8+ Readers in comparison

[mgmueller]

I'm more about "collecting" readers, than actually reading ebooks .
I've got:
Sony 300
Sony 505
Sony 600
Sony 700
Sony 900
Sony T1
Cybook Gen3
Cybook Opus (white = old)
Cybook Opus (blue = new)
iRex iLiad
iRex 1000S (sold)
iRex 800S (sold)
Kindle 2
Kindle 3
Kindle DX (sold)
Kindle DX Graphite
Kindle touch
Kindle Paperwhite (2013)
Kindle Fire HD 7"
Kindle Fire HD 8.9"
nook
nook touch
nook GlowLight
nook HD
nook HD+
BeBook One
BeBook Neo
Spring Design Alex
PocketBook 360
2 x Kobo touch
Kobo Arc
Kobo Aura HD
Kobo Aura H2O
iPad 1
iPad 2 (sold)
iPad 3 (sold)
iPad mini (sold)
iPad mini Retina
iPhone 4 + iPhone 4S [only mentioning it, because it's the first iPhone model I actually like, although it's still far from being a business phone]
Dell Streak (sold)
Dell Latitude 10
Dell Venue 8 Pro
Lenovo ThinkPad 8
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7" (sold)
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v
Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9
Samsung Galaxy Note
Samsung Galaxy Nexus
Toshiba Libretto W100
Fujitsu Stylistic ST6012
Microsoft Surface RT
Microsoft Surface 2
Microsoft Surface Pro
Microsoft Surface Pro 2
Microsoft Surface Pro 3
Google Chromebook Pixel (sold)
Motorola Xoom
Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition
Google Nexus 7 (2012) (sold)
Google Nexus 7 (2013)
BlackBerry PlayBook
BlackBerry Passport
Acer Iconia
Asus Eee Pad Transformer
Asus VivoTab Smart
HP TouchPad
Sony Tablet P
Sony Tablet S
Nokia Lumia 920
Nvidia Shield Portable
Nvidia Shield Tablet
and: iPhone and iPod touch, BlackBerry and some old Pocket PCs.
Having checked out my units quite intensively, I've found lots of advantages and disadvantages, which I wouldn't have expected because of the reviews and tests I've found.
Just an example: On the iRex iLiad, I can change author's names or book titles on the fly. Very often, on my other units I'm annoyed if bookshops don't stick to naming conventions. I absolutely HATE it, when books I've bought officially on various websites sometimes for the author's name show: "Stephen King". The next time, it's "King, Stephen". Another time it's "KING, STEPHEN". I've even had this when buying an official bundle of books!
On the iRex, I can change that on the fly and even can add comments, for example "book 1/34" or something like that.
So, from time to time in this thread, I'll compare features of these units.
If anyone has got any questions or documents to compare.....

For now, 1 line per unit:

BeBook One: Rarely use it. Feels and looks "cheap" and since UnDe... doesn't have any real advantage to me.
Sony 300: Just started it for the first time. Similar to Cybook Opus, but even a little bit more appealing.
Sony 600: I'm very positively surprised. Display very much improved over Sony 700. Doesn't have Sony 300's "plastic framing", again another very elegant unit from Sony.
Sony 700: Rarely use it. Without dictionary support, the touchscreen for me doesn't have any advantage over the Sony 505, and I clearly prefer the display of the 505.
Sony 505: Has been my 2nd eInk Reader and still is one of my favorites. Excellent display, elegant and "cool" design.
iRex iLiad: Has been my 1st eInk Reader and I still love it. I don't use any 3rd party applications (anymore). But I love the standard OS, anyway. I easily can organize my files in folders. I can add thumbnails to these folders. As mentioned before, I can add comments to every single book, on the fly directly on my unit.
iRex 1000S: Rarely did use it so far. I miss some of the features of the iRex iLiad, some of them mentioned before. But having "played around" with it yesterday, I think I'll use it a bit.
Cybook Gen3: Rarely did use it so far. I don't like the buttons on the left from an ergonomical perspective. But still: A "cool" unit, I really like the thumbnail view of my Mobipocket books.
Cybook Opus: Just started it for the first time. My only 5" unit, definitely will take it with me when traveling "light".
Kindle 2: I've got it 6 weeks ago and it quickly did raise to my top 3. I can't use Whispernet over here, so I can't use the settings and my bookmarks show "1970". But this is more than compensated by the biggest source of books and usually having the lowest prices. And I LOVE the iPhone app, for a quick read when travelling.
Kindle DX: I've got it last week. After my experience with Kindle 2, I simply HAD to order the DX. It's great, but so far I haven't found the "niche" for it, yet. It's got the same features as Kindle 2. But it's a bit too bulky for travelling, but on the other hand still not big enough for some magazines or newspapers.
That's it for the moment...
Questions or documents for comparison are more than welcome...

