Quote:
Originally Posted by Mayr
Being new to the ebook world I still don't know what file types will be important to me.
But I plan to read mostly fiction book on the ereader since I have an iPhone If I want to read or browse any complex pdfs.
Is the bebook really useful because of all the files supported or the ones that the sony supports are enough for me to read (in the exact way I would read a real book) any book I want?
I mean, if I can read all the books available in the online stores in the native format or after converting in the Sony now and for years to come I think i'll go with the sony. 
Does converting a file type in to another corrupt the book in any way or makes the text look strange for reading?
I would like to thank every user that has helped me so far, this really is a friendly and useful forum. 
I have a lot of questions since I live in Portugal I can't go to a store and try one. |
Concerning price:
For the 6" units, Cybook Gen3 is relatively cheap. You can have it for about € 230. Sony 505 in UK you can have for about € 200 (haven't seen it that cheap in Germany, where I'm from).
Because of the conversion rate, UK right now totally makes sense for purchasing.
So your price range up to € 250 won't be a problem, you don't have to go for 5" just because of price.
Concerning support:
Sony 505 won't be supported anymore, you don't even find it in Sony's webshop anymore. But in my opinion, that's no problem. There only has been 1 firmware update about 1 year ago, to support ePUB on Sony 505. I don't think, there will be significant changes in the business over the next 2 years, so the existing firmware should do just fine. And you always can convert to other file formats.
Concerning conversion:
The main obstacle is copy protection (DRM = Digital Right Management). You usually can't convert purchased books into other formats without circumventing the DRM protection. For Sony's proprietary BBeB format (.lrx), it's not possible yet. The other formats, like .epub, .pdf, .prc can be stripped from DRM though. Meaning: You can purchase these books and convert them into other file formats and use them on other readers.
Concerning your choice of readers:
I've got my Sony 300 3 hours ago. It's a nice enough unit, but honestly I don't see any advantage of it as a sole reader. To me, it's clearly a 2nd reader for the bathtub and other scenarios like that.
Personally, I don't like BeBook's design, Sony is just more appealing.
Personally, I'd go for Sony 505. Sony and Amazon are (and in my opinion will remain) the major players in the field, because of their additional (way bigger) revenue with content, whereas Hanlin, iRex and others solely have to rely on hardware sales. There may be changes in the business, but Amazon and Sony are the ones most likely to survive unharmed (perhaps even grow further).