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Old 03-22-2009, 03:54 PM   #1
timezone
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From Iliad to DR1000S

I know others have said a ton about this device but I still wish to give my 2 cents. If you have had enough of "First Impressions" then no need to read any further.

I first have to say that I just received this device so I only have a few days of experience with it. Also I have the advantage of starting out with 1.5 on the device. Which means many of the frustrations others experienced and might have soured people to the DR is not part of my DNA with this device.

Hardware cover
Compared to the Iliad, which in retrospect now feels and looks industrial, the DR is fantastic. It is a bit thinner than the Iliad so it holds quite well in the hand. I can see how some people say it appears cheap. I think it is sleek and fun to handle especially when comparing it to the Iliad.

Buttons, light and sound
I am the first person to shut off the clicks whenever I buy a new pocketpc phone. I hate it. Call me crazy but I like the clicks and do not mind the lights. There is a setup feature for disabling the capacitive buttons. I discovered that even setting them does not change anything until you click the sensor icon in the main menu. unfortunately it doesn't stay set. I wish I could set this as a permanent property. I hold the DR with my right hand. With the right hand buttons disabled there is no concern with accidentally clicking the buttons. (I did discover the lock icon toggles off/on. A real nice feature to have.)

Likes
-----
Mobipocket books do not have to be in a Mobipocket folder.

Locked buttons - Also the lock icon toggle.

I like the body of the DR.

Without the progress bar on the bottom it appears to boot faster than the Iliad. It is really just an illusion but I'll call it a like.

Love the screen size.

USB connector - Thank you, thank you, thank you iRex for getting rid of that stupid multi pin crap connector.

Nice to have (maybe I don't know how to use it)
----------------------------------------------
Unlike the Iliad it appears when you jump to a page you can't auto reverse the jump like you can with the iLiad. (This is what happens when reviewing after only a short period of time with the reader. It can be done. See other messages below if interested.)

It would be nice to auto enlarge a PDF just vertically or horizontally. Panning is ok if in just one direction. When forced to pan up/down left/right then not worth it. I think I kind of fixed the problem but not sure. Also can't auto set for all PDF's. I wish I could have a universal setup for PDF viewing.

I wish I could set buttons, at the moment have set to lock, to a task I use often. Similar to a soft button on a pocketpc.

Concerns
---------
I agree battery life has to be the main concern

When I first got the device a few of the lights remained hard on. It disappeared after a few resets but concerned with what this might mean for the future.

I highlighted a word and it jumped to the dictionary. It would not go back to the book. I went into task and closed the dictionary. It still didn't go back. I went back to the folder and click the book and the dictionary opened instead of the book. I had to reset the device before it recognized the book.

It seems when I add a folder I have to reboot a few times before it is noticed. Ok, I did it using file explorer but did open the iRex program on the PC and it viewed ok. I thought that would be enough to get things to work.


Overall
-------
I love this reader. Except for not being able to return to a previous page I think this is a big leap forward. There have been a ton of criticisms of iRex and probably most deserving. From time to time I have joined the chorus of complaints. However the people at iRex who worked to create this product have to know that they really did produce something special.

I kept some of my errors in judgement with a correction for those that are maybe discovering how things work for the first time. It has been fun discovering new features during the learning process.

Last edited by timezone; 03-22-2009 at 10:38 PM.
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Old 03-22-2009, 08:03 PM   #2
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Great summary; I'm glad you are enjoying your digital reader!

Quote:
Originally Posted by timezone View Post
Unlike the Iliad it appears when you jump to a page you can't auto reverse the jump like you can with the iLiad.
Pressing both side circle buttons at once should jump you back.

Quote:
I highlighted a word and it jumped to the dictionary. It would not go back to the book. I went into task and closed the dictionary. It still didn't go back. I went back to the folder and click the book and the dictionary opened instead of the book. I had to reset the device before it recognized the book.
Hmm... I haven't seen that before. Did you try Menu|Normal Reading?
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Old 03-22-2009, 09:58 PM   #3
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Thanks epiphany for the compliment. I was just about to write that I discovered the pressing both buttons trick. Thanks for pointing that out.

I also just discovered that the lock icon on the right hand side works. When I first tried to change the mode it did nothing. I did have the sensor set to lock in setup. Now I see it really does work. Except for the dictionary problem I am really loving this reader.

I have tried the dictionary word lookup now a number of times. Each time I cannot get back to the book even when I goto the book and attempt to reopen it. It just reopens the dictionary. I don't have to reset to fix it. A power cycle accomplishes the same thing. This is definitely a pain in the neck. Can anyone else replicate this bug?

Last edited by timezone; 03-22-2009 at 10:29 PM.
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Old 03-22-2009, 11:06 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by timezone View Post
I have tried the dictionary word lookup now a number of times. Each time I cannot get back to the book even when I goto the book and attempt to reopen it. It just reopens the dictionary. I don't have to reset to fix it. A power cycle accomplishes the same thing. This is definitely a pain in the neck. Can anyone else replicate this bug?
Have you tried using different menu options to exit the dictionary? For example, try "Jump to Previous" or "Normal Reading" instead of "Close Document". What dictionary are you using? Might be worth trying different dictionaries (Webster's 1913 and Wordnet work perfectly for me).
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Old 03-25-2009, 06:32 PM   #5
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timezone,

you have to click "normal reading". When you drag this icon to the toolbar you can switch in and out of the dictionary with one click without opening the main menu. Great for reading books in a foreign language.
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Old 03-28-2009, 02:56 PM   #6
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The jump button sequence works for me. I hold the left button while making one tap on the right button. My original point is no matter how clueless I might be or others when at first attempting a new function, it is a bug if the eReader acts differently than expected. I already mentioned it a few times but when I went back to the list of books, the dictionary again opened up instead of the book I tapped with the pen. That is a bug.
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