Bye bye Pocketbook

[Dulin's Books]

well i could never get a straight answer about how many but yes PVI did a couple of runs of 6 inch display (separated by about a year and a half) where they didnt put the UV filter layer on the display. this caused a problem for the TFT back plane which caused the eink wash out.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

well i could never get a straight answer about how many but yes PVI did a couple of runs of 6 inch display (separated by about a year and a half) where they didnt put the UV filter layer on the display. this caused a problem for the TFT back plane which caused the eink wash out.

Ah, I wasn't expecting that they would have made the same mistake a year and a half apart.

[Metal Mick]

Originally Posted by PocketBook USA

T<snip>
In regards to problems with the 302, if you currently have the device and are experiencing difficulty, please download the firmware upgrade posted on the website here: http://pocketbook-usa.com/support/pocketbook-302/ . There are also dowloads there for additional games, themes, fonts, and the RSS news feeds. If for some reason that did not resolve your device dilemma, please email service@pocketbook-usa.com or call them directly at 1-877-326-0196. Bill, the tech support guru, will get you taken care of.

I found this post trite, patronizing and pointless - it added nothing to the general body of knowledge that is already on MobileRead.

As far as tech support goes, it seems to be non-existent: when I was trying to upgrade my firmware, the instructions were so badly wrong (and still are, last I checked) that it was impossible to complete and my two emails to tech support have gone unanswered. Were it not for a helpful MR member, I would never have been able to achieve even this basic goal.

Reliability is a real issue with PB products and I feel they are using the warranty as a catch-all for poor quality control. My first 302 had a fault with the SD card slot making removing of the card nearly impossible and the internal clock was broken. The cover was so poorly-fitting that buttons were mostly obscured, screen partly so, and the leather was buckled in places. I was invited to return it at a cost of nearly $60 to me, or about 1/3 the purchase price. My second 302 seems to have a faulty audio chip - I have got better sound reproduction from cheap mp3 players from eBay.

Why should the users have to put up with this? I paid for products that are supposed to work properly, with money that is worth every cent that its face value indicated. Yet I did do not get in return, a fully functioning device. Warranties are for failures after a sale. NOT to compel the purchaser to correct quality defects after delivery.

Like others, I have seen postings on this forum claiming that certain improvements to firmware/software were imminent. I have not seen those improvements delivered.

In short, my PB experience is one that is far less than satisfactory - even the order could not be completed properly after two attempts. I don't mind that the device is discontinued because it still works (after a fashion), what I do mind is that PocketBook seems to have elected to abandon its commitment to it.

Words like inept and amateurish spring to mind when I think about PocketBook as a company. I can now add condescending.

I apologize to the MR members for this rant, but the poster in question was out of order.

[Dulin's Books]

Originally Posted by Metal Mick

Reliability is a real issue with PB products and I feel they are using the warranty as a catch-all for poor quality control.

thats actually why they moved production to Foxconn.

[adbosch]

PB302 owners should be compensated instead of being discussed away and ending up with reader that should never have been sold, because of both firmware and hardware problems.
PB should have been open and honest about this.
Bye bye, I'll never buy a PocketBook product again.

[v1k1ng1001]

I'm glad I didn't buy the 302!! My 602 is pretty nice so far and the firmware upgraded with no problems.

But yeah, it would be nice to get that RSS reader up and running along with a more developed network manager for wifi connection.

[paola]

Originally Posted by adbosch

PB302 owners should be compensated instead of being discussed away and ending up with reader that should never have been sold, because of both firmware and hardware problems.

I agree - and I think it would do Pocketbook a lot of good if they put the 302 issues right with a compensation/trade in offer: I think the average mobileread user is pretty patient, including the tech-unsavy like me, as we know there are plenty of competent programmers here that will get their hands dirty with the SDK (when it finally come out!), will do this for free out of their good internet community heart, and will allow people like me to gratefully free ride on their improvements (and I should add, we also benefit from the presence of helpful people like Dulin, who really seems to know what the word "service" means).

