Return the Libre and get a Sony Pocket?

ficbot · 04-13-2010, 02:35 PM

The one feature I really miss from my 505 is the collections. It was so easy to just transfer files over from Calibre and have them be in handy little groups! I love my Kindle primarily for its text to speech and would never give it up. But I have a lot of files like magazine subscriptions and Star Trek novels where there are more than 20 of them, I did not want to clutter up my Kindle with them and wanted a smaller, lighter reader at times anyway, so I thought I would get a second reader, make it a 5" one and load up all my bonus content.

I planned to get a Sony Pocket but saw the Aluratek Libre while I was out and it was almost $60 cheaper. I have been experimenting with it and while parts of it I really like, I am having cold feet a little and am not sure if I should return it and get a Sony.

Likes:

- The speed. Much zippier than my Sony was. Nice to have a break from the e-ink flickering.

- Size/form factor. Very compact, comes with sleeve and all accessories, comes with SD card pre-loaded with books. Compatible with mobi too, although this only worked out for Fictionwise multiformat titles since mobi files I created myself did not display properly.

- The folders. I still think tags would be easier since all that info is already in Calibre, but after having nothing on the Kindle to let me organize, I am delighted to have places to put things again.

- I like that I can plug in the SD card to add content without having to plug in the device and worry about it charging/not charging and impacting the battery cycle.

Dislikes:

- Mobi books which are natively that way look great, but mobi books I convert myself from HTML (e.g. my own personal documents) look terrible and have no line breaks. I later tried converting them to epub and they all displayed fine in epub, so I think the problem is not with my original file but with them. Annoying to have to convert everything to epub again since the mobi won't display, but I guess I will have this problem with the Sony too.

- It seems to not save your settings. For example, I prefer text to be justified always, but there is no preference to globally set this and you have to adjust it every time you open a book.

- The font is not as crisp as my Kindle and Sony were and I am not sure I like it. I don't think I dislike it enough to be a deal-breaker, but it doesn't look as 'modern' and nice-looking.

- Calibre will not detect it! This was not such an issue once I figured out how to use the save to disk feature, but then I had to go through and edit all the file names on the SD card since they did not JUST have the book title.

- Just a niggling worry that I might be better going with a 'brand' name, but I think this might just be snobbishness on my part.

So is the Libre vs Sony one of those 'you get what you pay for' things where I'll be sorry I didn't shell out the extra $60? Or, given that it's a second reader and not my primary one, would you say keep it and enjoy? Any features the Sony Pocket has that the Libre doesn't that make it a much better buy?

HarryT · 04-14-2010, 03:16 AM

I have no experience with the Libre, but personally I think there are several significantly better 5" devices than the Sony PRS-300, such as the Pocketbook 360 (my personal favourite), CyBook Opus, and BeBook Mini (AKA Hanlin V5, Astak Pocket Pro, etc). All these have full folder support, which is much more useful than the "Collections" of the Sony, and works equally well with Calibre.

04-13-2010, 02:35 PM	#1
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Return the Libre and get a Sony Pocket? The one feature I really miss from my 505 is the collections. It was so easy to just transfer files over from Calibre and have them be in handy little groups! I love my Kindle primarily for its text to speech and would never give it up. But I have a lot of files like magazine subscriptions and Star Trek novels where there are more than 20 of them, I did not want to clutter up my Kindle with them and wanted a smaller, lighter reader at times anyway, so I thought I would get a second reader, make it a 5" one and load up all my bonus content. I planned to get a Sony Pocket but saw the Aluratek Libre while I was out and it was almost $60 cheaper. I have been experimenting with it and while parts of it I really like, I am having cold feet a little and am not sure if I should return it and get a Sony. Likes: - The speed. Much zippier than my Sony was. Nice to have a break from the e-ink flickering. - Size/form factor. Very compact, comes with sleeve and all accessories, comes with SD card pre-loaded with books. Compatible with mobi too, although this only worked out for Fictionwise multiformat titles since mobi files I created myself did not display properly. - The folders. I still think tags would be easier since all that info is already in Calibre, but after having nothing on the Kindle to let me organize, I am delighted to have places to put things again. - I like that I can plug in the SD card to add content without having to plug in the device and worry about it charging/not charging and impacting the battery cycle. Dislikes: - Mobi books which are natively that way look great, but mobi books I convert myself from HTML (e.g. my own personal documents) look terrible and have no line breaks. I later tried converting them to epub and they all displayed fine in epub, so I think the problem is not with my original file but with them. Annoying to have to convert everything to epub again since the mobi won't display, but I guess I will have this problem with the Sony too. - It seems to not save your settings. For example, I prefer text to be justified always, but there is no preference to globally set this and you have to adjust it every time you open a book. - The font is not as crisp as my Kindle and Sony were and I am not sure I like it. I don't think I dislike it enough to be a deal-breaker, but it doesn't look as 'modern' and nice-looking. - Calibre will not detect it! This was not such an issue once I figured out how to use the save to disk feature, but then I had to go through and edit all the file names on the SD card since they did not JUST have the book title. - Just a niggling worry that I might be better going with a 'brand' name, but I think this might just be snobbishness on my part. So is the Libre vs Sony one of those 'you get what you pay for' things where I'll be sorry I didn't shell out the extra $60? Or, given that it's a second reader and not my primary one, would you say keep it and enjoy? Any features the Sony Pocket has that the Libre doesn't that make it a much better buy?

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04-14-2010, 03:16 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I have no experience with the Libre, but personally I think there are several significantly better 5" devices than the Sony PRS-300, such as the Pocketbook 360 (my personal favourite), CyBook Opus, and BeBook Mini (AKA Hanlin V5, Astak Pocket Pro, etc). All these have full folder support, which is much more useful than the "Collections" of the Sony, and works equally well with Calibre.

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