PRS-350 Opinion: Sony can save you money

kalex · 09-26-2010, 02:46 PM

I've been reading mobileread forums in past 2 weeks researching which reader to get.

I had Sony PRS-900 and Sony PRS-300. I sold PRS-900 and decided to get PRS-350 for my wife. Now that we used it for past 2 days, my PRS-300 is up in the flea market section

Overall impressions are very positive. New screen, size and speed are very impressive. Screen looks much better than PRS-900 with its touch screen overlay and it does look better than PRS-300. Speed of page turns is amazing, prs-300 is a turtle compared to 350. New interface is also very nice. Now i have to decide whether to get PRS-650 or another 350 for myself.

But back to the topic

I seem to be reading a lot of posts comparing price of kindle vs. sony. Yes Sony forgot to get the memo and priced their readers too high but Sony does have few advantages. First and foremost is the touch interface. It is so much better than kindle. Amazon should really come up with touch interface for the kindles. I use to have Kindle a while ago and the non touch interface was really crappy. One main example is dictionary look up. The way you had to scroll with kindle's navigation keys took the fun out of looking up words. With Sony you just lightly double tap on the word and magic

Second and main reason is the openness of Sony readers. Support of Epub and integration with library are awesome. You are not locked into amazon store and I actually had first hand experience with it.
I came across a book I wanted to read "Medium Raw". Speaking completely without using "black ops" and from regular user's point of view here is how I saved money. If I had kindle, I would have to pay $12.99 + tax for the privilege of reading the book I wanted to read.
With Sony, I went to the Brooklyn Public Library website, added book to my ecart and checked it out. Took less than 2 minutes and I had book loaded on my PRS-350 for next 14 days of reading it, completely free. So with just one book I saved $13. So it is true that Sony readers have a premium in terms of price, but in the long run you can actually end up paying a lot less for it than with Kindle

So moral of the story

Even though Amazon priced kindle very attractively in the long run you may end up spending more money in content on the Kindle than on Sony. Sony's marketing department needs to make this known for its potential buyers.

Alex

culverg · 09-26-2010, 06:21 PM

Agree with your opinion. My library has nowhere near the selection as I imagine you have at a NYC online library, but still found some books I wanted to read and didn't have to pay for them. Happy camper!

Fbone · 09-26-2010, 11:40 PM

Remember Macmillan and Simon & Schuster published titles are not available through the public library's Overdrive system. If you are searching for one of these, I'm afraid you'll have to purchase or borrow the paper edition.

jswinden · 09-27-2010, 02:30 PM

True Sony readers have the best interface. But A touchscreen has nothing at all to do with saving you money.

As far as the library checkout function, it all depends on what kind of books you read and who published them. In my experience I have found that libraries don't have many books and don't carry the ones I want to read when they do, so no savings there for me. For you it might be a major savings.

As far as purchasing books, I find the Sony store consistently higher priced than Amazon or B&N. No savings there!

I own both a 350 and a K3. The K3 cost a lot less and on average the books cost less than the Sony books. I also find a lot more selection available for the Kindle. I love both readers and have both to cover all bases, but I totally disagree with your premise that a Sony reader will save me money. It didn't and doesn't.

kalex · 10-01-2010, 10:15 AM

Well for me it did

Touchscreen was my observation not a way to save money

I noticed that new books are priced same in Sony store and Amazon store. Book I got from the library was $12.99 on both Amazon and Sony. Btw I didn't say that Sony will save u money, I said it can save u money

andre66 · 10-01-2010, 11:47 AM

I went with the sony so i could use the library option if i choose to.. I enjoy searching through what selection of ebooks my library does have to find stuff to read that i may not necessarily want to spend money on.

neilmarr · 10-01-2010, 11:53 AM

I've had a superb Sony reader all my ereading life. Never use the library. With Sony, there's no need. Go Calibre. Neil

fafaforza · 10-05-2010, 02:53 PM

You could also signup at borders.com and take advantage of their coupons and membership. Should provide you some savings and at least lower the difference of the few dollars there can be between the Sony store and Amazon.

I wanted to read Dune recently and the Sony store had it for $14.50, heh, whereas a brand new pb was $7. Sometimes it's really upside down.

