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IREX DR800SG Digital eBook Reader MobileTechReview.com

24.02.10

I wouldn't exactly say it's raining eBook readers, at least not shipping models. But after a slow start where we had the Sony Reader or the Sony Reader to choose from here in the US, then the Kindle or the Sony Reader in late 2007, things are looking up. Now we have several Sony models, both the Kindle 2 and super-sized Kindle DX , the Barnes & Noble nook , the Astak readers and now the IREX DR800SG. The IREX was originally scheduled to ship late last fall but delays shifted the release to mid-February 2010. The DR800SG is available from BestBuy.com for $399 (the same price as the Sony Reader Daily Edition ), and will arrive at Best Buy stores in the coming months.

Among US eBook readers, the IREX is unique because it has a larger 8.1" eInk display that works with the included stylus and Wacom active digitizer (the same technology used on tablet PCs and their pens are interchangeable). The Wacom pen is more accurate than a resistive stylus and the digitizer does not interfere with screen clarity in the least. That's right: no murky, grainy reduced-contrast eInk. It looks just as good as the Kindle 2 , Sony PRS-300 and nook which lack an input layer. It has higher contrast and lacks the glare of the Sony Reader Touch Edition and Sony Reader Daily Edition . Lovely! The drawbacks? You must use the special EMR pen since your fingernail, finger tip or any other poke-capable item won't work. There's no silo in the reader for the pen (see Editor in Chief banging her head in despair). What's up with that when every PDA, smartphone and touch screen Sony Reader gives you a safe home for the pen? There is a small slit in the included neoprene slip case for the stylus but we'd much rather have a silo or a book-style flip case with a stylus holder at the ready.

That Wacom stylus would be perfect for precise input in the form of note-taking and highlighting. While some of IREX's more expensive Euro models have inking and annotation, it's lacking in the DR800SG. We're sure the folks at Sony are thrilled since their two touch readers offer notes and highlighting. Hint to the folks at IREX: this is a software feature you could and should add to be competitive with Sony's products.

The DR800SG has good format support, making this a go-to reader for the most important formats other than Amazon's AZW Kindle format (Amazon likes to keep things to themselves). It works with non-DRM and DRM ePUB books and PDF files (using the standard Adobe ADEPT DRM) as well as PDB (eReader and Barnes & Noble) books. That means you can load Sony bookstore books, Barnes & Noble eBooks, Google's 1 million public domain books, Kobo Books and public library eBooks among others. Very nice!

The Linux-based DR800 has a very intuitive user interface that's up there with Sony's touch screen readers for ease of use. We particularly like the book cover view that's similar to the Sony touch readers. We put it to the mother test and mom was immediately at home with the IREX while she found the nook a bit baffling at first and the Kindle less intuitive.

The Digital Reader has 3G wireless via Verizon EV-DO and a Qualcomm Gobi modem, and this works with the IREX eBook Mall that's basically a home for book and periodical vendor stores. The IREX uses a webkit browser for access to these stores, but there's no access to sites outside the storefronts. The Mall currently has two stores: the Barnes & Noble store and NewspaperDirect (PressDisplay). IREX's North American CEO stated at the end of 2009 that there will be more stores in the Mall. This shouldn't require any sort of firmware upgrade and could be done on the IREX portal page.

Other features include a removable Lithium Ion battery and an SDHC microSD card slot. A 2 gig card is included and there's no user-accessible internal storage.

The IREX DR800SG, Sony Reader Daily Edition PRS-900 and the Barnes & Noble nook .

What sets the DR800SG apart is the large 8.1", 768 x 1024 display. That gives you significantly more words per page than the popular 5" and 6" ereaders on the market. Yet the IREX isn't a large device and looks tiny next to the 9.7" Kindle DX. How did they manage that? The bezel is extremely small and since this has stylus input and navigation, there's no need for a keyboard (Kindle) or separate touch screen (nook). The IREX fits in with the Sony Reader school of design where the display is maximized. While the Sony touch screen readers have a sometimes more polished set of features, the IREX wins for display clarity.

