

Likes...
ePub's display very nice. Pays attention to the individual files justification settings. They made ADE's side margin page numbers very small and very light so they're very unobtrusive compared to other ePub readers.

Folders. Absolutely love the organization folders give me.

Ultralight and super portable.

Dislikes...
It tends to freeze/lockup randomly requiring the device to be reset.

Bookeen support so far sucks, as in they don't reply at all.

Hobohodou · 10-26-2009, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by user_none

calibre supports cbr and cbz input for converting comics. It has a number of options for transformations and if you use the cybook profile will size the images in the PDF output to the size of the Cybook's screen.

Another useful feature of calibre is it will generate the thumbnails using your computer when using send to device. This way you don't have to wait for the Cybook to generate them. The Cybook's cpu is no where near as fast as your computer.

Ah, the thumbnail part is useful...My experiences after messing around with calibre are rather bad unfortunately, it's a rather large step back...images scroll off of the page for single pages, and images being too small to fit the devices height...Which leads to garbled text

Think i'll stick to my batch conversions, But a nice piece of software !

Thanks guys for the replies =D Happy to see everyones thoughts...Surprised to see a lot of people like the look of the device...'-'

bbusybookworm · 10-26-2009, 07:57 PM

I've purchased two Gen 3's over the last year or so, and while I don't currently actively use either (Ones with my Mum, the other an Uncle) I'll though I'll drop in and List what I like and Dislike.

Likes -

* Size and Weight - Much lighter then the PRS-500 I used previously, and definitely lighter then my Laptop (Dell M1210 as well). While My PDA Phone was lighter, the screen size difference was quiet an improvement.

* Language Support - The Support for any TTF was one of the key reasons I went for it as I had Several Asian Language Document I wanted to be able to display on it. That was something I sorely missed on the PRS-500.

* Format Support - Native Support for PRC, PDF, TXT and Html was an advantage, as I could just copy HTML and PDF's when needed without having to convert everything. While I did convert books, Articls, short stories, etc I could get away with.

* Dictionary Support - While Still a little cumbersom, Its got a very nice ability to look up words, which while not used that often, is still pretty useful. I Have to admith however, Amazon's Approach does look a little better.

* Interface - While not the best (I thinks Sony's is better) The Interface is pretty polished, and usually consistant. I did Not think Much of it until I got the Pocket Pro, which while a great device, has a comparatively Raw interface. The Lack Of folder support is a Pain, whilch I'll go into in the Dislikes.

* Replaceable Battery

* Expandable Storage

Dislikes -

* Fragility - The other side of the coin to the Light weight is the Apparent Fragility of the device. While I've not suffered a breakage, the fear of one, has had me treating them with kid gloves, which is often at odds with using it for its intended use. The Sony and now the Pockey Pro Feel Much more Solid and as such leave me less concerned about protecting it all the time.

* Organization - While the Thumbnail Interface is nice, It a Pain to navigate, especially if you have more then a few dozen files on the device. If you want to keep a large part of your library on the device, Its navigation becomes pretty unusable. The lack of Support For Folders (Which Bookeen has been talking about for years but has not surfaced) is an issue, especially for users who like to organize their books using their own system.

* Resume - Every time the device is powered down it returns to the main menu. as such you have to relaunch the book. While it in self is not that big of an issue, the lack of Recent Bookmarks / Recently Read link can be very irritating, especially if you are in the habit of reading more then one book at a time.

* Support - Support is pretty hit and miss. Of the few times I had to contact them, while they have responded pretty fast a couple of times, on other occasions, getting a reply or any response has take days or weeks if ever. What I've found that if the problem can be solved with a form response, the reply is pretty fast.but if its a complicated or difficult issue the response is poor.

* File Formats - While The Formats supported are good, and an improvement over the Sony, I still prefer if more formats were natively supported, to completely remover the issue of having to reformat anything.

So Overall, while I was pretty happy with the Gen3, I decided to try the Pocket Pro (Hanlin / Bebook) this time, as I want to see how well it handled the issues I've had. So Far, the response has been pretty positive, though it does have its own limitations.

