Winner: iRex DR800S
Software and file compatibility On software it's a high scoring draw; neither device has any irritating ebook management software designed to combat DRM-wielding files. Both the Story and the DR800S simply attach to a PC or Mac via USB and are recognised as an external storage device. Easy.
The DR800S sees iRex embrace EPUB over its previous ebook darling, Mobipocket (as found on the DR1000 and Iliad devices). Mobipocket is owned by Amazon (whose proprietary DRM-locked AZW files for the Kindle are a variant), which doesn't allow ebook readers that handle EPUB files to also offer compatibility to Mobipocket.
Zooming, reflowing and opening any EPUB file is fast, while TXT, PDF, JPEG, TIFF, GIF, BMP can all be displayed. As can PDB ebooks, the format used by Barnes & Noble in the US a variant known as the DR800SG is available in the US with a 3G link to that store, but with no web browsing. A similar version is expect to hit the UK later this year, so it may be worth waiting if online purchasing is important to you.
Designed as much for viewing business documents as ebooks, its fluid handling of PDFs is what the DR800S is all about; if you want to view HTML pages, Word documents or RTF files, you'll have to save those files as PDFs.
