Review update - aliexpress travel notebook

I did it, I moisturized the leather to see if the scratches would buff away easier. I like the look of it now, the leather is darker and I can still see the colour variations. Sadly right after I moisturized the leather it became much easier to scratch or at least more noticeable because the scratches are really light and the leather is now dark. I'm letting it dry  a bit now and will see how it wears over the next week. 

Here are pictures of the now darker leather. 

Review - Handmade Vintage Traveler's Notebook Genuine Leather Cowhide diary spiral looes leaf journal

Today I am reviewing a Fauxdori I purchased from Alice's Sweet Castle on Aliexpress. I selected the 22x12cm Standard size in Red Brown for US $24.90.

I was really impressed with how fast the shipping was, I ordered on the 22nd and it arrived on the 31st. The parcel was well packaged in a padded envelope with extra padding inside. The deal I got included extras which aren't always included with a fauxdori. There were a lot of options go go through before finalizing the order.
1. select the size you want,
2. pick one of 7 colour choices, Order and then in notes indicate the following:
3. pick which notebooks you want, there are 4 options for passport size and 9 choices for standard size.
4. select which of 3 folder options
5. choose one of 12 pendant/charm.

The company also sent some extra elastic for repairs, a brass pen holder, and a leather bookmark. I selected 2 dot grid notebooks and a blank monthly notebook along with a pvc zipper pouch, and a clock charm.

The notebook is quite nice, the leather is stiff but will soften with use and some rolling. I did notice a very strong leather smell with a slight chemical tinge to it. I had to air the cover out for a few hours before  completely moving in.I really like this warm brown colour and the tab on the closing elastic is growing on me. The 'dori has the closure elastic on the spine which I prefer and come with 1 internal elastic so it's good that they sent it will all 3 inserts and the folder pre-inserted along with extra joining elastic. The charms at the bottom of the booklets are attached to the extra elastic loop. I found that the closure elastic was very tight and pulling in the edges of the notebook so I untied it and loosened it after I took these pictures.

The leather is sturdy enough to hold itself flat when empty but you can see how tight the elastic is when you take off the tension and allow it to curl, So far it seems to be the correct amount of tension for the notebook. I will need to find some leather conditioner to give this cover some moisture as it seems quite dry and is taking scratches and scrapes very easily. It will definitely show the journey I take it on through life and the dangers of my purse will be obvious. Over all I am quite pleased with this purchase. It is my first Midori style traveler's notebook and I think I made a good choice for my starter cover. My homemade inserts and kraft folder look pretty good inside it too.


 

Edited Aug 2, 2015 to add more pictures.

Review - Pocketbook 360 Plus

Near the end of April when the screen cracked on my original Pocketbook 360 (Christmas present from hubby) the only thing that kept me from being devastated was the fact that I had a backup eBook reader and that the Pocketbook 360 Plus was due to come out soon. The videos of Doom II running on the eBook reader seemed to be a good indication of the increased processor speed. I couldn't wait, I pre-ordered my very own as soon as I could: April 29, 2011 I placed my order, May 3, 2011 it shipped, and May 18, 2011 it arrived!!!

Don't be concerned about the fact that the screen on my original 360 cracked, I have owned both versions of the Cybook Gen3, a BeBook One, a BeBook Mini, the 360 Original, and now the 360+, that's 6 eInk devices since 2007 and all but 1 of them are still going strong. Yes there is a glass substrate, yes we need to treat these devices with care and no we don't have to wrap them in bubble wrap and read them in a padded room. The only time I ever wrapped one of them in bubble wrap was while I was waiting for the cover to come in for my BeBook Mini. I really wanted to take it with me but refused to transport it without some kind of protective covering. I have taken them camping, read in the bath (don't fall asleep!), read in the car, read on an airplane, and on the ferry. I take them with me everywhere I would take a paperback. I'm just a bit more aware of how I pack it in my bag. The only reason the screen cracked is because I got careless and left the 360 on the coffee table with the cover off. This is a dangerous thing to do when there is an active 7 yr old in the house! I didn't see the 360 get landed on, but some things you don't need to see to believe.

The Review

@BeBook Mini Arrived Today!!!

As part of my advertising for the Get your FREE BeBook I managed to accumulate 20 referrals which means I qualify to receive 2 BeBooks. As you know I already received my first BeBook in March 2009 and love it. I decided I would see if BeBook would be willing to send me the new BeBook Mini instead of BeBook 'One' for my second BeBook. They agreed! This meant a slight delay in shipping as it hadn't been released yet, but I was willing to wait in order to try out this new bit of technology.

Today it arrived! I'm soo happy about it. It's very cute and seems very usable, will be fun putting it though it's paces. I will do a full review of it later. So far the only thing that concerns me is the lack of a case, I'm not sure what I will use to protect it during transport.

