Kindle 2 vs Sony Touch PRS-600... help/opinions/quesitons

[ab10]

I am trying to figure out which eReader would work best for me. I'd love to hear some feedback on the readers. I'm actually testing out a friend's Kindle right now and have questions about it, as well as the Sony. Here is a little summary of my opinions as of now:

Sony Touch:
The biggest pros for this are the touch screen and the multiple book formats (you can get them from the Reader store, Google books, and public libraries). I'm worried about the continued complaints about the software problems, as well as some glitches mentioned in some reviews.

Kindle:
People seem to love the Kindle. Is it because it was the first? Who knows. The wireless and 3G are great pros, as well as the Google and Wikipedia search functions. I'm worried about the limited resources for books.

Some of my main questions/concerns:

1. I will be traveling to/living in South Korea next year. Will both of these eReaders have a large amount of books available there? I've heard that a lot of Sony's books are now USA only, while the Kindle seems to have 3G throughout the entire country.

2. Screen quality. The Kindle I'm trying out doesn't seem to have any glare and is very clear. Is there a significant difference between it and the Sony? Also, there is not much delay in switching pages on the Kindle, but it does go black to change it. Does the Sony do anything like this?

3. The touch feature on the Sony seems like it would make it a lot quicker and easier to use the Reader, but don't mind taking a few extra seconds to push a button to flip the page or type in a note. The main attraction to the Sony Touch is the ability to write notes, but how well does that work? Is it just a scribble down a quick note type feature, or can I use it to take notes in classes? Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

4. Downloading books from libraries. Do these ebooks expire? Do I have to delete one before downloading another? Is there a limited amount of books I can download in a certain amount of time?

I keep finding myself flipping back and forth between the two, sometimes coming to a conclusion, then forgetting why I got there, or what the conclusion was just minutes later.

I am afraid that I'm making choices for the wrong reasons. I think the Kindle seems to be more internationally friendly and readily able to download books at any time, but I don't think I would mind all that much to download in bulk and just try really hard not to get caught without a book to read (I do it with syncing my iPod). The Sony looks pretty and seems "cooler" with being a touch screen but that isn't any reason to spend so much money on something when it may not be the best option. But the Sony does have more options of places to get books, but how realistic is it that I will be downloading ebooks from libraries (you have to be a member of these libraries and I live in a pretty rural area, so I'm not sure how readily available ebooks will be at my library).

Any input, advice, or opinions would be greatly appreciated!

[tyche]

The screen on the Kindle will be much clearer than on the Sony Touch. That is because of the touch screen's extra layer. I would strongly suggest you see a Touch in person before making any choices at least on hardware. Some people don't mind but there is a difference and you'll have to see if it's acceptable for you.

[gwynevans]

> People seem to love the Kindle. Is it because it was the first?

Not the first, by any means, but Amazon have done a great job of 'mass-marketing' them to the general (internet) public.

> 1. I will be traveling to/living in South Korea next year. Will both of these eReaders have a large amount of books available there? I've heard that a lot of Sony's books are now USA only, while the Kindle seems to have 3G throughout the entire country.

You might be confusing the books available to be sold to some one in South Korea, which is likely to be broadly similar, on one hand with the wireless access which the international Kindle has on the other.

> 2. Screen quality. The Kindle I'm trying out doesn't seem to have any glare and is very clear. Is there a significant difference between it and the Sony?

It's different, but significant is down to the user - probably need to see one to compare.

> Also, there is not much delay in switching pages on the Kindle, but it does go black to change it. Does the Sony do anything like this?

Yes, it's a standard eInk think - after a few minutes you'll not notice it.

> 4. Downloading books from libraries. Do these ebooks expire? Do I have to delete one before downloading another? Is there a limited amount of books I can download in a certain amount of time?

They expire after the loan period completes (e.g 21 days) unless 'returned' early. You can normally have a number on loan at a time, but details are down to your lender, not the device. To have then on the Kindle, you need to jump through various hoops with scripts, etc, whereas it's part of the standard Sony functionality.

>just try really hard not to get caught without a book to read

Note that books only take small amounts of memory, so you can store many hundreds on your device, even before considering external cards, so you don't need wireless just to be sure there's always something to read once you've stocked up with the many free books around!

[tofubean]

I don't have the other readers but here's my experience with my 600. The reader requires you to have sufficient light source and a position where the light does not reflect off the surface. Most of the time (not all), a slight tilt of your hands or position of the reader will solve the problem. If it doesn't, i normally shift to another spot. And I find that if i sit upright holding the reader, i can read comfortably most of the time indoors. But if i stray from such positions (e.g. lying on the bed, sofa), i had to adjust a lot to find a comfortable position so that the reader has enough light to read clearly. No such problems once i'm outdoors reading.

But i can tell you that despite this screen reflection/glare, i normally get so engrossed in reading that i forget about the screen totally.

About the different formats, sony isn't very good for pdfs. The zoom does not stay. If you're reading txt, it takes quite long to format if your file is big. I mostly use epub as i like to use a font that i like and it loads fast.

[bob1xxx]

Yeah all of the sonys touch screen e book readers have insane glare issues. If your spending that much coin and are willing to but up with amazon redonkulous limited system the kindle screen is hands down better , but I think a aztak ez reader is better deal in that price range.

[Zetmolm]

Is there a reason why you are only considering the Sony and the Kindle? You could have a look at the Onyx Boox, for instance. I think it has all the pros of those two, and it would also resolve practically all of your worries.

[Almas]

I can't talk about the Kindle but I do have a Sony PRS-600. I find the touch screen very easy to use for navigation. And the screen glare which I have heard many complaints about does not really bother me because so far it has not hindered my reading.

Also, there is not much delay in switching pages on the Kindle, but it does go black to change it. Does the Sony do anything like this?

Yes, the Sony does this as well. I assume it is normal in eInk displays. It's something that you just get used to once you are reading.

I have had no problems with my Sony. It's a good size and quite compact. I've found quite a few sites that I can download from.. and I live in Australia, where availability and access to e-books is limited. The Kindle has the Amazon behind it with access to the biggest collection of books, but that's about the only thing that I don't have access to with a Sony.

Hope you find the reader that best suits you