The Interead Cool-er has gone after the lower end market attempting to lure its customers with fancy colors. Overall I’m not happy with the Cool-er (even the name bothers me as an attempt to say “I’m cooler than the Kindle”) let me explain why.
Book Choices
Obviously the biggest annoyance is the inability to download a title whenever I want. I really miss the wireless feature of the Kindle. While there are over 350,000 titles on Interead’s custom store, the prices don’t even come close to Amazon’s prices on new releases. They are sometimes over twice the price.
Usability
I think the button system is a little too simple with a big click wheel on the right that felt like you had to jam the button to get the page turned. I didn’t like the button requirements to change the screen orientation, I would prefer if it had some motion sensing capability. The menu system was clumsy, it just felt like too many menus to get anywhere.
Perks
The biggest advantage to the Interead Cool-er was the mp3 player built in and good old Sudoku. However, for $250 you could buy a nice iPod and a life time of Sudoku books. The reader had a nice simple bookmarking system that came in handy. It was lacking a dictionary however, and that is very irritating if you’ve used a reader with one prior.
Overall Feel
At first glance I really liked the feel of the Cool-er. It is amazingly light at 6 oz which actually does help with fatigue if you are a reading junky. The six inch screen is more than adequate for reading with the same quality electronic paper feel that all new readers possess. They designers did a nice job of capturing the iPod feel with the hot colors, but to the tech geek like me it looks more like an accessory than a cool new gizmo.
Summary
Overall I’m disappointed with the Interead Cool-er. I felt they focused too much on aesthetics and not enough on the reading experience. Things they got right were the size, weight, colors, and removable memory storage. Things they got wrong were reading, user interface, and choices. If you’re considering a cheaper reader to save a little money I would consider the Astak EZ Reader instead. Otherwise just go get one of the new Amazon Kindles and enjoy the choices.
The iRex Digital Reader 1000 is now my must have for Christmas. Ok, maybe my birthday because I can’t wait until Christmas. I am in love with this e-reader. Perhaps when I hold it I feel like I’m in a futuristic sci-fi movie high school, or maybe I feel like a big shot at work, but this product just has the right feel.
The Physical Details
This reader is not your standard portable ebook reader who conveniently travels with you wherever you go. This reader is for big kids who want to actually be able to see what’s on the screen. This is easily done with its 10.2 inch diagonal screen. Just talking about it makes me grunt like Tim the Tool Man, only in a slightly more geeky way. The iRex Digital Reader 1000 is still easily carried around at just over 1 pound and only 1.2 cm thick. It’s sort of like carrying a notebook around. Not the notebook computer, but the old school kind, you know, paper?
The Usability Details
The iRex has a really well done stylus technology that captures your hand written notes and sketches (doodles if the meeting is boring) and converts them to standard Office documents using a USB or wireless capability. The memory card holds well over 1000 documents and can be organized on different SD cards. It also comes with a great program for converting all the common document types to an iRex readable file.
The Digital Reader 1000 pleasantly displays all of the common file types including all of the Microsoft Office Documents, text files, web pages (HTML), and PDF will be coming soon.
All the Toys The Office Kid Could Want
iRex is releasing enough versions of the Digital Reader 1000 to fill all the niches. The base model will run about $600 with about an increase of $100 for each toy option you want to add. These toys include wireless and the stylus. I want the wireless version (1000 SW) because I really love the newspaper feature that offers over 1000 newspapers from over 80 countries. The nice part is the newspapers still feel like you’re reading a newspaper not a website like the online papers.
Overall Summary
My overall feeling for the iRex Digital Reader 1000 is obviously very positive. However, this ebook reader is not for the average joe. I believe professionals will really enjoy this reader for doing research, reviewing files, taking notes at meetings, and light recreation when they can take a break. I don’t think the avid recreational reader will enjoy this product at all. It’s not comfortable for hammock reading. You can’t conveniently pull the Digital Reader out on the bus and not bug the person next you. The ergonomics just aren’t designed for casual reading, but research. If you spend more time looking at excel files and power point presentations than best sellers you will love this product even at twice the price of an Amazon Kindle. Besides, who doesn’t want the biggest screen?