iRiver story wifi vs Kindle3

whatuser · 03-28-2011, 02:12 PM

Hey Guys,

I've been looking at getting a reader for a while now and I'm pretty sure I've made my mind up to go for either the iriver story wifi or the kindle3 wifi but am still a bit unsure which one I want.
I will be using the device mostly for books, but also some comics and manga as well as pdfs, manuals, and some foreign language reading.

The iRiver story wifi is currently on sale here in the UK for £99 so price wise its no longer an issue compared to the kindle. Comparing the two, this is what i've come up with.

The iRiver pros: Expandable memory, Epub, no tie ins, asian fonts already supported.
Cons: No browser. I am not sure if it has dictionary (conflicting reports), and not sure about indexing/searching.

The Kindle Pros: Amazon backed, got a browser, reliable(?)
Cons:Fixed memory, needs to be jail broken to add asian fonts, no epub or cbr support

OK so its not really down to browsing, but a friend with a kindle mentioned that viewing wikipedia on it was quite pleasant so it would be nice to have as an extra.
The expandable memory thing is a bit more of a big deal as I do plan on reading comics and manga on the device, and it would be nice to have some music on spare SD cards since my mp3 player died on me recently.

Aside from that I can't really think of anything that separates them. They both have wifi, both have 16 shades of grey, both do pdfs.. I don't know what the difference in refresh times are between them, so I can't really compare that, but can anyone with experience with both devices give me their opinions?

Of course if I had an idea of how much the iRiver HD was going to be I might be tempted to wait for that, but there doesn't seem to even be rumors of the price yet..

Thanks in advance
Sam

HarryT · 03-28-2011, 02:15 PM

One benefit of the Kindle is that it has a significantly better screen than the iRiver; the screen manufacturer quotes a 50% contrast improvement, and it really is very noticeable.

susan_cassidy · 03-28-2011, 02:29 PM

That isn't exactly correct about the Asian fonts and Kindle. Per the Kindle product page: "Kindle can now display Cyrillic (such as Russian), Japanese, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), and Korean characters in addition to Latin and Greek scripts for certain file types." So, at least some Asian fonts/character sets are supported.

PDF support on the small 6" screen can be frustrating, so I wouldn't really recommend any 6" device for much PDF reading.

whatuser · 03-28-2011, 02:30 PM

Is that compared to the iRiver wifi, becuase I know that the older non wifi version of the iRiver had a worse screen, but not sure about the later versions.

Poppaea · 03-28-2011, 02:35 PM

epub vs. mobi
Amazon service vs. send it to Korea...

whatuser · 03-28-2011, 02:42 PM

OK, I hadn't seen that font support on the kindle. PDFs will always be an issue, but I can't afford a DX, and am not sure I would want one really. If I went for something that size, I would probably just go for a ipad or something similar.

@Popaea, I have no idea what your send it to Korea comment is supposed to mean!?!

Poppaea · 03-28-2011, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatuser

OK, I hadn't seen that font support on the kindle. PDFs will always be an issue, but I can't afford a DX, and am not sure I would want one really. If I went for something that size, I would probably just go for a ipad or something similar.

@Popaea, I have no idea what your send it to Korea comment is supposed to mean!?!

AFAIK one has to send it to Korea if anything happens and it has to be mended/repaired. I could be wrong but I am quite sure I read it in a thread somewhere.

Prestidigitweeze · 03-28-2011, 04:53 PM

I've owned iRiver devices in the past because they were geeky items that allowed possibilities other similar devices did not. Some of the options didn't work perfectly, but it was nice to have them, and the quality was quite good enough. The iHP-xxx was the most flexible consumer music player/recorder of its time unless you count the ill-fated Neuros.

I don't find there are enough geeky perks with the original Story. Its format and character options are offered with other e-readers as well (though not the Kindle, obviously). The Story HD looks far more interesting to me and the screen resolution sounds inviting:

Engadget Piece and Video on the Story HD

What about the latest Sony readers? From what I've seen, Sony readers tend to have much better customer service/tech support and be better made than the Story, and Sony's usual protective measures don't intrude on format flexibility because their publishing catalog disincludes books.

I've had direct experience with iRiver's customer service and I can verify that it is truly bad, at least for people who happen to live in the States. They make it difficult to return a defective item even when they've sold it to you directly, and even after you've gotten your confirmation number and followed their steps for returning the merchandise, there's no guarantee you'll ever receive a replacement. I had to raise a huge stink on a prominent audiophile forum to get them to even acknowledge my return.

I do love the fact you can increase the Story's memory to 32 GB.

whatuser · 03-29-2011, 03:08 AM

@Poppaea Ah ok got you.

@Prestidigitweeze, Shame to hear that they've dropped the geekiness from the Story, the charm of things like that would have sold it to me immidetly.

