Nook vs Sony (Touch edition)

copyrite · 09-10-2010, 07:01 PM

Pros? Cons?

Help?

Thanks muchly,
Julie

dordale · 09-10-2010, 07:49 PM

copyrite--

I have a nook--bought it a month and a half ago. I really like it--but I'm very tempted to (and probably will) buy the new Sony 650 when it comes out.

The reasons I like the 650--
1. I bought the nook was I really wanted a dictionary (which my Sony 505 didn't have). I stayed away from the Sony 600's because of the lower viewability of the screen. Although the nook does have a dictionary, I'm very disappointed with it. It's more cumbersome to access than the 650's--as you have to use the LCD screen to scroll through your document to highlight a word, or type the word in spelling it exactly right. On the 650, you can just double tap a word and the definition will appear at the bottom of the screen. You can view a more detailed definition by simply tapping an icon at the bottom of the screen. The Sony will allow you to scroll through the dictionary, so if you don't know exact spelling of a word you still have a chance of finding it. (Note I'm basing my knowledge of the way the Sony dictionary operates on my husband's 900--and assuming the newer models will work similarly.)

2. I much prefer the touch screen interface of the Sony's over the LCD touchscreen on the nook. It's so much more intuitive and easy to get around in!

3. The way Sony displays the Table of Contents of books is MUCH better than the nooks! On the nook, the TOC is displayed on the LCD screen--and only about four items at a time will display--if you have a large TOC, it could take a lot of scrolling to get to the item you want. Sonys display the TOC on the screen--more items at a time and much easier to get to the item you want.

4. PDF support is much better on the Sony. I don't read a lot of PDF docs, but I think I'd read more if I had the 650.

5. Sony will display books in landscape mode--it's portrait only for nooks. This really is an extension of #4 above--some PDFS work much better if they can be displayed in landscape (half page at a time) than in normal portrait mode.

6. The Sony 650 is much smaller and lighter than the nook--it'll fit in my purse much easier.

7. Almost forgot--battery life! The battery in my nook needs to be charged every couple of days. Basing my knowledge again on my 505 and my husband's 950, I'm assuming the battery life on the new 650's will be much better--I wouldn't be surprised to get three weeks of reading time.

Where the nook has the Sony beat is--
1. Wireless access. (Only the Sony 900 and new 950 have wireless access--and only the 950 has wifi.) This is not a big deal to me--I rarely use the wifi on my nook, sideloading documents from my computer instead. In fact, in all honesty I probably prefer not having wifi/wireless on my reader.

2. Price. The new Sony 650 is substantially more expensive than the nook...You can get the nook-wifi only for $150(US) and the Sony 650's are selling for $230.

Okay--I think I just convinced myself--I definitely will get a new 650--as long as reports on the screen clarity continue to be good!

Hope this helps!
dordale

copyrite · 09-10-2010, 08:04 PM

I was leaning more towards the Nook vs a Sony until I read some of your comments, but it probably wouldn't take much to shift me back the other direction. LOL

The idea of being to d/l books from Overdrive is one of the reasons I've shifted my search towards the Nook or the Sony. But which one is the questions.

JSWolf · 09-10-2010, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by copyrite

I was leaning more towards the Nook vs a Sony until I read some of your comments, but it probably wouldn't take much to shift me back the other direction. LOL

The idea of being to d/l books from Overdrive is one of the reasons I've shifted my search towards the Nook or the Sony. But which one is the questions.

Some things left out of the pros for Sony....

Sony is using the new Pearl screens so they will look nicer then the nook.

Sony is using a version of ADE that does allow for full justification and it has no page numbers on the right of the screen to get in the way of the text.

Sony is also faster at page turns

The battery life of the 650 vs the nook may possibly be better due to the fact that the nook has the LCD panel that does use more battery.

The Sony's new touch screen technology is very nice and easy to use.

The Sony looks nicer.

The lend-a-book feature of the nook works on a given book only once and only for two weeks. So if the person you've lent a book to cannot finish it in two weeks, too bad, it can't be lent again. So really, it's not as useful a feature as originally thought to be.

By not having 3G/wifi, you have less chance of making an impulse purchase that you may later regret.

dordale · 09-10-2010, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Some things left out of the pros for Sony....

Sony is using a version of ADE that does allow for full justification and it has no page numbers on the right of the screen to get in the way of the text.

