Battery Replacement
On the 2nd of March we made an announcement on our forum to address the concerns that were voiced by the community in regard to expectations set on battery life and the state of the battery.
Battery Replacement
All customers that purchased their iLiad prior to the 15th of March are eligible for an optional free battery replacement. We have decided to extend to sign up period until the 1st of November. So customers that have missed this offer previously can still sign up. To sign up go here. Those who signed up earlier do not need to sign up again.
All customers that purchased their iLiad after the 15th of March can still request a battery upgrade at the iRex
All customers that sign(ed) up for the Battery Replacement or Battery Upgrade will be presented with an additional option to upgrade the casing of their iLiad with the iLiad 2nd edition casing for an additional cost of €50 Euro or $70 USD.
The iLiad 2nd edition casing features a fully redesigned backside that looks more elegant and also provides more stability. On the inside the new casing offers better support to the display and electronics.
If you haven’t signed up yet make sure you do so here before the 1st of November. If you did sign up earlier, you will receive an e-mail in the coming days with the option to also upgrade the casing of your iLiad with the second edition casing.
Please do note that it can take 4 to 5 weeks to process your request. Due to the high demand of the iLiad 2nd edition we are currently suffering a shortage of the new battery at our service centers. We thank you for your patience and understanding.
For more information on the battery and battery life go here and if you have any further questions or remarks do let us know.
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[…] Unknown wrote an interesting post today on Battery ReplacementHere’s a quick […]
If I’ve previously signed up, should I sign up again to request the upgraded backside? Or will that be an option when I’m contacted to send my iLiad in?
[…] Addy Dugdale wrote an interesting post today!.Here’s a quick excerptOn the 2nd of March we made an announcement on our forum to address the concerns that were voiced by the community in regard to expectations set on battery life and the state of the battery. In this announcement we made a commitment to … […]
Great news! I haven’t been able to find pictures of the new casing, could someone please point to pictures of it?
Does the new case get rid of the irregular shape of the upper right corner?
Nope same shape, for pictures of the back and front.
hello, it’s really good to see that you offer a case upgrade along with battery replacement, but i’d like to ask and i really don’t want to sound miser; who is going to pay the delivery fee (send to/receive from german)?
Thanks Karel!
I’ll think about it, but 50€ just for a smoother back seems a bit too much to me. Could you ellaborate a bit on what ‘better support to the display and electronics’ means? Is it really something we should care for? Thanks!
If I wanted to upgrade the battery and have the screen replaced at the same time, what is the cost for the screen, and how much additional time would that take? The contrast on the screen was excellent for the first couple months, but now the contrast is marginal. Not degrading at this point, but should be much better.
Not particularly impressed to be quite honest. iRex still haven’t delivered the (revised) 12hrs battery life so why aren’t ALL older iLiads batteries being replaced free of charge.
Is it a case of “well 2/3rds of claimed life is close enough” rather than just over a third against the 21hr earlier claim?
The iLiad is a great device but iRex seriously need to do better on this issue/offer.
I forgot when I bought it.. How can I check the purchase date?
I have to say I’m quite disappointed to find that after filling out the initial battery replacement form, I now find that I am not eligible due to the date I purchased my Iliad.
This even though when I filled out the form there was no mention of date limits on free replacement, see the linked image taken from archive.org showin that as late as Jul 11, 2007 the form made no mention of date ranges and noted that it was a free battery replacement offer: http://www.realityloop.com/tmp/battery_replacement(Jul-11-2007).png
Imagine my elation after reading I could elect to purchase the updated back panel, then my deflation to find that iRex have now decided that I’m not eligible for free battery replacement, even though I filled out the form well before there was any mention of date limits to the eligibility.
I find this very disenchanting, and would now find it quite difficult to recommend friends to buy and deal with iRex in the future given this turn of events.
