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lucius · 11-01-2008, 05:54 AM

Hey all,

I've spent a few days browsing the forum by now, and I could really use some help to make the final choice.

Right now I have it narrowed down to Cybook versus Sony. Partly because they are the most convincing ones to me, partly because I'm sitting in Austria and they're the easiest ones to get. Costs are about even - the Cybook is at 280 EUR from justread.de and the Sony will be in the same range from UK waterstones.com.

My reading is mostly work-related pdf and doc; right now I'm doing it on an Asus eee, and while the screen is great for size, it tires my eyes too much.

The main requirements for me (as far as I can pinpoint them) are:

scaleable font. I'm very near-sighted, so this is a big issue. Eye-friendliness in general is, since I'll be using it for hours at a time.
pdf handling. About 30% of documents I read are text-only pdfs. The rest tends to be .doc or .html (which have occasional images or tables). Converting files is no problem as long as it won't require a lot of time and input from me.
support of Chinese texts, though I realize that this may be a bit much to ask.
ease of use in case I have to lend it to a colleague. Getting them to use the eeePC for reading is a challenge already because they consider it too complicated.
overall handling comfort.
jumping larger sections (up to 30-40 pages in print) at once.

What doesn't matter so much:

page numbers. Most of the texts I have to read are in the process of formatting and navigation happens by section rather than page.
dictionary support. I only use dictionaries when I'm actively composing text, and have them lined up in paper format for that.
extra sturdiness. Most of the time it's going to be an office-only device and I don't expect to do much traveling with it.
number of books available in stores. It's going to be used for internal documents 90% of the time.

I'm currently leaning towards the Sony, but it's a hard decision to make since I haven't had the chance to try out either of the two. All input would be greatly appreciated!

11-01-2008, 05:54 AM	#1
lucius Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: none	Cybook or Sony 505? Hey all, I've spent a few days browsing the forum by now, and I could really use some help to make the final choice. Right now I have it narrowed down to Cybook versus Sony. Partly because they are the most convincing ones to me, partly because I'm sitting in Austria and they're the easiest ones to get. Costs are about even - the Cybook is at 280 EUR from justread.de and the Sony will be in the same range from UK waterstones.com. My reading is mostly work-related pdf and doc; right now I'm doing it on an Asus eee, and while the screen is great for size, it tires my eyes too much. The main requirements for me (as far as I can pinpoint them) are: scaleable font. I'm very near-sighted, so this is a big issue. Eye-friendliness in general is, since I'll be using it for hours at a time. pdf handling. About 30% of documents I read are text-only pdfs. The rest tends to be .doc or .html (which have occasional images or tables). Converting files is no problem as long as it won't require a lot of time and input from me. support of Chinese texts, though I realize that this may be a bit much to ask. ease of use in case I have to lend it to a colleague. Getting them to use the eeePC for reading is a challenge already because they consider it too complicated. overall handling comfort. jumping larger sections (up to 30-40 pages in print) at once. What doesn't matter so much: page numbers. Most of the texts I have to read are in the process of formatting and navigation happens by section rather than page. dictionary support. I only use dictionaries when I'm actively composing text, and have them lined up in paper format for that. extra sturdiness. Most of the time it's going to be an office-only device and I don't expect to do much traveling with it. number of books available in stores. It's going to be used for internal documents 90% of the time. I'm currently leaning towards the Sony, but it's a hard decision to make since I haven't had the chance to try out either of the two. All input would be greatly appreciated!