Reasons I'm not getting a Kindle but the Sony 505 instead.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by bingle

I'm still going to keep my Sony Reader. And I'd buy another one, if I had to make the choice again.

However, I'm looking at the Kindle for my mother. I think the ease of buying books from Amazon, plus the availability of titles, makes it a very compelling platform for a person who doesn't want to spend time and effort to convert books to a specific format from free sources.

So... I see the Reader as being a better choice for geeks and people who don't mind fiddling a bit more with their gadgets. The Kindle is perhaps a better choice for people who want it to "just work".

Anyone else feel that divide?

I would definitely recommend the Kindle for a non-technical person. It really is very easy to use. I don't think most technophobes would want to deal with converting books and all that. However, I'm a geek that loves to tinker and I still love the Kindle. I wouldn't mind doing the little bit of extra work with the Sony. If I had a Sony, I wouldn't have jumped on the Kindle at 1.0 stage. To me the decision wasn't particularly about the ease-of-use features like wireless delivery and conversion service. That's nice but not a big deal for me. It really came down to library/dictionary search functionality and titles available. It could've been less user-friendly and I would've chosen it over the Sony.

[tsgreer]

Originally Posted by zartemis

Hmm. I'm a unix/linux admin and these days, I mostly want my non-work stuff to "just work".

I would say that the Kindle is closer to the Sonos (music system) of mp3 playback than AOL. Sonos is expensive, and "just works". Before Sonos, I used a hacked xbox, a Roku Soundbridge, and a Slim Devices Squeezebox. But Sonos blows them all away with ease of use and drop dead gorgeous design (of the handheld). And combined with Rhapsody (and their newer partnerships) the instant gratification of browsing, searching and then playing almost any song on a whim anywhere in the house wirelessly is a dream.

If only Kindle was drop dead gorgeous.

That's also an interesting thought I had. What if it was BEAUTIFUL?! I mean, how many people are hating it because of the "corporate monolith that is Amazon" rather than just the features and/or looks of it. Did we really think that Amazon was going to make an open-format reader? Sony didn't.

I have both and love both, so just making an observation. Where are all the people that didn't like the Sony because it didn't have a dictionary and they couldn't make notes in the text? Seems like they would be jumping for joy at the Sony.

Also what if it was worldwide (with the wireless thingy that would work everywhere)? Would that really change opinions? I don't know, I just feel that a lot of the bad feelings are people don't like the "corporate" aspect of it. I'm the opposite. I think that it's what will finally make ereaders take off, not kill them.

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by tsgreer

Also what if it was worldwide (with the wireless thingy that would work everywhere)? Would that really change opinions?

It would definitely make a difference to me!

Let's see, if I compare the Sony Reader with the Kindle today, I get the following:

* The Reader uses the newer screen technology (it has a newer E Ink controller, giving it 8 levels of grey rather than just 4). It looks better. It may feel better. It definitely runs longer. It's cheaper.

* The Kindle is supported by Amazon -- the biggest bookseller in the world. It has Whispernet, which comes at no extra cost allowing you to buy e-books from anywhere you are (given that you can use Sprint's EVDO connectivity). You'll never be out of books so to speak. You can access online sources like Wikipedia. You can even subscribe to daily newspapers. And you got the dictionary lookup feature.

Now, except for the fact that I could purchase my books from Amazon (offline only) and that I could use a dictionary (which, I admit, could come in quite handy given that I am not a native English speaker), I don't see a compelling reason for getting the Kindle rather than the Sony Reader, that is, as long I cannot use the online connectivity along with it.

[Penforhire]

Well I, for one, am a big Amazon fan. I buy more stuff through them than you might imagine. But I'm not feeling warm and fuzzy about the Kindle. Nothing against Amazon.

I thought the Kindle used exactly the same e-ink screen but an older driver chip (which means... I dunno)?

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

I thought the Kindle used exactly the same e-ink screen but an older driver chip (which means... I dunno)?

Yes, the controller differs, which is why the Kindle supports 4 grey levels (2-bit) while the newer Sony Reader has 8 levels (3-bit).

The article in this thread has some more details regarding the controller technology: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16690

[runciter]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

I don't see a compelling reason for getting the Kindle rather than the Sony Reader, that is, as long I cannot use the online connectivity along with it.

