I bought the Sony 950, upgrading from my Sony 505, which I gave to my wife, with the intent of subscribing to the electronic edition of the New York Times. I wanted the 950 for both the larger screen and the WiFi/3G, in the belief that it would make it much easier to download my daily newspaper. After a few days of trying the electronic version, my wife requested that we return to the print subscription. She didn't like reading the newspaper on the 950 (I loved it), although she does like reading ebooks on the 505, and so we canceled the electronic subscription.
That was a couple of months ago. Since then I have bought about 50 ebooks. Most of them are from Smashwords and require sideloading, just as I had/have to do with my 505. I admit that the books I have bought from the Sony ebookstore downloaded directly and easily, but the truth of the matter is that sideloading is not a problem. I may buy ebooks today, but not bother to load them onto the devices for days, at which time I sideload all purchased books at once.
My point is that I have the WiFi/3G but could have as easily done without it. It just is neither necessary for me nor a factor (now that I know I will not be subscribing to the New York Times electronically) for future consideration. Especially when I consider how infrequently I use it. Much more important are the features that directly affect my reading experience -- the touch screen, the dictionaries, the ergonomics, the feel of quality.
|