[ebooker]

So I played with a kindle (wifi version, latest version, the one that sells for 139 bucks) that my friend had bought. We compared sony and kindle side by side. some quick thoughts:

-the kindle is impressive, no question about it
-the kindle's price point is just about perfect
-wifi is nice esp for syncing, I wish sony would at least put wifi into the prs 650. I'm sure its in the works though. (I dont need 3g only cuz i dont plan on buying a lot of books spontaneously - dont have the cash for that!).

-the kindle form factor and screen are spectacular. Very very thin, lovely matte graphite skin. The screen is clearly the best out there, contrast-wise and in speed of page turns. Screen is flush with body.
-controls arent bad, not intuitive tho once you see how they work, they dont get in the way so much.
-auto-sync via wifi to all your kindle devices, including syncing notes, highlights, bookmarks, in the background and seamlessly: brilliant and convenient.

Cons:
-the built-in keyboard could be much, much better. Didnt like the keyboard much, could not type with any serviceable speed on it.
-lack of native support for epub and other formats. I would work a lot with epub, and kindle doesnt make that easy, introduces an extra conversion step via Calibre.

Naturally the thought crossed my mind: sell the sony at $239, get kindle at $139, save 100 bucks? At end of day I decided once again to stick with sony.

For my purposes:
-Sony 650 screen is plenty great, and plenty fast.
-Sony form factor is plenty thin, plenty attractive. Plenty light-weight.
-Wifi would be nice, very very nice. I can wait for the next version tho.
-Touch screen rocks in general, very responsive and intuitive

But its really the functionality that makes me stick with sony:
-write on page, write handwritten notes. I produce a lot of my own content (in an academic setting) while reading on the sony. The handwriting features allow me to capture spontaneous thoughts in an intuitive way that doesnt get in the way of my reading experience. This is important to me and my workflows. Beats a lousy keyboard most of the time. I dont mind transcribing those later, the transcribing session doubles as a review anyway.
-Multi-language dictionary - i'm learning french and german. The multi-lang dictionaries are terrific and allow me to step away from the computer while still doing real work - reading comprehension - on the ereader.
-native support for open formats rocks and is very useful in my work

I have to admit tho, on most features the sony and kindle were about even, and the $100 savings is a temptation. But sony throws in just enough extra flexibility and features to make me continue paying the $100 extra.

What I'd like to see on the sony going forward:
-would like to write notes faster (right now have to slow down while writing).
-ability to add tags to comments and highlights, and desktop software to sort by tags. **** This feature would rock.
-wifi if not 3g, esp for syncing with the desktop -- and thus also ability to take library books out while never leaving the sony reader. ****this feature would rock.
-more interactive content to take advantage of the touch screen -- for example, why not like a french language practice workbook? That gives me a multiple choice practice test? Where i tap the right answer on the screen itself? Possibilities realy open up with the touch screen and multi-lang dictionaries and Sony could really exploit those. They could also open up the sony to programmers and have a kind of 'app store' for such interactive experiences/books.

Its a close call tho because of the bargain price on the Kindle. But so long as sony continues to stay ahead with innovative features, it fits an academic/student better than the kindle in my view. Though just barely. The recent contrast/speed/weight improvements were definitely key for it to stay competitive on other fronts.