Looking for lots of space and freedom in Australia, basically. - Page 2

estrial · 09-10-2010, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uclaser

Hey estrial, its the sony store in the city. The one on Bourke and Elizabeth St, the Galleria. It is on the second floor, above the food court. Went there just now and tried with the prs650. I don't know if its just me but the prs650's screen quality looked better than my K3

okies, i'll drop by and have a look tomorrow since im going to be in town

Maybe its just the "grass is greener" thing, they're all pearl screens after all, but i'll leave that to after i've seen it hehe.

uclaser · 09-10-2010, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by estrial

okies, i'll drop by and have a look tomorrow since im going to be in town

Maybe its just the "grass is greener" thing, they're all pearl screens after all, but i'll leave that to after i've seen it hehe.

I hope thats the case as well

I think the blacks have the same level of blackness but IMO the white is a tad whiter on the sony which makes it seem more crisp overall than the K3. All in all I think I will most likely stick with my K3.

Please tell me what you think after you take a look tomorrow

estrial · 09-11-2010, 03:51 AM

hellohello! I've had a look at the Sony's today. They look adorable! I must say, the screens look similar, I could hardly see much difference the screens. But, the design of the Sony e-readers and the feel of it is much more refined. I really loved how compact the 5'inch screen one was, but felt alittle sad about how we weren't able to change the font into san-serif typeface like we could on the kindle as it is defaulted to what the publisher put them as on the epubs. The interface of Sony's e-readers are mainly navigated by touch, I get too fussy with finger prints, but it can also be navigated by using the stylus. Sony offers external storage but no wifi or 3g, which had become something I've learnt to enjoy with the kindle.(ease of getting books, tweeting, without having to run to my computer)

Sony's firmware feels good, you are able to see all your book covers on display and not limited to title/author words display, despite the smoother transitions there is still lag if you take notes with the stylus which is pretty much the same as the Bebook Neo. The page flips, book change and menu up is almost instant. Kindle's 3.01 update has hastened the speed of the firmware and also stabilized it more so. Both the speeds of Sony's and Kindle's page flips are comparable, with Sony's probably a tad slower(maybe my fingers just slow at sweeping the screens)

For the price I paid for my kindle 6"inch 204AUD 4gigs(non-expandable) 3g/wifi
the 5"inch sony reader is 229AUD has 2gigs(non-expandable) Touchscreen/stylus comes in colours.
the 6"inch for 299AUD 2gigs(expandable SD and Sonysticks) Touchscreen/stylus comes in colours.

My verdict is that. I do not want to give my kindle up. Maybe Im old fashioned and not like using my fingers to poke on screens.(other than my mobile phone) However, I really love the feel of the Sony e-reader's light aluminum casing. They feel classy and more fashionable as they do come in different colours which gives more choices for personalization instead of buying a decal to stick it on. Maybe my next e-reader would be a Sony if the Kindle decides to fail in the future. But for now, I shall stick to my kindle as I am unwilling to pay an extra 25AUD to downgrade to 5"inch screen or 95AUD to purchase the sony 6"inch and not have the ease of adding new books to my library while I am not at home.

(according to the nice dude in the Sony store the 5"inch is almost sold out so if you are looking to buy it. Either order or get it quick)

uclaser · 09-11-2010, 06:02 AM

hehehe...I decided to stick with my K3 as wellll

Can't really justify the extra $100 to upgrade, and not to mention the shipping cost to return the K3 to Amazon.

emmad · 09-13-2010, 05:38 PM

I have a K3 here in NZ and am really enjoying it. There are a large number of places that I can get free books from.

The only complaint I have is the geo restrictions where while we do have over 400000 books to choose from the pricing is often higher than the us selection and there are no freebies via amazon.

rednick · 09-13-2010, 09:11 PM

My first post so please be gentle, I'm an Aussie as well and looking to buy my wife an e-reader. I'm leaning towards the Kindle and am also worried about the lack on content concerns.

Silly question I'm sure but what prevents you downloading a book from a US Amazon account via PC and then transferring from PC to kindle? Is it a DRM issue or does Amazon try and block Australian IP addresses from it's store?

Thanks

aaaces · 09-13-2010, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rednick

Silly question I'm sure but what prevents you downloading a book from a US Amazon account via PC and then transferring from PC to kindle? Is it a DRM issue or does Amazon try and block Australian IP addresses from it's store?

It is a complicated process...

1. Buy a gift card from Amazon with your regular account.

2. Set up a 2nd account in a different name with (any) US address

3. Purchase books using the 2nd account by applying the gift card number.

4. Transfer your purchases via USB to Kindle.

sabredog · 09-13-2010, 10:19 PM

The main issue facing non US/CAN residents is geographic restriction. This is where the publisher prevents some titles from being sold outside a certain region. In most cases that would be US/CAN.

The ebook store (including Amazon) will often check your IP or your credit card/Paypal billing address, thus preventing purchase of the geographically restricted ebook.

There are many ways around the system and one method that works with one website may not work with another website.

With Amazon, a VPN or IP hiding proxy usually suffices quite well, allowing you to purchase the title you want to purchase.

Geographic restrictions are the single most frustrating issue I find currently, even more so than DRM of which removal is relatively easy.

I hope that answers your question.

aaaces · 09-17-2010, 08:14 AM

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention...when using the US account, using a proxy site such as the free on found on hotspotshield will hide your location.