10-25-2009, 05:07 PM	#1
Hobohodou not such a "badguy" =/ Posts: 27 Karma: 260 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Edinburgh - scotland Device: Cybook Gen3/Bebook + Zune HD	Your thoughts on the Cybook Gen3/Opus Hmm, I can't think of a good title for this thread... The general idea of this is to pinpoint what it is that you like or dislike about your device/bookeen...especially as there sure seems to be a rather negative view of bookeen on the forums... FIRSTLY~ let's not let this get out of hand...try and keep the silly arguments for elsewhere, I'd like this thread to simply be what you like about the device, do you like the hardware and the device yourself? Is it the software that you dislike? Is it a case that you love the hardware, don't mind the software/firmware but simply hate bookeen's service.. If there, is something that annoys you about the cybook/firmware/bookeen...explain in detail why it's such a pain for you, maybe that way others may be able to understand why you feel this way After all...in the end, maybe we can all hold hands in a circle and dance happily, huh? \^^/ I'd also really like to see what people used to use before e-readers or before the cybook, so that maybe people can remember how convenient these devices are by now, people probably already think i'm insane, and love bookeen, well, i'm not...So my thoughts are below, i'd love for people to give an in depth posts about these things.. What I love about the device : The hardware, the size and the weight ...Below i'll attach an image showing why, before getting the cybook, i used to read on a 15.4" laptop...now that's pretty big and heavy...one day I got my Dell XPS M1210, which to me was a blessing, for around 6 months i used it to read everyday on the bus with an extended battery and cdisplay (the best image viewer EVER). Now there's a comparison image here with everything for me, Including a DVD and a standard volume of manga...Now I read around 5 volumes on average a day...which can be quite a pain....espcially if I have to carry them around, also the M1210 is heavy At least now i have a much lighter load To be fair, I love the device itself, considering it's not really made by bookeen and is really made by netronix, I love those guys for the nice design...It's not full of too many features as well.. THINGS I HATE Ah, To read anything on the cybook, I have to start out with an annoying conversion process, sometimes renaming every image...Converting them all to RGB, resizing and finally making a PDF of them (just so it'll save my position) now with my laptop, I can just add a .zip/.rar or even just a directory, read and continue reading when I restart easily... Navigation, it's nice, but if i have many series, I have to wait for each page to load and make thumbnails, if I have multiple series'...then i have to move past them all to get to the other.. Next firmware update I hear has folder view, so...looking forward to it... things that don't bother me E-book format support waiting time for new firmware It'd be nice if we could get everyone's opinions of their devices and find out just what it is that makes some people dislike bookeen/the cybook so much... EDIT : I also know that there's a similar thread for the cybook gen3, But i'd really love this to be a thread for both, and I'd like to provoke a little more thought into why you feel this way, thank-you for having me ! Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Hobohodou; 10-25-2009 at 05:10 PM.

10-26-2009, 02:20 PM	#9
delphidb96 Wizard Posts: 2,999 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Citrus Heights, California Device: TWO Kindle 2s, one each Bookeen Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS-500, Axim X51V	I'm ambivalent... Likes: Good battery life. After over two years of constant use, haven't had the contrast-dimming we have experienced with our older Sony PRS-500. Can read DRM'd and non-DRM'd mobi/prc ebooks. Light weight, placement of navigation controls. Ability to choose a wide range of fonts and font sizes. Dislikes: No epub support. (No, having a few select people get epub upgrades does NOT qualify as 'epub support'!) No multi-file HTML support. No folder navigation of library. (Again no, having a few select people get folder navigation does NOT qualify as 'folder navigation'!) No adequate support for older releases for greater-than-2GB SD cards - although, given the totally CRAPPY folder navigation, this might actually qualify as a blessing! CRAPPY softcover case which is falling apart! Don't Cares: Can't think of anything. Derek

