Is the iRex iLiad worth it?

April 9, 2007 7:50 PM

I've been lusting after the iRex iLiad for a year... and I'm starting law school in the fall. I'm trying to convince myself that I can use it for my reading for class (as well as my recreational reading). Anyone have one and want to share experiences?

Is the larger screen and the touchscreen capability worth twice the price of the Sony Reader? I've played with the reader at the book store and I can't say I'm wild about the interface, and I'm also not wild about Sony and their DRM history or their heavy-handed attempt at content management. Plus I'd love to be able to highlight (since I'm trying to pass this off as a study aide).

I know about mobileread.com and the comparison matrix - I'm looking for mefi experiences.

So:
Have an Iliad? Like it?
How good is the touchscreen interface? the annotation software?
Am I just succumbing to technolust?

posted by yggdrasil to Technology (14 answers total)

I've lusted after electronic ink for years but have only recently experienced it first hand. The Sony Reader is on display at Borders throughout Chicago. In a way, it's an incredibly impressive device. But it feels extremely rough around the edges.

Supposedly the iLiad is a bit better than the Sony Reader when it comes to screen refresh and other factors, but that's not saying much. All in all, the technology isn't quite there yet.

In short, you're giving into your technolust. But I think you're in good company - if I had a few hundred to spare I'd probably be in line with you. If you're comfortable with the idea of being a super-early adopter I say go for it!
posted by aladfar at 8:20 PM on April 9, 2007

Can't really use it for class reading. You will need to highlight like mad.
posted by Ironmouth at 8:30 PM on April 9, 2007

Do you already have a laptop? At my school and many others you take exams on laptops - it would be worth knowing whether or not you could take an exam on the iLiad in lieu of a laptop and whether or not this would affect your decision to purchase.

From the description of the iLiad it doesn't seem like you will be able to download any of your law school books onto the device,which is a major downside. That means the amount of stuff, like textbooks, you have to lug around isn't reduced.

That said, it does look incredibly cool and if you have some money to burn then it might be worth it.
posted by sara558 at 8:36 PM on April 9, 2007

I've been reading ebooks on my REB1100 and sharp zaurus for a long time now. From first hand experience with a floor model of the Sony ebook reader I was sorely disappointed. 1. It's very slow to update the screen. 2. Pages leave a faint afterimage. I probably would have bought one were it not for those two problems (which would drive me up a wall).

I'm assuming that the iLiad uses the same EInk tech and so suffers from a similar problem. If not, I'd love to hear more about it.
posted by roue at 8:40 PM on April 9, 2007

The ebook geeks at the Mobile Read forums seem to have all knowledge on the subject.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 8:50 PM on April 9, 2007

going off to write on the board 100 times "I will read the whole question"...
posted by Zed_Lopez at 8:55 PM on April 9, 2007

I'm curious about the "reading for class" part. I've spent close to $1000 on casebooks for this year, and the weight of lugging all of them has done a number on my backpack, my back, and the spines of the books themselves. A source for digital casebooks would be revolutionary and a huge boon for students. For that reason, I can't imagine the casebook printers allowing even the smallest steps in that direction.

That said, unless you plan on taking notes by hand, I think a regular laptop would be a much better option.
posted by bjrubble at 9:50 PM on April 9, 2007

Comments are on the Sony Reader (which I've owned for about 4 months and am happy with) and not the Iliad. One data point.

I would judge the reader as unusable for classroom stuff. It is best suited for reading that which is paperbacky. For novels, it excels. The screen refresh rate disappears for me after 3-4 pages. I'm not a law student, but I wouldn't want to use it to process dense information that would require flipping back and forth or annotating.

Also, it's useless for reading the typical letter formatted PDFs. You will quickly discover and enjoy the plethora of crappy document reformatting options.
posted by minedev at 12:15 AM on April 10, 2007

I own an eBookwise 1150, and I've seen an iLiad in action, and I was also pretty unimpressed. It took seemingly forever to "boot up" and the page refreshes were pretty slow.

Personally I'm going to wait a while before jumping on the eInk bandwagon if that's the way they perform.

The owner of the iLiad said that the screen refresh didn't bother him, he just got used to flipping pages before he was done reading or something.