This is a fairly significant effort to put in granted so it is not for everyone but book prices are retardo in any case, but especially so in E Books.....for example, 9 Dragons by Michael Conelly is about $12 on US Amazon, Nor available on Aus Amazon and $7.50 + Tax for a physical copy bought in-store at Walmart or Target in the US

I personally think that there is currently a lot more goodwill that consumers have towards paying for books vs music ATM but if they do not hurry up and get their collective acts together soon on prices for books...well, we have all seen what has happened to music.

09-11-2010, 03:51 AM	#18
estrial small is good Posts: 95 Karma: 100 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle 3, Samsung Galaxy S	Sonys VS Kindle 3 hellohello! I've had a look at the Sony's today. They look adorable! I must say, the screens look similar, I could hardly see much difference the screens. But, the design of the Sony e-readers and the feel of it is much more refined. I really loved how compact the 5'inch screen one was, but felt alittle sad about how we weren't able to change the font into san-serif typeface like we could on the kindle as it is defaulted to what the publisher put them as on the epubs. The interface of Sony's e-readers are mainly navigated by touch, I get too fussy with finger prints, but it can also be navigated by using the stylus. Sony offers external storage but no wifi or 3g, which had become something I've learnt to enjoy with the kindle.(ease of getting books, tweeting, without having to run to my computer) Sony's firmware feels good, you are able to see all your book covers on display and not limited to title/author words display, despite the smoother transitions there is still lag if you take notes with the stylus which is pretty much the same as the Bebook Neo. The page flips, book change and menu up is almost instant. Kindle's 3.01 update has hastened the speed of the firmware and also stabilized it more so. Both the speeds of Sony's and Kindle's page flips are comparable, with Sony's probably a tad slower(maybe my fingers just slow at sweeping the screens) For the price I paid for my kindle 6"inch 204AUD 4gigs(non-expandable) 3g/wifi the 5"inch sony reader is 229AUD has 2gigs(non-expandable) Touchscreen/stylus comes in colours. the 6"inch for 299AUD 2gigs(expandable SD and Sonysticks) Touchscreen/stylus comes in colours. My verdict is that. I do not want to give my kindle up. Maybe Im old fashioned and not like using my fingers to poke on screens.(other than my mobile phone) However, I really love the feel of the Sony e-reader's light aluminum casing. They feel classy and more fashionable as they do come in different colours which gives more choices for personalization instead of buying a decal to stick it on. Maybe my next e-reader would be a Sony if the Kindle decides to fail in the future. But for now, I shall stick to my kindle as I am unwilling to pay an extra 25AUD to downgrade to 5"inch screen or 95AUD to purchase the sony 6"inch and not have the ease of adding new books to my library while I am not at home. (according to the nice dude in the Sony store the 5"inch is almost sold out so if you are looking to buy it. Either order or get it quick) Last edited by estrial; 09-11-2010 at 03:54 AM.

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09-11-2010, 06:02 AM	#19
uclaser Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Melbourne Device: Kindle 3	hehehe...I decided to stick with my K3 as wellll Can't really justify the extra $100 to upgrade, and not to mention the shipping cost to return the K3 to Amazon.

09-13-2010, 05:38 PM	#20
emmad Enthusiast Posts: 32 Karma: 529910 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Kindle WiFi	I have a K3 here in NZ and am really enjoying it. There are a large number of places that I can get free books from. The only complaint I have is the geo restrictions where while we do have over 400000 books to choose from the pricing is often higher than the us selection and there are no freebies via amazon.

09-13-2010, 09:11 PM	#21
rednick Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: none	My first post so please be gentle, I'm an Aussie as well and looking to buy my wife an e-reader. I'm leaning towards the Kindle and am also worried about the lack on content concerns. Silly question I'm sure but what prevents you downloading a book from a US Amazon account via PC and then transferring from PC to kindle? Is it a DRM issue or does Amazon try and block Australian IP addresses from it's store? Thanks

09-13-2010, 10:19 PM	#23
sabredog Geographically Restricted Posts: 2,629 Karma: 14933353 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Perth, Australia Device: Sony PRS-T3, Kindle Voyage, iPad Air2, Nexus7v2	The main issue facing non US/CAN residents is geographic restriction. This is where the publisher prevents some titles from being sold outside a certain region. In most cases that would be US/CAN. The ebook store (including Amazon) will often check your IP or your credit card/Paypal billing address, thus preventing purchase of the geographically restricted ebook. There are many ways around the system and one method that works with one website may not work with another website. With Amazon, a VPN or IP hiding proxy usually suffices quite well, allowing you to purchase the title you want to purchase. Geographic restrictions are the single most frustrating issue I find currently, even more so than DRM of which removal is relatively easy. I hope that answers your question.

09-17-2010, 08:14 AM	#24
aaaces Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Gold Coast Australia Device: Kindle 3	Oh yeah, I forgot to mention...when using the US account, using a proxy site such as the free on found on hotspotshield will hide your location. This is a fairly significant effort to put in granted so it is not for everyone but book prices are retardo in any case, but especially so in E Books.....for example, 9 Dragons by Michael Conelly is about $12 on US Amazon, Nor available on Aus Amazon and $7.50 + Tax for a physical copy bought in-store at Walmart or Target in the US I personally think that there is currently a lot more goodwill that consumers have towards paying for books vs music ATM but if they do not hurry up and get their collective acts together soon on prices for books...well, we have all seen what has happened to music.