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10-25-2009, 06:12 PM	#2
rireed3 Connoisseur Posts: 85 Karma: 358 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: BeBook 1, Cybook Gen3	Gen3. I have a new choice, BeBook, if I give up on Bookeen. I think I like (don't have enough money for lots of comparisons): The hardware works. No fading in sunlight. The software, such as it is, works and doesn't get in my way. I get along without much freezing. It has zoom and deals ok with PDF in landscape. What I don't like: I'm a little worried about fragility -- E-Ink screens break if twisted, and Gen3 is too thin to resist twisting. I had to build my own cover to save £20. Software is outdated. DRM isn't going away soon and the world, especially in Europe is going epub for DRM. The lack of directory support is becoming inconvenient. Reports of Opus epub firmware not supporting multi-level Table of Contents are discouraging. Bookeen has shown either inability or no desire for communication with customers. In my view they have lied to Gen3 owners about an epub upgrade to keep them from buying other machines and dumping Gen3 on auction sites. This and the silence lead me to believe that Bookeen is in some kind of legal or financial bind, as no trouble-free business would behave in this manner. BeBook came out with separate epub and Mobipocket firmwares eight months ago. Bookeen gave out a beta of theirs 4 months ago in Paris, so the problem cannot be technical. Richard

10-26-2009, 10:53 AM	#7
pieter Connoisseur Posts: 59 Karma: 501 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: CyBook Gen3	What I really like about the Cybook Gen3: The hardware. The device itself is just a very cool piece of equipment. It has a certain retro-technology thing going imo. People with iPhones and other gadgets don't really know how to respond to a stylish leather (fake, but who cares) bound grey screen, that only displays letters. It feels perfect in the hand when reading on it. Weight is good. And I love the fact that I hardly ever need to charge it. I charge more by having it hooked up by usb because I want to put a book on it, than I actually hook it up just to charge it. What I don't like: The Software The whole setup of the software on the device and how different formats interact with the device is just as retro as it's looks. The reason it gets charged more while I'm putting books on it, is because hardly ever am I pleased with how a book looks on the device. Reformating or changing the ebooks format hardly works satisfactory, with font sizes randomly seeming to get messed up, page endings acting weird, and paragraphs getting lost. In my experience there has always been a big difference between ebook intended for the device and those converted for it. In the first months I found it a fun challenge to get my favorite books, pdf's and comic books converted onto the device, but nowadays I find it a very tedious and slow process with a barely satisfactory result. Also my Cybook crashes at least once a week, which does not help the overall user experience of it. Now with epub becoming the defacto standard in Europe, and the device unable to read epub files, the overall feeling of retro software is only getting bigger. Next to the software my other little "hate" about the Cybook is it's company. They seem as ancient and archaic as it's software. Impossible to reach with questions which they don't like answering, and unable to deliver even on their simplest of promises concerning firmware updates. Two of my questions on their blog have been censored without any reason given. They come across as a company that isn't coping and that will fail sooner or later, making me unsure if I'd like to stay with this sinking ship, or start already to convert my ebook collection to the epub format and just buy a less "retro" machine.

10-26-2009, 11:20 AM	#8
GeoffC Chocolate Grasshopper ... Posts: 27,600 Karma: 20821184 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Scotland Device: Muse HD , Cybook Gen3 , Pocketbook 302 (Black) , Nexus 10: wife has PW	I have a Gen3. I like It is stable - no resets in over a year. Lets me read a variety of mobi/prc books, no problem. Dictionary support is adequate, though a little slow and slightly cumbersome when I get more than one 'hit'. Dislikes Library navigation. Likes significantly outway the dislikes - I would get another one if I needed another reader or a replacement .....

10-26-2009, 03:28 PM	#10
Greg Anos Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,247 Karma: 35000000 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Pocketbook	I own both a Gen 3 and a Bebook. I purchased the Gen3 first, and relegated it to dust-gatherer status. Why. 1. I don't buy DRM'ed files, so DRM'ed file performance doesn't matter to me. With the Gen3, nothing else works particularly well other than Mobi/PRC files. Most of my files are either RTF or HTML. Gen3 can't handle RTF at all, and handles HTML poorly. Bebook can handle both. 2. No folders, or equivalent file organization feature. The real power of an e-book reader is in the availability of large numbers of books on the device. I keep over 1000 books on my Bebook. That would be hopeless on a Gen3. 3. Typo editing. I can't edit PRC files as easily as I can RTF or HTML. I run windows as my computer operating system, so I have notepad and wordpad always available (on any windows machine) to fix typos with. I hate typos, and tend to run my e-books through spell checkers before I read them. 4. I have a choice of system firmware on the BEbook. I can run the native operating system, or I can run the open source operating system OpenInkPot (which I do because I prefer it's performance). I have no choice on the Gen3. On the other hand... 1. Gen 3 looks spiffier. The Bebook has a old industrial look about it. 2. Both have deluxe covers for sale, which hide the look of the readers anyway. The gen3 has a better cover, but the Bebook's is not too far behind. In the end, I went with the one that works with my files. That was the Bebook....