As a comparison, the Ebookwise device powers on nearly instantly as compared to probably 15-25 seconds for the iLiad. Screen refreshes are nearly instant, as compared to maybe a half second on the iLiad.

It seems like a bit of a step back, even though the display does look pretty nice. I hope they can resolve the issues with it, because on paper it looks awesome.

Oh - I just remembered, I saw a video of an iLiad on youtube a while back. You might want to seek it out. (I would, but youtube is verboten here.)
posted by Nodecam at 7:07 AM on April 10, 2007

ThinkPad makes a notepad / laptop. You might be interested in that as well, though I doubt the display is as nice as this.
posted by xammerboy at 7:13 AM on April 10, 2007

You will not be able to use it for class reading in law school because none (or very little) of your assigned reading will be available in ebook format, and because, as Ironmouth said, you will be highlighting or underlining like mad.
posted by raf at 8:02 AM on April 10, 2007

a tablet pc, + a copy of acrobat professional + some other notetaking program, (Evernote or Microsoft's note taking addition to office) would be very nice for highlighting taking notes, on text etc...

With acrobat you can highlight, type bubble notes, and even be able to change a pdf to be commentable, so you can send it to others...

I'll say that have whatever sort of technological "system" down cold BEFORE classes start. You don't want to be wasting your time learning a new technology, or troubleshooting when everything gets crazy.

tablets run considerably more than non-tablets... however although its not necessary to have a a tablet at all...
posted by stratastar at 2:25 PM on April 10, 2007

I have 2 Sony Readers and 2 iRex iLiads in the house. I can add more detail later if you're interested, but the iLiad display is notably better than the Sony (higher contrast) and the response time seems faster on it, too (though neither is what I'd call fast). My first impression with the Sony is that the lighting has to be just right for it to be comfortable to read. I believe the iLiad can also accept material wirelessly. That said, both iLiads have suffered from very spotty performance in terms of charging--like, sometimes it won't charge and I can't figure out why and so I stop using it for a while (weeks). The company hasn't responded to questions about it, either.
posted by cocoagirl at 4:49 PM on April 10, 2007

Response by poster: no no no. you're supposed to tell me that I'm being completely reasonable and that I should totally get the iLiad! come on, do I have to do everything myself? *sigh*

though in my defense, I wasn't planning on using the iLiad as a replacement laptop, but as a companion device.

@Ironmouth et al re: highlighting: that's one of the arguments in favor of the iLiad over the Sony, since it has a touchscreen that allows highlighting and annotations, which is also why I was asking about how good those features are

re: law texts in ebook format: the iLiad doesn't require ebooks, it can also handle a bunch of text file formats (and supposedly pdfs, but with issues) and from what I've seen from the classes/lectures I've sat in on, quite a bit of the reading is available in an e-format. If nothing else, most schools have them available to meet the needs of visually impaired students - so the stuff is out there

@roue et al re: performance: some of the issues you're talking about like screen refresh rate are just part of eink. Sure, a lcd handheld doesn't have those issues, but it also has iffy performance in sunlight, and the charge lasts at best a couple of hours, not 12, and the screen size is significantly smaller.

I'd already decided to use my laptop for note taking in class and exams (that's why I just got myself a new one for 400 bucks - it just needed word processing and internet and weigh little for lugging around and my microcenter was practically giving them away) - I was thinking I'd use the iLiad instead of a bunch of text books. If I can get the texts in e-format, I can just read them on the laptop.

I'll hold off on the iLiad for now, and take a look at the Baen reader when it finally becomes available (the prototypes are being delivered for testing later this month, I'm all excited). btw, you should all check out the Baen reader - it's an eink ebook reader that's being put together by readers [of Baen books], for readers [of Baen books]. A non-profit was formed to handle design and production, and the board decided to go with a device produced by Bookeen. We're (I'm not a board member, just a supportive Baen reader) collecting a list of interested parties - sign up so we can get an idea of the level of interest (and use the number in the price negotiations) - signing up does not require you to buy a unit or sell you're firstborn, etc etc
/derail

Sigh, so no new toy right now.... oh well, I guess I'll use the money for tuition or something pointless like that :)
thanks for the input
posted by yggdrasil at 5:44 AM on April 11, 2007