Silly post really.....

In the 18 months that I had been looking to buy a Sony Reader I had seen a total of one unit in my travels around NZ (and indeed the world!) It was on my fourth trip to the US about 6 months ago that I actually go around to buying one.

In those six months I have not seen another e-ink based reading unit until yesterday.....

I was sitting on a plane from Wellington to Auckland and the woman sitting across the aisle from me was reading a Kindle!

Now to those of you in the US that may not be very unusual but to those of us that are a 12 hour flight from the nearest retail outlet for either reader it was somewhat of a strange experience.

Oh, and damn the Kindle is as ugly in real life as I thought it would be! :)

Hi mcramer. Have to agree with you about the Kindle. I've got a 505 but have had my hands on a Kindle for the last few days. I do like some of the features such as the wireless aspect of it but it does have a kind of plastic feel to it compared to the Sony's high tech metal. Also, it is real easy to accidentally turn pages on the Kindle.

Enjoy your 505

Hi McCramer et al,

In all my travels I have never seen another one, of any type (dedicated bookreader), apart from the ones that I own. I have had comments whilst in transit on planes and buses, ranging from "what’s that?" to "What a cool device". I would love to see a Kindle just to see if it is really as ugly as they say. The Sony, the CyBook and the Iliad are all rather elegant with the CyBook being the best as far as looks and size is concerned.

I find it rather interesting that there seem to be so few bookreader’s around, particularly given both the high literacy and reading rate of most Western countries where they are readily available.

Just about every man and his dog has got a mobile phone, not to mention two or three TV's and a GPS in the car or on a PDA type arrangement, and I think that there are more MP3 players in the world than there are people.. But Bookreader’s are singularly absent

Just thought I would add to the pleasant waffle.

Cheers

John

Wherever I take my reader it draws lots of attention, people aren't aware of them.

Hi mcramer. Have to agree with you about the Kindle. I've got a 505 but have had my hands on a Kindle for the last few days. I do like some of the features such as the wireless aspect of it but it does have a kind of plastic feel to it compared to the Sony's high tech metal.

You say that as though it were a bad thing :). Modern high-density plastics are just as good a constructional material as metal and better in some ways - eg they're a lot better at dispersing energy in the event of an impact (which is why modern cars have plastic bumpers). An eBook reader in a plastic case has a better chance of surviving an impact than one in a metal case.

You say that as though it were a bad thing :). Modern high-density plastics are just as good a constructional material as metal and better in some ways - eg they're a lot better at dispersing energy in the event of an impact (which is why modern cars have plastic bumpers). An eBook reader in a plastic case has a better chance of surviving an impact than one in a metal case.

Harry, I expect you're right. Just think the Sony metal case gives it a high tech look and feel. Nonetheless, I did buy a padded cover to help it absorb impacts.

You say that as though it were a bad thing :). Modern high-density plastics are just as good a constructional material as metal and better in some ways - eg they're a lot better at dispersing energy in the event of an impact (which is why modern cars have plastic bumpers). An eBook reader in a plastic case has a better chance of surviving an impact than one in a metal case.

Considering that the biggest danger to e-book readers is torque and screen impacts, energy dissipation is completely unimportant to survivability.

My thought the other day was that I would be happy if Sony added an extra mm or two to the PRS-505 thickness by making the case thicker. Especially if they also made the screen cover plate thicker at the same time. I fear both twisting and crushing failure modes :(

Righto I give up!

Where on earth is this torque and twisting to come from, not to mention the impact damage? I seem to remember from other threads the discussion of spilt coffee and accidental dropping resulted in minimal if any damage.

The devices are too big to stick in your back pocket then accidentally sit on them. Is there some secret use for the devices that I am unaware off? Are they being used as weapons? Or perhaps propping up table legs instead of books or cardboard?

Enlighten me please!

John

A very common cause is something like putting it in a bag with other objects, and something digs into the screen or imparts a twisting force. That can very easily facture the delicate glass substrate that's under the plastic outer face of the screen.

It just goes to show that they fill books with what I don't know