Abandoning the iRex Iliad!

[CommanderROR]

Will you abandon the Iliad because of the behaviour of it's makers?

[Kosst Amojan]

I said no but thats because I always intended to go with Sony.

(I feel so smart now )

[Riocaz]

Possibly. I'm bugged off. But I still prefer the features of the ILiad

[NatCh]

I hadn't really decided on the iLiad, per se, to begin with. I like the size better, but the only other thing it really had going for it (from my perspective) was that it looked like it was going to make it to bat first.

Sony is just a "NO" for me, unless and until they have demonstrated that they're ditching their evil DRM ways. I don't object to DRM entirely, but the way Sony does it ....
Hey, at least they seem to have backed off the Root-Kit approach, maybe a few dozen more generations of consumer rejected products and they'll enter the realm of not totally ridiculous.

The HanLin still looks good to me, assuming they address their converter issues, of course. Even if their price is a bit on the high side for a dedicated e-reader device, in my opinion. I've always thought that the full success price point would be less than 100 USD, though I do realize that the initial price will have to have some room to settle.

Shucks, I'd even take a look at a Book-Pod if apple brought one out. The iPod doesn't seem to have the stability issues that their 'puters have. I was a huge fan of the Apple Computers before the Macintosh, anyway. If they brought out an e-ink reader that wasn't rediculously priced, lacked obnoxious DRM and had good battery life and reasonable other features, sure, I'd want to have a look at it.

[Alexander Turcic]

The thing is, we might not have a choice ;(

I would just buy the Sony Portable Reader now, even if I need to spend another $600 for the iRex in September. But as one of our readers claims, it's possible we won't see the Sony either before end of August. Bummer!

Then there is the Jinke reader, which is supposed to hit European markets soon. I noticed TaKir uploaded some recent photos of the V8 on our Wiki. The longer we have to wait the better the Jinke seems to me as an alternative.

[Azania]

Sorry to say, but given that I put in my order for a Nokia 770 at 8:30 London time this morning I'm sort of glad about the release date. (I thought if I ordered in time for delivery tomorrow I wouldn't be too disappointed at another postponement from iRex and, sadly, I was right.) I'm looking forward to getting an iLiad, err..., towards the end of the year! I just hope the consumer version is equally tough and hard wearing as the industrial version. It's the kind of device that will see a lot of use and abuse (going in an out of bags) and would benefit from being tough as nails.

[Robert Marquard]

I never expected it to be available any sooner than end of the year so i will patiently wait and read my ebooks on my Palm T3.

[The GreatGonzo]

Seriously bummed as I am, I will still go with the Iliad in when it comes out.
For me, the deciding features still are:

- WI-FI updateability and newspaper subscriptions
- screen size
- the file formats it supports

Unlike the other readers on the market, the Iliad will do EXACTLY
what I personally need it to do; I like that in a gadget.

Still, September is a long way off ..... sigh.
Wonder if it'll be a teensy bit cheaper by then...

[NatCh]

I suppose we could just order the prototype kit from e-ink (3,000 USD) and make our own....

It does include a Bluetooth X-ceiver -- somebody mentioned making a display screen for their Palm....

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by NatCh

I suppose we could just order the prototype kit from e-ink (3,000 USD) and make our own....

Or get in contact with Prime View

[NatCh]

Cool!

Um, do you think they'd consider 1 unit to be "volume?"

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by NatCh

Cool!

Um, do you think they'd consider 1 unit to be "volume?"

Don't be so selfish... add one more unit for everyone here at MobileRead

[drachasor]

The Sony Reader does not do what I want. It will probably be pretty closed to tinkering, and Sony tends to sue people that figure out how to backwards engineer their devices so they canrun more software. Additionally with no real method of input, it is only an e-reader (of limited functionality because of Sony policies). Hence I see no reason to get it.

I will consider a Hanlin, though I'd prefer the Iliad screen interface solution (that's probably expensive though). Frankly, I am not going to spend 300+ dollars on a device that should be capable of handling input that has no means to. The Hanlin barely passes this bar...and that bareness of it holds me back.

So clearly the Iliad is theoretically the best item out there. Right now though I do not trust Irex. They've lied about why things have been delayed, they've lied about availability, they've led us on, and generally shown no respect for us. Given that I don't trust their device to be all that good. Henrycat seems pretty level (and has been very friendly), but it isn't impossible he is an Irex person who is just here to stir up excitement--though I am not saying that he is, just that it isn't impossible. Even without that, he might be more forgiving of flaws and features given his nature or just because Irex was so nice to him. So I am going to wait until other people start reviewing the device and base my judgement on that. Given that Eink screens are supposedly quite available to OEMs right now I wouldn't be surprised if in September we had another option or two. I will certainly wait until at least then before I make any purchase. I just hope some competition shows up in the next few months...and I hope it is more honest and straightforward with potential customers.

-Drachasor

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

Don't be so selfish... add one more unit for everyone here at MobileRead

You're right, how petty of me.

So what? 30~50 units?

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by NatCh

You're right, how petty of me.

So what? 30~50 units?

*grin* Well, we could assume every single member would want one, so that would be something over 5k units... and then of course, those units we get stuck with we could sell via our own Web store.