[Firefly] Some questions/rants before selling it... :-(

[hubertphava]

I've got my Firefly via ereader.de for quite one month and i'm using it a lot.
As already said somewehere in this forum, I think Firefly is a
*very good* piece of hardware but it's very, very, VERY poor on software side.
I'd like to use it for *reading* epub ( quite a standard, you know?) but no good reading program in Firefly.

*The* question I ask to Booxtor ( and, I hope, to other onyx-guys if present) is:

Is so difficult to have *one* application that is capable to correctly render an epub?
For "correctly" i mean that it respect Css stylesheet, follow end-notes ( and retutn to text), follow external via internal browser (and wifi), could render images and their correct positioning and al tast can use dictionaries and Search-text in the book in reading.
Other goods is the possibility in customizing fonts and margins bypassing the css, if I want.

No other i think is needed to read an epub with satisfaction.
Is really so difficult to implement such a program?

I'm not a programmer but Firefly is not my first ereader and i'm an experienced digital reader; sony, onyx-boox, NST (both via android and internal reader) and others have satisfactory apps to read *standard* epubs. Why the hell can't we, 200_euros_Firefly_buyers, have only *one* program to read instead of *three* damned, buggy, inefficent programs that cannot read an epub and *eat* resources to developers with no results at all?

Is there an answer in march 2013?


Ekkekkazzo.....

HP

[thejoo52]

I'll sign this letter. I'm holding onto mine because I've found that after I stopped reading the non-fiction book that I was reading (which required constant endnote and dictionary reference), the crashes I saw went from about 3-4 every time I sat down to read for half an hour, to zero. It really is a pity that the best e-reader hardware out there is crippled by its software. Please please please give us some sort of update.

[lorenzoens]

I'm totally with you, mate. It's unbelievable.

[Belg4rion70]

I agree with everything!!!

[CharlieBird]

I agree totally. In my view there are so many negatives about the Firefly that when I start to list them I get so agitated and angry that one time I threw the damn thing at the wall. It currently resides on a shelf near that wall and I don't even know* if it still works.

What makes me even angrier is the lack of promised support. I don't know whether or not Booxtor responds to the posts I see about the M92, but after his initial sales pitch he seems to have jumped ship on the Firefly.

*I should add ...or care. I've bought another reader and moved on.
d

[stadja]

Seriously?
I don't understand... what doesn't work and works on other reader? I'm very happy with mine... I really don't understand what people don't like (EXCEPT the UI)...

[Mono]

I also do not understand, what the problem is. I have M92 and read only pdf. It is stable, no crashes. Firefly should have the same software... Or better said almost the same, the hardware is different, so some parts of software must be different. Maybe it makes difference or epub??

[hubertphava]

@Mono: don't mind about your 92: it's *another* device for *other* purposes than reading epub.. Fot pdfs i use my second-hand kindle-dxg and i'm happy of it *but* i dont' read epubs on it.
If you only read pdf, 92 is the perfect choice ( much better than dxg).
But epub rendering is very different from pdf rendering.

@stadja: i've bought firefly for reading ebooks; incidentally, actual better format for ebook is epub, ok? I dont' consider pdf as a good reading format, especially on 6" devices.
If i buy a *200* euros device, i'm expecting that it reads epub *very* well.

But "pdfreader", "fbreader" and "coolreader" don't' do their job: one of them doesn't show images, another doesn't respect epub-css, another doesn't permit to change margins or fonts and so on. None of them can follow internal links, text-notes or external links. And, dont' forget, all this in 2013.
I dont' know how firefly renders other formats ( for comics and pdf, as above said, i use K-dxg) but i can see lot of irony in the Universe when an user of an italian ebook-forum says that after converting epub in mobi (via calibre), he can see and use internal links and text notes.
Simply i *refuse* to do that 'cause i dont' want to use mobi format on my 200_euro_firefly; for reading mobi, is better to buy a ( cheaper) paperwhite, no?
I don't understand why onyx ( and german guys) waste time and resource with fbreader, pdfreader and (Arrrrgh!) coolreader instead of develop a ade-based (ok: ade is non perfect but much better than the "magnificent three") program, program capable to give much reading pleasure to their paying customers.
And don't forget that firefly has linux, under the cover...

If you are happy of your device, you're on your own.
But often i use to "compose" the epub i read; I let you imagine my frustration when, after hours of work, i cannot read my epubs as they are written because of ancient, buggy and bad implemented software.

