Quote:
Originally Posted by viviena
There seems to be quite a few people who own or have used both the new Sony Readers and the Kobos. I have the 350, but kept the Kobo too.
If the book you've bought from Kobo is EPUB, then the Sony won't have any problems with it. You can either use the navigational buttons or use a touchscreen gesture -- very responsive, and hardly leaves any fingerprints, contrary to what one might expect.
Definitely go and look at the Sony models in person though... not so much for the Sony functionality, but rather for the form factor of a 5". See if you could adjust to it or would prefer a 6" inch.
Sony has the new Pearl screen, dictionaries (English and translation types), note-taking abilities, much faster page-turning. It feels sturdier than the Kobo's plastic as well. Wakes up instantly from sleep mode to the page of the book you were at (I've never had to use shutdown mode) -- not a feature unique to Sony, but something the Kobo doesn't do currently. Any other advantages I can think of depend on the person -- for myself, I like its smaller size and lightness, just because I like to use it outdoors, on public transport, etc. Lack of wifi isn't a negative for me (I feel like I'm constantly tethered to the computer as it is), but it's understandably important to many.
Possible downsides as compared to Kobo? Not that the Kobo desktop software is brilliant, but I hear the Sony Reader software is rather bad. As a happy user of Calibre, I've never had to form my own opinion on this, but it may factor in your decision. Lack of expansion card slot. Admittedly a very petty quibble, but also the Sony Readers don't display book covers in sleep mode, rather images of your own choosing -- a function I've grown to like, but I'd always been fond of the book covers that a powered down Kobo (with the original firmware) showed.
I can't really think of anything else to say, except that for what it's worth, I vastly prefer the 350 to the Kobo nowadays and use the former exclusively -- the latter is currently lent to a relative. That said, I haven't regretted either purchase.
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Thank you for your answers.. I am going to Future Shop tonight to compare the 350 to the new 650 models as I'm wondering if I'll prefer the larger screen.
I do like what I've read so far on the Sony and that I can still buy books through the kobo desktop program with it plus the dictionary,ability to use with library etc.
I've heard some not so good things about the Sony ebook store but no worrys if I have access to Kobo,Powells and possibly Borders(?) unless they are geo-restricted. That and Calibre which I discovered via this forum a few days ago.
Thanks again
Fiona