09-26-2010, 02:46 PM	#1
kalex Zealot Posts: 132 Karma: 3248 Join Date: Jun 2007 Device: sony	Opinion: Sony can save you money I've been reading mobileread forums in past 2 weeks researching which reader to get. I had Sony PRS-900 and Sony PRS-300. I sold PRS-900 and decided to get PRS-350 for my wife. Now that we used it for past 2 days, my PRS-300 is up in the flea market section Overall impressions are very positive. New screen, size and speed are very impressive. Screen looks much better than PRS-900 with its touch screen overlay and it does look better than PRS-300. Speed of page turns is amazing, prs-300 is a turtle compared to 350. New interface is also very nice. Now i have to decide whether to get PRS-650 or another 350 for myself. But back to the topic I seem to be reading a lot of posts comparing price of kindle vs. sony. Yes Sony forgot to get the memo and priced their readers too high but Sony does have few advantages. First and foremost is the touch interface. It is so much better than kindle. Amazon should really come up with touch interface for the kindles. I use to have Kindle a while ago and the non touch interface was really crappy. One main example is dictionary look up. The way you had to scroll with kindle's navigation keys took the fun out of looking up words. With Sony you just lightly double tap on the word and magic Second and main reason is the openness of Sony readers. Support of Epub and integration with library are awesome. You are not locked into amazon store and I actually had first hand experience with it. I came across a book I wanted to read "Medium Raw". Speaking completely without using "black ops" and from regular user's point of view here is how I saved money. If I had kindle, I would have to pay $12.99 + tax for the privilege of reading the book I wanted to read. With Sony, I went to the Brooklyn Public Library website, added book to my ecart and checked it out. Took less than 2 minutes and I had book loaded on my PRS-350 for next 14 days of reading it, completely free. So with just one book I saved $13. So it is true that Sony readers have a premium in terms of price, but in the long run you can actually end up paying a lot less for it than with Kindle So moral of the story Even though Amazon priced kindle very attractively in the long run you may end up spending more money in content on the Kindle than on Sony. Sony's marketing department needs to make this known for its potential buyers. Alex

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09-26-2010, 06:21 PM	#2
culverg Member Posts: 10 Karma: 1068 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: PRS-650	Agree with your opinion. My library has nowhere near the selection as I imagine you have at a NYC online library, but still found some books I wanted to read and didn't have to pay for them. Happy camper!

09-26-2010, 11:40 PM	#3
Fbone Is that a sandwich? Posts: 8,284 Karma: 101696762 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Nook Glowlight Plus	Remember Macmillan and Simon & Schuster published titles are not available through the public library's Overdrive system. If you are searching for one of these, I'm afraid you'll have to purchase or borrow the paper edition.

09-27-2010, 02:30 PM	#4
jswinden Nameless Being	True Sony readers have the best interface. But A touchscreen has nothing at all to do with saving you money. As far as the library checkout function, it all depends on what kind of books you read and who published them. In my experience I have found that libraries don't have many books and don't carry the ones I want to read when they do, so no savings there for me. For you it might be a major savings. As far as purchasing books, I find the Sony store consistently higher priced than Amazon or B&N. No savings there! I own both a 350 and a K3. The K3 cost a lot less and on average the books cost less than the Sony books. I also find a lot more selection available for the Kindle. I love both readers and have both to cover all bases, but I totally disagree with your premise that a Sony reader will save me money. It didn't and doesn't.

10-01-2010, 10:15 AM	#5
kalex Zealot Posts: 132 Karma: 3248 Join Date: Jun 2007 Device: sony	Well for me it did Touchscreen was my observation not a way to save money I noticed that new books are priced same in Sony store and Amazon store. Book I got from the library was $12.99 on both Amazon and Sony. Btw I didn't say that Sony will save u money, I said it can save u money

10-01-2010, 11:47 AM	#6
andre66 Member Posts: 18 Karma: 22 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: ALDERGROVE, BC Device: sony prs 350	I went with the sony so i could use the library option if i choose to.. I enjoy searching through what selection of ebooks my library does have to find stuff to read that i may not necessarily want to spend money on.

10-01-2010, 11:53 AM	#7
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,215 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	I've had a superb Sony reader all my ereading life. Never use the library. With Sony, there's no need. Go Calibre. Neil

10-05-2010, 02:53 PM	#8
fafaforza Zealot Posts: 140 Karma: 26780 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Brooklyn, NY Device: Aura ONE	You could also signup at borders.com and take advantage of their coupons and membership. Should provide you some savings and at least lower the difference of the few dollars there can be between the Sony store and Amazon. I wanted to read Dune recently and the Sony store had it for $14.50, heh, whereas a brand new pb was $7. Sometimes it's really upside down.

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