Gen3 What do you love/hate about your Cybook - G3?

[Rique]

Hi, I'm a newbie and looking to jump into the e-reader pool. I've written about my research and shared my "wish-list" here. I also wrote a post similar to this in the Hanlin V3 forum and the Sony PRS-505 forum.

My first choice was either the Sony 700 or Sony 505. Then I looked at them at a Borders and came away unimpressed with the 700's display and a little hesitant about the design of the 505 (buttons on the side). So I have been looking at others (albeit I have not crossed the 505 off the list yet).

The Cybook was one of the first ones to catch my eye - I liked the design and the format support. However, I have to say, while lurking in this forum, it seems there is a lot of disgruntlement being expressed. Which causes me more than a little concern.

So, can you please tell me - why do you love your Cybook? What is it that makes you want to curl up and get cozy with it? Or, if the relationship has cooled off, please tell me why - or, if you hate it now and want to get a restraining order issued and banish it from your life forever, then why?

Thanks so much for your opinions and shared wisdom.

-- Rique

[gerraldo]

Love:
- good reading experience with adjustable font/size (and justification)
- dictionary look-up (good when reading foreign language books)
- lots of available books and easy conversion of other formats (with MobiReader and/or calibre)
- library with covers
- nice looking, easy handling, light-weight

Hate:
- fragile screen (but that is true for all readers)

BTW: Sony PRS-505 was my second choice...

[YGG-]

Originally Posted by gerraldo

Love:
- good reading experience with adjustable font/size (and justification)
- dictionary look-up (good when reading foreign language books)
- lots of available books and easy conversion of other formats (with MobiReader and/or calibre)
- library with covers
- nice looking, easy handling, light-weight

Hate:
- fragile screen (but that is true for all readers)

BTW: Sony PRS-505 was my second choice...

Exactly !
I love it especially when I'm home/ safe, & I can use it all naked without its cover... beeeyootifool form factor!
And it's still the cheapest you can buy in France.
It used to crash a lot but not anymore

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Rique

So, can you please tell me - why do you love your Cybook?

Love: Reading on it, user changeable fonts, proper italic/bold/bolditalic support, justification, 12 base fontsizes, covers in library, dictionary support, full screen cover display.

Hate: Slow bootup with lots (hundreds to thousands) of books loaded. No sleep mode for instant on. Slow navigation in library. Poor button placement and use. Hard to read and charge at the same time.

Some of my complaints will be fixed in the next firmware release. We'll have to wait (and wait) to see how many.

But having also used a 505, I much prefer the CyBook. The three limited font sizes on the Sony didn't impress.

[YGG-]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

[...]
But having also used a 505, I much prefer the CyBook. The three limited font sizes on the Sony didn't impress.

And I love having 700 books right there (not full yet)

[ProfJulie]

I think a lot of the disgruntlement you see in the forums doesn't have that much to do with the Cybook as a reading device, but with Bookeen's continued and prolonged promise of a firmware update for it. We have been waiting months and months and months for some promised improvements (i.e., folder support) and have no idea when it will finally materialize.

[EowynCarter]

Things i hate ? none.
Things I don't like ? long starting time. Some pdf crashing (should be fixed with next update)
Things i like ? The outrageously long battery life, it's tiny and light.

[Halk]

Love
The device is well designed. Reading on it is easy and pleasant.
I have complete freedom with what goes on or off it - it's a standard USB drive when connected.
I can have it forever and I don't need to rely on manufacturer support. I'm not tied to particular software or wifi access etc.
There really is something wonderful about having an entire library in my hand. If I was stuck on a desert island with my Cybook (full of books!) and some way to charge it I'd be happy.

What I hate
Bookeen for keeping me waiting on folder support. If they'd said "We'll be developing folder support for new devices, and we might try and retrofit the Cybook Gen 3 with it" then we'd have been happy. I bought it without folder support. It's just the hanging on thinking it's just around the corner that's the problem! Folder support will make the device so much more, I can add books as and when I like and I know they'll be there for me to read whenever. Without folder support I find I try not to put too much on it.

