Which Reader Should I Buy?

[Puffdream]

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by Puffdream

Firstly, someone might come into this thread and, in some hoity-toity, unfriendly, officious manner, let you know that "eReader" is actually a proprietary format, or software, or device, or something-or-other (I can never remember, and have never had cause to care). Just so you know, I think the acceptable term for the hardware type you are seeking is "ebook reader device". Of course, if you're just talking to me, feel free to say "eReader" - I know what you're talking about, and it's fine by me.

Secondly, well, the "" thing...

See, we can't. You haven't given us enough to go on. I can say Cybook, or Iliad, or Kindle, or Sony PRS500/505, or Hanlin or whatever, but how does it help? You'll get each of the above answers from different people. If I said 'Iliad', would you say "No, that's too expensive"? If so, then right there you've given us a previously unstated requirement.

So, what I suggest is thinking about what your needs are, the type of reading you do, the type of books you read, what you hope to get out of the device, and what your budget is (others may have other good points here, but these are a start). If you tell us that, perhaps we can be more ful.

Incidentally, I notice you have posted this in the "News" section. Now, there's actually a "Which one should I buy?" area in this forum, and you can find it over here:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=123

I mention it, as one of our good moderators may end up moving this thread there, and now you'll have an idea where they've likely placed it.

Cheers,
Marc

[kacir]

Originally Posted by Puffdream

... to continue from the previous post.
You might also want to let us know where are you from.

You see, It is much easier to buy Sony PRS505 when you are from NewYork, then when you are, let's say from Mauricius.
A HonKong resident, for example, has access to very different choice of e-book reading devices.

[JSWolf]

You really don't want an eReader. That would mean you'd be purchasing some sort of Palm type device with a smallish screen.

With that said, as far as electronic eBook readers go, I recommend the Sony Portable Reader System PRS-505.

[JohnClif]

What do you want to do?

If you want to read published content, new bestsellers, major newspapers and magazines, casually browse textual websites (no YouTube), don't want to lug around a computer with you, and don't mind paying $400, the Kindle is unbeatable. You can also read free MOBI-format books on it. IMO it is the best e-reader for the typical book reader, bar none.

If you want to read mainly PDF files formatted for 8.5"x11", as well as published content and new bestsellers, the iRex iLiad is a good bet. It's expensive, but it has a larger screen, WiFi, and a native PDF rendering application. It can also read MOBI-format books, supporting an extensive list of protected and free titles. IMO it is the best e-reader for someone who reads a lot of technical documents in PDF format, yet who wants to read regular books as well.

If you're looking for a less expensive e-reader, then the Sony and Cybook readers are viable options. Both are well-thought-out devices; each has limitations. I'd pick the Cybook device over the Sony since the former support MOBI (more published titles).

What do I have? I own a Kindle and find it very versatile and useful. I read an amazing variety of books from Amazon, Munsey's, Feedbooks, MobileRead, and other sites. I make my own ebooks from Project Gutenberg text. I use MobiPocket Reader on my laptop to download my own customized newspaper from my chosen RSS feeds each morning, free, while I make my breakfast. The only knock I have on the device is the screen size; I wish it was bigger (but I can say that about every currently available e-reader).

I'm considering buying an iRex for tinkering, but I really don't need it. The Kindle does everything I could imagine using an e-reader for.

[Alisa]

Nice rundown JohnClif! I would also like add to the information there a little bit on dictionaries, searching and annotating texts since they were very important features for me in choosing a device. I'm only going to be talking about the Kindle, Cybook and iLiad since the Sony devices don't support any of these features. I have a Kindle so I know that device best.

Dictionary lookup:

The Kindle will let you select a line with the scroll wheel and will show you brief definitions of the "words of interest" on that line, meaning it won't give you the definition of "the". You can then select the word you like for a bit more information. You can also search Wikipedia and the web but that is done through a separate search function and you would use the keyboard to enter search terms. You can have one dictionary which is specified in the settings.

I'm a little less familiar with Cybook and iLiad. I know the Cybook allows you to use keys to select a word and will search your dictionaries for it. The iLiad has a touchscreen which you use with a Wacom pen. I would imagine that's how you select. I don't know how many dictionaries you can have.

Text search:

As for searching the text of your books, as far as I know only Kindle lets you do that. I thought iLiad did, but someone awhile ago said you couldn't. I'd love it if someone could confirm that for me.

Annotations:

Both Kindle and iLiad let you make notes. The Kindle stores it in a separate file. You enter notes with the keyboard. With the iLiad, you use the pen and the note is an image which you will see on the page just like you wrote in the margin. I'm not sure if it will try to OCR that for you or anything.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Alisa

As for searching the text of your books, as far as I know only Kindle lets you do that. I thought iLiad did, but someone awhile ago said you couldn't. I'd love it if someone could confirm that for me.

On the iLiad, this isn't possible for PDF or with MobiPocket Reader (the MobiPocket Reader on some devices, e.g. the Windows version, allows current book search, but this isn't the case on the iLiad). However, FBReader allows searching within the current e-book.

On the Kindle you can search all the books on the device at once, which is something that the iLiad should really do (given that academics are one of its target audiences).

[Alisa]

Thanks! That explains the source of my confusion. I wish that the Kindle would give you the option to search the current book or all books, though. It can take awhile to search all of them if you have a lot of material. Usually I know which book I want to search. Ideally I'd also like to have subfolders to organize content and then be able to search the current book, within specified folders, or the whole Kindle.