What it will take for me to give up my Sony

[ficbot]

I *love* my Sony 505. The new B&N reader looks tempting (if they ever make it available internationally) but I am still content with my 505. Wifi/wireless is not a deal-breaker for me, I can transfer content via USB. The cover flow on the BN Reader looks fun, but again, is not a deal-breaker for me. I do sometimes with the 505 had basic search capabilities and this is something I would consider in a future reader.

For me though, the number one feature my Sony does not have which I have yet to see another good reader which *does* have is true international/multilingual support. It bothers me that a lot of technology assumes language, for example, is an either/or thing. I know if I want to run a French spell-check on my Mac, I have to go into system preferences and change the language spelling (in some programs) and in others, go into an app-specific pref and do the same. It seems to never occur to anybody that someone might work primarily in one language while at the same time wanting to work in another one from time to time.

So for me, the deal-breaker where an ebook reader which as available in Canada could sway me away from my Sony is multilingual dictionary look-up. I know the Kindle and eBookwise both offer dictionary look-up but they only seem to offer English dictionaries. If there was a French dictionary (or better yet, the option of several languages with the option to load one or two or all of them at will) with one-click look-up, that would be a feature which would really entice me. I ever use a dictionary when I read in English, but I do in French and I read less often in French because needing to have one handy slows me down (and I am not always someplace where I can or do have one handy). Think of what a great educational tool it could be for students!

Wifi, I could take or leave. Colour screens, I could take or leave. Search would be nice but is not a deal-breaker right now. They do they offer an ebook reader available outside of the USA with support for multiple language dictionaries, that will be the day I reconsider my trust Sony.

[khalleron]

I seem to recall the video on the upcoming Jetbook Lite mentioning multi-language dictionaries.

[edembowski]

Here's my take on it.

I had a PRS-500, and I just upgraded to the 600 (no the reflectivity is not an issue for me, but I do notice it). This is a great device. It supports ePub. Any device I buy would have to support that. Remember the Rocket ebook reader? I have a friend of mine who now refuses to buy ebooks because they went under, and he didn't have a backup of all his books. He's afraid that will happen again.

I'm not worried about keeping backups. I'm worried about changing devices. I know that if I got a Kindle, I'd be stuck with a Kindle. You cant' take the books to a new device (hacks aside). If I get the Opus a year from now, I can be confident that my books aren't a problem, since it supports the ePub standard. This is all about consumer choice to me. Having a reader that only supports one store's books is like going to an optometrist, getting glasses, and being told you can only read what he sells you with those glasses.

- Ed

[ficbot]

I don't buy Sony books anyway; I have a few freebies from them I have not read yet. I don't buy epub either if it is drm'd because I have not figured out how to remove it and I don't want to be stuck like I was with the book I bought when I had my eBookwise (which is not readable on anything else). I only buy Fictionwise multiformat books, and secure Ereader (which I immediately 'liberate' and save as plain text). So for me, the format thing is not an issue. I just would love to be able to read in French and need a dictionary for that.

[luqmaninbmore]

Originally Posted by edembowski

Here's my take on it.

I had a PRS-500, and I just upgraded to the 600 (no the reflectivity is not an issue for me, but I do notice it). This is a great device. It supports ePub. Any device I buy would have to support that. Remember the Rocket ebook reader? I have a friend of mine who now refuses to buy ebooks because they went under, and he didn't have a backup of all his books. He's afraid that will happen again.

I'm not worried about keeping backups. I'm worried about changing devices. I know that if I got a Kindle, I'd be stuck with a Kindle. You cant' take the books to a new device (hacks aside). If I get the Opus a year from now, I can be confident that my books aren't a problem, since it supports the ePub standard. This is all about consumer choice to me. Having a reader that only supports one store's books is like going to an optometrist, getting glasses, and being told you can only read what he sells you with those glasses.

- Ed

Frankly, you can't be confident you won't lose your books because the Opus or the Sony supports the EPub "Standard." Standards change and, more to the point, there is no guarantee that future implementations of Adobe DRM will be backwards compatible. A lot of people on this board lost Adobe DRMed PDFs during the change to ADEPT DRM. There is no guarantee that Adobe will be be any more trustworthy in the future.

[charleski]

To be honest, the basic ereader technology has remained static for the past 3yrs. The eInk screen technology has remained virtually unchanged apart from the introduction of a 5" with slightly higher resolution and slightly larger screens (with slightly lower res) for the top-end readers. Refresh speed is the same, as is the page-turn flash.

The purpose of WiFi/3G is simply to make it easier for people to spend money. It doesn't add anything to my reading experience, and frankly I like to take my time browsing when deciding what to read next, so downloading from a computer isn't a big deal.

The 2yr old 505 still represents the state-of-the-art when it comes to ebook readers. That's pretty sad. I was really tempted by the 600 with its faster processor and panning, but wasn't prepared to sacrifice screen clarity (which is the primary reason we put up with eInk's sluggishness).

