My Brand New Cybook Gen3!

Woohoo! I just received my Cybook Gen3! I've read two chapters of 1984 on the device last night, and it's true what they say. It feels like you're actually reading from paper instead of from a screen. I haven't tested it yet with pdf or txt files, but it works good with Mobipocket format.

Although it's not cheap, it's still one of the less expensive e-readers on the market. I've also considered the Amazon Kindle, but it's only available in the US (damn those companies who always cater to the US market first!) and you are placed on a waiting list due to heavy demand. Plus it's really ugly, and it doesn't work with Mobipocket or pdf; it uses its own proprietary format. The Cybook works great in the one thing it allows you to do (reading e-books, d'uh!), but it could certainly use a lot of additional functions. One absolute must is folder support, or at least a search function. Actually, I can't believe those are not standard features already; cycling through books in one giant folder can be a pain if you have hundreds of books on your card. The ability to highlight text or write notes would be welcome as well. I also like to flip through pages when I'm reading, which is not easy on the Cybook (or any other electronic device I guess), so it requires a slightly different reading behavior.

Still, I'm pretty psyched about having the Cybook. One of the huge advantages of an e-reader is that I finally have an easy way to read books I download from Feedbooks and Gutenberg, who offer free legal downloads of books of which the copyright have expired. I wish there was some easy and cheap way to convert all my printed books into e-books as well, but for the time being I have enough reading material. I also haven't bought many books lately due to lack of shelf space, which is also not an issue anymore.

I can't wait to make another intercontinental flight on my own. Having the Cybook with me instead of dragging tons of books with me, mmm...