For now here are a few pictures I took after receiving it. Click on the images to see the full size versions.

In the box next to it's "Big Brother"


Everything that comes in the box


Next to "Big Brother"

BeBook Dictionary Support

It seems I was wrong, the BeBook can use dictionaries! It works like a paper dictionary in that you open up your dictionary eBook, then lookup the word. I'm very pleased to find that I can continue to use my Mobipocket Dictionaries on the BeBook.

Here are some threads from the BeBook Support Forum which talk about how to lookup words and where to find free dictionaries for your BeBook.

• Mobipocket Dictionaries
• Dictionary Recommendations
• Is buying a dictionary for the BeBook useful?
  

Steps to lookup a word on the BeBook in a Mobipocket dictionary:

• Load a mobipocket dictionary.
• Press OK
• Choose '5'
• Choose '1'
• This brings up a software keyboard, which let's you enter text, just like on a mobile phone.
  

25 Euro BeBook Discount Code: justy@telus.net

Comparison between BeBook and Cybook

I have blogged at length in previous posts about the BeBook and the Cybook

• Nov 21, 2007 -eBook Readers - The search for a new eBook Reader
• Oct 22, 2008 - BeBook discount - 25 Euros off ($35 US) - First discovery of the BeBook
• Mar 26, 2009 - First Impressions / Review of my BeBook
• Apr 3, 2009 -BeBook mini Review - Update 1

I thought it would be fun to put together a little chart which compares the BeBook, which I have used for a few weeks, with the Cybook, which I have used since December 2007. I will be going over the key points I use when determining which eBook Reader to use/buy. This comparison will be based on the functionality available with these firmware updates installed:

• Bebook - Version: V2.02NL.090216
• Cybook - Version: 1.2 (build 796)

Feature	Cybook	BeBook	Personal Opinion
Size	188 × 118 × 8.5 mm (7.4" × 4.7" × .3")	184 × 120.5 × 9.9mm (7.24" × 4.74" × .39")	Both eBook Readers are similar in size and weight, I do notice the difference in depth of the BeBook which feels very "sturdy" to me. I think part of the 'sturdiness' of the BeBook comes from it's extra weight. Both are easy to hold in one hand for reading.
Weight	174g (6.13oz)	200g (7.05oz)
Formats	OEB-XHTML, TXT, HTML, PDF*, PRC/MOBI, JPG, GIF, PNG, MP3 (* non-drm)	PDF*, TXT, RTF, EPUB*, LIT*, PPT, WOLF, DOC, CHM, FB2, PRC/MOBI, HTML, DJVU, MP3, TIFF, JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, RAR, ZIP (* non-drm)	I have to admit that all the extra formats available for the BeBook make it very attractive, especially since their HTML support includes accessing photos and pages from within a folder which Cybook currently does not. For me the most important format has always been Mobipocket, at this time both eBook Readers support DRM Mobipocket content. I Prefer the way the Cybook supports it. I like being able to lookup a word from within my eBook and the ability to see the header or not.
Font Options	Add any TrueType font 12 Font sizes (using menu)	Add any TrueType font 3 Font sizes (using <8/zoom> button)	I *love* having 12 font sizes available to me on the Cybook, I usually use the 3rd or 4th smallest in the list depending on which TTF I've chosen. The smallest font size on the BeBook is about equivalent to the 6th or 7th size in the Cybook menu. This means about a 1/3 more pages per eBook. Not a huge deal, but definitely noticeable when reading.
Search functionality / Dictionary lookup	Dictionary lookup (using menus)	No	I didn't think this was that big of a deal, but in the 2 weeks I've been using the BeBook exclusively I think I've thought about looking up a word at least every other day. I like to see the definitions of some words which aren't in common usage just to be sure I'm getting the meaning of the word/sentence that the author intended.
Bookmarks	bookmarks menu	bookmarks menu	Both eBook Readers have very workable bookmarking schemes, I think anyone would be happy with the options provided by either. The Cybook has unlimited bookmarks which you can cycle through going to 'first/last/previous/next' based on your menu choice. The BeBook has 5 bookmark spots available for most eBook formats and apparently unlimited spots available for Mobipocket. More than 8 Mobipocket bookmarks slows down the bookmark system noticeably so I didn't attempt to add more than 14 bookmarks.
Folders	No	Yes	The BeBook even offers the option of nested folders making sorting and organizing a large eBook collection easy. One of the best features is the "Recent files" folder which shows the 8 most recently opened eBooks with the most recently read at the top.
Page Numbers	Progress Bar only	Yes	I have been living with the Progress bar for over a year on the Cybook and liking it. However now that I've seen the page numbers on the BeBook I realize how much I've missed page numbers. I *know* that the page numbers in Mobipocket eBooks aren't accurate, I just don't care. I *like* knowing how many pages I've read and how many are left. Really, I had no idea it was such a big deal until I got them back again.
Cover Thumbnail	Yes	No	I really miss seeing the cover thumbnail when I'm looking for eBooks on the BeBook. The title is important, but the cover tells so much about a story and can trigger my memory as to why I downloaded that eBook in the first place. The BeBook shows a Format icon beside the title instead. This is also useful as it lets you know what kind of reading experience you can expect when you open that eBook.
Speed	Startup time could be 30+ seconds depending on number of eBooks. Opening an eBook is almost instant.	Startup is fast and using the "Keyboard lock" option saves even more time. Opening an eBook takes about 5 seconds.	I *love* the "Keyboard lock" option that the BeBook has! It saves sooo much time when I just want to spend a few minutes reading while standing in line or waiting for something to happen. I love being able to go back to the last screen I was on without clicking any other buttons. It is a bit disconcerting to open the case and find the BeBook still displaying the last eBook I was reading because I had forgotten to lock the keyboard, my Cybook is set to turn itself off after 1hr to save battery power. It did take a while for me to get use to the time it took for an eBook to "load." I was use to the Cybook which does all of it's eBook indexing at Boot-up so that by the time I click to open an eBook it doesn't take anytime at all. For most of my reading, I don't find that the long startup for the Cybook is an issue, I click the "power" button when I am about to read, and when I'm sitting and ready I open the case and click select to open the last book I was reading. This accounts for about 98% of the reading I do.
Price	US$350 for just the Cybook & USB Charger US$450 for Cybook, USB Charger, Cover, 2 GB SD card, Earphones, Extra battery	US$279.99 including the BeBook, Leather case, USB cable, User Manual, Earphone.	I think this could be the biggest determining factor. If I was in the market to purchase my very first eBook Reader I would probably look at everything that was different, as listed above, and then get the BeBook.

