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The Cybook hails from France, where designers have been tweaking and reincarnating the Cybook for a few years. Currently, the Cybook Gen3 brings a feature set to the table that rivals the best eBook readers on the market. Bookeen, the Cybook’s developer, gets e-ink right on the Cybook Gen3—if you didn’t know better, you could mistake text on its display for printed material.
In addition to the novelty of being the proud owner of a device straight from the set of Star Trek, investing in an eReader adds the convenience of not having to lug heavy tomes around town. The sleek Cybook Gen3 is small enough that you can almost justify the purchase based on size and weight alone. With its 64MB of internal memory and SD card slot, you can squeeze hundreds of books into the space of just one.
The Cybook has a 740 ms page turn time. It also is designed with a 3-bit gray scale and a 6-inch e-ink display that makes reading easier on the eyes and allows for you to read for longer periods of time. Weighing only 6.3 ounces, this makes the Cybook Gen3 easy to hold in one’s hand for long periods of time without the weight of the eReader pulling you down.
The Cybook Gen3 doesn’t have a dedicated service for downloading books, but can handle the majority of file types. You have access to the nearly infinite virtual library available through mobipocket, Project Gutenburg, Google Books and most other suppliers.
One feature we really enjoy is the ability to get RSS feeds on the Cybook Gen3. The feature isn’t free, however, so many users will stick with their cell phones and laptops.
The Cybook Gen3 supports a healthy variety of file formats too, so you won’t have to fret about which book types are compatible with your reader. The Cybook Gen3 supports Mobipocket PRC, PalmDoc, HTML, TXT, PDF, image and MP3 file formats. The Cybook Gen3 is an e-ink based, comparably low resolution device, so don’t expect perfect readability or clarity on image and PDF files. They’ll be readable, but won’t be perfectly crisp.
Given the Cybook Gen3’s rich feature set , extras, and reasonable price tag, we feel comfortable recommending it to entry level eBook users.
Cybook’s parent company, Bookeen, doesn’t have a large presence in North America, and subsequently, live tech support is virtually nonexistent. They do however, provide a warranty for the Cybook Gen3, and the active online community can usually answer any questions you may have.
Fast page turn times, decent file support and a smooth user interface make the Cybook Gen3 an ideal option for a reader. Users with multimedia demands or that frequently browse different document types will probably find a better fit in another eBook reader, but for the ordinary bibliophile making the switch to eBooks, the Cybook Gen3 makes a great reading companion.