Never mind the fact that Amazon won't sell you one It is odd they didn't go with GSM instead of CDMA, but I assume Sprint gave more favourable data rates and AT&T isn't exactly cheap with their HSDPA/UMTS rates and T-Mobile in the US only offers EDGE which as you know, isn't blazing.

But I think the big thing that you would use, if given the option, would be the search feature. That is a killer app for me. The wireless download of content is nice and being able to download another city's newspaper daily is a bonus, but search is the big reason why I went with Kindle. I do think the PRS-505 is sexy though. It needs bigger page forward/back buttons (but not Kindle big).

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

I thought the Kindle used exactly the same e-ink screen but an older driver chip (which means... I dunno)?

I have not seen a PRS-505, but I am very impressed by the Kindle screen. Page turns are fast (seem to depend on the screen, not the controller). Turning to a page with an image on it is slow, but the images are very good. There isn't a huge difference between Kindle images and the 16 grey scale images on a iLiad, although the latter are better if you look close up. The iLiad screen is not Vizplex, so a comparison of images on the PRS-505 (8 grey scale) vs the Kindle (4 grey scale) would be worth doing.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by runciter

T-Mobile in the US only offers EDGE which as you know, isn't blazing.

But you don't need "blazing" for books. Book files are small. EDGE is fine for things like web browsing and e-mail, and does it really matter if a book download (which, as I understand it, happens as a "background" operation anyway) takes 2 minutes or 10 minutes?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

Now, except for the fact that I could purchase my books from Amazon (offline only) and that I could use a dictionary (which, I admit, could come in quite handy given that I am not a native English speaker), I don't see a compelling reason for getting the Kindle rather than the Sony Reader, that is, as long I cannot use the online connectivity along with it.

If you want a dictionary you could get a CyBook Gen3. Midway in price between the Sony Reader and the Kindle. Whereas the Kindle has its built-in dictionary which I believe (please someone correct me if I'm wrong) you're stuck with, the Gen3 will use any MobiPocket dictionary, which gives you a choice of HUNDREDS of dictionaries to choose from - English, other languages, and specialist ones (medical dictionaries, art dictionaries, etc).

[azog]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If you want a dictionary you could get a CyBook Gen3. Midway in price between the Sony Reader and the Kindle. Whereas the Kindle has its built-in dictionary which I believe (please someone correct me if I'm wrong)

Harumph, I thought I replied to this, but it's not appearing. Forgive me if I double-post on this.

In any event, I'm at work and I don't have my Kindle with me, but I am pretty sure you can change the dictionaries. I did find a menu option buried somewhere which was fairly clear, but I cannot remember it.

I'm happy with the built-in dictionary. It's found some obscure words, which surprised me. I clipped them out, because it was so surprising. If anyone's interested, I can post them later when I get home...

[astra]

I am Amazon fan as well. I buy pbooks on Amazon only for many years.
I also buy other things on amazon.co.uk/com.

However, if tomorrow Amazon.co.uk would make Kindle available in the UK, I will buy Sony Reader PRS-505 in the USA.

The only thing that I would like to have and Kindle has it while Sony doesn't have is built-in dictionary. Before I bought Sony Reader almost 1 year ago, when I was reading pbooks and I didn't know a word I used Israeli made dictionary pen scanner. You just pass it over a word and it translates it immediately. After I bought Sony Reader I had to buy a small electronic dictionary because I hate browsing manually through a huge oxford English-Russian dictionary while reading in my bed.

Otherwise, Kindle has nothing that atracts me. Nothing at all. Moreover, it has too many features that I find distracting/unwanted to me.

1. I don't need an Internet access on my eBook reader. eBook reader is for reading books, not browsing the Internet. I have more than enough access to the Internet at home and at work and browsing the Internet on powerful PCs with big screens is much more atractive idea to me. All the news I can read online or listen on the radio (that is what I do, I was never a newspaper fan).