I also am very disapponinted for the misleading advertising that promoted the free battery upgrade when I purchased my Iliad. Now they have put a date restriction on and it appears that I also am not approved for the free upgrade. This is a very poor way to promote a product.
I can understand the disappointment however as mentioned we made a commitment to the earlier buyers of the iLiad when it became apparent that it was not possible to reach the expected target battery life with the current hardware, to replace their battery with a bigger one when it became available. You can find this announcement here.
From the 15th of March onward we had adjusted our spec and communication to reflect the correct battery life of that time (aprrox 12 hours).
In case your battery does not meet the approx 12 hours of battery life (depending on usage pattern) than I would suggest to have a look here and if these things don’t help please contact Tech Support - techsupport@irextechnologies.com.
Karel, this.. posted by yourself Wed Mar 14, 2007 11:49 pm:
“As a follow up on the previous communication in regard to the battery life we would like to announce that we will offer the owners of the current model a free battery replacement.”
I believe that I am an owner of what is referred to there as the current model, therefore I should also be receiving a free battery replacement.
It is very bad form for iRex to not follow through on this statement.
Karel this is also in direct contradiction to an earlier statement you made on the iRex forum:
http://forum.irexnet.com/viewtopic.php?p=5153#5153
And I quote..
“As a follow up on the previous communication in regard to the battery life we would like to announce that we will offer the owners of the current model a free battery replacement.”
Wow. Just … wow.
I’ve been thinking about purchasing an iLiad, but now having seen the above posts and the apparent contempt with which iRex is treating its customers, I’m having second thoughts.
What’s going to happen down the line when something goes wrong with my iLiad? Will there be another arbitrary cutoff date thats not advertised, beyond which I won’t be eligible for repair / support / replacement / at-least-some-kind-of-dialogue-or-explanation? And will this cutoff date be applied retrospectively?
I think I’ll sit on my $$ and wait for the Amazon Kindle ebook reader - Amazon seem to at least know how to support the people who keep them in business.
“From the 15th of March onward we had adjusted our spec and communication to reflect the correct battery life of that time (aprrox 12 hours).”
That is no doubt correct Karel but from comments on the iLiad’s forum and my own personal experience few, if any, users are able to make their iLiad run for 12hrs on a single charge. The majority seem to have battery lives of less than 10hrs or significantly less if they are actually using their iLiad for note taking. Those whose iLiad’s last for close to the 12hr claim are generally using NON-IREX software such as ipdf.
Whilst I commend iRex for running an open forum and blog for users to express opinions and feedback, iRex continues to make unrealistic and unachievable battery performance claims. Customers have spent a lot of money purchasing a device which does not meet specifications. Why should iRex be allowed to get away with these blatant lies and expect customers to take it on the chin? iRex do not deserve our support if that is their business model.
Jason (the different one)in regard to customers who experience a battery life that is significantly less than our spec, I would recommend to check the following page and if this doesn’t solve it to contact our tech support.
I bought my iliad in June 2007. 50 Euro seems a lot of money for a piece of plastic to accommodate a slightly larger battery. I’m currently comparing the iliad with the new Sony e-ink player just out in the US. I get the impression the navigation is better on the iliad version 2, though the price is considerably higher.
[…] wanted to take a minute to remind folks that the Battery Replacement Program will expire on Thursday, November […]
What a big disappointment!! I bought my iliad in August 2006, and since I have missed the deadline for the battery replacement, I gonna have to carry on with much less than 7 hours battery life… Any suggestions?
Why was this offer not send by email to all users of the Iliad, the same way Irex sends the announcement of a new release? You can’t expect customers to read a new blog, while they are reading books on their Iliad…
Yes, I second that last comment. Only now I have learned about the battery replacement program. While I even posted a link to the TV-fragment of the iLiad making it to Dutch bookshops in the forum!
I also receive the news e-mails and announcements of updates to the system, but not this one. What is going on? Are my spam-filters to tough or did I not get a message?
Hello.! Happy New Year 2008.!