Sony Reader vs Kindle

[polly]

Originally Posted by maurices5000

How much importance should i assign to which bookstore I will be using. I just checked a few books on GoogleBooks and Kindle. Kindle had all of them that were in digital format. Google had only a fraction. I didn not check a long list.

Thanks!

To compare who has what, visit www.inkmesh.com. GoogleBooks and the Kindle store are completely different concepts; one carries public domain books and the other the latest best sellers. It's no surprise that they would have a very different selection.

[eerok]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

Honestly, saying that you are buying a Sony or Nook or Kobo or whatever reader so you don't get locked into Amazon and then buying books from Amazon sounds a bit, well, silly. You are admitting that you know buying a device does not lock you into a store so how exactly is buying a Kindle locking you into anything?

The answer is simple from my point of view: it's not the formats you can buy that make a difference in the reader, but the formats a reader can render. I chose the Sony over the Kindle largely because the Sony can render EPub, the open standard ebook format. I don't trust proprietary formats.

I also don't like the stories I've heard of Amazon pulling content off readers. That qualifies as a showstopper for me right there. Last year I spent over $3K on physical books from Amazon.ca, so I'm not a hater. I'll keep buying physical books from them, but I don't trust their ebook side of things at all.

[ProfCrash]

And that is fine. You are not buying your e-books from Amazon.

The ones that make me chuckle are the folks who bought a Sony, Kobo, Nook, name an e-reader that is not a Kindle because they didn't want to be locked into Amazons store and then buy their e-books from Amazon. It sounds a little silly to me.

Amazon pulled one book off of e-readers and have very publicly apologized for that. People who had the book pulled either got two free books and the book back or three free books. Sony, BN, Kobo can all do the exact same thing that Amazon did.

Sony used to render Mobi but switched to EPub.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by polly

To compare who has what, visit www.inkmesh.com. GoogleBooks and the Kindle store are completely different concepts; one carries public domain books and the other the latest best sellers. It's no surprise that they would have a very different selection.

Not quite correct. Both Amazon and Google carry public domain books and the latest best sellers. One difference is that Amazon carries them in its own format and Google carries them in ePub.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Owning both a Kindle and ePub devices, one thing that is undoubtedly true is that, if you plan to buy commercial eBooks, it's much, MUCH easier to do it on the Kindle (especially the 3G Kindle) than it is on an ePub device. On the Kindle you can browse the bookstore on the device itself, click the "Buy" button, and a minute later you're reading it. On an ePub device, you have to load the book via a PC and it's a lot less convenient.

Harry, this simply isn't correct. It depends on which device you have. For example, my Sony 950 lets me browse the Sony and Google ebookstores "on the device itself, click the 'Buy' button, and a minute later you're reading it." The same is true, as far as I know, with the Nook and Kobo wireless devices (obviously to their respective ebookstores). I'll grant that on the Sony 350 and 650 devices, you are correct, but your response really should have been more general to say that with a wireless-capable device one can have instant gratification but non-wireless-capable devices require a more cumbersome approach.

It is also worth noting that more ebookstores use ePub formatting than Amazon's proprietary formatting, thus giving a reader more ebookstore options without having to strip DRM and reformat.

Originally Posted by HarryT

As far as the actual readers go, both Sony Readers and Kindles are excellent; I'm sure you'd be delighted with either.

This, OTOH, is 100% correct.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

The ones that make me chuckle are the folks who bought a Sony, Kobo, Nook, name an e-reader that is not a Kindle because they didn't want to be locked into Amazons store and then buy their e-books from Amazon. It sounds a little silly to me.

I'm one of those folk (bought Sony) for that reason, among others. I grant that the easiest place for me to buy ebooks from with my Sony 950 is the Sony ebookstore because of the wireless access, but I have no trouble buying from Google, Kobo, or Books on Board, for example, because they, too, use the ePub format.