The version of ADE that the nook uses also allows for full justification of ePubs and doesn't have the page numbers on the right. While I'm very glad that the new Sonys finally support this, it can't be seen as advantage over the nook.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Some things left out of the pros for Sony....

Sony is also faster at page turns

This could well be true...but the newer firmware released for the nooks increased the page turn speed quite a bit. I don't find it to be a problem with my nook.

dordale

boswd · 09-10-2010, 11:05 PM

Sony is still waaay overpriced. i don't understand that company, they just don't get it.

Downlaoding wirelessly is a lot nicer and more handy then Sony fans let on.

Buy books on Bn.com and it's automatically on your nook, out and about, traveling or wherever, want to buy a book, shop click ok straight from you nook and you got your book.

The nooks lend me feature may have some limits put on it by the publishers but it's still alot more than what Sony has to offer, which is NOTHING.

The Pearl Ink screen is turning out NOT to be the second coming of Christ. Its not but not head and shoulders above the nook which already has a fantastic screen.

You can buy books from Sony's bookstore but I do believe you cant buy BN ebooks for the Sony, not positive on that though.

BN is a much better home platform than for e books than Sony's

Color book cover cover flow.

Instore expereince, "More InStore that gives you discounts and coupons for BN available to Nook owners, Read any books for an hour each day, Free StarBucks items. (sure not deal breakers but it's just a great added touch that makes the Nook more than just another electronic device.)

You see with the nook you can sideload and/or download wirelessly, the Sony you have only one way unless of course you want pay more for the 950 which is insanely more than the nook even the nook wif 3G model.

no wireless and still no color but pay almost a $100 more? Ummmm Big Pass on the Sony.

Sony needs to wake up with their price structure, this is not the 1980's anymore where people would buy Sony because it was a Sony, here in a America there are a distant 3rd and their is a reason for that. their horrible price structure.

and Ohh the Nook has much much better and more stylish accesories

dordale · 09-10-2010, 11:15 PM

I think that Sony is making a mistake with their pricing and that they'll probably fall further behind in the market because of their prices.

But for me, the points I made above are enough to justify the additional dollars. Also, I don't buy my books from bn, so really Sony's lack of wireless doesn't bother me.

forsake

boswd · 09-10-2010, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dordale

I think that Sony is making a mistake with their pricing and that they'll probably fall further behind in the market because of their prices.

But for me, the points I made above are enough to justify the additional dollars. Also, I don't buy my books from bn, so really Sony's lack of wireless doesn't bother me.

forsake

Ohh I love my wireless, waiting for the train and want to buy the newspaper and having it in less than 30 seconds or just sitting at home and even at work(did i say that out loud

) browsing for books and finding one i'm really in the mood for and then having it on my Nook the next time I turn it on without hooking it up.

Don't get me wrong sideloading isn't a huge pain or anything, I do it when I shop at Fictionwise etc but wireless downloading is nicer, it's easier and it is more convient.

but I would say this about the Sony's, if the Nook wasn't an option I would take the Sony's and pay the extra over the Kindles, at least Sony has some features that are of todays techonology with it's touch navigation. I couldn't go back to pushing buttons for navigation, I don't get Amazon, it is soo extremely antiquited. Going from a Sony or a Nook to a kindle would be like going from Sony PSP to ColecoVision. Just Uggggg

ProfCrash · 09-10-2010, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boswd

but I would say this about the Sony's, if the Nook wasn't an option I would take the Sony's and pay the extra over the Kindles, at least Sony has some features that are of todays techonology with it's touch navigation. I couldn't go back to pushing buttons for navigation, I don't get Amazon, it is soo extremely antiquited. Going from a Sony or a Nook to a kindle would be like going from Sony PSP to ColecoVision. Just Uggggg

I don't like fingerprints on my screen so a touch screen would be bad for me. Love my buttons. Call me Granny.

boswd · 09-10-2010, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I don't like fingerprints on my screen so a touch screen would be bad for me. Love my buttons. Call me Granny.

yeah my buddy at work will hold on to his blackberry instead of a touch screen smartphone for the exact same reason.

you're not alone, my friend

ProfCrash · 09-11-2010, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boswd

yeah my buddy at work will hold on to his blackberry instead of a touch screen smartphone for the exact same reason.

you're not alone, my friend

which is why it is great that there are so many choices to be had.

