Hello from Annapolis, MD!

[JWLaRue]

I've been a lurker here for some time and felt that now was the time to 'officially' join in.

Right now I am still looking to buy my first eBook reader and have more or less narrowed it down to either the Sony PRS-505 or the iRex iLiad. There are several, competing "I wants" at work here. For example:

- relative low cost as I don't see any of the current devices being an end-state
- ability to install add-ons and generally be able to 'tweak' the way it works
- don't want to be locked into a vendor book format
- don't like or care for DRM either
- be able to read PDFs, primarily technical manuals

I would probably be much easier to decide if it were possible to lay hands on each device and give them a few minutes of use.

In any case, this community has been a great help so far and I'm looking forward to my first eBook reader.

-Jeff

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by JWLaRue

I've been a lurker here for some time and felt that now was the time to 'officially' join in.

Right now I am still looking to buy my first eBook reader and have more or less narrowed it down to either the Sony PRS-505 or the iRex iLiad. There are several, competing "I wants" at work here. For example:

- relative low cost as I don't see any of the current devices being an end-state
- ability to install add-ons and generally be able to 'tweak' the way it works
- don't want to be locked into a vendor book format
- don't like or care for DRM either
- be able to read PDFs, primarily technical manuals

I would probably be much easier to decide if it were possible to lay hands on each device and give them a few minutes of use.

In any case, this community has been a great help so far and I'm looking forward to my first eBook reader.

-Jeff

Hi, welcome to the group. Based on your requirements the iLiad is certainly the more able product. I suspect the Sony price still has you enticed to see if you can get by.

Dale

[JWLaRue]

Hi Dale,

That is correct. The $400 difference is holding me back. If I thought the iLiad would serve me for a reasonable length of time, which is hard to quantify, then I would be much more inclined to go with the iRex product.

Still would prefer being able to see one first....

-Jeff

[MickeyC]

Hi and welcome to the Forum. I did a lot of thinking before buying a Sony 505 and it was worth the time. The Sony meets my needs perfectly and I got it at a 40% discount.

Be sure and let us know what you decide on

[RWood]

The killer point of your list is the ability to read technical manuals in PDF. While there are tools to make PDF files more readable and the size of the iRex screen is larger than the Sony, technical manuals in PDF are perhaps better read on a laptop or tablet PC. When larger sized e-ink screens are available perhaps then, until that time ....

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by RWood

The killer point of your list is the ability to read technical manuals in PDF. While there are tools to make PDF files more readable and the size of the iRex screen is larger than the Sony, technical manuals in PDF are perhaps better read on a laptop or tablet PC. When larger sized e-ink screens are available perhaps then, until that time ....

Actually I think all of his points except the first one favor the iLiad heavily. It supports full Linux addons and has several readers available for lots of content in different formats.

Dale

[JWLaRue]

This is clearly part of my 'learning curve'......

From what I have read here on the forums so far, the iLiad appears to be able to handle technical PDF documents quite nicely. There is a post here (somewhere!) that shows one of the VMware manuals on an iLiad. Since I have the paper-based versions, I can make something of a comparison to the photos that were upload. It looks pretty good to me!

That said, I found a PRS-505 at a local Borders this evening, which gave me some hands-on time with that particular unit. Even though I have read the specs, I was surprised as to how compact this reader actually is. The built-in font sizes appear to be just fine for reading whatever text was loaded into the demo reader. I think if I could (also) get a 40% discount ($299 - $120 = $179) that I wouldn't think twice about buying it!

Being the thorough person that I am, I did up a quick set of AutoCAD drawings of the PRS-505 and the iLiad so that I can get a better appreciation of the size differences. With the screen size of the iLiad being just about the same size as the entire -505, it does make the decision that much more difficult.

-Jeff

[growat]

Hey Cassidy,

Any tips on finding a PRS-505 at 40% off?

Best,
Graham

[JWLaRue]

Originally Posted by growat

Hey Cassidy,

Any tips on finding a PRS-505 at 40% off?

Best,
Graham

Yea! What he said!

-Jeff

[MickeyC]

Originally Posted by growat

Hey Cassidy,

Any tips on finding a PRS-505 at 40% off?

Best,
Graham

I got it at the Sony store in the Pentagon City Mall here in Norther VA just after New Years. I went there prepared to pay full price but, when I told the clerk I was interested in a 505 he told me they had three window models on sale at 40% off. They hadn't been handled by customers, like the models chained to the counter-top but rather just removed from their boxes and put on display in the window. So I grabbed one and it works fine; am very pleased with it.

In fact, as soon as I got it home, I posted a note on this Forum about it and by evening, based on my tip, another Forum member had one at the same price. Unfortunately the discounted ones are now all gone.

[JWLaRue]

Thought I should update my "intro" posting to let folks know where I am with deciding on an e-ink device.

Originally I was looking to make a choice between the Sony PRS-505 and the iRex iLiad. The more research I did, including some hands-on time with the 505 at a Borders Book store, to more convinced I became that the 505 wasn't going to work for me due to the layout of the page turn buttons and the relative difficulty I was having pressing them. During this same time, I was seeing more and more that I liked about the cyBook...the book formats supported, the button layout were two principle items.

Of course, it's not possible (at least for me) to try before I buy....so (somehow) I convinced my wife to let me buy to try.....so the plan now is to buy both the iLiad and the cyBook.

Today I purchased an iRex iLiad from the person selling the v1 version on eBay. Since his company, which is the actual selling entity, is where I live I arranged to meet him and pick the iLiad up within an hour of paying for it via PayPal. As I write this, I am trying to get the iLiad to connect to my home ethernet so that I can update the firmware......then it'll really be time for some "hands on" evaluating!

-Jeff

[rashid]

can anybody guide me on how to download dictionaries for sony ericsson p1i