[jayne80]

I Love my Cybook, as long as you don't fill it too full of books, i've got about 200 on mine it doesn't take too long to start up. The only thing i don't like is if I forget to charge the battery it always runs out at the good bit :-)

[Ortep]

Originally Posted by jayne80

The only thing i don't like is if I forget to charge the battery it always runs out at the good bit :-)

I have te same but it is a direct result of one of the more positve things. The battery holds for so long that I don't think of charging.

If it would last only a couple of hours I would reconnect it to the charger every evening. No I have to think of it once every 1-2 weeks

[DDHarriman]

Hi

Love - most of it, but principally fonts, 12 font sizes, as much as I want of different ones and the total bolding of the font in a text (who makes me not needing an extra light a night).

Hate - nothing.

Would love - reflowing PDF’s and ePub with full justification - but that’s an old story (being raving about this since the Sony got it in July last year) - and it looks we will not have this at the same time as the Mobipocket reading we have nowadays, when… in… maybe… the year 2020 or 2030 when Bookeen will put out their new firmware (he… he…).

Anyway, and having the 505 too, I keep on reading normally in the Cybook, as in the 505 epub not justified is for me, a joke, as is the font support… one never knows what the bloody size of it is going to be or when the small font size is good, the medium is too big, and so on…
Do not take me wrong the 505 is a great reader and I’m using it as a fall back and PDF “serious” documents reader.

Best regards,

[Darqref]

Love - clear screen, eInk in general, lots of font sizes.

Hate -
1. vulnerability. I broke mine, no clue how, no discernible damage or rough handling. This makes me paranoid, and I can't use it without the case. And I added a stiffener to the front cover to give at least some extra protection. I want a plastic screen.

2. The stupid rocker button. I frequently hit the menu button unintentionally. I find it difficult to use off-hand, unlike my old Rocket. Give me separate buttons, instead of this idiotic attempt to imitate the iPod control.
3. I regularly hit the next page button too fast, and it bounces me back to the same old page. It needs to be faster.

4. all the side buttons. I can't use them without taking time to *find* them, since there are too many non-functional or counter-functional buttons. I don't want or need mp3 buttons, I wish I could re-assign them.

5. Battery that charges faster! I regularly run out in the middle of a book, and need to put it down for several hours while it recharges. Wish I could read while connected (my Rocket did that fine), or barring that, could charge the thing in a few minutes instead of a few hours.

So far, I haven't required folders. I'd like to have folders, but I haven't tried to keep all my library on the card - I couldn't with my Rocket, and it never bothered me.

[HarryT]

One thing which I do find good about Bookeen is that here we are some 18 months after the launch of the Gen3, and still there is no other device on the market which can compare with it for MobiPocket books. I've been keeping a careful eye on the market for a possible successor to the Gen3, and from my point of view at least, there's nothing to beat it. The only other devices which support word lookup in Mobi dictionaries, to the best of my knowledge, are the iRex iLiad and DR1000, and they are aimed at a completely different market to the Gen3. Why it is that devices like the BeBook, etc, can't do dictionary lookups is a mystery to me, but it shows that Bookeen "got it right".

[GeoffC]

The Cybook Gen3 is a good product. It gives me what I want in an electronic reader - namely the ability to read a choice of genre in a font style and size of my choosing (I only read mobi books). The unit is light (even in its [totally necessary] case), easy to hold and good to look at. The dictionary support under mobi is a delight (albeit a little slow), hopefully this can, in the goodness of time, be a possibility under ePub too.

Hate is too strong a word, but annoyance at library navigation is a little understated, as is an implied apathy on the side of Bookeen for customer liasion. The latter is an issue which is becoming increasingly of concern to me.

[HarryT]

Yes, library navigation is a real weakness. I currently have about 300 books on my Gen3 and that, for me, pretty much represents the current limit of "usability".