Personally, I would not buy an E-reader that did not have 3G or Wifi. the ability to download a book pretty much anywhere is wonderful. I have bought books in the airport, on the train, and in my bed. I love not having to get out of bed to go download a book. The Sony's just would not work for me, they are too expensive, the book store is awful (I have looked), and the lack f 3G or WiFi on most of the models is a non-starter.

boswd · 09-11-2010, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

which is why it is great that there are so many choices to be had.

Personally, I would not buy an E-reader that did not have 3G or Wifi. the ability to download a book pretty much anywhere is wonderful. I have bought books in the airport, on the train, and in my bed. I love not having to get out of bed to go download a book. The Sony's just would not work for me, they are too expensive, the book store is awful (I have looked), and the lack f 3G or WiFi on most of the models is a non-starter.

I agree, Someone really needs to wake Sony up, the only thing I can think of is their sales are so strong overseas they don't feel the need to match features and price. But no wireless on almost all their models but yet charge more? The 950(their only wireless model) needs to be dropped at least $50 as does the rest of their models at least here in the US. Otherwise Kindle and the Nook will only widen the gap.

You're right their bookstore platform does stink, though I'll pop my head in time to time to see if they are running any specials.

but man I am with you about wireless, It advantages and convienence are undescribable.

JSWolf · 09-14-2010, 10:02 PM

Because of how poorly formatted most ePub are, a wireless connection to download eBooks is rather useless as I'd open the eBook, find it's awful looking, have to take the reader home, hook to the computer, download from the reader, strip the DRM, and then fix it up. This is a lot easier to do this all from the computer and then put the eBook onto the reader.

JSWolf · 09-14-2010, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I don't like fingerprints on my screen so a touch screen would be bad for me. Love my buttons. Call me Granny.

Touch the screens of your K1 and KDXG and see how the little you see of fingerprints. With the new Sony Readers, you do not need to press down on the screen to get it to recognize you've touched. So as far as touch screens go, the Pearl screens with IR touch will have less fingerprints then most touch screens.

HarryT · 09-16-2010, 03:25 AM

Plus, of course, the Sony still has page turn buttons. For those things that you have to use the touch screen for (eg opening a new book) I always prefer to use the stylus.

The only real problem with the Sony is the "library scan" issue. When you boot the machine, or disconnect it from USB on the PC, it scans its library to see if you've added any new books. If you have more than a few hundred books on the machine, this can take a very long time indeed (scan times of several hours have been reported).

09-10-2010, 07:01 PM	#1
copyrite Wizard Posts: 1,835 Karma: 4985051 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Maryland Device: Kindle	Nook vs Sony (Touch edition) Pros? Cons? Help? Thanks muchly, Julie

09-10-2010, 07:49 PM	#2
dordale Wizard Posts: 1,731 Karma: 3472866 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Sony PRS-650 & 350; Kindle Voyage; Kobo Aura HD, Aura One, and Forma	copyrite-- I have a nook--bought it a month and a half ago. I really like it--but I'm very tempted to (and probably will) buy the new Sony 650 when it comes out. The reasons I like the 650-- 1. I bought the nook was I really wanted a dictionary (which my Sony 505 didn't have). I stayed away from the Sony 600's because of the lower viewability of the screen. Although the nook does have a dictionary, I'm very disappointed with it. It's more cumbersome to access than the 650's--as you have to use the LCD screen to scroll through your document to highlight a word, or type the word in spelling it exactly right. On the 650, you can just double tap a word and the definition will appear at the bottom of the screen. You can view a more detailed definition by simply tapping an icon at the bottom of the screen. The Sony will allow you to scroll through the dictionary, so if you don't know exact spelling of a word you still have a chance of finding it. (Note I'm basing my knowledge of the way the Sony dictionary operates on my husband's 900--and assuming the newer models will work similarly.) 2. I much prefer the touch screen interface of the Sony's over the LCD touchscreen on the nook. It's so much more intuitive and easy to get around in! 3. The way Sony displays the Table of Contents of books is MUCH better than the nooks! On the nook, the TOC is displayed on the LCD screen--and only about four items at a time will display--if you have a large TOC, it could take a lot of scrolling to get to the item you want. Sonys display the TOC on the screen--more items at a time and much easier to get to the item you want. 4. PDF support is much better on the Sony. I don't read a lot of PDF docs, but I think I'd read more if I had the 650. 5. Sony will display books in landscape mode--it's portrait only for nooks. This really is an extension of #4 above--some PDFS work much better if they can be displayed in landscape (half page at a time) than in normal portrait mode. 6. The Sony 650 is much smaller and lighter than the nook--it'll fit in my purse much easier. 7. Almost forgot--battery life! The battery in my nook needs to be charged every couple of days. Basing my knowledge again on my 505 and my husband's 950, I'm assuming the battery life on the new 650's will be much better--I wouldn't be surprised to get three weeks of reading time. Where the nook has the Sony beat is-- 1. Wireless access. (Only the Sony 900 and new 950 have wireless access--and only the 950 has wifi.) This is not a big deal to me--I rarely use the wifi on my nook, sideloading documents from my computer instead. In fact, in all honesty I probably prefer not having wifi/wireless on my reader. 2. Price. The new Sony 650 is substantially more expensive than the nook...You can get the nook-wifi only for $150(US) and the Sony 650's are selling for $230. Okay--I think I just convinced myself--I definitely will get a new 650--as long as reports on the screen clarity continue to be good! Hope this helps! dordale Last edited by dordale; 09-10-2010 at 08:05 PM. Reason: add battery life as a plus for Sony

