Cybook Gen3 e-book reader gets reviewed

Bookeen's Cybook Gen3 e-book reader has been a long time coming, but now that it's out in the wild we're finally starting to get some reviews of the device, including this fairly thorough one from the folks at The Future of Things. Unfortunately for those looking forward to the reader, they found it to be quite a mixed bag. On the upside, they found the device to be thin, light, small and fast, with it also boasting solid battery life and, most importantly, a screen that's "very comfortable" to read, even outdoors. They were also impressed with the Cybook's RSS support, and the Mobipocket format used for e-books. On the downside, the page flip mechanism proved to be "cumbersome," and they found that the current firmware left a lot to be desired, with them even going so far as to say that it felt like it was "rushed to the market too soon." They were also somewhat disappointed by the lack of SDHC support, and a lack of wireless connectivity (be it 3G or WiFi). They also point out, however, that none of the e-book readers out there are perfect, so if you're in the market for one you'll just have to pick the trade-offs you're willing to live with.

[Kamokazi @ Mar 31st 2008 2:32PM]

I'm still waiting for my PADD.

[Stem $ell @ Mar 31st 2008 2:38PM]

Cy'book 'em, Dano!

[Wwhat @ Mar 31st 2008 2:48PM]

Weird huh how we are still so very much at the infancy of epaper, even though even sony dabbles in it, what we need is for toshiba to start on epaper and then that'll light a fire under the ass of the development.

[Anonymoose @ Mar 31st 2008 3:12PM]

but i don't understand...aren't the only good books made into movies? so isn't my PMP all i need? what would i do with this? reading is only for karoake, i believe. shoot, even bathrooms rely on pictures instead of words.

[LC @ Mar 31st 2008 4:33PM]

Does your PMP play your engadget posts?

[phanbouy @ Mar 31st 2008 4:37PM]

stop bringing your cell-cam into bathrooms and taking pictures!

[Anonymoose @ Mar 31st 2008 5:13PM]

@ LC - sadly, no. my PMP only supports quality media.

*anonymoose gets even more sad - tries to listen to his Michael Bolton on PMP - PMP blows up - anonymoose now covered with tears and ash and frustration and pimples*

[ark_v2 @ Mar 31st 2008 11:07PM]

Wow...This explains the massive dumbness in the world.

[phanbouy @ Mar 31st 2008 3:56PM]

brick fortress not included

[TheCow5 @ Mar 31st 2008 4:35PM]

I've been on the waiting list for over two months.
if you can't afford the iRex iLiad then this is the next best eBook reader.

[erasure25 @ Mar 31st 2008 4:45PM]

Hrmmm, I hope the font shown on the image above is in the very large mode setting, because displaying 1 paragraph at a time means having to "turn the page" far too often. The spacing between each line is too much as well. I don't think many ebook readers still use rulers to keep track of which line they are on...

[Richard Migneron @ Mar 31st 2008 4:56PM]

Hi,

I've been using the CyBook since august last year since it came out (earlier over here in France). I can say that it is a great machine. Why would you need wireless connectivity ???? Apart from consuming battery life !

I have a 1 GB SD card in, and it is still less than half full. I mean guys, really, how many books do you really want to read at the same time !

I get between 3 and 6 months battery life depending on the number of page change, this is great !

My only quible is the fact that with some large PDF, the device reboots because of the size of the next page, but I got a hold of the support staff and that will probably be fixed in the next software update.

[Jordan @ Mar 31st 2008 5:27PM]

So much better looking the Kendal, I think thats what it is called.

[3rdsun @ Mar 31st 2008 7:33PM]

Its the Kindle and that is exactly what I was thinking

[asad @ Mar 31st 2008 5:54PM]

Why would I want wireless access on my ebook ? I guess for the same reason that some people need wireless access on their fridge. It's an ebook reader, it's supposed to let you read books when it's not convenient to carry books with you.

And they tried out the cybooks with PDFs, PDF is the worst format you can use for ebook readers. You don't buy ebooks in pdf either. Their other complain is that the ebook doesn't remember what page you were last on, there is a dedicated bookmark feature for this. Menu->bookmark that's it now you can turn off your ebook.

"On the other hand, we do not recommend using the Cybook, or any other e-book, in low light." How about I wouldn't recommend reading any paper book in low light.

If you are a frequent traveler who is used to carrying multiple books on the road then this is the perfect device for you. It also works with OS X and Linux as opposed to some of the other ebook readers out there.

[frankXchange @ Mar 31st 2008 9:31PM]

I love the idea of a reader, and used to use my Palm for night reading by inverting the black and white reader screen, so the text seemed to float before me in the night. It doesn't appear that that's possible with this model, although I think future models will incorporate multiple display technologies, like the OLPC laptop.
Most people like the idea of having something they do basic internet functions on, like checking their email and browsing. I could live without that, so I don't have a problem with the lack of wireless per se. However, by the same token, I'm also not going to pay $350 for a basic text reader; one I anticipate will be out of date in two years.

[Saturn @ Apr 1st 2008 12:01AM]

"We tried HTML files and had some issues, but it could have easily been our fault."

what a great review from tfot! :/

[TheCow5 @ Apr 1st 2008 11:26AM]

Hi Richard, can you tell me if this eBook reader can read .PRC, or .PDB without any encryption in them.

I am currently on the waiting list and all my ebook so far are un-encrytied .PRC and PDB files.
thanks for any help.
if you don't have any of those files without encryption, I can send you a couple for you to test.
thanks again

[Nish Vamadevan @ Apr 2nd 2008 9:17AM]

I've always wanted something like this...

[saraalito @ May 14th 2008 5:38PM]

The Cybook is getting better too... I know that BooksOnBoard is currently carrying the new edition of the Cybook at a good price (http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?BODY=viewproduct&PRODUCT=5). The new edition has some features like event buffering that make reading on the Cybook an even more pleasant experience (and it was great to begin with!).

[saraalito @ Jul 24th 2008 3:29PM]

BooksOnBoard is giving away a Cybook! All you have to do is subscribe to their RSS Feed (http://www.booksonboard.com/rss/bob_rss.xml) and follow the clues. Here is a flyer with more info: http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff110/sukmisra/BreakingDawnFlyer.jpg. I thought this was pretty cool!