Originally Posted by fjtorres
Comparing PB360 pricing to Nook pricing is something of an Apples-to-oranges kind of thing.
eBook reader pricing isn't just a matter of screen size, but rather of what it is you are buying in terms of features, functionality, reading experience, etc.
As Indicisiveme pointed out buying a Kindle or a Nook is buying what amounts to a storefront into the Amazon or the B&N bookstores. (You can buy books from other sources for both but buying one or another comes with a direct link to their store so both can afford to discount the hardware and make up the difference over time from ebook sales, especially now that the big publishing houses have implemented their Apple-friendly price hike/price fix scheme.) PB360, on the other hand, is priced on a strings-free basis. Its price is comparable to other non-storefront readers. Not the cheapest but then, it isn't a stripper loss-leader like, say, the Sony300.
To some people this is a plus, to some it is a minus. You need to decide which it is *for you*.
The same applies to other aspects of the products:
Nook and Kindle give you one reader app and one prefered ebook format.
Pocketbook gives you a choice of reader apps and for the preferred (ePub) format, a choice of rendering philosophies (ADE which enforces the publisher's font choices and page numbering or FBReader where you choose/override the font, size, margins and most of the typographical controls so books all look pretty much as *you* choose).
Some prefer simplicity, others prefer flexibility and end-user control.
Only you know if you care.
Nook and Kindle rely on traditional bookstyle carry cases that can add US$20-30 or up to US$80 for really fancy cases. Some see this as a way of self-expression and a plus, others see it as an added cost and a minus. PB360 comes with a snap-on hard cover, no self-expression, no cost. Plus or minus? Your call.
PB360 natively supports Mobi and epub file formats; Nook doesn't do mobi/Kindle doesn't do ePub. Do you care?
And so it runs.
PB360 is its own creature, not a wannabe Kindle looking for Amazon's leftovers.
It is priced against what it offers: pocketability, stability, ergonomics, weeks of battery life, multiple reader apps and support for the two main ebook formats in current use. Its price is a function of what it offers (pro and con) just as Nook and Kindle are priced as a function of what *they* offer.
It is up to you to decide if screen size matters to you, if wireless matters to you, how much does battery life matter. How much does native Mobi support matter.
You make your own value judgment but in the end it is going to be subjective because value is a personal thing; you can't turn value into a dollars per-square-inch ratio and expect everybody to agree on it. (Otherwise iRex DRS800 would be king).
Nobody can tell you what your needs are and how valuable certain features are going to be to you; only how we use our PB360s and how satisfied we are.
Me, I have a Kindle and a PB360.
Both have their uses.
I am happy with both.
But I do most of my day to day reading on the PB360.
It is lighter, smaller, and I get to completely control how the books look.
Even with Kindle, I don't bother with wireless; I'd rather have the longer battery life.
But that's me.
Your mileage *will* vary.
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