Seeming lack of UK content - disappointing!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Croker

However, doubtless this will draw frowns for being illegal!

Not "illegal", but certainly a violation of Amazon's terms of service, which could get the person doing it "cut off" from the Kindle store.

[Croker]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Not "illegal", but certainly a violation of Amazon's terms of service, which could get the person doing it "cut off" from the Kindle store.

Well, that's hardly surprising - obviously that's a fruitless avenue to pursue.

I've decided I'm going to wait and see what Sony announce on October 2nd before making a final decision on whether to take the plunge - I'm starting to think that there might just be enough suitable content for me to make it worthwhile getting a Reader, but I'd hate to buy one and then find out that they're releasing a new version!

[HarryT]

Have you considered getting a CyBook Gen3 instead? Not only is it cheaper than the Sony (if you buy it from W.H.Smiths), but it does more too, and uses the hugely popular MobiPocket file format which gives you access to a very wide range of content without having to mess around with conversion tools.

[Croker]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Have you considered getting a CyBook Gen3 instead? Not only is it cheaper than the Sony (if you buy it from W.H.Smiths), but it does more too, and uses the hugely popular MobiPocket file format which gives you access to a very wide range of content without having to mess around with conversion tools.

Thanks for the suggestion, Harry - will take a look at it. However, I must be honest and say aesthetically and in terms of the screen quality I'm really lusting after the Sony. It is also the only one I've seen in the flesh, so I'm at least certain that I'm happy with the screen, controls and suchlike (I had a play with a demonstration one in Waterstones about a week ago).

I'm not worried about the conversion tools, to be honest, as I'm reasonably tech-savvy and they don't seem to be particularly onerous or difficult to use...although I'll welcome any more information and opinions in that regard!

My over-riding concern is content - as long as I can at least convert the content for the Sony if I can't buy what I want in lrf format, then I'll probably stick with it.

Still, I'll wait until after Sony's press conference - in an ideal world, they may be announcing a huge upturn in the amount of content, which would be perfect for me!

[HarryT]

All the 6" eInk bookreaders use the same screen (made by a company called PVI in Taiwan), so that's not a factor in the equation.

Both the Sony and the Gen3 are excellent machines - I've owned both - but personally I prefer the Gen3 due to its support for Mobipocket format and dictionary lookup, as well as more minor things like being able to load your own fonts.

[Zevs]

Hi Croker!

I assume you are in the UK somewhere, so wonder if you have got access to buying from the Sony Connect bookstore in the US? I agree with you, I haven't found anything really of interest yet on Waterstones, but I think the quality of Sony Connect is much better (of course what is better is subjective I know . But I on and off check out what is happening on NYT's book section and their reviews, and it often happens the books reviewed there get published a couple of weeks later on Connect. So for quality books (sorry I know I mean the books I consider quality books I for sure think Connect is the best place.

Zevs

[HarryT]

All the major eBook stores (which Waterstones isn't yet!) have essentially the same stock. You'll find pretty much the same content at Fictionwise and BooksOnBoard (which anyone can use) as you will at the Sony eBook Store.

[gwynevans]

Originally Posted by HarryT

All the major eBook stores (which Waterstones isn't yet!) have essentially the same stock. You'll find pretty much the same content at Fictionwise and BooksOnBoard (which anyone can use) as you will at the Sony eBook Store.

The problem is that there's no easy way to get a feel for the number of exceptions - just recently I was searching for John Scalzi's "Ghost Brigades" as an eBook and could find it at Sony, Waterstones, PanMacmillan & Amazon, but neither Fictionwise nor BooksOnBoard had it.

[Croker]

Originally Posted by gwynevans

The problem is that there's no easy way to get a feel for the number of exceptions - just recently I was searching for John Scalzi's "Ghost Brigades" as an eBook and could find it at Sony, Waterstones, PanMacmillan & Amazon, but neither Fictionwise nor BooksOnBoard had it.

I take your point, Gwyn, but I'm more or less in accord with Harry on this - there may be exceptions, but by and large Fictionwise and BooksOnBoard have what's available on Connect (or Amazon, to an extent).

My main problem remains the same - that some of the titles I desperately want just aren't available at all, which is a shame. As I mentioned earlier, you can buy the first and third parts of Michael Marshall (Smith)'s trilogy, but not the second part, which is unutterably pointless.

Zevs - thanks for the tips. Is there a link to the Sony Connect US site that I can search for titles, by the way?

[Zevs]

Originally Posted by HarryT

All the major eBook stores (which Waterstones isn't yet!) have essentially the same stock. You'll find pretty much the same content at Fictionwise and BooksOnBoard (which anyone can use) as you will at the Sony eBook Store.

The other bookstores you mention have many books also, but not so often in the best format for the Sony e-reader. I might be wrong about this, but I bought one book from BooksOnBoard in the Adobe pdf format (My Sister, My Love by Carol Oates), and it looked really bad in the Reader.

Here are my latest 5 buys from Sony Connect: How to (un)cage a girl by Francesca Lia Block (available on Fictionwise but not in Sony Reader format, available on BooksOnBoard in Adobe pdf format which might or might not look terrible on the Sony Reader), The forever war by Dexter Filkins (available on Fictionwise but not in Sony Reader format, available on BooksOnBoard in Adobe pdf format which might or might not look terrible on the Sony Reader), Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas L Friedman (not available on Fictionwise, available on BooksOnBoard but not in Sony Reader format), Antoine's Alphabet by Jed Perl (available on Fictionwise but not in Sony Reader format, available on BooksOnBoard in Adobe pdf format which might or might not look terrible on the Sony Reader), My sister, My love by Carol Oates (available on Fictionwise but not in Sony Reader format, available on BooksOnBoard in Adobe pdf format which might or might not look terrible on the Sony Reader)

I still think Sony Connect is the best source of books for the Sony Reader, but hope that Waterstones might get their act together eventually.

Zevs

[Zevs]

Originally Posted by Croker

Zevs - thanks for the tips. Is there a link to the Sony Connect US site that I can search for titles, by the way?

Hi Croker, yes there is a link here:

http://ebookstore.sony.com/

and here is a link to a search engine for e-books (not necessarily in the Sony format though)

http://search.overdrive.com/retail/

Zevs

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Zevs

The other bookstores you mention have many books also, but not so often in the best format for the Sony e-reader.

That's true, but they do have virtually all their books available in LIT format, and (if you're running a PC with Windows) it really is extremely simple to convert any LIT book to Sony's LRF format.

[gwynevans]

Originally Posted by Zevs

I still think Sony Connect is the best source of books for the Sony Reader, but hope that Waterstones might get their act together eventually.

I'll second what Harry says regarding the ease of converting MS Reader (.LIT) books and add that if you're into SF/Fantasy, Baen shouldn't be overlooked!