johnwhelan
Well-known member
Cybook GEN 3 review:
It's actually an electronic book similar to the Amazon Kindle, the Ilad and the Sony reader.
It doesn't run Trainz but can display a .pdf file so when you are trying to follow an electronic tutorial and work on the computer at the same time it can be helpful.
Basically it has a screen about 90 by 120 mms or 3 by 4.5 inches, pure black and white. When reading though the display area that the book appears in is 80 mm by 110 mms. This compares to 90 by 150 mm of a conventional paperback book page available for print display.
It runs a version of LINUX which is hidden, and relies on a Windows or other computer as a sort of mother ship. You download books or files from the internet then copy them over to the Cybook which is connected by a USB port. You also remove book in the same way. The more books you have on the device and which folder they are in the slower some functions are. You can purchase a number of integrated dictionaries which allows you to look up the meaning of a word as you read. It also has some demo books when it arrives including the letter L for an Oxford dictionary.
The LINUX file system defaults to read only mode if it senses any error on the solid state disk. So if it forgets your last page, preferred font settings etc. then you can either format the disk from a Windows machine or run disk error checking on it. Make a back up of the machine when it arrives in case you need to format the disk. Bookeen will make the files available on request.
It charges via the USB port and you can purchase a USB charger for it. It takes more than 5 hours to fully charge and will not overchrage so overnight works well. It will run on a much shorter charge.
Forum based support is available here: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=136
It handles DRM only for Mobipocket book format and since it is a very simple device without a clock ebooks from libraries with time based DRM is not as simple as it could be but browse the forums and there are ways around this.
Why this one rather than a different type? Well the book size is smaller, it uses a compressed file format, and when using the MobiPocket eBook format it is possible to change the font used. So vary the size good for older eyes, change the font from a serif to non-serif according to your preferences. The display is very close to book quality, better than some paperbacks, possibly not quite as good as an art book printed on very high quality paper. It is a glass screen so the option case is sensible, and it can reflect light occasionally so just tilt it slightly if need be.
There are a number of sources for the books, Kindles seem to be locked into Amazon and some regions of the US, Sony proprietary format appears to lock you into Sony and their book prices are not comparable with paperback prices. Kindles can read Mobipocket format books but I’m unclear if this includes DRM ones.
.Pdfs can be reformatted off the machine to fit and the images zoomed or scrolled but don't really work as well as the screen size they were designed for.
DRM I'm not so keen on but a number of publishers will delete an old PID number and add new ones in. Normally they allow you 3 or 4 PID numbers at the same time and if worse comes to worse there is at least one python script around that is reputed to remove the DRM from the file.
Some publishers sell ebooks directly over the web with offers of 20% off paperback prices. Many out of copyright books are available for free download.
What is nice is that booksellers are never out of stock of an item, there are no shipping fees, or minimum purchase for free shipping and delivery is fast.
So if your eyesight is better with large print books and you don’t mind reading classics such as Jane Austin the Cybook works very well, computer literate, want to avoid traveling to the library it works as well. Ever tried to purchase a book that was out of print or stock or not available in your country? It solves that problem.
Cheerio John
It's actually an electronic book similar to the Amazon Kindle, the Ilad and the Sony reader.
It doesn't run Trainz but can display a .pdf file so when you are trying to follow an electronic tutorial and work on the computer at the same time it can be helpful.
Basically it has a screen about 90 by 120 mms or 3 by 4.5 inches, pure black and white. When reading though the display area that the book appears in is 80 mm by 110 mms. This compares to 90 by 150 mm of a conventional paperback book page available for print display.
It runs a version of LINUX which is hidden, and relies on a Windows or other computer as a sort of mother ship. You download books or files from the internet then copy them over to the Cybook which is connected by a USB port. You also remove book in the same way. The more books you have on the device and which folder they are in the slower some functions are. You can purchase a number of integrated dictionaries which allows you to look up the meaning of a word as you read. It also has some demo books when it arrives including the letter L for an Oxford dictionary.
The LINUX file system defaults to read only mode if it senses any error on the solid state disk. So if it forgets your last page, preferred font settings etc. then you can either format the disk from a Windows machine or run disk error checking on it. Make a back up of the machine when it arrives in case you need to format the disk. Bookeen will make the files available on request.
It charges via the USB port and you can purchase a USB charger for it. It takes more than 5 hours to fully charge and will not overchrage so overnight works well. It will run on a much shorter charge.
Forum based support is available here: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=136
It handles DRM only for Mobipocket book format and since it is a very simple device without a clock ebooks from libraries with time based DRM is not as simple as it could be but browse the forums and there are ways around this.
Why this one rather than a different type? Well the book size is smaller, it uses a compressed file format, and when using the MobiPocket eBook format it is possible to change the font used. So vary the size good for older eyes, change the font from a serif to non-serif according to your preferences. The display is very close to book quality, better than some paperbacks, possibly not quite as good as an art book printed on very high quality paper. It is a glass screen so the option case is sensible, and it can reflect light occasionally so just tilt it slightly if need be.
There are a number of sources for the books, Kindles seem to be locked into Amazon and some regions of the US, Sony proprietary format appears to lock you into Sony and their book prices are not comparable with paperback prices. Kindles can read Mobipocket format books but I’m unclear if this includes DRM ones.
.Pdfs can be reformatted off the machine to fit and the images zoomed or scrolled but don't really work as well as the screen size they were designed for.
DRM I'm not so keen on but a number of publishers will delete an old PID number and add new ones in. Normally they allow you 3 or 4 PID numbers at the same time and if worse comes to worse there is at least one python script around that is reputed to remove the DRM from the file.
Some publishers sell ebooks directly over the web with offers of 20% off paperback prices. Many out of copyright books are available for free download.
What is nice is that booksellers are never out of stock of an item, there are no shipping fees, or minimum purchase for free shipping and delivery is fast.
So if your eyesight is better with large print books and you don’t mind reading classics such as Jane Austin the Cybook works very well, computer literate, want to avoid traveling to the library it works as well. Ever tried to purchase a book that was out of print or stock or not available in your country? It solves that problem.
Cheerio John
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