A question for Sony ebook owners

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Unfortunately folks the Pandigital Novel also has the swipe function as well. My Aluratek also has the pocket feature as well. I can see the double tap for the dictionary and the screen quality.

But how many have ALL that stuff? You are asking why we like our Sony's and obviously we pick the features that appeal the most to us. But to say "X has this" and "Y has That", have you asked if Y has the stuff X has?

Sometimes, it's hard to quantify the overall user experience and I think my Sony ranks very high in that regard.

[boxcorner]

ePub, touch-screen and the dictionaries:

1. New Oxford American Dictionary
2. Oxford Dictionary of English
3. Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary (EN-FR)
4. Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary (FR-EN)
5. Collins English-German Dictionary
6. Collins German-English Dictionary
7. Oxford Spanish Dictionary (EN-SP)
8. Oxford Spanish Dictionary (SP-EN)
9. Collins English-Italian Dictionary
10. Collins Italian-English Dictionary
11. Van Dale Pocketwoordenboek Engels-Nederlands
12. Van Dale Pocketwoordenboek Nederlands-Engels

[elemenoP]

For me, I fell in love with the pearl screen on the Kindle 3, but I wanted an ereader for library book access, so the Kindle was out. This is how I came to the Sony. The touchscreen and dictionaries were just nice bonuses after the fact.

eP

[natasha_fawn]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Unfortunately folks the Pandigital Novel also has the swipe function as well. My Aluratek also has the pocket feature as well. I can see the double tap for the dictionary and the screen quality.

I don't really understand what you're trying to say. It sounds as if you're trying to convince us folks in the Sony forum that the Sony readers don't have anything that other readers don't have. Which may or may not be true, but it's the combination of features people make their decisions on, according to what best fits their preferences. That's why you've gotten a lot of different answers to your question of the biggest advantage of the Sony over other ereaders, and people aren't too bothered that one reader or another might have one of their favorite Sony features. The Sony just happens to have the combination of features that best fits my wants (touch, e-ink, wireless, etc.). It's not perfect, but it'll do nicely (at least once I get my hands on it!).

[doreenjoy]

* Touch Screen -- so easy to double-tap a word and bring up the dictionary

* EPUB support -- Kindle really locks you into the Amazon store. with EPUB support I can buy books anywhere and not have to strip DRM and convert them.

* Library books -- nothing better than free reads. Even if your local library doesn't support Overdrive, you can get a Philadelphia card for $15

* Comes in cool colors. When I had a Kindle 1, someone asked me if it was a Brother Label Maker!

[Elfwreck]

RTF support (which the Libre has), long battery life (which the Libre doesn't), memory card (which the Kindle doesn't have), good ergonomics--no space wasted on a keyboard I don't care about, can hold with either hand and click "next page". (Some readers have this, some don't.)

If I had my druthers, I'd switch to an Astak Pocket Pro. Since those don't look likely to be available in my price range anytime soon, I'm keeping my eye out for a 350 on sale. I'll lose the memory card ability, and won't gain the HTML & folder support I'd like, but I'll have the smaller size I want and the software arrangement I'm used to.

[astra]

Originally Posted by Ayle

What swayed me over was

Touchscreen, swyping makes for a more book like experience, plus the dictionary on double tap is priceless.

Screen is just as good as the kindle, wich kept me from buying the 600, and decided me on the 650

Bonus ... Its prettier than the kindle personal bias, but still.

All of my points
H/W is really excellent.

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

... memory card (which the Kindle doesn't have) ... I'll lose the memory card ability ...

My 650 has two expansion slots:

• Memory Stick PRO Duo
• SD card

[astra]

Originally Posted by natasha_fawn

I don't really understand what you're trying to say. It sounds as if you're trying to convince us folks in the Sony forum that the Sony readers don't have anything that other readers don't have. Which may or may not be true, but it's the combination of features people make their decisions on, according to what best fits their preferences. That's why you've gotten a lot of different answers to your question of the biggest advantage of the Sony over other ereaders, and people aren't too bothered that one reader or another might have one of their favorite Sony features. The Sony just happens to have the combination of features that best fits my wants (touch, e-ink, wireless, etc.). It's not perfect, but it'll do nicely (at least once I get my hands on it!).

Nice answer.
Karma is coming

[Lilly]

The organization, the build and the touchscreen. I for one is so used to the touchscreen that I have not used my Kindle 2 in almost 11 months. Plus I love ePub devices because of page numbers (I know it does not mean anything but I read for pleasure and love that I know I have that many pages left to read in a book). I think it's habit because when I used to read paper book, the 1st thing I did was to go the back and see how many pages the book have.

[Dixiemsala]

I've had my Kindle 2 for close to a year and my Sony 350 for about a month. I bought the Sony to access library books, so, for that, I love it.

Sony 350 advantages for me: library books and size

Kindle 2 advantages for me: Dictionary (on my Sony, I have to get out my stylus; if I don't, I invariably get the wrong word, using my finger. Also, when I use the Sony dictionary, the print is almost too small for me to read.
Page turn--I actualy like the K2's page turn button better than swiping on the Sony.

To be honest, I haven't explored (and am not really planning to) all the different things that I can do on my Sony. I'm so happy with everything on the K2 that my Sony is only for library books.

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by Dixiemsala

... on my Sony, I have to get out my stylus; if I don't, I invariably get the wrong word, using my finger ...

It takes a bit of getting used to, but I quickly learned how to position my finger, to avoid selecting the wrong word. Getting the timing of the double-tap right is important, too. So, I find I don't need to use the stylus on my 650.

Originally Posted by Dixiemsala

... Also, when I use the Sony dictionary, the print is almost too small for me to read ...

I can enlarge dictionary text without any difficulty, when reading ePub books. Perhaps it's something to do with the format that you're using.

Originally Posted by Dixiemsala

... Page turn--I actualy like the K2's page turn button better than swiping on the Sony ...

The 650 has page turn buttons, too, so the user has the choice.

[astra]

Originally Posted by boxcorner

I can enlarge dictionary text without any difficulty, when reading ePub books. Perhaps it's something to do with the format that you're using.

How do you do it?

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by astra

How do you do it?

• Double-tap on the word that you want to look up
• Tap on the left-hand icon (ie the one like an open book with A in the middle)
• Press the hardware button to the left of OPTIONS (ie the one like a magnifying glass containing +)
• Tap XS, S, M, L, XL or XXL, to change the font size
• Tap the right-hand icon (ie the one containing X) to close the magnifier
• The dictionary's text will now be displayed larger (or smaller)
• Swipe (or use the page-turn buttons) to scroll through the dictionary, in the usual way

Next time you double-tap on a word, initially the dictionary will be displayed at the bottom of the screen, with its text in the same small font size, but if you tap the left-hand icon (ie the one that resembles an open book with A in the middle) to display the dictionary full-screen, then the text will appear in the font size that you selected previously.

[astra]

Originally Posted by boxcorner

• Double-tap on the word that you want to look up
• Tap on the left-hand icon (ie the one like an open book with A in the middle)
• Press the hardware button to the left of OPTIONS (ie the one like a magnifying glass containing +)
• Tap S, M, L, XL or XXL
• Tap the right-hand icon (ie the one containing X)
• The dictionary's text will now be displayed larger
• Swipe (or use the page-turn buttons) to scroll through the dictionary, in the usual way

Next time you double-tap on a word, initially the dictionary will be displayed, at the bottom of the screen, with small sized text, but when you tap the left-hand icon (ie the one like an open book with A in the middle) the dictionary is displayed full-screen, in the size that you selected previously.

I am going to test it at home and let you know.
Thanks.