Bookeen Cybook Gen3

The Cybook by Bookeen is a standard eBook reader that emphasizes portability, and long battery life. Using a similar EInk screen as the Amazon Kindle the Cybook drains power from its battery only when changing pages. Bookeen states that the built-in battery can handle up to 8000 page turns on one charge. The Cybook is one of the lightest eReaders available weighing only 174 grams (6.13 ounces).

Bookeen Cybook Gen3
MSRP $350.00
Release date October, 2007
Brand --
love it
want it
have it
tag it
Pros & Cons8
Reviews10
Details
Buy It
Competitors5
Comments4
twitter

Pros & Cons

ProSCORE
10 reviews
83
negative
mixed
positive
9 positive
0 mixed
1 negative

[i] How is the ProSCORE calculated?

show me!

Pros:
Do you agree?
•
Long battery life
+9agreedisagree

•
Light weight
+9agreedisagree

•
Very thin
+8agreedisagree

•
Open system - read any document in HTML, TXT or PDF
+2agreedisagree

•
Easey to load books through USB port
+2agreedisagree

Cons:
Do you agree?
•
No folders support
+2agreedisagree

•
No WiFi
+1agreedisagree

•
Small amount of integrated storage
-1agreedisagree


10 people added to this review by submitting or voting on pros and cons. Add your say!
See individual votes »

Details

Features

  • 6" EInk screen at 800x600 resolution
  • Portrait and landscape modes
  • Formats: HTML, Txt, PRC, PalmDoc, PDF, Secured Mobipocket
  • 64MB of integrated storage expandable through the SD Card slot
  • MP3 support

Using an EInk screen lets the Cybook have a very long battery life, however the screen is limited to only black and white with no color available. Furthermore the screen is not backlit in any way, and is only readable using ambient light. EInk also has the benefit of being viewable at any angle not susceptible to glare and other issues that plague technologies like LCD and OLED.

Loading content

Loading content onto the reader is done by directly connecting the device to your computer through the USB connection then dragging and dropping files. 64MB of storage are included inside the device which is enough for a dozen or so full books. The amount of storage can be increased through the SD card slot that can be prefilled with books already, or loaded from the computer.

The Cybook supports MP3 storage and playback. Using the integrated headphone jack you can listen to music through the device while reading your books, this feature is unique to the Cybook.

Submit a link

This report was started November 20, 2007 at 5:34 pm by Omar
with the last edit occurring July 10, 2009 at 9:07 am by Frank Contrepois
This page has been viewed 6921 times, with 88 edits by 17 contributors.
See the full report history »

Buy It

Competitors

Bookeen Cybook Gen3 is ranked 2nd among it's competitors.  See the top picks in e-book Readers »
iRex iLiad

iRex iLiad

MSRP  $699.00    Released  June, 2006
Pros
  • Able to browse the web
  • Can run open-source and third-party applications
  • Can write on the screen
Cons
  • Expensive
  • iRex no longer supports it or releases firmware updates
  • Poor battery life
ProSCORE
19 reviews
79
Vote! (10 votes)
vote Bookeen Cybook Gen3 30% vs. vote iRex iLiad 70%
Amazon Kindle

Amazon Kindle

MSRP  $359.00    Released  November, 2007
Pros
  • No monthly bill for wireless access
  • Electronic paper technology is awesome, real ink and you can read outside!
  • Lightweight, only 10 ounces
Cons
  • Blogs, newspapers, etc are limited to Amazon's choice
  • Limited to buying from the Kindle store
  • Doesn't support PDF (Sony Reader does)
ProSCORE
55 reviews
53
Vote! (16 votes)
vote Bookeen Cybook Gen3 50% vs. vote Amazon Kindle 50%
Sony Reader PRS-505

Sony Reader PRS-505

MSRP  $299.00    Released  October, 2007
Pros
  • Simple and sleek design
  • USB mass storage mode works with all operating systems
  • Excellent text reproduction
Cons
  • PDF rendering is very poor for larger pages - text is rendered very small
  • Software still inneficient for large collection
  • Can't control music while reading
ProSCORE
17 reviews
69
Vote! (10 votes)
vote Bookeen Cybook Gen3 50% vs. vote Sony Reader PRS-505 50%
Sony Reader PRS-500

Sony Reader PRS-500

MSRP  $400.00    Released  --
Pros
  • Can read in full sunlight
Cons
  • Can't recharge by USB when battery is fully depleted
  • No backlight or integrated light source
ProSCORE
7 reviews
50
Vote! (8 votes)
vote Bookeen Cybook Gen3 75% vs. vote Sony Reader PRS-500 25%
Bookeen Cybook Gen2

Bookeen Cybook Gen2

MSRP  --    Released  --
ProSCORE
0 reviews
N/A
Vote! (7 votes)
vote Bookeen Cybook Gen3 86% vs. vote Bookeen Cybook Gen2 14%

Suggest a new competitor to add to the list of competing products.
If the product hasn't yet been added to ProductWiki, submitting it here will also start the product report.

Comments

1.  avatar rondar said:

Screen size reported incorrectly: "6" E Ink? screen".
Jan 14, 2008 7:15pm
2.  avatar Erik said:

Corrected. Thanks for the tip.
Jan 14, 2008 8:04pm
3.  avatar James Smith said:

I purchased a Cybook Gen3 from Booken. I was pleased with the promptness of the shipping and the pre-sale service I received.

Unfortunately, the unit failed in less than a week. The display no longer worked and would show a random series of horizontal lines. This happened after I had been using the unit for an hour or so after lunch. I turned it off and placed it face down on top of a paperback book to protect the screen. About two hours later, I turned it on and it no longer worked. The unit had no had any trauma such as being dropped, hit, or placed in an improper environment.

