It arrived - My take

timezone · 08-02-2008, 08:37 PM

I know I am far from the first and definitely will not be the last to receive an Iliad for the first time but like others before me I had to speak up. It took forever to receive the reader and then waiting three hours to complete the first charge was like putting candy in front of a kid and and telling him or her not to touch. When I got my first Stereo or PC (XT) or Palm Pilot, it always seemed as if the technology arrived at that particular moment in time. The eReader looks and feels like it is from the future or from Star Trek. Now I see why people are blown away by this product. Besides the high price it is ashame these things are not in stores (refering to U.S.). The Kindle is only sold on Amazon. Maybe the Sony is the only device that might be found in a store. If they were in stores I bet they would be flying off the shelves. A lower price would help. I ask my friends if they even heard of the Kindle and most say no even though they buy books from Amazon. The thing is staring you in the face when you first goto Amazon. This is the best kept secret in retail.

I haven't done much with it yet but it is performing perfectly. The wireless setup was easy, the computer USB connection was immediate. already received a doc from iRex and the 8 gig CD card was immediately recognized. It thinks it is a 4gig card but I am not too concerned since I read on the forum that this would occur.

I can see there are so many things that can be improved or at least offered as an option since my concerns may not be yours. For instance I created a few notes before I bought the card. I first connected with the backup set to internal memory. I thought I could then change the Book and Note to CF Card and export via USB to CF card and the backup would copy to the card. I didn't expect to see the files in memory delete but I thought it might copy to the card similar to the way a sync works with PDA's and PocketPC's. What is more the backup disappears because the card is empty. Of course that makes sense. I had to set it back to memory to get a good backup. I then copied them to another folder on the PC, changed everything to the card and then moved the files from the hold folder to the reader. It worked but I think it could have been setup to be more intuitive.

I wish the iLiad settings came with a table of contents.

I wish the stylus was in a different location. With the reader in a jacket it is difficult to remove.

I thought I could connect to the internet but the options are wired to the PC or wireless to the PC or iRex for updates. Does this require the development package or something else to connect to the Net through my router?

For those wondering what the print looks like that are waiting for it to arrive. The print on the screen is short of amazing. At least with the material already on the device. I have yet to add any PDF's to it. Every time I look at it I am amazed how crisp the lettering is on the page and how black the letters look.

I am not a stranger to gadgets and I can say this is the most amazing device I have ever owned. Even if it fails in certain areas or I am not able to utilize the full functionality of the iLiad I still can say it was worth every penny.

parryl · 08-03-2008, 07:01 AM

cool review .

Ovydake · 08-08-2008, 02:03 AM

Tou are not the only one, my iLiad book edition arrived yesterday.
Your review is the exact impression I had when I played with it.
I found that there are problems with reading in poor light because the display is a little reflectivet, is like reading a book that has each page in a plastic cover.

Also, I find the notes application a little disappointing, I was expecting it to be at least as complex as "Paint" (if you can think of Paint as being complex), but I found that I can only draw "pen like" lines, no squares, no circles, no filling. Also the network is only on while you are connecting to iDS, but I think there is a walkthrough on this somewhere in the forums.

My 4Gb CF card will arrive today, I hope that I will not have any problem with it as it's not listed on the compatibility wiki, but I will update the list afterward.

And the 50 classic books that come with the book edition are very well chosen.

HarryT · 08-08-2008, 06:24 AM

The network connection uses a lot of power. It switches off when not in use to extend battery life.

nekokami · 08-11-2008, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ovydake

Also, I find the notes application a little disappointing, I was expecting it to be at least as complex as "Paint" (if you can think of Paint as being complex), but I found that I can only draw "pen like" lines, no squares, no circles, no filling. Also the network is only on while you are connecting to iDS, but I think there is a walkthrough on this somewhere in the forums.

I keep hoping someone will get around to porting a simple paint program to the iLiad. Inkscape or Dia might be ok, but I think they're both too heavy and too dependent on menus and such. We want something similar to the notes functionality the Newton used to offer, I think.