I can see myself hanging onto my 505 for a few years, until eInk finally comes out with a better screen (not holding my breath). Faster refresh, minimisation of the reset flash, higher resolution (in monochrome, colour is irrelevant) - all of these are dependent on eInk producing something better. Manufacturers could write in proper hinting and font rendering, though they seem to spend most of their time on bells and whistles.

[fugazied]

Hey maybe this app will make language switching slightly less painful on your mac? http://www.apple.com/downloads/macos...eswitcher.html

I think if Apple release a tablet it will have decent language options since they have been pushing that aspect a bit recently with touch devices deciphering Chinese characters etc.

[neilmarr]

I'm with you, Ficbot. But the only thing that would prompt me to change my 505 would be a terrible accident between it and a steamroller ... and even then, I think I'd buy another 505. Nothing I've read -- even on this extensive and non-partisan site -- has so far persuaded me of a better option. Cheers. Neil

[astra]

To give up on my 505, besides mechanical break down, would be a reader with:

minimum requirements:

* A screen no smaller than 6" with no less sharpness and no less contrast than my curent Sony Reader PRS-505's screen

* battery life not a notch shorter than what I have right now

* added dictionary support, support for English-to-other-languages dictionary most desirable

* added search feature



maximum requirements:
(all features mentioned above, but a different screen size)

* VERY much wanted 8" screen similar to iRex iLiad with standard ratio like all current readers have vs. fugly upcoming Daily Edition by Sony

[maggie*]

I absolutely agree with the above. I love my PRS-505, it's is perfect for my needs.

I don't need wireless, I don't need touch screens (I kinda prefer not to touch the screen ), color is nice but not essential. I just want a good screen that doesn't give headaches. EPub compatibility is important too. Dictionary lookup could be useful specially if it's available for several languages.

Basically till the publishing industry, Adobe and readers manufacturers get their acts together worldwide I'm not getting a new reader.

Furthermore in Europe the situation is changing so much that the best is stand aside and watch what happens.

That said for my part, I was considering offering my sister one for Christmas... mmm maybe the PRS 300... she'll love it in pink
What do you think?

m*

[yagiz]

Originally Posted by charleski

I can see myself hanging onto my 505 for a few years

Your signature says: "Device: PRS 600". Do you have both?

[edembowski]

Originally Posted by luqmaninbmore

Frankly, you can't be confident you won't lose your books because the Opus or the Sony supports the EPub "Standard."

Actually, I can be completely confident:

- Adobe's DRM is completely broken. Any books I buy are converted to a non-encrypted format
- Failing that, I can be sure that any device I buy does indeed support this DRM'd version. At the worst case, that means that I buy an older device.
- Regarding the ePub standard changing, it still does not matter. ePub is a collection of html files, css style sheets, graphic images and supporting meta data. Change to any other format and I can adapt.

...There is no guarantee that Adobe will be be any more trustworthy in the future.

That's true, and it's fortunate that I'm not depending on Adobe to be trustworthy. Even if they're not trustworthy, it is in the device maker's best interest to support common formats. Just about everyone but Amazon has figured that out already.

- Ed

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by edembowski

- Failing that, I can be sure that any device I buy does indeed support this DRM'd version. At the worst case, that means that I buy an older device.

If the company making the DRM decides to stop supporting it, you can't apply it to new devices, not even "old" new devices. This is what happened to Amazon's previous ebooks, and WalMart's downloaded music... after a while, they decided to stop having the service, and people were stuck using their content on the devices they had registered at the time. No transferring them to the new laptop.

This is why decrypting DRM is important for anyone who wants to keep their content for more than a few years. When the DRM servers shut down, you lose access to your purchases.

[DawnFalcon]

Originally Posted by luqmaninbmore

Frankly, you can't be confident you won't lose your books because the Opus or the Sony supports the EPub "Standard." Standards change and, more to the point, there is no guarantee that future implementations of Adobe DRM will be backwards compatible. A lot of people on this board lost Adobe DRMed PDFs during the change to ADEPT DRM. There is no guarantee that Adobe will be be any more trustworthy in the future.

Er. Do you have a web browser? Right, well you can be assured that you can read non-DRM'ed ePub's. It's an XML-based standard, with the book text as XHTML.

That's one reason why it's such a good choice for a Standard.


Astra - The Nook has a user-replaceable $30 battery. I can live with marginally shorter battery life for that.

Elfwreck - No. All you are doing by buying DRM'ed books is encouraging them to continue with DRM. Breaking DRM means not buying DRM'ed books, and letting people know it's because of the DRM you're purchasing other options.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by ficbot

...I don't buy epub either if it is drm'd because I have not figured out how to remove it .... . I only buy .... secure Ereader (which I immediately 'liberate' and save as plain text).

Wow! Your kidding right? They are all on the same level of difficulty to run. but Secure eReader is the most tedious format to liberate. It's the only process that does not give you the original format, but some hacked up HTML.

Also if you can run ereader2html.py you can just as easily run MobiDeDRM.py

=X=