The sony devices are all more expensive than either the iriver or the kindle, the closes one they have is the pocket reader one, but they are all touchscreen devices and as such have a more reflective screen making them harder to read in bright direct sunlight.
Also, they don't have wifi which i find quite annoying. I know some of them do accept memory cards as well, but I think that is only the more expensive ones. So for me, the sony is out.

HarryT · 03-29-2011, 03:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatuser

The sony devices are all more expensive than either the iriver or the kindle, the closes one they have is the pocket reader one, but they are all touchscreen devices and as such have a more reflective screen making them harder to read in bright direct sunlight.

The Sony devices use a touch-screen technology that works using infra-red beams emitted around the edge of the screen. This has no effect whatsoever on the reflectivity of the screen surface - why on Earth do you think that it would do?

whatuser · 03-29-2011, 05:52 AM

I just checked and you are a right, the new sonys do have a good screen. The previous gen ones had the same reflective problems that other touchscreen devices have.
However I still stand by the fact that they are more expensive than other readers. The closest rival to the kindle and iriver in price terms is the PRS 350 pocket edition which is smaller than the other 2, has no wifi and no expandable memory. And still a bit more expensive.
So right now I am leaning towards the Kindle despite the memory limits. With an eye towards the iRiver HD when it comes out. At least it should hold its value a bit better than the iRiver, and I can flog it and get the newer device later.

I belive that someone said that the kindle actually only has about 3GB usable memory in real terms, is that true??

HarryT · 03-29-2011, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatuser

I belive that someone said that the kindle actually only has about 3GB usable memory in real terms, is that true??

About 3 and a quarter, yes; the rest is used by the o/s. For books, though, that's more than enough unless you want to store your entire library. I have a few hundred books on my Kindle and have used about half a GB.

It's really only the old resistive touch screen technology that impacts screen clarity. Many readers use Wacom touch screens which also have no impact on clarity (all the touch screen's compoments are behind the display screen).

ProfCrash · 03-29-2011, 08:11 AM

The problem is people hear of a problem on a device from a few years back and they don't hear that it has been fixed and then they assume that it continues to be a problem.

whatuser · 03-29-2011, 09:20 AM

Doesn't really matter, the sony is out because of the price. The nearest priced sony is the 350 which has even less memory than the others and no wifi.
The next one up is the 600 which reviewed on here and elsewhere with the reflective screen
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56208
The updated version 650 is £100 more than the others so its totally out. So regardless of the screen reflection the sony is out.

Now as I mentioned in my initial post the reason I would prefer more memory is that 1- I will be adding comics and manga (yes yes I know its not ideal) which take up a bit more space than ebooks, and 2- With the recent loss of my dearly departed mp3 player, it would be nice to have music on external memory sticks if possible.
So now can we please ignore the sony.
Thanks

Prestidigitweeze · 04-01-2011, 01:38 AM

We can perhaps ignore the original Story if no one can offer more viable reasons to choose it, but I wouldn't rule out the Story HD if/when it actually goes into production.

03-28-2011, 02:12 PM	#1
whatuser Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: none	iRiver story wifi vs Kindle3 Hey Guys, I've been looking at getting a reader for a while now and I'm pretty sure I've made my mind up to go for either the iriver story wifi or the kindle3 wifi but am still a bit unsure which one I want. I will be using the device mostly for books, but also some comics and manga as well as pdfs, manuals, and some foreign language reading. The iRiver story wifi is currently on sale here in the UK for £99 so price wise its no longer an issue compared to the kindle. Comparing the two, this is what i've come up with. The iRiver pros: Expandable memory, Epub, no tie ins, asian fonts already supported. Cons: No browser. I am not sure if it has dictionary (conflicting reports), and not sure about indexing/searching. The Kindle Pros: Amazon backed, got a browser, reliable(?) Cons:Fixed memory, needs to be jail broken to add asian fonts, no epub or cbr support OK so its not really down to browsing, but a friend with a kindle mentioned that viewing wikipedia on it was quite pleasant so it would be nice to have as an extra. The expandable memory thing is a bit more of a big deal as I do plan on reading comics and manga on the device, and it would be nice to have some music on spare SD cards since my mp3 player died on me recently. Aside from that I can't really think of anything that separates them. They both have wifi, both have 16 shades of grey, both do pdfs.. I don't know what the difference in refresh times are between them, so I can't really compare that, but can anyone with experience with both devices give me their opinions? Of course if I had an idea of how much the iRiver HD was going to be I might be tempted to wait for that, but there doesn't seem to even be rumors of the price yet.. Thanks in advance Sam

