Is Cool-er worth buing?

chrisdes · 11-29-2010, 03:36 AM

Hello ,this is my first post to the forum ,but I think I will be visiting it daily now that I discovered it. My question is if it is worth buying a cooler reader at this point of time? I have found it in a very good price : 100 euros but having read about all the problems and that the company is closed I hesitate. Of course the price is tempting and I wanted to buy an e-book reader as I have already gathered a lot of e-books that I can't read on my pc ( too tiring). Your opinion counts so I am waiting for your replies!

Cyberman tM · 11-29-2010, 07:00 AM

I'm trying not to write a wall of text, but I can't simply say "yes" or "no".

First: I suggest you take a look at that matrix:https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-bo...x#6.22_Devices . It lists 6 inch hardware, see if you like the features of the EB600/CoolEr.

The CoolEr software has some flaws which probably won't be fixed. But you might be able to use different software if you are willing to take the risk of bricking your device.

Or you go for a Kobo - they use a different software than CoolEr and are still developing updates.
The price shouldn't be that much different.

This is now just speculation, but I'd suppose you could buy a Kobo and install the CoolEr firmware on it - then going back to Kobo using the SD card update.

All in all, I'd be torn between CoolEr and Kobo.

NoteJust to be clear, when I say you could try different software, there always is a risk involved. It's your money. Do what your guts tell you after you consulted your brain.

chrisdes · 11-29-2010, 07:16 AM

Thank you very much. I will read the information in the the link you mention and then I will decide. The truth is I like to experiment with my devices - knowing the risks - so if I buy coolEr I will definitely try different software.

Cyberman tM · 11-29-2010, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisdes

The truth is I like to experiment with my devices - knowing the risks - so if I buy coolEr I will definitely try different software.

Excellent. Join the club :-D
It might be worth mentioning then that I reinstalled the firmware about two dozen times by now. The device still works, despite my many attempts <ggg>.

neilmarr · 11-29-2010, 09:25 AM

Thanks for joining us, Chris. Quite honestly, with the company in liquidation right now, I'd advise against Cool-er for pretty obvious reasons. If I were you (I'm in Europe, too), I'd shop around for an affordable (but more solidly supported) reader. Sadly the US cheap deals are seldom open to us, but there are devices now selling around the E100 mark if you can get your hands on one. You might consider popping into the 'Flea Market' forum on MobileRead to see if there's something there that might fit the bill. Good luck and very best wishes. Neil

panda53 · 11-30-2010, 04:18 AM

I have to say that I wouldn't advise anyone to buy one at this stage.

Much as I enjoy my cool-er (and I do!), without a guarantee of return or replace it would be very risky.

If you read through the cool-er threads, you'll see that quite a few of us have experienced fatal problems with individual cool-ers. My first one lasted less than a month before it irrepairably broke. My second one went a similar way after nearly 3 months. I had bought it from Argos in the UK and they faithfully replaced it with another new one.

So my 3rd cool-er has now lasted over 11 months and been much used!

If I were starting up, I would look for a similar ebook reader like the Binatone 7 Inch Colour Screen e-Book which Argos is now selling (out of stock online but in stock in our local store).

I've bought a couple of books at the Kobo store - one of them couldn't be loaded onto the cool-er although that was eventually fixed.

My plan for when my cool-er comes to an end, would probably be to hope for a 7" ipad! Although that looks unlikely now, I did notice that there is a 7" android ipad look-alike which might do the job, although I would want to do alot more research.

Good luck! For me, the whole ebook reading thing has been a delight, and I've read loads of books on mine.

panda53 · 11-30-2010, 04:33 AM

This thread got my curiosity up - and I just found this at Amazon:

White 7" Touchscreen Netbook Google Android Notebook Tablet PC E-Book Reader with WiFi - 2GB Netbook for £86.99.

Certainly worth reading the reviews. Could be a cheap and cheerful ebook reader.

chrisdes · 11-30-2010, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by panda53

This thread got my curiosity up - and I just found this at Amazon:

White 7" Touchscreen Netbook Google Android Notebook Tablet PC E-Book Reader with WiFi - 2GB Netbook for £86.99.

Certainly worth reading the reviews. Could be a cheap and cheerful ebook reader.

Thank you for your suggestion but I think the one you mention carries tft-lcd screen which is supposed to be more tiresome for the eyes than e-ink screen- correct me if I am wrong. I was looking for a budget e-ink reader for now as in the future I am planning to get an ipad for magazines ,comics etc. For now it seems I am not getting cool-er and I am thinking about the new CYBOOK Bookeen Orizon. Of course the price is about 230 euros ,but I am thinking about it

Cyberman tM · 11-30-2010, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisdes

Thank you for your suggestion but I think the one you mention carries tft-lcd screen which is supposed to be more tiresome for the eyes than e-ink screen- correct me if I am wrong.

You probably won't find a definite answer for that. Too many variables, there are bad and good LC displays.
One likely cause for eye-strain may be the background light. Some people are more sensitive to that than others.