For many people here on MR stripping DRM and converting a book using Calibre is child's play. But it isn't child's play for everyone and not everyone wants to be bothered with the extra hassles. For those who are uncomfortable stripping and converting, a Kindle locks you into Amazon. But the same is not true of the Sony, Nook, or Kobo.

I would also add that some of us do not look forward to a day when the only choice is Amazon and thus prefer to support other vendors.

[maurices5000]

Thanks guys for all your comments. I'm going to give both a try today. The Sony first and then I'll go back to the Kindle. I'm wondering if I really need the touch screen and how much better the notes are on Sony.

I really would like to buy a Sony to force Kindle to diversity their products and support other stores. However, I'm a bit concerned about not being able to search my whole library.

Thanks!

Why am i not getting email notification when people post?

[eerok]

Originally Posted by maurices5000

I'm wondering if I really need the touch screen and how much better the notes are on Sony.

I like the touchscreen, but I think this is very subjective. There's a stylus and you can write physical notes on the touchscreen, though I admit I've never had occasion to do so. The dictionary is okay, just double tap the word -- sometimes I use that. I think the touchscreen makes navigation faster and easier in general.

Just make sure that if you get a Sony right now that you get the latest tech, the n50 whatever.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by eerok

it's not the formats you can buy that make a difference in the reader, but the formats a reader can render.

I will have to disagree.

Being able to read a specific format means nothing if you cannot find a particular book for your device. So, if you have a Nook but you cannot find X or Y book on their store... what kind of advantage is that? Yes, your device probably can read ePub books... so what?

This has been a hot debate here and each people love their own devices, of course. But we should buy or get an ereader based on the kind of books we can get and read, for the device we chose.

I used to have a Nook 1st gen, ok reader, especially after several firmware upgrades. But the SQL and Computer book selection is poor so I sold it and bought a Kindle DXG plus a Kindle 3! I don't buy a device to brag about being able to read ePub books, I bought it to read ebooks I like and read. If you can find and get your books with a reader which uses ePub format, great! But that should not be extrapolate to others or take it as an argument against other ereaders.

Also, people always forget that not because the book comes on ePub format is an immediate key to freedom. B&N ePub books and all main online ebook stores put DRM protection to all their books so it is basically a proprietary format unless you break the encryption which could be illegal depending of the country.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by maurices5000

Hello guys, I'm interested in buying an ebook. I'm a bit fearful though.

My fear is that I will become dedicated to an e-reader that will not have the books i want in the digital format i need and that the like Beta/VHS and HD/BlueRay, i may end up with a product that is worthless.

1) Which e-reader has the most books? Kindle claims almost 800,000 books on its website. I'm assuming that does not include free ebooks. GoogleBooks boasts 1 million but i wonder how many of those are free books. I went to Google Books store and many books i found on the Kindle were not available on GoogleBooks.

2) Where can i go to check out the Sony Reader in Store? I found the Kindle at Target.

3) Kindle has no intentions of creating a touch screen. It claims it can't do it without creating a clare. But Sony claims its ereader doesn't have that problem even though it has a touch screen. How do the two compare?

4) Does the Sony Reader allow us to take notes, highlight text, and search whole library of books rather than just a single book at a time?

In many ways i think the Sony should win. They allow us to borrow library books (which if you are not sure you want the book or want to pay money for the book would be a good cheap alternative.) It has a touch screen. It has eInk like the Kindle. It has more support for many formats including MS Word so users can create their own content and load it on the Sony.

Unfortunately Amazon is my favorite book store. Possibly a good thing, Amazon may find that they run people away from them rather than towards them if they don't implement features people want.

IF you know of any other benefits of one over the other please feel free to note them.

Thanks!

Really valid questions and doubts.

I would not buy an electronic device with the fear in mind of any possible out of business problem, but stick to what we have now and what we can enjoy today. Market's demand and changes in technology can turn something that is not popular today in a real hit later.

Having said that, please based your decision based on the kind of books you like and need. I always suggest the following to people when buying an ereader so they won't make the same mistake I did: choose 20 books (10 you would like to have, 10 you already have) do a search on the ebook online store (B&N, Sony, Amazon, etc) and see how many hits you get. The store with higher hits should give you a good idea of the kind of ereader that you need for your own taste and preferences. The 2nd one higher hits should be the device to compare.

