DR800 Some specific DR800S questions - screen size, sorting, firmware, stylus, etc.

[Albyr]

First off, I want to thank all the MobileRead contributors. You've really helped me narrow down my ebook reader choices: I'm currently thinking about getting an iRex DR800S (the -SG isn't available in the UK).

I have a couple of questions, if you guys can help me out.

1.) a) I'm mainly looking at using my reader for reading screenplays, which are usually formatted as 8.5×11 Letter size PDFs. How will these look on the DR800's screen? If anyone here has a DR800 and some time, I'm willing to chuck you a few quid via PayPal if you'll try a few documents for me and take photographs.

1.) b) Alternately, what's the best way to simulate an ebook reader's screen on my laptop? I've tried shrinking a PDF on screen so it's the same physical size as the DR800's screen and they seem readable, but I wonder what role dpi/ppi plays.

2.) How does the DR800 categorise "books"? Most of the PDF's I'm going to be looking at have pretty sketchy metadata; how easy is it going to be to find the file I want. Can I browse by filename? Is there a way on the DR800 to assign metadata? Or rename files? I've heard complaints about directory structure, but I don't really understand them.

3.) Is there new firmware that implements zoom functionality in PDFs? What about trimming margins from PDFs? I could do it in Acrobat, but I don't want to have to bother!

4.) Do I have to use the stylus? If all I want to do is read, can I leave the stylus at home?

5.) What's the battery life like? I've heard conflicting opinions.

6.) Should I buy a Kindle instead? The screen is bigger, and I'd have some sort of wireless in the UK, even if it's not the full signal.

[TGS]

Hi there - great questions! I'll try to answer where I can. I've had an 800 fro about 3 months and read only PDFs

Originally Posted by Albyr

1.) a) I'm mainly looking at using my reader for reading screenplays, which are usually formatted as 8.5×11 Letter size PDFs. How will these look on the DR800's screen? If anyone here has a DR800 and some time, I'm willing to chuck you a few quid via PayPal if you'll try a few documents for me and take photographs.

Happy to try to do a photo's if you post some files.

Originally Posted by Albyr

1.) b) Alternately, what's the best way to simulate an ebook reader's screen on my laptop? I've tried shrinking a PDF on screen so it's the same physical size as the DR800's screen and they seem readable, but I wonder what role dpi/ppi plays.

There is an emulator available, but it's far too technical for me so I've never used it.

Originally Posted by Albyr

2.) How does the DR800 categorise "books"? Most of the PDF's I'm going to be looking at have pretty sketchy metadata; how easy is it going to be to find the file I want. Can I browse by filename? Is there a way on the DR800 to assign metadata? Or rename files? I've heard complaints about directory structure, but I don't really understand them.

You can organise books on the SD card any way you like - make folders, sub-folders etc. I use calibre for amending metadata (when I can be bothered!), which means that I can have metadata that means something to me.

Originally Posted by Albyr

3.) Is there new firmware that implements zoom functionality in PDFs? What about trimming margins from PDFs? I could do it in Acrobat, but I don't want to have to bother!

Yes, it's in beta at the moment. It's very useful - I use it all the time.

Originally Posted by Albyr

4.) Do I have to use the stylus? If all I want to do is read, can I leave the stylus at home?

No. you can navigate through documents and between documents just using the buttons

Originally Posted by Albyr

5.) What's the battery life like? I've heard conflicting opinions.

I tend to charge mine overnight at the weekend. I do it every week and it's never been below 40% - but it will depend on how you use it.

Originally Posted by Albyr

6.) Should I buy a Kindle instead? The screen is bigger, and I'd have some sort of wireless in the UK, even if it's not the full signal.

Nah!

Hope this helps.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by Albyr

4.) Do I have to use the stylus? If all I want to do is read, can I leave the stylus at home?

5.) What's the battery life like? I've heard conflicting opinions.

TGS answered the other questions pretty well, I just wanted to throw in my $.02 on these.

Technically you do not need the stylus to use the device, but if you are trying to do a lot with the interface it can get a bit tedious without it. The UI was really designed with the stylus in mind. With that said, if all you are planning on doing when away from the styus is read, then you should be fine. I typically use the stylus when navigating to open a new book, but the entire time I'm reading through the book (usually takes several days at least) I don't need the stylus at all. If you absolutely have to though, you can get around the UI without it.

Regarding the battery life, most reports are that you should get about 2 weeks on a charge. The device is in standby mode when not in use, so it doesn't actually turn off. This costs you around 6-7% battery per day, but the benefit is that every time you go to use it there is a very quick wake-up and it is ready to go. If you could shut it down in between uses then the battery life would be even better, but you'd have to wait 40-50 seconds every time you wanted to turn it on for reading.

There are a couple known bugs related to the battery though. In some situations the device does not correctly go into it's standby mode. That can obviously cause higher than normal battery drain (possibly why you are seeing conflicting reports). One of the issues with this in the original firmware was related to a specific document type (PDB, I think). There seems to be something similar in the beta release, but I don't know if it is entirely understood yet.

[JRG]

Originally Posted by Albyr

First off, I want to thank all the MobileRead contributors. You've really helped me narrow down my ebook reader choices: I'm currently thinking about getting an iRex DR800S (the -SG isn't available in the UK).

I have a couple of questions, if you guys can help me out.

1.) a) I'm mainly looking at using my reader for reading screenplays, which are usually formatted as 8.5×11 Letter size PDFs. How will these look on the DR800's screen? If anyone here has a DR800 and some time, I'm willing to chuck you a few quid via PayPal if you'll try a few documents for me and take photographs.

1.) b) Alternately, what's the best way to simulate an ebook reader's screen on my laptop? I've tried shrinking a PDF on screen so it's the same physical size as the DR800's screen and they seem readable, but I wonder what role dpi/ppi plays.

...

If it's any help: I just bought a DR800SG for pretty much your reasons in 1(a), except in my case it will be technical documents rather than screenplays. I think that DR800 is the best choice, overall, if you'll be reading documents of this sort in addition to books, newspapers, and such.

You might check out GregorRichard's TechPDF:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81219

That might give you easier viewing of your screenplays.