2. As someone on the-ebook.org forum said: you are spedning 10 minutes on purchasing a book than 10hs/10days on reading it. So, the preferences when designing eBook reader should be applied accordingly. When I see Kindle, I see a gadget that is nice to use if you want to read eBook but not a real eBook reader such as Sony Reader, CyBook Gen3 or iRex iLiad are.
For example: a) I need keyboard only for 10 minutes to purchase a book, I don't need it in my hands, in front of my eyes for the rest of 10hs/10 days.
b) Battery life of Sony Reader is far superior to Kindle even with wireless switched off. It is important to me.

3. Sony reader has much more attractive hardware design than Kindle. It is a dedicated eBook reader in a way I see it. Nothing unnecessary, only the most needed buttons.

4. Kindle is bulkie than Sony.

5. Reading with Verilux lamp clipped to Sony's stock cover is more convenient than doing the same with Kindle. It is impossible to do without Kindle's cover at all and kindle's cover make it double size of Sony and AFAIK is not well designed accordingly to opinion of many of Kindle's owners.

6. I like boomarks in Sony Reader. I like how TOC is created and working in LRF.

7. I like navigation between text of a book/toc/bookmarks/menu in Sony.

8. I do like how Sony Reader looks like. IMHO it is a perfect design for a dedicated book reader. The gadget itself is not much bigger than the screen, there are no unnecessary buttons etc.

[rflashman]

Ok, the Sony Reader physical design is way superior to a Kindle. The Kindle has so many oversized next/previous page buttons that it jumps pages if I even sneeze in its general direction.

So what? The Kindle is revolutionary for one simple reason. It actually has made me an avid book/newspaper reader again. Something the Sony never achieved.

1. Sony never delivered on their promise to offer periodicals on the Sony reader.

2. With the Sony Reader, if I was sitting at work, bathroom, in-bed, or anywhere and think of a book I wanted, I had to remember it, and then wait until the next time I was at my home PC (the one PC of the 4 I use all day that has the Sony Connect software) to buy it and download it, then plug in my Reader and sync it. In practice this rarelly happened because by the time I got to my PC I forgot what book I wanted and I lost my 'drive/impulse' to buy it. So the end result if I found myself barelly reading books on my Sony Reader.

3. Then comes the Kindle... and browsing/buying/opening/viewing/trying books is SO easy, I find myself reading a book a night, something I had not done in YEARS. Then add to that the pre-delivered periodical content, and I am in content heaven.

The Kindle is my winner for the simple fact it has made me a reader again.

[astra]

Originally Posted by rflashman

2. With the Sony Reader, if I was sitting at work, bathroom, in-bed, or anywhere and think of a book I wanted, I had to remember it, and then wait until the next time I was at my home PC (the one PC of the 4 I use all day that has the Sony Connect software) to buy it and download it, then plug in my Reader and sync it. In practice this rarelly happened because by the time I got to my PC I forgot what book I wanted and I lost my 'drive/impulse' to buy it. So the end result if I found myself barelly reading books on my Sony Reader.

Well....we have very different reading practices then.
1. I would never ever buy a book on impulse.
2. I always do a lot of research about a book I would like to buy. It includes reading Amazon.com/.co.uk reviews, but more importantly I read book forums where people read this book and leave their opinion about it. So, I have quite a long list of the books I would like to read based on different reviews and my own taste.
3. Taking into account things I have put in bold...for me personally, means only one thing - you didn't really want to read the book you wanted to buy. It is probably a bit personally, I am sorry about it, but in my opinion you are not an avid reader. You are not much into reading books. Just because you lost an impulse to buy a certain book it is not enough of a reason not to read at all if you really like to read books. You barelly used sony reader not because it was difficult to obtain the content, but because you didn't really want to read. Otherwise you would miss the experience of the process itself. Just because you forgot what you wanted to buy, would not stop you to buy something else to read because without reading - life is boring...for me


Cannot argue newspaper topic. It is valid one but I believe it belongs (along with your post) to another topic - Kindle over Sony Reader

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by azog

I'm happy with the built-in dictionary. It's found some obscure words, which surprised me. I clipped them out, because it was so surprising. If anyone's interested, I can post them later when I get home...

Just for those who are interested, it uses the Oxford New American Dictionary.

[yvanleterrible]

A good point for Kindle... well for Amazon actually, is they got prices to go down on ebooks all around other sites.