09-10-2010, 11:05 PM	#6
boswd Banned Posts: 2,391 Karma: 1001781 Join Date: May 2010 Device: The Nook, Nook color and Droid X	Sony is still waaay overpriced. i don't understand that company, they just don't get it. Downlaoding wirelessly is a lot nicer and more handy then Sony fans let on. Buy books on Bn.com and it's automatically on your nook, out and about, traveling or wherever, want to buy a book, shop click ok straight from you nook and you got your book. The nooks lend me feature may have some limits put on it by the publishers but it's still alot more than what Sony has to offer, which is NOTHING. The Pearl Ink screen is turning out NOT to be the second coming of Christ. Its not but not head and shoulders above the nook which already has a fantastic screen. You can buy books from Sony's bookstore but I do believe you cant buy BN ebooks for the Sony, not positive on that though. BN is a much better home platform than for e books than Sony's Color book cover cover flow. Instore expereince, "More InStore that gives you discounts and coupons for BN available to Nook owners, Read any books for an hour each day, Free StarBucks items. (sure not deal breakers but it's just a great added touch that makes the Nook more than just another electronic device.) You see with the nook you can sideload and/or download wirelessly, the Sony you have only one way unless of course you want pay more for the 950 which is insanely more than the nook even the nook wif 3G model. no wireless and still no color but pay almost a $100 more? Ummmm Big Pass on the Sony. Sony needs to wake up with their price structure, this is not the 1980's anymore where people would buy Sony because it was a Sony, here in a America there are a distant 3rd and their is a reason for that. their horrible price structure. and Ohh the Nook has much much better and more stylish accesories Last edited by boswd; 09-10-2010 at 11:23 PM.

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09-10-2010, 08:04 PM	#3
copyrite Wizard Posts: 1,835 Karma: 4985051 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Maryland Device: Kindle	I was leaning more towards the Nook vs a Sony until I read some of your comments, but it probably wouldn't take much to shift me back the other direction. LOL The idea of being to d/l books from Overdrive is one of the reasons I've shifted my search towards the Nook or the Sony. But which one is the questions.

09-10-2010, 11:15 PM	#7
dordale Wizard Posts: 1,731 Karma: 3472866 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Sony PRS-650 & 350; Kindle Voyage; Kobo Aura HD, Aura One, and Forma	I think that Sony is making a mistake with their pricing and that they'll probably fall further behind in the market because of their prices. But for me, the points I made above are enough to justify the additional dollars. Also, I don't buy my books from bn, so really Sony's lack of wireless doesn't bother me. forsake

09-14-2010, 10:02 PM	#13
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,235 Karma: 145488788 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Because of how poorly formatted most ePub are, a wireless connection to download eBooks is rather useless as I'd open the eBook, find it's awful looking, have to take the reader home, hook to the computer, download from the reader, strip the DRM, and then fix it up. This is a lot easier to do this all from the computer and then put the eBook onto the reader.

09-16-2010, 03:25 AM	#15
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Plus, of course, the Sony still has page turn buttons. For those things that you have to use the touch screen for (eg opening a new book) I always prefer to use the stylus. The only real problem with the Sony is the "library scan" issue. When you boot the machine, or disconnect it from USB on the PC, it scans its library to see if you've added any new books. If you have more than a few hundred books on the machine, this can take a very long time indeed (scan times of several hours have been reported).

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