So even somebody that, in normal circumstances, would have already complained to all relevant organization for having received a device that does not behave as advertised (e.g. note taking facility, my number one priority), are putting up with this in the hope that the people on this forum will help put this right (yes, I am talking about myself ). But I am not sure that the average non-mobileread pocketbook customer will be happy with this suboptimal state of affairs - and the tenfold increase in pre-christmas sales might easily turn into a tenfold increase in complaints and returns - the UK site is selling the PB903 for £362, not exactly peanuts.

Offering at least a trade in to unsatisfied PB302 customers would be not only fair, but would also show PB's commitment to its customer base: and if done on this forum, wouldn't cost them much, either. A small gesture that could go a long way in avoiding a big tide of compaints.

On the US pocketbook guy: well, let's not shoot this guy down just yet.
He hasn't been reading this forum much, obviously , but let us at least grant him, at least to begin with, that he is young, inexperieneced and wants to help...

[HenkH]

There is some kind of reaction in the German forum (translated using Google):

Yes, exactly. The firmware is definitely because I do not just "let go"until a firmware is released for 302. Sorry, currently there are probably fixed to the end of February, all known bugs or missing features of the "new" models by the next update should have delayed the completion of the firmware for 302nd Unfortunately I can not name any binding dates.

The production of 302 was set because the device was very expensive in the production even with the sale price of 299 €, has very little pocket book itself deserves with the device. It was our fault because we did not expect the price fall on the eReader market.

Than we realized, we have searched for a solution to the problem and have decided to produce the new model at Foxconn ...
The time was unfortunately quite scarce ...
Our partners at Foxconn have not first considered possible that as soon working firmware for all new equipment is ready.

It is for us in front of the customers, of course, no excuse, but we really had no other choice, either as soon as possible new series. the high quality and reasonable price is to get on the market, or we could "make the store", and indeed the world ...

I don't think I want to wait on that, I'm trying to get my money back from my supplier.

[adbosch]

I don't think I'm interested at all in PB's problems with manufacturers, etc. I don't need excuses, not anymore. As long as PB will not compensate PB302 victims (yes, we are victims), and as long as they can get away with this, they can do the same for any other unfinished machine (and we all know, none of them is, except perhaps for the 360, which seems to have had a nice status until firmware upgrades killed it off).

[Guus]

Originally Posted by adbosch

............PB302 owners have been sold crap, and the only solution is a decent replacement/trade-in. ...........

I totally agree!
Why not a decent replacement/trade-in offer from PB?

[HenkH]

Originally Posted by Guus

Why not a decent replacement/trade-in offer from PB?

Because they are a commercial company, where new sales is more important than loyalty to existing customers.

The PB302's are sold with a low margin and by replacing them they will have a big loss on each reader sold.

It looks like Pocketbook switched from supplier (from Netronix to FoxConn) and apparently this also affects the firmware development. I suspect new, underpaid, Ukrain software developers are maintaining the firmware (which probably was a mess in the first place). According to Brooks's Law it doesn't help to put more manpower to the project.

We probably have to be glad there is still some development on the firmware of discontinued devices. There are numerous examples of companies (for example: mobile phone manufacturers) that effectively stop product support when new products are launched.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

you should have had that swapped a long time ago. That is a known issue with a batch or 2 of displays from PVI. Nearly all eink reader manufacturers got hit by it including Sony, Kindle,PocketBook, Irex and Onyx

Just to make sure: the new models don't have any problems with direct sunlight? In the manual, under safety precautions we have "Avoid direct sunlight". It is winter now so I don't plan on reading outside, but I would like to know if I will be able to do this in the summer.

[Dulin's Books]

They SHOULD NOT. PVI/Eink told me in person last May, at a conference in Seattle, that they had corrected the problem and it would not occur again in the future. Of course there is always the chance that QC there will take a vacation again.

that warning is part of a bunch of boilerplate that gets stuck in everything now. can't really do anything about lawyers.

[Dimpflmoser]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

It is winter now so I don't plan on reading outside, but I would like to know if I will be able to do this in the summer.

Last Sunday it was freezing with bright sunhine, so I took a cosy blanket, hot tea and my PocketBook 302. Even at those low temperatures I got the fading. When I moved the device into the shadow when switching pages there was no fading.

Bye Dimpflmoser

[Dulin's Books]

Because your 302 was built with a defective display. It should be returned.