If you want, i can take and post some pictures to show you what i mean.

Bye

HP

[pkbo]

Originally Posted by hubertphava

I don't understand why onyx ( and german guys) waste time and resource with fbreader, pdfreader and (Arrrrgh!) coolreader instead of develop a ade-based (ok: ade is non perfect but much better than the "magnificent three") program, program capable to give much reading pleasure to their paying customers.

For the last year fbreader and coolreader got little or no changes so your statement about wasting time and resources is not valid. Sure they waste time and resources, but for something other than these programs. AFAIK pdfreader is Adobe engine based. I think it would be much better (for everyone) if you would write about actual problems you have instead of ranting about hypothetic reasons of the problems.

[giododa]

The two posts from hubertphava clearly list the problems he has using the Firefly.
Summarizing:
- respecting css
- changing margins and fonts
- rendering images
- follow internal-external links, particularly to notes
- use of dictionaries
Anyway an answer would be nice.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by pkbo

AFAIK pdfreader is Adobe engine based.

There is a pdfreader app on PocketBook devices, and that one is based on poppler for rendering PDFs. I would guess that the version on the Boox uses poppler, as well.

[hubertphava]

Originally Posted by pkbo

For the last year fbreader and coolreader got little or no changes so your statement about wasting time and resources is not valid. Sure they waste time and resources, but for something other than these programs. AFAIK pdfreader is Adobe engine based. I think it would be much better (for everyone) if you would write about actual problems you have instead of ranting about hypothetic reasons of the problems.

Perhaps you havent't read posts from Booxtor regarding upgrades of pdfreader; search this section of the forum.

What i mean in "waste time" is that someone tries to correct bugs on totally unuseful, archaeological programs instead of developing something usable.
Have you ever read a good illustrated epub like this:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48377

on a firefly?

Are you satisfied of your reading experience? If yes, good for you.
Speaking of pdfreader, you cannot change fonts and if even you can change font dimension, thisi is not a *real* changing dimension but only a zooming of page; this means that images will change their position, for example.
And have you ever used a dictionary? Try...
And so on.
If you have one, i'd like to see a link in which somebody says that pfdreader comes from Ade ( i dont' think so but it's only my sensation) and also if it comes from Ade, it's not the best implement i've ever seen.
Regardin CR, only one word: *crappy*.

Enough, for me...

Only two other things:

1) before post, is better to read the entire thread;
2) i'd like to see at least *one* comment from Booxtor or other onyx-guy about their software.

CiaoBBello....

HP

[pkbo]

Originally Posted by rkomar

There is a pdfreader app on PocketBook devices, and that one is based on poppler for rendering PDFs. I would guess that the version on the Boox uses poppler, as well.

No it is not so. It is easy to check. Download "pdf reader.rar" from this thread and view onyx_pdf_reader binary. Look for adobe.

[Mono]

I think Onyx focused mainly on pfdreader to make good/acceptable pdf reader, recently.

It is not 100% for reading pdf, but it is fine. I do not know, how it works with epub... It is based on Adobe library, which causes many problems.

Booxtor should comment, but I think they might focus on epub soon as pdf part might be completed soon.

If you do not want to wait, return Firefly or if it is not possble sell it. And buy something different what suits your needs better.

[pkbo]

Originally Posted by hubertphava

Perhaps you havent't read posts from Booxtor regarding upgrades of pdfreader; search this section of the forum.

Why do you think so? What exactly should i find? pdfreader is ade based reader and they worked on it last year. This is exactly what you wonted them to do, no? To be clearer i don't deny your bad expirience with the software. My point was that your guessing about reasons of such expirience is not valid.

Originally Posted by hubertphava

What i mean in "waste time" is that someone tries to correct bugs on totally unuseful, archaeological programs instead of developing something usable.

I understand what you mean. And it is wrong. They don't fix and don't even try to fix bugs in these programs. Even simple ones. If something is not useful for you it doesn't mean it is not useful for everybody. The epub is not only format people read.

Originally Posted by hubertphava

If you have one, i'd like to see a link in which somebody says that pfdreader comes from Ade

No I don't have a link.

PS: I don't have firefly and I don't read epub.

PPS: They still working on Android, but this time looks like they don't port android to onyx devices but port onyx software to the android. At least what they committed right now looks very similar to booxsdk we had for linux.