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Old 08-30-2009, 03:25 PM   #1
jswinden
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An answer to why I listed my Kindle 2 and PRS-505 for sale

I recently purchased and received a Sony PRS-600. I already owned a Sony PRS-505, Amazon Kindle 2, and iPod touch (generation 1). After I got my Sony PRS-600 and used it for a few days, I listed my Kindle 2 and Sony PRS-505 for sale in the MobileRead Fleamarket forum. Another MobileRead member who is also selling a Kindle 2 sent me a message asking why I decided to sell mine and explaining that s/he was selling theirs and having a tough time with the decision to sell. Here is my basic response:

What I really liked about the Kindle 2:
  • Amazon’s vast catalog of books which is much larger than the Sony catalog
  • Ability to highlight text. The Sony PRS-505 only allowed you to bookmark a page, which wasn’t very helpful.
  • Ability to annotate text.
  • The built-in dictionary with automatic word look up.

What I didn’t like about the Kindle 2:
  • No touch screen so highlighting and word look ups were sluggish with the navigation button.
  • Slow processor. Both the Sony PRS-505 and Kindle 2 are very slow.
  • Battery drained a lot faster than the Sony PRS-505 battery, even with Whispernet turned off.
  • Lackluster Whispernet, but that was a Sprint issue and not a problem with the Kindle 2.
  • Lack of folder system for categorizing books.
  • Lack of PDF support.
  • Large case with terrible keyboard.

After receiving my Sony PRS-600 I was happy that it provided most of the things I liked about the Kindle 2, except of course access to the Amazon catalog. It also solved most of the things I didn’t like about the Kindle 2, as follows:
  • A touch screen with the quality and clarity almost as good as the Sony PRS-505 and Kindle 2 screens.
  • A fast processor. Typical page turns on the Sony PRS-505 with a large PDF file took appx. 7 seconds. On the Sony PRS-600 they take less than a second. It is truly a speed demon.
  • Good battery life.
  • Still no folder system, but Sony readers allow you to create categories for books.
  • Improved PDF support over the Sony PRS-505.
  • Excellent highlighting, annotation, note taking, and navigation ability via touch screen.
  • Software/virtual keyboard that is much better than the clunky keyboard on the Kindle 2.

The one thing that bothered me most about selling the Kindle 2 was access to Amazon’s eBook catalog, which is currently second to none. But then I remembered that I own an iPod touch and can purchase and view Amazon eBooks on it. The Amazon software for the iPod touch currently doesn’t allow highlighting are annotating, but hopefully those features will get added some day. With the iPod touch I retain access to all the Kindle 2 eBooks I purchased, plus I can buy new ones. After realizing that, I placed my Kindle 2 for sale.

Listing the PRS-505 for sell was a no brainer since the PRS-600 gave me everything I wanted the PRS-505 to be. The only caveat is that the PRS-505 still has the better screen, but the screen on the PRS-600 is pretty darn good!

Last edited by jswinden; 08-30-2009 at 03:31 PM.
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Old 08-30-2009, 08:11 PM   #2
igorsk
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Old 08-31-2009, 01:39 AM   #3
LtChambers
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I agree with you that the UI and processing power of e-readers are still relatively primitive, but it does grant us extra battery life.

But I am again amazed how someone can judge e-reader hardware based on the e-book catalog of the hardware vendor. Programs like calibr should make buying from any store possible so that the vendor of the hardware should make no difference as to which vendor of e-books one prefers. Albeit this possibility is quite skewed for Amazon's draconian DRM, so I suspect they will eventually make the same move as Apple's iPod and allow non-DRM'd, file-based content. This is how it works for portable CD players and portable MP3 players, why not e-book readers too? Actually, much more so for e-readers, because unlike any other recording medium, there are ~4000 years of literature to catch up on, available for free in e-book form from gutenberg.org.
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Old 08-31-2009, 02:07 PM   #4
DrMoze
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Also, check if your local library has ebooks for lending. The selection may not be as extensive as Amazon's, but there are lots of current books available free, and free is better than paying for them! (Amazon is hating Sony's new advertised feature of library e-book access. )
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Old 08-31-2009, 05:40 PM   #5
Madam Broshkina
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One of the reasons I bought my Kindle was because I could not read some of the books on the Sony Site because the text was to small. Then I bought some progressive lens (bifocals) and can now can read the Sony books on the smallest font with no problems. I much prefer my Sony 300 and 505 over the Kindle. I am keeping my Kindle around so I can use it to download sample books and see if they are worth purchasing elsewhere. I do hope that Sony does offer a firmware update for those who like their ePub books fully justified.
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