[tb74]

My first foray into the reader market was the Sony PRS-300. I didn't want to spend a whole lot of money on the more expensive Sony Readers and the Kobo wasn't anywhere near market (this was still the Shortcovers days), so I picked up a Sony PRS-300. It was fun while it lasted, but with the 5-inch screen, I found myself salivating at the Kobo reader when it was finally announced. So on May 1st, 2010, I rushed to Chapters/Indigo - on the morning of my wedding no less - to pick up a Kobo reader. (I wanted it for my two-week honeymoon). Upon first inspection, I liked it. It was clean looking, slick and simple. It loaded my Kobo books quite easily and the font sizes and options were a step up from my Sony. It was all good – at first. Then the flaws started to slowly emerge. Side loading books is FAR too difficult. I had a lot of books from the Sony Store and a few from the Toronto Library, so I naturally wanted to port them over to the Kobo. This meant loading some things through the Kobo desktop app and some things through ADE. Not horrible, but more difficult than it should be. Then there is the issue of wanting to get books off my Kobo reader when I was done reading them. Can't do it in the App, so off to the website I go. Delete from there, update my Kobo app, and then sync my reader. FAR too many steps. I considered skipping the Kobo app altogether, and loading everything through ADE, but why should I? The Kobo app should be as robust as the Sony Reader app. It functions more like iTunes. I load the Sony books, the Kobo books and the Library books into the SAME app, isn't that a (excuse the pun) novel idea? Then I have all my books in the program, and can see my entire virtual bookshelf. I don't need to worry about the convoluted process that it takes to manage things the Kobo way. I don’t particularly like having some books on the reader/desktop app and then others on the website that I have to download again should I need them. Call me greedy, but I want all my books in one place. I create a playlist in the Sony Reader app, drop all the new books as I buy them, pull out the old ones from the playlist as I read them, and sync it up. Simple management. Something that Kobo is missing in a big way.

I was poking around the MobileRead forums and read about an eco-credit program at the US Sony Style store and I was very intrigued. They will take any old reader and give you a credit of $75 towards the purchase of a new Sony Reader. With the release of the new Pearl touch-screen Sony-PRS 650 and an already planned trip to New York City for the weekend, I couldn't resist. I gave in my old Sony PRS-300, and got the $75 credit with no hassles (despite being a Canadian resident - they didn't care). The readers were also on sale, so with credit and taxes, I got a new Sony PRS-650 reader for $175. Granted, that is still considerably more expensive than the Kobo reader, and it doesn't have Wi-Fi, but the management of the reader is far better. I would rather spend time reading than managing the collection. Price is, however, a major consideration for most people and I agree wholeheartedly that Sony needs to do better in this department. But with the built-in dictionary, built-in translation software and ability to highlight and take notes, the Sony wins hands down.

I keep hearing promises that the Kobo 1.5 update is "coming very soon", but I am tired of waiting, and who knows what the update will bring? Even if the firmware is improved 300%, the Kobo desktop App will still be less-than-satisfactory so what does it really matter? My Kobo will be relegated to a desk drawer for now, although I will likely update the firmware out of curiosity when it finally comes out. I will continue to buy a large portion, if not most, of my books from Kobo and will consider coming back to Kobo in a few years when colour is standard (e-ink, that is), but for now, I'm quite happy with my Sony.