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Plato · 10-26-2009, 05:44 PM

I'm looking to buy a reader before Christmas, but need help choosing which one to buy. I've read over some threads here, but I still had a few outstanding questions.

Here are the vital features:

- Good quality screen
- Price >$300USD
- Ability to display English, Greek and Chinese
- Access to all Ancient Greek and Chinese texts
- Ability to search text (English-only is fine)
- Battery life
- Storage capacity

I intend to take the reader, and load lots of English-translations of ancient texts. I will also load a number of ancient Greek and Chinese texts (simplified Chinese is fine, I'm not that finnicky). I do not read any books written after the fall of Rome, and I do not want to take any notes on my device.

The Amazon store charges money for a number of its Classical texts, and I am having trouble finding most of them, especially in the original language. B&N does a better job thanks to Google Books, but Google Books is freely available for all. These two readers therefore share a significant downside (they lock me into their respective stores), without any upside (I don't intend to purchase any books).

I was therefore thinking the Sony line of readers would be my best bet, as the internet allows me to find and download every Classical text in existence for free. However, I saw a review where the display lighting was shown, and it was very ugly and distracting compared to the Kindle (looked like they lined light-bulbs up on either side). Also, there is a new model coming out; does anybody know what sort of price to expect? I looked at the Sony webpage, and whilst I couldn't find the price, I noticed their current top reader was quite expensive ($300).

At this point, my current plan is to wait until the end of November, so i can see the new readers that are coming out. However, there are so many readers out there now, and about to be released, that I'm not sure if I'm missing out on the best product by focusing on the big-names.

EDIT: I'm just going to wait a month or two. By the end of November, the Nook will be out and I will take a look at it in person, and hopefully there'll be some sales on.

10-26-2009, 05:44 PM	#1
Plato Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: none	Classical Greek & Chinese Reader I'm looking to buy a reader before Christmas, but need help choosing which one to buy. I've read over some threads here, but I still had a few outstanding questions. Here are the vital features: - Good quality screen - Price >$300USD - Ability to display English, Greek and Chinese - Access to all Ancient Greek and Chinese texts - Ability to search text (English-only is fine) - Battery life - Storage capacity I intend to take the reader, and load lots of English-translations of ancient texts. I will also load a number of ancient Greek and Chinese texts (simplified Chinese is fine, I'm not that finnicky). I do not read any books written after the fall of Rome, and I do not want to take any notes on my device. The Amazon store charges money for a number of its Classical texts, and I am having trouble finding most of them, especially in the original language. B&N does a better job thanks to Google Books, but Google Books is freely available for all. These two readers therefore share a significant downside (they lock me into their respective stores), without any upside (I don't intend to purchase any books). I was therefore thinking the Sony line of readers would be my best bet, as the internet allows me to find and download every Classical text in existence for free. However, I saw a review where the display lighting was shown, and it was very ugly and distracting compared to the Kindle (looked like they lined light-bulbs up on either side). Also, there is a new model coming out; does anybody know what sort of price to expect? I looked at the Sony webpage, and whilst I couldn't find the price, I noticed their current top reader was quite expensive ($300). At this point, my current plan is to wait until the end of November, so i can see the new readers that are coming out. However, there are so many readers out there now, and about to be released, that I'm not sure if I'm missing out on the best product by focusing on the big-names. EDIT: I'm just going to wait a month or two. By the end of November, the Nook will be out and I will take a look at it in person, and hopefully there'll be some sales on. Last edited by Plato; 10-26-2009 at 07:17 PM.