Store Overpriced

[thymaster]

Why are the books at the Sony Reader store so expensive? It's more expensive then Amazon, Barnes and Nobal and even Kobobooks and the selection isn't that great either. Is Sony worth it or should I get the Kindle?

[kartu]

Afaik you can read most of amazon books on Sony's readers. But only after converting them.

[sony_fox]

Is Sony worth it or should I get the Kindle?

Don't judge your choice of Device by the default bookstore. You'll be buying Epub books from a lot of places other than Sony. If you feel that Sony's device comprimises suit you better than the Kindle device comprimises than I'd buy the Sony. If you can only find the books you want to read as .mobi then get the Kindle - but I suspect this wont' be the case.

[bevdeforges]

There are lots of e-book stores out there that sell books readable on the Sony. Don't go by the default bookstore. It's the device you're buying. But, every now and then the Sony store drops prices on a book you've had your eye on. That's what "wish lists" are for - to check now and then for deals after the books have been on the market for a while.

If the Sony has the features you want, and not too many of the features you don't want, get the Sony. If the Kindle (or any of the other various types of reader) have more of what you do want and less of what you don't want, buy that one.

[thymaster]

Interesting, I didn't know you can purchase books from other stores as well. In general I think everything about Sony is over priced even the 650 I've pre-ordered and after reviewing their bookstore it doesn't make matters look better.

[grooks]

I think Sony charges sales tax on ebooks sold through their store.

[simplyparticular]

As part of the agency model, e-books from the Agency 5 are taxable in places where the Agency 5 has offices (ie NY, etc). Sony appears to roll in a 5% increase to books to cover the sales tax. Other ebookstores seems to skip the tax (eating it themselves) or they don't show you the tax until checkout (B&N and Amazon both charge me tax, but not until checkout).

Each method has its pros and cons, but Sony looks more expensive as a results.

[JSWolf]

And if you prefer to get eBooks from say Kobo or Borders, you can use them with a Sony and with a Sony, you can borrow ePub from your local library if they have them.

[wallcraft]

For actual numbers, confirming that Sony is not a price leader, see How does Amazon, B&N and Sony stack up on ebook prices post agency model. However, Sony, Kobo and Borders all sell Adobe DRMed ePubs, so in combination they may be competitive.

Striping DRM from B&N ePubs is easy and I don't think B&N can change their DRM to make it harder to circumvent (since it is now in several 3rd party devices). They often have the cheapest price, and have some ebooks that other sites don't (Sony also has some exclusives).

Stripping DRM from Kindle ebooks is relatively easy with K4PC and skindle, but Amazon does seem the most proactive DRM supporter and it has updated its DRM several times already. If you want the largest range of legal ebooks, then the Kindle store has to be on your list but it isn't the easiest for ePub consumers to deal with.

[Keef]

I have received over 10 free books on line for my Sony 900 from places like gutenberg.org that works fine on my Sony. Books on Board is another great place. Personally I found many books at the Sony store only $1.00 or 2 different than Amazon.