At this point I've come to the conclusion that I like the Cybook best and will likely continue using it and eventually find a new home for the BeBook. However I stand by my recommendation to purchase a BeBook as a first time eBook Reader. It is a solid device, has great format support, and constantly evolving firmware. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see some of the functionality I
crave being implemented in the future. There are a lot of really good features that are supported by the BeBook and they make the missing font sizes and dictionary support secondary for most people. I'm just really picky I guess.

I have heard rumours of firmware updates soon to come from both Cybook and BeBook. If Cybook gets folder support, or BeBook gets dictionary and font size support I'll be over the moon!

25 Euro BeBook Discount Code: justy@telus.net

DivaCup Rave

Well I did it. I broke down and got a DivaCup today. I didn't really need another menstrual cup, but I felt it was time for a new one.

I have been using a Keeper for ages and ages, well about 8 yrs anyway. It is made out of gum rubber and I've been 'feeling' it lately, so I'm worried that extended use might lead to a latex allergy, and I have enough allergies already. The DivaCup is made out of medical grade silicone which is awsome! The Diva is also made in Canada so I'm supporting my own country and saving the planet at the same time *Grin*

I just love the idea of a menstrual cup. It's a bit pricy up front, about $30, but the long term savings are amazing. I figure I was spending at least $5-10 a month on tampons and panty liners just in case the tampon failed, which it always did. With the Keeper I've used a light cloth pad 'just in case' but it's usually still clean at the end of the day. I remember the first time I used the Keeper, all I could think was "WOW, this was the cleanest cycle I've *ever* had!" Even with the cup collecting all the fluids instead of absorbing them and the potential for spills and leaks. I was amazed at how easy it was to use, how simple to avoid leaks and how little blood I actually got on my fingers compaired to using tampons. I would totally recommend them to any woman! I love how I can leave the house in the morning and not worry about supplies or finding a bathroom to change a pad or anything. Just do my thing and empty the cup when I get home. If I'm on a *really* heavy day I might empty it once in the bathroom at work, wipe it down with some TP and put it back in. I just make sure to give it a good rinse when I get home. Too easy! And the absolute best thing is that I don't feel it at all. It's just as easy to use on a light day as a heavy day and I never have to worry about it 'drying' me out like the tampons did.

I was thrilled to find the DivaCup in a local health food store so I didn't have to wait the week or so for it to arrive in the mail after ordering it online. They only had size 2 instock, which was perfect cuz that is the size I need. :) The first thing I found interesting was how soft the Diva is, I expected more resistance when I folded it for insertion but it just wasn't there. It went in nice and easy with none of the complications I've read about on the menstrual_cups list. I decided to leave the tail on and see if it needs to be trimmed. At first I thought it would need some surgery to make it so that I couldnt feel the tail anymore. But after about 5-10 min the sensation went away and I think I'll be able to use the cup just as it came from the box. This amazes me because the Keeper is shorter than the Diva and I had to cut off all but 1/4" of the tail to get the Keeper to fit right. I don't really care why it works, it just does.

I am a very happy camper today. :)