That said, if you lose the stylus or don't want to use it, you can do everything using the menu button and flipbar on the eBook reader's left bezel. That's no more tedious than using the Kindle's joystick for navigation. The large flipbar is used for page turns (you can set the direction you prefer) and it advances through menu items and steps through icons and list items one at a time. The menu button below the flipbar brings up the menu (much like a menu on a PC application), or you can tap the word "Menu" at the lower left corner to activate the context-aware menu.

Who is IREX?

IREX isn't a household name in the US, but they're fairly well known as a high end digital reader maker in Europe, their home market. We hope they do a marketing push in the US; having their product in Best Buy certainly helps, but consumer awareness is very low here. This is one of the few eBook readers that's not made in Asia-- it's made in the Netherlands. IREX is a small Dutch company and they're a 2005 spin off of Royal Philips Electronics, a pioneer in e-ink. IREX has been selling high end readers costing from $550 to $900 in Europe for some time, and this is their first US consumer digital reader. Other IREX models feature the same Wacom-enabled display and either 8 or 10 inch displays. The DR800 is the first reader to ship with ePUB support. While the name DR800SG isn't a brilliant stroke of marketing (as was their Iliad product name), it's logical: DR stands for digital reader and the 800 indicates it has an 8" display (there's a DR1000 with a 10" display in Europe). Overseas, there's a more expensive DR800S that is nearly identical to the DR800SG in terms of hardware but it lacks 3G.

Though the company is based in Europe, they now have a US office and US support for the launch of the DR800SG.

Hardware

The 12.6 ounce DR800SG weighs about the same as the nook and and Sony PRS-900 and is 2.5 ounces heavier than the Kindle 2. Despite the relatively large display it's a very portable device that's comfortable to hold and easy to stow in a bag or purse. 8" is the sweet spot for increasing screen real estate whie maintaining portability. 10" readers and slates are heavier and too large to carry around in the same way you'd carry a trade paperback book.

The IREX runs on a 400MHz Freescale i.MX31L processor and it has 128 megs of RAM. There's no user-accessible internal storage; instead everything goes on the included 2 gig microSD card (you can use larger cards if you wish). The microSD card slot is located under the battery door on the back, and there's a SIM card slot but this isn't used for Verizon connectivity. Verizon doesn't use SIM cards, but the GOBI is a multi-mode modem that can do either CDMA or GSM but not both at the same time. That means it's Verizon in the US but IREX will likely use it as a GSM wireless module in Europe.

Like most digital readers, the IREX runs Linux. IREX makes the source available and one can write applications or port Linux applications to the device. Examples are FBReader (an eBook reader that supports additional formats like HTML, FB2, MOBI and Plucker) and Midori (a Mozilla web browser that's handy for reading HTML docs but won't get you surfing on the Net-- at least not until someone figures out how to turn on the 3G modem for straight web browsing). To install an application, simply drag it to the Programs directory on your SD card. To access the program directly, you'll want to modify an .ini file on the reader so that the SD Card application shows folders. It's quite easy to do this:

Using your computer and the included USB cable, mount the reader and go to the System folder on the SD card. You'll see a file called dr.ini and you'll want to edit that with a text editor to add the line "/apps/er/sys/ctb/showdir=sdcard" (minus the quotes). Reboot the reader by sliding the power button for 5 seconds and you're done. Don't use Microsoft Word to do this because it messes with line breaks-- stick to a vanilla text editor. After that when you use the SD Card app you'll see folders (joy to those who love to organize their reading material). Go to the Programs folder and you'll see icons for programs you've copied to the SD card.

The Lithium Ion battery is affixed to the removable back door and it attaches via a 2-wire connector to the motherboard. IREX has so far stated that they want users to send the reader to their US service center to swap the battery but I see absolutely no reason why since it's very easy to plug and unplug the wired connector.

The IREX is made of plastic and it has a matte finish. They did an uncanny job of matching the front bezel color to the light gray e-ink display background. That makes for a continuous, printed page look and has fooled most folks into thinking it's the best e-ink display yet. I say "fooled" because it's on par with the Kindle 2, nook and Sony Reader Pocket Edition , but not better in terms of contrast and sharpness. It's an excellent display though, and we're very impressed that the digitizer has absolutely no negative impact on screen quality. The screen is most definitely better than the Sony touch readers' displays.

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