03-28-2011, 04:53 PM	#8
Prestidigitweeze Fledgling Demagogue Posts: 2,384 Karma: 31132263 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: White Plains Device: Clara HD; Oasis 2; Aura HD; iPad Air; PRS-350; Galaxy S7.	I've owned iRiver devices in the past because they were geeky items that allowed possibilities other similar devices did not. Some of the options didn't work perfectly, but it was nice to have them, and the quality was quite good enough. The iHP-xxx was the most flexible consumer music player/recorder of its time unless you count the ill-fated Neuros. I don't find there are enough geeky perks with the original Story. Its format and character options are offered with other e-readers as well (though not the Kindle, obviously). The Story HD looks far more interesting to me and the screen resolution sounds inviting: Engadget Piece and Video on the Story HD What about the latest Sony readers? From what I've seen, Sony readers tend to have much better customer service/tech support and be better made than the Story, and Sony's usual protective measures don't intrude on format flexibility because their publishing catalog disincludes books. I've had direct experience with iRiver's customer service and I can verify that it is truly bad, at least for people who happen to live in the States. They make it difficult to return a defective item even when they've sold it to you directly, and even after you've gotten your confirmation number and followed their steps for returning the merchandise, there's no guarantee you'll ever receive a replacement. I had to raise a huge stink on a prominent audiophile forum to get them to even acknowledge my return. I do love the fact you can increase the Story's memory to 32 GB. Last edited by Prestidigitweeze; 03-28-2011 at 05:00 PM.

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03-28-2011, 02:15 PM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	One benefit of the Kindle is that it has a significantly better screen than the iRiver; the screen manufacturer quotes a 50% contrast improvement, and it really is very noticeable.

03-28-2011, 02:29 PM	#3
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	That isn't exactly correct about the Asian fonts and Kindle. Per the Kindle product page: "Kindle can now display Cyrillic (such as Russian), Japanese, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), and Korean characters in addition to Latin and Greek scripts for certain file types." So, at least some Asian fonts/character sets are supported. PDF support on the small 6" screen can be frustrating, so I wouldn't really recommend any 6" device for much PDF reading.

03-28-2011, 02:30 PM	#4
whatuser Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: none	Is that compared to the iRiver wifi, becuase I know that the older non wifi version of the iRiver had a worse screen, but not sure about the later versions.

03-28-2011, 02:35 PM	#5
Poppaea Lucifer's Bat Posts: 2,536 Karma: 19491715 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Earth/Berlin Device: Kobo Libra 2	epub vs. mobi Amazon service vs. send it to Korea...

03-28-2011, 02:42 PM	#6
whatuser Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: none	OK, I hadn't seen that font support on the kindle. PDFs will always be an issue, but I can't afford a DX, and am not sure I would want one really. If I went for something that size, I would probably just go for a ipad or something similar. @Popaea, I have no idea what your send it to Korea comment is supposed to mean!?!

03-29-2011, 03:08 AM	#9
whatuser Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: none	@Poppaea Ah ok got you. @Prestidigitweeze, Shame to hear that they've dropped the geekiness from the Story, the charm of things like that would have sold it to me immidetly. The sony devices are all more expensive than either the iriver or the kindle, the closes one they have is the pocket reader one, but they are all touchscreen devices and as such have a more reflective screen making them harder to read in bright direct sunlight. Also, they don't have wifi which i find quite annoying. I know some of them do accept memory cards as well, but I think that is only the more expensive ones. So for me, the sony is out.

03-29-2011, 05:52 AM	#11
whatuser Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: none	I just checked and you are a right, the new sonys do have a good screen. The previous gen ones had the same reflective problems that other touchscreen devices have. However I still stand by the fact that they are more expensive than other readers. The closest rival to the kindle and iriver in price terms is the PRS 350 pocket edition which is smaller than the other 2, has no wifi and no expandable memory. And still a bit more expensive. So right now I am leaning towards the Kindle despite the memory limits. With an eye towards the iRiver HD when it comes out. At least it should hold its value a bit better than the iRiver, and I can flog it and get the newer device later. I belive that someone said that the kindle actually only has about 3GB usable memory in real terms, is that true??

03-29-2011, 08:11 AM	#13
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	The problem is people hear of a problem on a device from a few years back and they don't hear that it has been fixed and then they assume that it continues to be a problem.

03-29-2011, 09:20 AM	#14
whatuser Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: none	Doesn't really matter, the sony is out because of the price. The nearest priced sony is the 350 which has even less memory than the others and no wifi. The next one up is the 600 which reviewed on here and elsewhere with the reflective screen https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56208 The updated version 650 is £100 more than the others so its totally out. So regardless of the screen reflection the sony is out. Now as I mentioned in my initial post the reason I would prefer more memory is that 1- I will be adding comics and manga (yes yes I know its not ideal) which take up a bit more space than ebooks, and 2- With the recent loss of my dearly departed mp3 player, it would be nice to have music on external memory sticks if possible. So now can we please ignore the sony. Thanks

04-01-2011, 01:38 AM	#15
Prestidigitweeze Fledgling Demagogue Posts: 2,384 Karma: 31132263 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: White Plains Device: Clara HD; Oasis 2; Aura HD; iPad Air; PRS-350; Galaxy S7.	We can perhaps ignore the original Story if no one can offer more viable reasons to choose it, but I wouldn't rule out the Story HD if/when it actually goes into production.