Finally I got to see a Sony Reader and it's nice

Liviu_5 · 11-19-2006, 11:09 PM

Finally I managed to convince my 4 1/2 year old son to come with me at the Sony store near my house (at Westchester mall in White Plains, NY), and they had 4 on display; I have not seen any Reader at any of the 3 area Borders that we visit quite often, so I was eager to visit the Sony store but...

Since they had some cool screens with animated movies, I managed about 10 minutes of play with one of the readers and I liked it. It reminded me of my Ebks1150, though more elegant, and presumably nicer in sunlight, but in the bright store lights it was similar in the feel of the screen. The page turn was ok and the pixel color change during turning was not annoying, the 3rd or 4th time you did not notice it. I have not counted the number of words on the screen, but I felt they were about 170 like on my Nokia so more than the 100 that Ebk manages, which correlates well with the pixel size (800x600 Sony, 800x480 Nokia, 448x318 Ebk)

Also I noticed that other people were giving the reader a look, so I think it will sell ok to stay in production for a while and maybe get a new version too.
It's not PSP3 that almost caused a riot in NYC and had quite a lot of stores around here posting big signs "WE DO NOT CARRY PSP3", but it should do better than the Librie.

Personally I do not care that much about eink vs lcd, and while more battery time is nice, the 4-5 hrs that Nokia gives me are good enough; I do not buy encrypted books, so what is important is the size, the feel, the navigation, the ergonomics and in all Sony is nice but not revolutionary.

For the moment I am happy with my 2 devices, but when Ebk goes down I will probably buy a Sony or something similar, though Ebk1150 has the extraordinary fast navigation going for it. I would not trade a Sony for my Nokia though since it's not pocketable; also personally I like more the Nokia screen since it gives me a really beautiful reading experience, but that's a matter of taste. Overall I feel the Sony Redaer is a good device, and worth buying if you do not have an ereading device that you are happy with.

Liviu

tcv · 11-20-2006, 08:13 AM

I'm hoping to head to Borders tonight. Perhaps they'll have a kiosk? I'm in New Orleans this week and there's one near my parents' house.

Snappy! · 11-20-2006, 08:03 PM

I presume the Nokia770's screen is barely legible in bright sunlight right?

Liviu_5 · 11-20-2006, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snappy!

I presume the Nokia770's screen is barely legible in bright sunlight right?

Of course, though you can try sit in the shade or put say my cap around to shade it (both worked for me), however I rarely need to read in sunlight. Anywhere else (including outdoors as long as you are not in direct sunlight, say under a tree, or if it's cloudy), it works and the crucial thing about it is that is pocketable. I always carry my Nokia cellphone in one pocket, and my Nokia reader in another.

The Sony Reader I would compare with Ebk1150, more elegant and nicer, more capacity, more text on screen, but Ebk is faster, searcheable and cheaper, plus it has built in light, though I think the next eink devices (hoping there are such) will have an integrated led light. If Sony were available last year when I bought Ebk1150, it would have been a hard choice, and most likely I would have gone with it, but right now I do not need it as long as Ebk works. Still I would recommend it for anyone who wants a reader and is willing to invest the money.

Liviu

tcv · 11-21-2006, 08:06 AM

As an aside, I've never been able to get comfortable using web devices that can't display the full width of a page. I find it really disturbing. Isn't the Nokia somewhat like that?

Liviu_5 · 11-21-2006, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcv

As an aside, I've never been able to get comfortable using web devices that can't display the full width of a page. I find it really disturbing. Isn't the Nokia somewhat like that?

No for books that I read with Fbreader (zipped txt, zipped rtf, html zipped or not, opf, unencrypted prc). The text flows to whatever size you choose for display. I have a 22 Sans Seriff font and it displays about 170 words per full screen page at a very comfortable size, yellow on dark background (because the screen is very crisp it works beautifully, on my lcd pc screens I cannot duplicate the effect so I read regular black on white - on my tablet MsReader but not uBook gets closer to that effect in yellow/black). You toggle the place bar in out with buttons, and you can switch to the last book, library, and more generally customize your buttons so you do not have to use the pen often. Just slide the cover off and read, slide the cover on and put it back in the pocket, so it's practicable to read when you have only a minute or two.

