A question for Sony ebook owners

[lack]

Originally Posted by SonyFan

Just to add the simplest message of all - Sony PRS-700BC

I do most of my reading at night - Built in booklight, and a beautiful M-Edge Leather case.

No additional Lights, accessories, what have you, required - Beat that, Nook, Kindle, et al!

That's what I thought too! Wonder why they ditch that side lighting concept...
Is the lighting uneven or something?

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by Renji

also I have heaps of epub books which i prefer to just have on my memory cards.

My Sony PRS-650 has two slots, for Memory Stick and SD Card.

Erratum
Oops! I have just noticed that you have a 650, too. Apologies! I was confused by the word from, in your post: "Memory card was the big factor from the Kindle ...". Mea culpa.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

What do you think is the biggest advantage of the Sony ebook readers as oposed to the Amazon Kindle, Jet Book and the Aluratek Libra Pro? For example the advantage of the Libra Pro is its price tag, $100 and the advantage of the Jet Book is the ability to support just about every possible ebook format available.

I think I'm going to try to leverage the Christmas gift inquiries from my wife, the Best Buy sales, and a Sony 75 buck rebate on my 505 into a new 950.

For one thing, I just like the look & feel of the 950. For another, I might investigate the public library lending feature. I might have to adjust my reading habits but if the library has free books I want to read, I might be able to do that...

[SeaBookGuy]

Some people have been known to check their library's e-holdings daily (by "most recently added to site") for new offerings ... or so I've heard.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Eric Muller

http://www.ebooksgratuits.com also has 2000+ books, and they have better typography then gutenberg.

No, they have French. So how does French make them better then Gutenberg?

[hmf]

I've used the Nook, Sony 350 and the Kindle 3 for extensive periods trying to decide which I wanted to use long term. I would have preferred testing a 650 but they were unavailable in my area. The Nook was fun to play with especially after Softrooting it but as a reader it was just too heavy and the buttons too hard to press. Swiping to turn pages worked well tho.
The Sony...what a neat device. The touchscreen is killer. Adding and creating collections was easy. Selecting books, even with hundreds loaded was a breeze. Boy did I want to keep it. But then I began to read books on it. I could never get a font size that worked for me. When I tried the various page formats I noticed that all they did was stretch or shrink the existing line but with the same number of letters. The font was not very legible to my eyes (being of the older variety). I tried using custom font sizes and custom fonts but was never able to get it right...either too small or too big. Also right hand justification was never reliable.
Then I started to use the Kindle. Its interface was a bit clunky with the 5-way key. Navigation was painful compared to the Sony. What!! No thumbnail bookcovers. But then I started to read with it. The stock font was so much easier to read than the Sony. Using the various hacks to adjust the text to the edge of the screen and right hand justifification made reading much more enjoyable than the 350. I did change the default Caecilia font to Georgia and for me its a great reader. To sum it up I kept the Kindle much as I wanted the sexy Sony. I figured its a reader first. Just 1 guy's opinion but I can see why there are so many Sony fans.

[astra]

Originally Posted by lack

That's what I thought too! Wonder why they ditch that side lighting concept...
Is the lighting uneven or something?

1. Lighting is extremely uneven.

2. LEDs used for lighting were eating up power like any other LCD screen based gadget.

3. Because addition layers of touch screen and a screen for lighting, the text is worse than on 500?!?

Conclusion:
Two most important advantages of eInk were rendered useless (long battery life and clear, paper like screen).

The biggest blunder Sony has made in their ebook reader's history.

[lack]

Yea the 700 IS a blunder.

but the concept... this side lighted cover for the 600, I think.. could work.

I like my 650 lighted cover but frankly, if I don't adjust the angle well the glare is well enough disturbing. I would go out and try some plastic matte cover in the weekend, see if it helps.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by Harmon

I think I'm going to try to leverage the Christmas gift inquiries from my wife, the Best Buy sales, and a Sony 75 buck rebate on my 505 into a new 950.

For one thing, I just like the look & feel of the 950. For another, I might investigate the public library lending feature. I might have to adjust my reading habits but if the library has free books I want to read, I might be able to do that...

Harmon, I went from the Sony 505 (which I have given to my wife) to the 950 and would never go back. The 950 is great in every way except one: I think Sony has blown it by not including in the firmware the capability to natively read B&N DRMed ebooks. Granted it is easy enough to strip, but I think Sony needs to recognize that in ultimately, in the United States, there will be 3 primary ebooksellers -- Amazon, B&N, and Kobo -- and the Sony ebookstore will not survive.

I don't think Sony can be beaten yet on the hardware, but it sure needs to be more price competitive.

[jbcohen]

Gee Harmon did not know anything aobut this. I will consider the offer.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

No, they have French. So how does French make them better then Gutenberg?

They taste better...

[grooks]

Originally Posted by Harmon

For one thing, I just like the look & feel of the 950. For another, I might investigate the public library lending feature. I might have to adjust my reading habits but if the library has free books I want to read, I might be able to do that...

At least 90% of my reading is from public libraries.

[Ayle]

As to e-readers, I would like to add that I didn't consider those with LCD screens.
I wanted a high battery, sun reading, true eink device, so anything like the aluratek libre or the ipad, didn't really tickle my interest.

[beespeckled]

I have the sony 300 pocket edition. It is my first eReader, was a mom's day gift this past May.
I ruled out Amazon's Kindle due to not being able to download books from the public library. I wanted portability.

I'm a happy camper. No problems with the Sony software, Adobe digital editions or Overdrive. Right before the new Reader's were announced this summer I was able to snag the dc charger for my Sony for under $9. So now, as long as I have bookmarked, my library book stays on my device until I finish it.

The space available on this device has been plenty. I don't buy ebooks, strictly download from my public library for my entertainment reading fix. So have only had a max of 4 books on it at one time.

The positives: I think Sony's menu system is practical & user friendly. I like where I can see how many books are loaded at a glance, just push the side menu buttons to quickly go where I want. I mention this because we purchased DD a Kobo for her Bday. She loves it, but I don't like the menu system as well as Sony's. Seems you have to scroll thru lots more clutter to get to the book you want to read than what I do w/my Sony.

The screen and text are easy to read, no glare problems in sunlight. Fits in my purse easily. I have the protective leather cover w/book light for it. I've been using the Sony reader software to keep track of the books I have downloaded.

So far, my Sony reader has been very durable. I try to be careful but it does get casually stashed in purses, bookbags & backpacks. The balance w/the protective cover is excellent IMHO. Feels right in my hands.

Would be nice to have a quicker startup time, and quicker page turns but other than that, it does everything I need

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by lack

...I like my 650 lighted cover but frankly, if I don't adjust the angle well the glare is well enough disturbing...

When reading, I hold the reader at right angles and always position the hinged light as far up as it will go. Consequently, I don't see glare when using the reader. I would only be able to see glare from the light-source, if I held the reader so that it was it tilted away from the surface normal (right angle), to an angle that matched the angle of the light. In optics, the angle of reflection is always equal to the angle of incidence. This is sometimes called the grazing angle. I like the lighted cover very much.