--

It isn't a true CoolEr, but my device didn't give me any trouble yet. (Aside from software, and half of that was my own fault :-)
Although, the hardware should be almost the same. Weird. But then, wouldn't Kobo also have hardware trouble? Perhaps CoolEr was too cheap for the good stuff...

zxcvbnm · 12-04-2010, 07:36 AM

If anyone wants to take a chance argos in the uk is selling the last few off for £80 on their ebay store

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COOL-ER-EBOOK-...-/330499472321

they are new and more importantly have the 12 month warranty from argos. Though if it breaks in eight months I imagine you will just get a refund as where will they get a replacement from? You are not going to get any support on it though, obviously.

I'm not brave enough, waiting till after Christmas to see if the prices crash.

panda53 · 12-04-2010, 08:03 AM

If it's covered by Argos' one year guarantee, then it's a fantastic deal!

Half the price of what most of us paid. But you'd need to check that the normal guarantee applies.

zxcvbnm · 12-15-2010, 02:51 PM

Well it does say "new with 12 months argos warranty" so it should have. Though obviously as its only from argos not the manufacturer so as I said if it breaks you may only be able to get a refund not a repair.

I imagine argos just got embarrassed at blatantly selling something from a bust company. Still as I said I think I will wait till after Christmas when I hope something properly supported will lower to this sort of price.

lovelylaura · 12-16-2010, 10:57 AM

Hi everyone - I'm a new member here and have just ordered the Cool-er Reader for myself as a Christmas present from my partner.
I noticed them advertised at £79.99 in Argos' Ebay Outlet as mentioned above, seemed like an absolute steal to me considering most of you will have paid around the £160-£180 mark from what I've seen.
There seem to be mixed opinions of this reader, but from the hands-on video reviews I've watched I do very much like the look of the Cool-er. Such a shame that the company has been liquidated as we can no longer look forward to firmware updates, however I did read that Interead were planning to upload the source to enable community development, which could be interesting!
At the end of the day I think £79.99 for an eInk reader is very impressive, there's a few cheaper ones on the market but without the eInk screen. Support for a wide range of open formats and mp3 was also one of the key selling points, and also it's so pretty! I was originally going to go for the Sony Pocket, but 512MB of onboard storage and no expansion doesn't sound ideal. I do have a 12 month warranty with Argos which is good as I understand a few of you had teething problems - hopefully these were related to early firmware versions though.
So now I just have to wait until Christmas! Already got Calibre set up full of epub books which I believe is the format best displayed on the Cool-er, so just need to copy them over Christmas day morning!!!
Nice to meet you all :-)
Laura

sassanik · 12-16-2010, 03:35 PM

The Cool-er was really not a bad little device. I hope that you enjoy yours! Just make sure the firmware is up to date. The last firmware they released was very stable.

Amy

zxcvbnm · 01-16-2011, 12:05 PM

Down to £69 now if you take pink

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COOL-ER-EBOOK-...-/330511699903

11-29-2010, 03:36 AM	#1
chrisdes Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: none	Is Cool-er worth buing? Hello ,this is my first post to the forum ,but I think I will be visiting it daily now that I discovered it. My question is if it is worth buying a cooler reader at this point of time? I have found it in a very good price : 100 euros but having read about all the problems and that the company is closed I hesitate. Of course the price is tempting and I wanted to buy an e-book reader as I have already gathered a lot of e-books that I can't read on my pc ( too tiring). Your opinion counts so I am waiting for your replies!

12-16-2010, 03:35 PM	#14
sassanik Guru Posts: 774 Karma: 1211741 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Oregon Device: EB1150, iPhone, Cool-er Purple, Pocketbook 360, Kindle Fire	good little device The Cool-er was really not a bad little device. I hope that you enjoy yours! Just make sure the firmware is up to date. The last firmware they released was very stable. Amy

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11-29-2010, 07:00 AM	#2
Cyberman tM Evangelist Posts: 439 Karma: 2248782 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Austria Device: Inkbook Prime; Icarus Illumina;ImcoV6l;EB600;Kobo	I'm trying not to write a wall of text, but I can't simply say "yes" or "no". First: I suggest you take a look at that matrix:https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-bo...x#6.22_Devices . It lists 6 inch hardware, see if you like the features of the EB600/CoolEr. The CoolEr software has some flaws which probably won't be fixed. But you might be able to use different software if you are willing to take the risk of bricking your device. Or you go for a Kobo - they use a different software than CoolEr and are still developing updates. The price shouldn't be that much different. This is now just speculation, but I'd suppose you could buy a Kobo and install the CoolEr firmware on it - then going back to Kobo using the SD card update. All in all, I'd be torn between CoolEr and Kobo. NoteJust to be clear, when I say you could try different software, there always is a risk involved. It's your money. Do what your guts tell you after you consulted your brain.

11-29-2010, 07:16 AM	#3
chrisdes Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: none	Thank you very much. I will read the information in the the link you mention and then I will decide. The truth is I like to experiment with my devices - knowing the risks - so if I buy coolEr I will definitely try different software.