For pdf's of course it depends, but anyway they are too slow for my taste so I do not use them. I just make the non-ocr scans as 800x480 jpg's, page to Nokia screen (or rarely half page to Nokia screen) at relative low quality for space purpose and embed them in a blank html file, and then use Fbreader and it's fast again.

I never use Nokia for anything else (like Web surfing), just as an ereader.

Liviu

tcv · 11-21-2006, 11:22 AM

Sounds good, then! :-)

yvanleterrible · 11-21-2006, 11:31 AM

What ever satisfies one's needs is fine. It does not have to be the best, just adequate, you don't necessarily have to drive a Ferrari to go from point A to point B. I just wish I had better eyesight, the EB 1150 might do it for me. I'm waiting for Sony to conquer the rest of the world.

Jack B Nimble · 11-21-2006, 11:33 AM

Interesting to hear your comments on the 770 as that is one I keep considering as well. I really like the design, though it seems a bit large to actually go in the pocket (on the other hand, neither of my current handhelds fits comfortably in a pocket...). I would be more interested if the battery life were better, as 4-5 hours is not really enough for me. Still, there are rumors of an update due soon, and the battery is replaceable... Hmmm...

Jack

NatCh · 11-21-2006, 11:50 AM

I actually can fit the Reader in my jeans pocket. LLBean's relaxed fit jeans have big pockets.

But I only do that around the house when my pockets are empty and I need both hands for a moment.

yvanleterrible · 11-21-2006, 01:31 PM

The higher the waist size the bigger the pockets. It's proportionnal you see, if you have a big wallet you get to have a bigger investment in your mid portion, hence bigger pants.

I woud'nt carry my reader in my pants cause the bigger the pockets, the heavyer the guy, that poor reader would'nt stand a chance!

Liviu_5 · 11-21-2006, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

What ever satisfies one's needs is fine. It does not have to be the best, just adequate, you don't necessarily have to drive a Ferrari to go from point A to point B. I just wish I had better eyesight, the EB 1150 might do it for me. I'm waiting for Sony to conquer the rest of the world.

Look how much the situation has improved with ereading devices in a relative short amount of time (Nokia late 05, Ebks I am not sure but I think late 04, early 05, Iliad, Sony mid-late 06, even UMPC's and Pepper Pad plus lots of PDA's, tablets going down considerably in prices, especially the older used models).

I have no doubt that this will continue and each of us will have the possibility to find the right e-reader(s) that suits his/her needs. For various reasons (I have posted a while ago the tradeoffs that I see intrinsic or at least in terms of price/practicalities), I have doubts that there will be one ereader acceptable to everyone, but that is ok.

Now if there will be some external pressure on publishers to improve the commercial e-book experience...There the progress is far slower, but still I am guardedly optimistic especially if Amazon will get solidly in the game.

Liviu

NatCh · 11-21-2006, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

The higher the waist size the bigger the pockets. It's proportionnal you see, if you have a big wallet you get to have a bigger investment in your mid portion, hence bigger pants.

I woud'nt carry my reader in my pants cause the bigger the pockets, the heavyer the guy, that poor reader would'nt stand a chance!

All right, smart guy, I'm 6'1" and 176. The waist size recently soared way up to 34" -- so there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liviu_5

I have no doubt that this will continue and each of us will have the possibility to find the right e-reader(s) that suits his/her needs. For various reasons (I have posted a while ago the tradeoffs that I see intrinsic or at least in terms of price/practicalities), I have doubts that there will be one ereader acceptable to everyone, but that is ok.

That is, indeed, the important point, Liviu_5 -- that each finds what works for their situation.

tcv · 11-21-2006, 06:43 PM

6'1"?! I'm 5'2" 100 lbs!

