PRS505 or Cybook

[Jaapjan]

I am considering getting a reader myself but I, like many before and likely after me, am in dubio. Why? There are a few options I can take, being in Europe.

1) I order a PRS505 through ebay to get it in Europe.
2) I buy a Cybook. No hassle.
3) I buy an iRex.

As always though, there are considerations that are pro's and con's for each. First and most important it .. price.

The iRex is simply too much money and can do too much for my needs. No deal.
The Cybook does what I need, is easily obtainable and costs 350. High but .. maybe.
The PRS, through ebay vendors, costs 230 euro without shipping expenses. But shipping expenses and a european adapter will need to be added to the price. I am not sure about these.

And then you come down to getting books on it easily/same quality. Do the Cybook and PRS have the same reading experience & the same ease of getting books onto the device (for europian people)?

[HarryT]

The CyBook is a lot easier to buy books for; there are numerous web sites selling MobiPocket books, and they will happily sell books to anyone. Sony's eBook store can only currently be used by people in the US. There is a way around this, by using Gift Certificates, but it's still a little bit more difficult.

An alternate method is to buy Microsoft Reader LIT books - these can very easily be converted to either Sony or MobiPocket format using free conversion tools. This may or may not be legal, according to where you live.

Personally I prefer the CyBook, but both the Sony and the Gen3 are excellent machines, and you can't really go wrong with either.

One thing to consider with the Sony is that you are, in effect, buying it with no warranty if you're outside the US. Sony's repair centre will only ship to addresses within the US.

[Jaapjan]

I buy as much books as I can in the LIT format simply because I want to be assured I can read my books in the future too when Microsoft or some other company stops support. In fact, Microsoft -has- stopped support for their Reader program.

Conversion as such should not be a real problem; I will be doing it most of the time anyway. I have seen both libprs500 and obviously Mobipocket Creator. Both do not seem very hard to use to be honest.

But the warranty you mention is a good point: that would be annoying. On the other hand, and I would have to do some math, the prs505 might actually be cheaper and if its specifications are the same along with the reading experience...

[HarryT]

One significant benefit of the CyBook over the Sony (for me personally) is its dictionary support. You can buy hundreds of different dictionaries for the Gen3 - English, other language, and specialist subject - and very easily look up the meaning of any word. I find this a very useful feature indeed.

[gwynevans]

A minor point is that B&H Photo in the US do sell the Sony Reader internationally, so you do have an alternative to eBay - Doesn't alter the warranty situation after the first 15 days or so, though.

[Jaapjan]

It might take 15 days just to get here, overseas!

Why do -you- not go for a Cybook, gwynevans?

[adelheid]

Originally Posted by HarryT

One significant benefit of the CyBook over the Sony (for me personally) is its dictionary support. You can buy hundreds of different dictionaries for the Gen3 - English, other language, and specialist subject - and very easily look up the meaning of any word. I find this a very useful feature indeed.

Could you tell me where those dictionaries can be found? I was looking for an Italian dictionary, but could only find an Italian-German dictionary (and vice versa) on mobipocket.com.

[HarryT]

mobipocket.com is where I've looked in the past. That's where I bought my (English) dictionary.

[gwynevans]

Originally Posted by Jaapjan

It might take 15 days just to get here, overseas!
Why do -you- not go for a Cybook, gwynevans?

Primarily, cost - the $/£ rate meant that the difference in price took the Sony into the range that I could justify, whereas the Cybook was above it. Yes, it's a risk as regards the chance of it needing repair, but I accept that.

If they were equal price, then I'd probably go for the one with the warranty, but if they were equal price & warranty, I'd probably go for the Sony, as I find that I use the 1-0 shortcut buttons for navigation, whereas I don't use the rocker/click methods at all. Also, the conversion software's fine if I need to go outside the books I have available in 'native' format, so no issues there - it seems a well-put-together device. (Of course, I've no experience with the Cybook, but there are no specific negatives I can think of with the Sony.)

[Jaapjan]

The more days I let it sink in, the more worried/annoyed/surprised I am at Bookeen. They're remarkably silent.

What I am trying to say though is that I just want a device I'll have warranty on, a device on which the seller has support for (and is thus reponsive and alive) ...

This is actually neither PRS505 (which wont give support/warranty since it is US only) and neither is the Cybook for the moment given their current activity.

Meh.

I give up. I just do not know what to do.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Jaapjan

The more days I let it sink in, the more worried/annoyed/surprised I am at Bookeen. They're remarkably silent.

Silent about what? What is it that you've asked them?

[Jaapjan]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Silent about what? What is it that you've asked them?

I simply mean their blog, site and judging from the comments on blogs and right here on MR, mails sent to them.

[HarryT]

Whenever I've e-mailed them, I've had an answer within 24h. Perhaps people aren't sending things to the right address?

[Jaapjan]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Whenever I've e-mailed them, I've had an answer within 24h. Perhaps people aren't sending things to the right address?

Mayhap. But that still leaves a lot of people without mails & the webblog untended for more then 2 months now.

[HarryT]

Oh I agree with you entirely. Just relating my own experiences with Bookeen, which have been very positive.