Muse Frontlight

[GeoffC]

After almost 10 years with a Gen3 , I was recently gifted with a Muse Frontlight .

First impressions were good , but there are some issues !

Book came loaded with free books , as expected , but only a small proportion in English . The internal deletion process is clunky to say the least , but doable .

I have a couple of issues , one is the link to the bookstore - prominent on the foot of the home page which , to me , is an annoyance that I wish I could remove ( sadly not ! )

The frontlight is a disappointment with a marked and occasionally blotchy gradient across the page from a bright cool base to a warmer yellow at the top . Some of the text is faint - I'm only looking at the free books , none I have purchased .

The issue with the frontlight is annoying and not easy to replicate in a photograph . But at least Bookeen are amenable to a replacement , though they would like me to try for a month before replacing ( Is it really going to ' cure ' itself ? ) .

On their recommendation I have reset the device and also checked 5 page refresh .

In some ways the reaction on the device is slower than I would have expected and it doesn't always react to screen command .

Early days ....

[GeoffC]

It would appear the frontlight issue is not new , and is replicated across the entire batch , and they seem blase about it !

If I pay for return (!) they will replace with a HD version .

Not one of my better Christmas presents , so far ....

[nhedgehog]

I couldn't replicate your issues with my Muse frontlight. Except the store thing. Only thing which is bothering me is the brightness on the lowest level, which is much too bright. Inversing the display helps. But getting it changed for a Muse HD is a nice offers I wouldn't decline.

[GeoffC]

What worries me slightly is that they accept the frontlight on a batch isn't perfect , but seems a design issue they don't appear worried about . Plus if my unit is " faulty " by any definition , why do I have to pay for its return for replacement

[GeoffC]

Bookeen have replaced my original Muse Frontlight with the Muse HD - only cost to me was p&p to them .

The HD upgrade to the ' normal ' screen is definitely noticeable , with both text and images crisper .

Sadly this device continues to show the deficiencies with Bookeen's frontlight - blotchy in appearance and favours the lower part of the screen .

Not totally convinced by the software , the main page seems to mimic that of the Kindle with three horizontal zones encompassing access to current read , library and e-store . Unlike the Kindle the e-store panel cannot be switched off . It's currently in English , but from experience with the original Muse , activation will change the language to French . The Bookeen store doesn't stock much that I would use , so it's Calibre that will help necessary conversions - and side-loading once I can get my head around the file structure

Being a long time fan of Bookeen , sadly this is likely to be my last device from them ....

[JSWolf]

Before I got my H2O, I was looking at Bookeen. The problem was that they would not ship to the US. I think that's still the case.

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Before I got my H2O, I was looking at Bookeen. The problem was that they would not ship to the US. I think that's still the case.

Looks like you're correct , it's not an option in their address book - but then their address book doesn't include the UK Brexit bites already ....

[church mouse]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

Looks like you're correct , it's not an option in their address book - but then their address book doesn't include the UK Brexit bites already ....

Their website can be misleading - I emailed them and they confirmed they do ship to UK (despite its absence from the list) and the same may true of the USA.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by church mouse

Their website can be misleading - I emailed them and they confirmed they do ship to UK (despite its absence from the list) and the same may true of the USA.

I did get in touch with Bookeen and they said they didn't. Something to do with FCC certification.

[GeoffC]

mmm !

[GeoffC]

Extremely disappointed with the battery life !
11 days between charge equates to around 8 hours reading .
wifi off and frontlight around 50% .
Contrast that with 9+yr old Gen3 at least twice the life .

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

Extremely disappointed with the battery life !
11 days between charge equates to around 8 hours reading .
wifi off and frontlight around 50% .
Contrast that with 9+yr old Gen3 at least twice the life .

The Gen3 doesn't have a front light. Keeping the light on at 50% is what's causing the battery to drain faster. Try turning off the light and seeing how long you get on a full charge.

[GeoffC]

I know that Jon about the Gen3 ! , will try Muse with fl switched off - but my wife has a kindle paperwhite with full fl and manages over a month between charges .
Case I suspect of tailored advertising ! saying a month between charges for the HD given fl is also a marketing usp .

[GeoffC]

Might be wrong Jon , but 7 1/2 hours to fully charge seems odd ? Is it - The Gen3 was usually 2-3 hours

( Using an Anker 6-port i-charger which works well with every other device we've got ) .

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Erich Zann

During the last weeks, I spent most of my free time in reading. I also tried to evaluate the battery life of the H2O reader I own and check how it changes according to the light intensity. The statistic function of the device is really helpful for that purpose.

I made four tests. Each time I started with a fully loaded battery, Wi-Fi off, set the light to a fixed value and never changed it. I tried to read ~6 hours per day.

• light at 0%: 77,7 hours of reading (during 12 days, average 6,47h/d)
• light at 15%: 62,0 hours of reading (during 13 days, average 4,76h/d)
• light at 50%: 35,9 hours of reading (during 7 days, average 5,12h/d)
• light at 100%: 17,6 hours of reading (during 3 jours, average 5,86h/d)

I know this is not the Muse, but it should show why the battery is draining so much.