11-19-2006, 11:09 PM	#1
Liviu_5 Books and more books Posts: 917 Karma: 69499 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: White Plains, NY, USA Device: Nook Color, Itouch, Nokia770, Sony 650, Sony 700(dead), Ebk(given)	Finally I got to see a Sony Reader and it's nice Finally I managed to convince my 4 1/2 year old son to come with me at the Sony store near my house (at Westchester mall in White Plains, NY), and they had 4 on display; I have not seen any Reader at any of the 3 area Borders that we visit quite often, so I was eager to visit the Sony store but... Since they had some cool screens with animated movies, I managed about 10 minutes of play with one of the readers and I liked it. It reminded me of my Ebks1150, though more elegant, and presumably nicer in sunlight, but in the bright store lights it was similar in the feel of the screen. The page turn was ok and the pixel color change during turning was not annoying, the 3rd or 4th time you did not notice it. I have not counted the number of words on the screen, but I felt they were about 170 like on my Nokia so more than the 100 that Ebk manages, which correlates well with the pixel size (800x600 Sony, 800x480 Nokia, 448x318 Ebk) Also I noticed that other people were giving the reader a look, so I think it will sell ok to stay in production for a while and maybe get a new version too. It's not PSP3 that almost caused a riot in NYC and had quite a lot of stores around here posting big signs "WE DO NOT CARRY PSP3", but it should do better than the Librie. Personally I do not care that much about eink vs lcd, and while more battery time is nice, the 4-5 hrs that Nokia gives me are good enough; I do not buy encrypted books, so what is important is the size, the feel, the navigation, the ergonomics and in all Sony is nice but not revolutionary. For the moment I am happy with my 2 devices, but when Ebk goes down I will probably buy a Sony or something similar, though Ebk1150 has the extraordinary fast navigation going for it. I would not trade a Sony for my Nokia though since it's not pocketable; also personally I like more the Nokia screen since it gives me a really beautiful reading experience, but that's a matter of taste. Overall I feel the Sony Redaer is a good device, and worth buying if you do not have an ereading device that you are happy with. Liviu

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11-20-2006, 08:13 AM	#2
tcv Addict Posts: 330 Karma: 596 Join Date: Oct 2006	I'm hoping to head to Borders tonight. Perhaps they'll have a kiosk? I'm in New Orleans this week and there's one near my parents' house.

11-20-2006, 08:03 PM	#3
Snappy! Addict Posts: 260 Karma: 4256 Join Date: Feb 2006 Device: SHARP Zaurus C1000	I presume the Nokia770's screen is barely legible in bright sunlight right?

11-21-2006, 08:06 AM	#5
tcv Addict Posts: 330 Karma: 596 Join Date: Oct 2006	As an aside, I've never been able to get comfortable using web devices that can't display the full width of a page. I find it really disturbing. Isn't the Nokia somewhat like that?

11-21-2006, 11:22 AM	#7
tcv Addict Posts: 330 Karma: 596 Join Date: Oct 2006	Sounds good, then! :-)

11-21-2006, 11:31 AM	#8
yvanleterrible Reborn Paper User Posts: 8,616 Karma: 15446734 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Que Nada Device: iPhone8, iPad Air	What ever satisfies one's needs is fine. It does not have to be the best, just adequate, you don't necessarily have to drive a Ferrari to go from point A to point B. I just wish I had better eyesight, the EB 1150 might do it for me. I'm waiting for Sony to conquer the rest of the world.

11-21-2006, 11:33 AM	#9
Jack B Nimble Groupie Posts: 154 Karma: 672 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: Tapwave Zodiac, eBookwise 1150	Interesting to hear your comments on the 770 as that is one I keep considering as well. I really like the design, though it seems a bit large to actually go in the pocket (on the other hand, neither of my current handhelds fits comfortably in a pocket...). I would be more interested if the battery life were better, as 4-5 hours is not really enough for me. Still, there are rumors of an update due soon, and the battery is replaceable... Hmmm... Jack

11-21-2006, 11:50 AM	#10
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	I actually can fit the Reader in my jeans pocket. LLBean's relaxed fit jeans have big pockets. But I only do that around the house when my pockets are empty and I need both hands for a moment.

11-21-2006, 01:31 PM	#11
yvanleterrible Reborn Paper User Posts: 8,616 Karma: 15446734 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Que Nada Device: iPhone8, iPad Air	The higher the waist size the bigger the pockets. It's proportionnal you see, if you have a big wallet you get to have a bigger investment in your mid portion, hence bigger pants. I woud'nt carry my reader in my pants cause the bigger the pockets, the heavyer the guy, that poor reader would'nt stand a chance!

11-21-2006, 06:43 PM	#14
tcv Addict Posts: 330 Karma: 596 Join Date: Oct 2006	6'1"?! I'm 5'2" 100 lbs!