[starrlamia]

I never really got the whole "search 10 books on the different bookstores" thing, you can buy books at so many different places whether mobi or epub format, I think the better way to look at it is to you inkmesh to look and see what variety you can get. I have a sony but Ive only gotten 1 book from them, I mostly shop kobo.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by starrlamia

I never really got the whole "search 10 books on the different bookstores" thing, you can buy books at so many different places whether mobi or epub format, I think the better way to look at it is to you inkmesh to look and see what variety you can get. I have a sony but Ive only gotten 1 book from them, I mostly shop kobo.

I assume you are referring to my post as regards the 10 books.

Variety is meaningless if you don't read books that encompass the variety. For example, the fact that bookstore ABC sells every romace book published is worthless unless you read romance books.

If you check for the last 10 books you actually have read and for 10 books you know you are interested in reading, you may well find that bookstore XYZ sells 18 of 20 of those books but bookstore ABC only sells 8 of the 20. Clearly it is better to be able to access and read books from XYZ than from ABC. If both bookstores sell 16 of 20, then it doesn't matter.

[eerok]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Being able to read a specific format means nothing if you cannot find a particular book for your device.

What I'm getting at is that if you have a preferred format in which to keep your ebook collection, then that will be an important criterion when you choose a reader. I have no problem breaking DRM in order to convert, though.

I also convert my journals and drafts of my writing projects to EPub. There are many more EPub tools around than for any other ebook format, except for PDF, which too often renders poorly on readers.

There's really no single best choice for everyone. Many of the reasons that I prefer EPub mean nothing to most others, but they matter to me.

[starrlamia]

Originally Posted by rhadin

I assume you are referring to my post as regards the 10 books.

Variety is meaningless if you don't read books that encompass the variety. For example, the fact that bookstore ABC sells every romace book published is worthless unless you read romance books.

If you check for the last 10 books you actually have read and for 10 books you know you are interested in reading, you may well find that bookstore XYZ sells 18 of 20 of those books but bookstore ABC only sells 8 of the 20. Clearly it is better to be able to access and read books from XYZ than from ABC. If both bookstores sell 16 of 20, then it doesn't matter.

my point was that say, Just because I have a sony, doesnt mean I should have jumped onto the sony bookstore to see if they had books I wanted, because my sony can read books from just about anywhere. Thats why I suggested inkmesh, see if the books you want are available in the format you are looking at without looking specifically at one store. I would stress format over specific stores.

[Wordeater]

I have yet to buy a reader and have been beating the research to death.
Way back I wanted only the Nook. I decided to give the K3 a look, and was massively underwhelmed. Each to their own, but IMO it is a cheap, plastic POS.....and I really like Amazon for their wide assortment of titles. I then got my hands on a Nook for the first time and liked it a lot. Then for the first time I looked at Sony after ignoring them for ages in the store. My concern was being able to find books. (library access does not matter to me)

I then started to think about the process I use to buy books. I read non-fiction, mostly military history, and the odd other subject thrown in.
I never go specifically looking for any one title. I browse the genre and buy books that interest me. No matter where I browse I can ALWAYS find any number of books I want to purchase. Once I got over the roadblock of thinking I needed a vast array of books that interested me, I knew there was no issue.
I am buying a Sony 650. I don't need WiFi or 3G. I will always buy books from my Mac. The Sony IMO, is head and shoulders above the others. The 350 is real small and the text is awesome. The 650 is great, and comes in red, black or silver; the 350 in pink or silver. I would spring for the 950 but it is more than I need or want.
For a guy who ignored the Sonys for so long I am now sold on them. Their display is as good as anything out there, I perceive them to be more durable and of a higher quality than the competition. Yeah, they cost more but when you buy what you want, despite the price, you only cry once. Quality has an inherent value all of it's own. It's just me, but I never buy junk.

WE