Quote:
Originally Posted by jjw
Hello everyone,
After seeing the new Kindle announcement I have the itch to buy an ebook reader. I hardly ever use paper books since i got Stanza on my Iphone and I think I want to move up to something with a bigger screen.
Unfortunately being in Australia I can't try out many of the readers without buying them so i'm relying on your guys to help me out :P
I had a brief look at the Kobo at Borders and an Iriver at JB but they felt a bit cheap.
I've spent a few hours looking up reviews of different readers and i think i'm most tempted by the Sony PRS-900. I like the bigger screen size and that it doesn't have a big keyboard like the Kindle. Also i'm interested in how big a screen people like for their ebook readers. 6 inches seems to be the most popular size but the 7 inches on the PRS-900 seems closer to what an actual book would book like. Haven't tried either so i'd love to hear some peoples' opinions.
My friend suggested getting an Ipad but I think that might be overkill for just reading especially with the size and weight. Is there any compromise in its screen quality over a dedicated ebook reader? Ipad or PRS-900 seem to be the most appealing options right now, i would appreciate any help in deciding.
For me the most important features are:
Design/ergonomics
Screen quality (i've read about 20 books on the iphone so it doesn't have to be amazing)
Battery life
Size/weight
Not important:
Store availability
Thanks in advance for any advice, I enjoy agonising over any purchase and this one is proving to be a doozy :P
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I use a PRS900 and am very happy with it.
However, the main reason I like it is the touchscreen. Truly, if you want to make annotations - I do because I read a lot of academic PDFs on it - then it's probably the best option.
But the touchscreen comes at the expense of contrast (reduced) and glare (increased).
So my advice is to buy a PRS900 if you want the capability of taking free-hand annotations.
Otherwise, there are cheaper and better options out there.
Frankly, if I didn't need the touchscreen, I would probably buy a Kindle, or more likely a KindleDX.
The iPad is a different story. It's an LCD screen, so if you plan on reading for extensive periods of time, your eyes will notice. It seems to bother some people more than others - yet, it's not as pleasant as eink. Also, battery life is sensibly less. Which you may or may not care about. I fly around a lot and often take trips for which the 10 hours of an iPad are just not enough. But, again, this is subjective. Then there is the weight and size issue.
If you don't need the added features and just want an eReader, the iPad is sub-optimal. It's not the cost - there are other compromises, as above.