Quote:
Originally Posted by sbworld
Decent selection of material both book & newspaper, easy to download and purchase using a computer, easy on the eyes.
The device is used for reading so I'm just interested in getting the material and reading it, so I don't know if a touch screen is better or would that just create smudges. Backlight might be nice, but generally speaking one is always available.
I've not had the chance to play around with any ebook reader yet, hence my questions. It almost seems like the Kindle gets the best reviews if you look at them across the internet but that's just my gut feel.
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Well as DaleDe has written, Amazon has the largest selection of *current* content with the best pricing. Sony now has grown in current content but now has the largest selection of Public Domain titles in their partnership with Google Books (with varying degrees of quality).
Free book sample chapters that would ordinarily be available from Amazon through Whispernet can usually be found at Amazon owned MobiPocket.com. The samples do not have DRM and will work on the Kindle. Just don't try to buy books from them because they will have DRM that doesn't work on the Kindle. I am not aware of any avenues for book samples for the Sony Readers.
Neither the Kindle or the Sony are back lit. E-ink screens are opaque and can't be back lit. The Sony 700 has side lights, which work best in a very dark environment. The Sony 505 has a cover with a light screen from LightWedge that rests on top of the 505. The M-Edge cover for the Kindle will come with an adjustable book light that attaches to the cover seamlessly (new version available later this month).
The Sony 700 is better for PDF reading. Fro the Kindle, uncomplicated PDFs can be converted to mobi books with free software. For more complicated PDFs, software like PDFRead or the Kindle 2 hack called Savory, would be need to make them readable on th Kindle 2 (it also works the ePub books without DRM).
The Sony 700 has a touch screen, the 505 does not. The Kindle has dictionary look-up, neither of the Sony Readers do.
The Kindle had a physical keyboard for searches and note taking. The Sony 700 has a virtual keyboard for the same. The 505 as far as I understand has not search or note taking feature.
The Kindle and the Sony 700 weight nearly the same but the Kindle is longer (due to the keyboard).
The DRM for books purchased from Amazon can be removed (may be illegal but whose to know), so that they can be read on other devices. Books purchased from the Sony store in .LRX format are locked as no one has found away to remove their DRM.
Amazon has a lot of newspapers, magazines and blogs available for subscription. Sony does not. However, both the Kindle and the Sony Readers can take advantage of the free software called Calibre for news content (and ebook management). Calibre is able to turn RSS feeds into your own personalized "newspaper". It can updated daily on your computer and you just transfer it with your USB cable (when in the U.S., you can have it automatically emailed to your Kindle via Whispernet).
There, I've given you more information to make your head spin.
I tried to stick to the features that don't require Whispernet
pr but have a work-around.