[daffy4u]

Thanks for sharing your insights! You and Nate the Great, another major collector of reading devices, should compare notes.

[babalou]

Hi,
I'd be interested in 3 informations:
a.) How are the books displayed on the units? You've mentioned thumbnails, for example.
b.) What would be your ranking for: Display quality, OS, usability, battery duration.
c.) What formats for which reader? And some brief comparison, for example reflow capability of zoom levels.

[newbie#1]

In which order did you buy these readers? And why so many??

[mgmueller]

b.) What would be your ranking for: Display quality, OS, usability, battery duration.
Usability:
iRex iLiad and 1000S: #1. I can use folders and sort my books whatever way I want.
Sony 505 and 700: #2. I can generate "collections", kind of similar to folders. Via drag and drop, within Sony's software (on the PC [announcement on July 7th 2009: Available for Mac as well]), you can add books to whatever collection you choose. I've got collections for authors, genres and the shops I've purchased the books from.
All the others would be more or less even.
Display quality:
I hate to say it, but I'd say, Sony 700 by far is worst because of the glare described in various posts.
All the others would be more or less even.

[mgmueller]

I've started reading eBooks in 2000 on Pocket PCs. I've stopped in 2005 for some time. In 2007, I wanted to re-start. Pocket PCs more or less are "dead", so I've googled for "ebook reader" and found "Mobileread".
#1: I've decided for iRex iLiad because of the posts I've found here. My iLiad was stolen in 2008, so I HAD to re-order it.
#2: Having been a huge fan of eInk already, I HAD to order the Sony 505 in parallel to my 2nd iLiad.
#3: Having the Sony 505, of course I HAD to go for the Sony 700.
#4: I've read great reviews for the Cybook Gen3 and (because of iLiad) already had owned lots of Mobipocket books.
#5: The Bebook I chose because of the biggest variance of formats so far.
#6: The iRex 1000s seemed to be a logical successor for the iRex iLiad.
#7: I'm an admirer of Amazon's success and wanted to see for myself.
#8: Loving the Kindle 2, I HAD to go for the Kindle DX as well.

My reading habits fluctuate quite heavily. Sometimes, I'm reading one book per day, sometimes I don't read any book at all for weeks.
So far, I've bought roughly:
600 .lit
400 .prc
250 .lrx
150 .epub
100 .azw
So, actually my invest in the readers isn't that important, comparing to the invest in books.
Usually, I purchase the books I intend to read.

[Lonely Guy]

8 Readers?
If you've got too much cash on your hand, I'm happy to help ;-)

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Lonely Guy

8 Readers?
If you've got too much cash on your hand, I'm happy to help ;-)

8 Readers probably sounds really crazy.
But consider this:
On average, I read (rough estimate) about 100 eBooks per year.
I legally purchase most of them. (*)
The average eBook is about $ 10.
It takes about 10 hours to read a single book.
I use my readers probably for 2 years.
The average reader is $ 300.
If I read 1000 hours per year (**), the reader is down to 15 cent per hour! As opposed to $ 1 per hour for every single book.
If I'm actually using the reader, costs for the hardware aren't the (main) issue. That's of course exactly the (brilliant) business model from Amazon.
And that's obviously the reason, why Sony and Amazon outrank the other manufacturers of eInk readers. Sony's and Amazon's revenue is in the content, not in the hardware...

(*) When I'm having fun, I'm willing to pay for it.
(**) Not to mention the (fun) time, I spend with searching, collecting or converting the eBooks.

[rhari79]

mgmueller, A Very Nice review..Thanks!

Lucky person you..
How in the dueces did you get your hands on all of them?
esp since you dont stay in the US of A...(guessed as you have no kindle access..)..

I am in japan and struggled to land an iliad-be.
But i guess, for a person determined enough, its not that hard to get..

But more importantly, can you tell how do you juggle..decide which one to read/use now?
i mean the confusion that comes in..
I am having enough trouble with the iliad, n95, itouch and laptop...I always almost feel i am guilty of bigamy..
This is why i am avoiding the iphone and the dr1000s..

[AJ Starr]

I'm sorry you don't have the Astak EZ Reader to add to your evaulation. Would love to see how it stacks up.