Booken has declined to repair or replace the unit under warranty saying that "the warranty does not cover broken parts". I wonder what, if anything, the warranty does cover?

They have offered to repair the unit for 100 Euros plus shipping each way (I live in Brazil). I suspect this is about their cost for a new unit.

I was fairly satisfied with the product, but reliability seems to be an issue. The company ethics also seems to be a major problem. If you are considering this eBook reader, I would give some serious thought as to whether you could afford to deal with a situation like this.
Jul 21, 2008 5:22pm
4.  avatar johnnywifi said:

I purchased a Cybook Gen 3 from Bookeen in February 2008. I have been thoroughly satisfied with it so far - the unit is thin and light, it accepts SD cards which enables me to carry on average around 700 books with me at all times.
Reading comfort is very pleasant - actually much more pleasant than I imagined when purchasing the unit.
I got pretty worried after 4 weeks of use when the screen stayed stuck on one page and would not change pages any longer. I called the company and found out that the battery had simply run out of power... Yes, this little thing had finally run out of fuel after 4 weeks as i had completely forgotten to recharge it. And the big difference with a LCD screen is, when there is no power, the screen stays on, but you cannot change the picture any more. Now I know.
Took it out on vacation this summer which saved me the trouble of carrying 10+ books on the way out and 20+ on the way back. And no charger since the battery life is so long.
I would definitely recommend this to all readers.
Only points of improvement I can see:
- boot time could be faster, more than 5 seconds and it gets frustrating when you want to read on the bus and you do not have a lot of time to do it
- I have not used any of the buttons on the side of the device
- difficult to navigate the library when you have more than 100 books on board
Sep 24, 2008 3:59am
Some HTML is allowed. Your comments remain editable after you post..

Reviews

Sort by: Most helpful  •  Newest  •  Most positive

sveco

avatar
April 6, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
60
negative
mixed
positive
3 pros
2 cons
have ithave it
love itlove it

Pros

  • Long battery life
  • Light weight
  • Very thin

Cons

  • No folders support
  • No WiFi

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

hanso

avatar
November 30, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
5 pros
0 cons

Pros

  • Long battery life
  • Light weight
  • Very thin
  • Open system - read any document in HTML, TXT or PDF
  • Easey to load books through USB port

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

johnnywifi

avatar
September 24, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
5 pros
0 cons
love itlove it
have ithave it

Pros

  • Long battery life
  • Light weight
  • Very thin
  • Open system - read any document in HTML, TXT or PDF
  • Easey to load books through USB port

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Comments

"I purchased a Cybook Gen 3 from Bookeen in February 2008. I have been thoroughly satisfied with it so far - the unit is thin and light, it accepts SD cards which enables me to carry on average around 700 books with me at all times.
Reading comfort is very pleasant - actually much more pleasant than I imagined when purchasing the unit.
I got pretty worried after 4 weeks of use when the screen stayed stuck on one page and would not change pages any longer. I called the company and found out that the battery had simply run out of power... Yes, this little thing had finally run out of fuel after 4 weeks as i had completely forgotten to recharge it. And the big difference with a LCD screen is, when there is no power, the screen stays on, but you cannot change the picture any more. Now I know.
Took it out on vacation this summer which saved me the trouble of carrying 10+ books on the way out and 20+ on the way back. And no charger since the battery life is so long.
I would definitely recommend this to all readers.
Only points of improvement I can see:
- boot time could be faster, more than 5 seconds and it gets frustrating when you want to read on the bus and you do not have a lot of time to do it
- I have not used any of the buttons on the side of the device
- difficult to navigate the library when you have more than 100 books on board"

Competitors

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

asatruer

avatar
December 21, 2007
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
75
negative
mixed
positive
3 pros
1 con

Pros

  • Long battery life
  • Light weight
  • Very thin

Cons

  • Small amount of integrated storage

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

KAD

avatar
December 21, 2007
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
75
negative
mixed
positive
3 pros
1 con
have ithave it
love itlove it

Pros

  • Long battery life
  • Light weight
  • Very thin

Cons

  • Small amount of integrated storage

Competitors

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Omar

avatar
November 20, 2007
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
75
negative
mixed
positive
3 pros
1 con

Pros

  • Long battery life
  • Light weight
  • Very thin

Cons

  • Small amount of integrated storage

Competitors

Omar prefers Sony Reader PRS-505, Amazon Kindle over Bookeen Cybook Gen3
Omar prefers Bookeen Cybook Gen3 over Sony Reader PRS-500, iRex iLiad
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

doug-jensen

avatar
November 27, 2007
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
3 pros
0 cons
want itwant it

Pros

  • Long battery life
  • Light weight
  • Very thin

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Competitors

doug-jensen prefers Bookeen Cybook Gen2 over Bookeen Cybook Gen3
doug-jensen prefers Bookeen Cybook Gen3 over iRex iLiad, Sony Reader PRS-500, Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader PRS-505
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

adin

avatar
November 24, 2007
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
3 pros
0 cons
want itwant it

Pros

  • Long battery life
  • Light weight
  • Very thin

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Competitors

adin prefers Bookeen Cybook Gen3 over Amazon Kindle
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

csmith75

avatar
December 8, 2007
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
2 pros
0 cons
want itwant it

Pros

  • Long battery life
  • Light weight

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Competitors

csmith75 prefers Bookeen Cybook Gen3 over Sony Reader PRS-505
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Frank Contrepois

avatar
July 10, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
0
negative
mixed
positive
0 pros
1 con
want itwant it
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

Did not agree with any pros

Cons

  • No folders support

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Twitter

tweet this product!
- join or start the conversation
Search twitter: search

... Loading for latest tweets from search.twitter.com..

tweetie

sponsored by:
Price comparison information by:

This product is also known as:

Gen, 3, Gen3