11-29-2010, 09:25 AM	#5
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,215 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Thanks for joining us, Chris. Quite honestly, with the company in liquidation right now, I'd advise against Cool-er for pretty obvious reasons. If I were you (I'm in Europe, too), I'd shop around for an affordable (but more solidly supported) reader. Sadly the US cheap deals are seldom open to us, but there are devices now selling around the E100 mark if you can get your hands on one. You might consider popping into the 'Flea Market' forum on MobileRead to see if there's something there that might fit the bill. Good luck and very best wishes. Neil

11-30-2010, 04:18 AM	#6
panda53 Connoisseur Posts: 56 Karma: 4220 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: scotland Device: Kobo Touch and shared Kindle	I have to say that I wouldn't advise anyone to buy one at this stage. Much as I enjoy my cool-er (and I do!), without a guarantee of return or replace it would be very risky. If you read through the cool-er threads, you'll see that quite a few of us have experienced fatal problems with individual cool-ers. My first one lasted less than a month before it irrepairably broke. My second one went a similar way after nearly 3 months. I had bought it from Argos in the UK and they faithfully replaced it with another new one. So my 3rd cool-er has now lasted over 11 months and been much used! If I were starting up, I would look for a similar ebook reader like the Binatone 7 Inch Colour Screen e-Book which Argos is now selling (out of stock online but in stock in our local store). I've bought a couple of books at the Kobo store - one of them couldn't be loaded onto the cool-er although that was eventually fixed. My plan for when my cool-er comes to an end, would probably be to hope for a 7" ipad! Although that looks unlikely now, I did notice that there is a 7" android ipad look-alike which might do the job, although I would want to do alot more research. Good luck! For me, the whole ebook reading thing has been a delight, and I've read loads of books on mine.

11-30-2010, 04:33 AM	#7
panda53 Connoisseur Posts: 56 Karma: 4220 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: scotland Device: Kobo Touch and shared Kindle	This thread got my curiosity up - and I just found this at Amazon: White 7" Touchscreen Netbook Google Android Notebook Tablet PC E-Book Reader with WiFi - 2GB Netbook for £86.99. Certainly worth reading the reviews. Could be a cheap and cheerful ebook reader.

12-04-2010, 07:36 AM	#10
zxcvbnm Member Posts: 22 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: none	If anyone wants to take a chance argos in the uk is selling the last few off for £80 on their ebay store http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COOL-ER-EBOOK-...-/330499472321 they are new and more importantly have the 12 month warranty from argos. Though if it breaks in eight months I imagine you will just get a refund as where will they get a replacement from? You are not going to get any support on it though, obviously. I'm not brave enough, waiting till after Christmas to see if the prices crash.

12-04-2010, 08:03 AM	#11
panda53 Connoisseur Posts: 56 Karma: 4220 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: scotland Device: Kobo Touch and shared Kindle	If it's covered by Argos' one year guarantee, then it's a fantastic deal! Half the price of what most of us paid. But you'd need to check that the normal guarantee applies.

12-15-2010, 02:51 PM	#12
zxcvbnm Member Posts: 22 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: none	Well it does say "new with 12 months argos warranty" so it should have. Though obviously as its only from argos not the manufacturer so as I said if it breaks you may only be able to get a refund not a repair. I imagine argos just got embarrassed at blatantly selling something from a bust company. Still as I said I think I will wait till after Christmas when I hope something properly supported will lower to this sort of price.

12-16-2010, 10:57 AM	#13
lovelylaura Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Cool-er	Hi everyone - I'm a new member here and have just ordered the Cool-er Reader for myself as a Christmas present from my partner. I noticed them advertised at £79.99 in Argos' Ebay Outlet as mentioned above, seemed like an absolute steal to me considering most of you will have paid around the £160-£180 mark from what I've seen. There seem to be mixed opinions of this reader, but from the hands-on video reviews I've watched I do very much like the look of the Cool-er. Such a shame that the company has been liquidated as we can no longer look forward to firmware updates, however I did read that Interead were planning to upload the source to enable community development, which could be interesting! At the end of the day I think £79.99 for an eInk reader is very impressive, there's a few cheaper ones on the market but without the eInk screen. Support for a wide range of open formats and mp3 was also one of the key selling points, and also it's so pretty! I was originally going to go for the Sony Pocket, but 512MB of onboard storage and no expansion doesn't sound ideal. I do have a 12 month warranty with Argos which is good as I understand a few of you had teething problems - hopefully these were related to early firmware versions though. So now I just have to wait until Christmas! Already got Calibre set up full of epub books which I believe is the format best displayed on the Cool-er, so just need to copy them over Christmas day morning!!! Nice to meet you all :-) Laura

01-16-2011, 12:05 PM	#15
zxcvbnm Member Posts: 22 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: none	Down to £69 now if you take pink http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COOL-ER-EBOOK-...-/330511699903

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