Specifically, when their EZ Reader Pocket Pro 5" comes out, I think it will make a big impression.

AJ

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by rhari79

mgmueller, A Very Nice review..Thanks!

Lucky person you..
How in the dueces did you get your hands on all of them?
esp since you dont stay in the US of A...(guessed as you have no kindle access..)..

I am in japan and struggled to land an iliad-be.
But i guess, for a person determined enough, its not that hard to get..

But more importantly, can you tell how do you juggle..decide which one to read/use now?
i mean the confusion that comes in..
I am having enough trouble with the iliad, n95, itouch and laptop...I always almost feel i am guilty of bigamy..
This is why i am avoiding the iphone and the dr1000s..

"How in the dueces did you get your hands on all of them?"
I'm from Germany.
I've ordered:
Sony 505 and 700:
From the US, not from Sony but from an electronics store.
In the meantime, Sony 505 (not the 700, though) officially is available in Germany from various sources.
iRex iLiad and iRex 1000S:
On iRex' website, I've looked for a German store. I've found an excellent one. I think, the owner even posts regularly on mobileread.
Cybook: Same as for iRex.
BeBook: Directly from their website.
Kindle 2 and DX: I didn't want to go through the troubles with US credit card, PO box, .... So I've ordered from eBay. Excellent experience.

Given the actual exchange rate Euroollar, it's really fun, purchasing in the US. Even considering costs for transportation and customs and VAT.

"But more importantly, can you tell how do you juggle..decide which one to read/use now?"
I'll choose my words carefully.
I legally purchase ALL my eBooks.
But somehow they end up on my other devices as well not just the one I've purchased it for.
So my problem is not about content.
So far, I've had 3 favorites: iRex iLiad, Sony 505 and Kindle 2. Between those, I've been juggling:
iRex iLiad for travelling. It's more bulky than the others, but I like to play Sudoku or Kakuro (scribbling on PDFs) on it, great for boring evenings in the hotels.
Sony 505 at home for a quick read. Lightweight, very ergonomic and simply cool. And I've got a great bag for reading in the bathtub.
Kindle 2 I didn't use for travelling yet. But will be a tough competitor to my iLiad.
Probably Kindel DX will extend my top 3 to top 4...

Basically, I've always got a single favorite. As I've got the content available for all the units, I mainly use that single favorite.
In the beginning, it was iRex iLiad.
Then it became Sony 505. For the moment, it's Kindle 2.
Might become iRex 1000S or Kindel DX next week.....

[Lilly]

Oh my goodness! I'm waiting to add a 8.9 or 10.7 reader later this year or early next year (probably depends on if Sony come out with one this year or I will wait for Plastic Logic's). That will make 3 and it's work enough juggling the 2 I have now, so wow!

[babalou]

So, what's you ranking? Over all, for the number of books available, for the quality of display and OS, ...?

[babalou]

Originally Posted by Lilly

Oh my goodness! I'm waiting to add a 8.9 or 10.7 reader later this year or early next year (probably depends on if Sony come out with one this year or I will wait for Plastic Logic's). That will make 3 and it's work enough juggling the 2 I have now, so wow!

I have to agree. With Sony 505, it's complicated. Between the other units, I can "share" content. With Sony's proprietary format, this doesn't seem to be possible yet.
So I very often find myself in the situation, for which reader in which format to purchase.
And actually, my decision is a clear indicator for the nonsense called "DRM".
I've dramatically reduced my purchases in Sony's shop, as the .lrx files are rigidly bound to the Sony readers. I very much prefer .azw, .prc or .epub for obvious reasons.

[Lilly]

Originally Posted by babalou

I have to agree. With Sony 505, it's complicated. Between the other units, I can "share" content. With Sony's proprietary format, this doesn't seem to be possible yet.
So I very often find myself in the situation, for which reader in which format to purchase.
And actually, my decision is a clear indicator for the nonsense called "DRM".
I've dramatically reduced my purchases in Sony's shop, as the .lrx files are rigidly bound to the Sony readers. I very much prefer .azw, .prc or .epub for obvious reasons.

I don't shop at the Sony store at all now. I use to for the 1st 6 months I owned my PRS-505, I bought 99% of my books from Sony 1% Lit from BooksonBoard, now I buy 0% from Sony. I buy all my books from Amazon, BooksonBoard, & CyberRead. I buy .azw, .prc, .lit, .epud in the order stated. I remove the drm and load them on both readers.