Interview with Wizpac, creators of the txtr at Leipzig Book Fair - Page 6

tompe · 05-01-2009, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barcey

For me personally the user replaceable battery is much more important then the 4mm savings in the thickness of the case. I never use the device without a case and that adds a lot more then 4mm. The thickness isn't an issue.

Batteries do die and things like temperature extremes can kill them early. I know one person who's Cybook battery died and had to be replaced. The incremental cost to design a case that would allow the battery to be replaced is much cheaper then the waste of throwing away the entire device or having to send it somewhere for service.

For me 4mm is a lot.

A faulty battery that has to be replaced directly is comparable to any other faulty component that you have to send the device away for so a faulty battery is not a good argument.

A replaceable battery add problems also. The battery cover can break (as it did for my Cybook).

And even if you assume that the battery only lasts 2 years it seems to me that with the expected development you would want to buy a new device in 2 years. And for the few people that actually need to replace a battery in 2 years there will exists ways to do it.

snipenekkid · 05-01-2009, 09:08 PM

I thought I would add one of the reasons a user replaceable battery is a deal breaker for me. I frequently am out of reach of power for days and sometimes back to back 2-3 week trips with little time to regroup. So, my devices need not only long battery life but the ability to swap out the battery. I carry at least two solar trickle chargers to extend the 5-10 batteries I carry for those two devices.

One of the uses of an ereader would be on pack trips when working on a project. I stopped bringing pbooks years ago and have used a PDA for ages and still do carry two of them. An ereader would be a much better device to carry and reduce the weight of what gets stuffed into the pack. It would allow me to add small laptop over the PDA and it's accessories (which I use for work but could be better done on a lightweight laptop/netbook/tablet.)

This is also a reason a plastic display is what I will hold out for unless something very inexpensive and with the other features I really know I need comes along. the Txtr was a very promising device, until the info about the battery came along. An ereader, plastic/flexible display and 1-2 extra batteries and I would be golden for entertainment for a couple months if I needed it, even w/o the solar charger. Will likely never get rid of the pocket pc type device as I keep a database and notes of what I am doing along with location details as well as a trip diary on it. I doubt there will be an ereader device that can handle this for some time yet.

I'll admit I go on fewer of these trips every year, but still have four with possibly a 5th & 6th, over this coming summer and fall. Sleeping on the ground is getting harder to get motivated for every year.

Still the pictures are worth the effort.

cheese bogart · 05-18-2009, 11:38 AM

I was wondering if noonscoomo could answer this question?
Is it possible to change the direction of the slider to change pages (in some kind of settings menu)?
Rather than going left to right with my thumb to forward pages, it seems to me that it would be more natural to go right to left as you do when you thumb through mags, newspapers and books.
Apart from that one minor thing, I would like to add that this is a very nice looking device. I really like the fact that it isn't covered in hundreds of buttons and even the ones it does have don't stand out in a way that distracts the eye from what you're reading.
I've been holding out on buying my first ereader for several years now, but if this is reasonably priced you definitely have a customer here.

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05-01-2009, 09:08 PM	#77
snipenekkid Banned Posts: 760 Karma: 51034 Join Date: Feb 2009	I thought I would add one of the reasons a user replaceable battery is a deal breaker for me. I frequently am out of reach of power for days and sometimes back to back 2-3 week trips with little time to regroup. So, my devices need not only long battery life but the ability to swap out the battery. I carry at least two solar trickle chargers to extend the 5-10 batteries I carry for those two devices. One of the uses of an ereader would be on pack trips when working on a project. I stopped bringing pbooks years ago and have used a PDA for ages and still do carry two of them. An ereader would be a much better device to carry and reduce the weight of what gets stuffed into the pack. It would allow me to add small laptop over the PDA and it's accessories (which I use for work but could be better done on a lightweight laptop/netbook/tablet.) This is also a reason a plastic display is what I will hold out for unless something very inexpensive and with the other features I really know I need comes along. the Txtr was a very promising device, until the info about the battery came along. An ereader, plastic/flexible display and 1-2 extra batteries and I would be golden for entertainment for a couple months if I needed it, even w/o the solar charger. Will likely never get rid of the pocket pc type device as I keep a database and notes of what I am doing along with location details as well as a trip diary on it. I doubt there will be an ereader device that can handle this for some time yet. I'll admit I go on fewer of these trips every year, but still have four with possibly a 5th & 6th, over this coming summer and fall. Sleeping on the ground is getting harder to get motivated for every year. Still the pictures are worth the effort.

05-18-2009, 11:38 AM	#78
cheese bogart Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 76 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brighton, England Device: prs-505 (Silver), Ipad	I was wondering if noonscoomo could answer this question? Is it possible to change the direction of the slider to change pages (in some kind of settings menu)? Rather than going left to right with my thumb to forward pages, it seems to me that it would be more natural to go right to left as you do when you thumb through mags, newspapers and books. Apart from that one minor thing, I would like to add that this is a very nice looking device. I really like the fact that it isn't covered in hundreds of buttons and even the ones it does have don't stand out in a way that distracts the eye from what you're reading. I've been holding out on buying my first ereader for several years now, but if this is reasonably priced you definitely have a customer here.

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