10-26-2009, 03:39 PM	#11
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	I've got an Opus... Likes... ePub's display very nice. Pays attention to the individual files justification settings. They made ADE's side margin page numbers very small and very light so they're very unobtrusive compared to other ePub readers. Folders. Absolutely love the organization folders give me. Ultralight and super portable. Dislikes... It tends to freeze/lockup randomly requiring the device to be reset. Bookeen support so far sucks, as in they don't reply at all.

10-26-2009, 07:57 PM	#13
bbusybookworm Tech Junkie Posts: 1,027 Karma: 10080 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Earth Device: iPad, MotoXStyle, OnePlusOne	I've purchased two Gen 3's over the last year or so, and while I don't currently actively use either (Ones with my Mum, the other an Uncle) I'll though I'll drop in and List what I like and Dislike. Likes - * Size and Weight - Much lighter then the PRS-500 I used previously, and definitely lighter then my Laptop (Dell M1210 as well). While My PDA Phone was lighter, the screen size difference was quiet an improvement. * Language Support - The Support for any TTF was one of the key reasons I went for it as I had Several Asian Language Document I wanted to be able to display on it. That was something I sorely missed on the PRS-500. * Format Support - Native Support for PRC, PDF, TXT and Html was an advantage, as I could just copy HTML and PDF's when needed without having to convert everything. While I did convert books, Articls, short stories, etc I could get away with. * Dictionary Support - While Still a little cumbersom, Its got a very nice ability to look up words, which while not used that often, is still pretty useful. I Have to admith however, Amazon's Approach does look a little better. * Interface - While not the best (I thinks Sony's is better) The Interface is pretty polished, and usually consistant. I did Not think Much of it until I got the Pocket Pro, which while a great device, has a comparatively Raw interface. The Lack Of folder support is a Pain, whilch I'll go into in the Dislikes. * Replaceable Battery * Expandable Storage Dislikes - * Fragility - The other side of the coin to the Light weight is the Apparent Fragility of the device. While I've not suffered a breakage, the fear of one, has had me treating them with kid gloves, which is often at odds with using it for its intended use. The Sony and now the Pockey Pro Feel Much more Solid and as such leave me less concerned about protecting it all the time. * Organization - While the Thumbnail Interface is nice, It a Pain to navigate, especially if you have more then a few dozen files on the device. If you want to keep a large part of your library on the device, Its navigation becomes pretty unusable. The lack of Support For Folders (Which Bookeen has been talking about for years but has not surfaced) is an issue, especially for users who like to organize their books using their own system. * Resume - Every time the device is powered down it returns to the main menu. as such you have to relaunch the book. While it in self is not that big of an issue, the lack of Recent Bookmarks / Recently Read link can be very irritating, especially if you are in the habit of reading more then one book at a time. * Support - Support is pretty hit and miss. Of the few times I had to contact them, while they have responded pretty fast a couple of times, on other occasions, getting a reply or any response has take days or weeks if ever. What I've found that if the problem can be solved with a form response, the reply is pretty fast.but if its a complicated or difficult issue the response is poor. * File Formats - While The Formats supported are good, and an improvement over the Sony, I still prefer if more formats were natively supported, to completely remover the issue of having to reformat anything. So Overall, while I was pretty happy with the Gen3, I decided to try the Pocket Pro (Hanlin / Bebook) this time, as I want to see how well it handled the issues I've had. So Far, the response has been pretty positive, though it does have its own limitations.