There's a list of Linux drawing applications here: http://www.linuxlinks.com/Software/Graphics/Drawing/ Maybe something like tkdraw?

08-02-2008, 08:37 PM	#1
timezone Addict Posts: 244 Karma: 1232 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Boston, MA Device: Windows Phone7, Kindle Fire	It arrived - My take I know I am far from the first and definitely will not be the last to receive an Iliad for the first time but like others before me I had to speak up. It took forever to receive the reader and then waiting three hours to complete the first charge was like putting candy in front of a kid and and telling him or her not to touch. When I got my first Stereo or PC (XT) or Palm Pilot, it always seemed as if the technology arrived at that particular moment in time. The eReader looks and feels like it is from the future or from Star Trek. Now I see why people are blown away by this product. Besides the high price it is ashame these things are not in stores (refering to U.S.). The Kindle is only sold on Amazon. Maybe the Sony is the only device that might be found in a store. If they were in stores I bet they would be flying off the shelves. A lower price would help. I ask my friends if they even heard of the Kindle and most say no even though they buy books from Amazon. The thing is staring you in the face when you first goto Amazon. This is the best kept secret in retail. I haven't done much with it yet but it is performing perfectly. The wireless setup was easy, the computer USB connection was immediate. already received a doc from iRex and the 8 gig CD card was immediately recognized. It thinks it is a 4gig card but I am not too concerned since I read on the forum that this would occur. I can see there are so many things that can be improved or at least offered as an option since my concerns may not be yours. For instance I created a few notes before I bought the card. I first connected with the backup set to internal memory. I thought I could then change the Book and Note to CF Card and export via USB to CF card and the backup would copy to the card. I didn't expect to see the files in memory delete but I thought it might copy to the card similar to the way a sync works with PDA's and PocketPC's. What is more the backup disappears because the card is empty. Of course that makes sense. I had to set it back to memory to get a good backup. I then copied them to another folder on the PC, changed everything to the card and then moved the files from the hold folder to the reader. It worked but I think it could have been setup to be more intuitive. I wish the iLiad settings came with a table of contents. I wish the stylus was in a different location. With the reader in a jacket it is difficult to remove. I thought I could connect to the internet but the options are wired to the PC or wireless to the PC or iRex for updates. Does this require the development package or something else to connect to the Net through my router? For those wondering what the print looks like that are waiting for it to arrive. The print on the screen is short of amazing. At least with the material already on the device. I have yet to add any PDF's to it. Every time I look at it I am amazed how crisp the lettering is on the page and how black the letters look. I am not a stranger to gadgets and I can say this is the most amazing device I have ever owned. Even if it fails in certain areas or I am not able to utilize the full functionality of the iLiad I still can say it was worth every penny.

08-08-2008, 02:03 AM	#3
Ovydake Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2008 Device: iRex iLiad	Tou are not the only one, my iLiad book edition arrived yesterday. Your review is the exact impression I had when I played with it. I found that there are problems with reading in poor light because the display is a little reflectivet, is like reading a book that has each page in a plastic cover. Also, I find the notes application a little disappointing, I was expecting it to be at least as complex as "Paint" (if you can think of Paint as being complex), but I found that I can only draw "pen like" lines, no squares, no circles, no filling. Also the network is only on while you are connecting to iDS, but I think there is a walkthrough on this somewhere in the forums. My 4Gb CF card will arrive today, I hope that I will not have any problem with it as it's not listed on the compatibility wiki, but I will update the list afterward. And the 50 classic books that come with the book edition are very well chosen. Last edited by Ovydake; 08-09-2008 at 03:55 AM.

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08-03-2008, 07:01 AM	#2
parryl Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 36 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: iliad / nokia 6600 slide	cool review .

08-08-2008, 06:24 AM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	The network connection uses a lot of power. It switches off when not in use to extend battery life.

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