MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Talk me out of a Kindle ;-)

Elsi · 06-03-2009, 08:17 PM

If you'd like to have a good comparison of the cost of books themselves, take a look at the thread USA Today's Summer Book List. I haven't updated it for the books released last week, but you can see a clear price advantage for the owner of a Kindle if you're buying just-released books.

I own both a Kindle and a Sony reader. I've yet to find a book cheaper at Sony than at Amazon, though every once in a while, Fictionwise come up with a winning price -- though I only buy DRM-free books at Fictionwise.

I paid just a bit more for my Kindle1 than for my Sony 505, but I've bought the majority of my books at Amazon.com. Of the 156 books I've bought at Amazon, 82 of them were free and 21 more were under $2.00. At Sony, I've only picked up the free books. I do buy multi-format books at Baen and Fictionwise and wish I had that option (with Amazon's prices) for every book I want.

Short answer is that the hardware for both devices is good. I'm more comfortable holding & reading with the Kindle than the Sony -- but I think that's just because the page-turn buttons on the Sony are small and sort of stiff. Another person might dislike the Kindle because its buttons are large. I won't claim that the Kindle is pretty -- not even the K2 or DX -- but it is functional.

I make a lot of use of the annotations and highlighting, which I can transfer to my PC. Though the Sony 700 supports highlighting and annotations, I believe that I read you can't export those to your PC. But my hubby bought me the lighted cover for my Sony reader so I make a point to load up a book on it when we're going to be in the car at night.

Someone before me said that it's most important for you to get a reader you'll be happy with. For me, the first choice is my Kindle reader, but I do like my Sony and I will be buying another one sometime soon. (I'm a gadget junkie!)

06-03-2009, 08:17 PM	#28
Elsi Wizard Posts: 2,366 Karma: 12000 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Texas, USA Device: Kindle; Sony PRS 505; Blackberry 8700C	If you'd like to have a good comparison of the cost of books themselves, take a look at the thread USA Today's Summer Book List. I haven't updated it for the books released last week, but you can see a clear price advantage for the owner of a Kindle if you're buying just-released books. I own both a Kindle and a Sony reader. I've yet to find a book cheaper at Sony than at Amazon, though every once in a while, Fictionwise come up with a winning price -- though I only buy DRM-free books at Fictionwise. I paid just a bit more for my Kindle1 than for my Sony 505, but I've bought the majority of my books at Amazon.com. Of the 156 books I've bought at Amazon, 82 of them were free and 21 more were under $2.00. At Sony, I've only picked up the free books. I do buy multi-format books at Baen and Fictionwise and wish I had that option (with Amazon's prices) for every book I want. Short answer is that the hardware for both devices is good. I'm more comfortable holding & reading with the Kindle than the Sony -- but I think that's just because the page-turn buttons on the Sony are small and sort of stiff. Another person might dislike the Kindle because its buttons are large. I won't claim that the Kindle is pretty -- not even the K2 or DX -- but it is functional. I make a lot of use of the annotations and highlighting, which I can transfer to my PC. Though the Sony 700 supports highlighting and annotations, I believe that I read you can't export those to your PC. But my hubby bought me the lighted cover for my Sony reader so I make a point to load up a book on it when we're going to be in the car at night. Someone before me said that it's most important for you to get a reader you'll be happy with. For me, the first choice is my Kindle reader, but I do like my Sony and I will be buying another one sometime soon. (I'm a gadget junkie!)