Can't decide which e-Reader to get for my own preferences

[jocampo]

Based on your comment that you won't buy books online, I will assume that you are basically interested in DRM free books. If that's the case, getting your books from well known book stores is not your #1 priority here so maybe a Sony ereader is better for you. It is a good device but expensive. Great pearl e-ink screen and good quality as well. Really good for PDF files although you will have to zoom and scroll a little bit.

I personally like the Kindle 3 and Kindle DXG. The books that I like and need, are 99.9% of the time there (if not, O'reilly, and I can read those in my Kindle without conversion). I don't read too many novels or DRM free books, so my purchase is supported by a good market, like Amazon store.

Kindle 3 has a good balance between quality and price, in my opinion. So it could be your 2nd choice, especially because the low price, an important requirement for you.

[mentalxfiction]

What format are your free books in? PDF? Sony will handle that better. There are a lot of freebies from Amazon but a lot of the time they are US only. I've tried downloading free books from Amazon US using US details (was not required to enter a credit card) outside the US but it must have checked my IP address and would not let me download. Work out where you plan to get your books from, and what format they are available in. PDF and epub - Sony. Buying from Amazon - Kindle. Keep in mind that if they are DRM-free you may be able to convert between formats. Kindle also reads mobi files.

Well the thing is, my friend has a Kindle like I've already mentioned and she has a load of free books. She's given me instructions on how to get those free books, so the matter of free e-books and PDFs isn't really a problem anymore.

The form factor is one which you'll have to decide how important it is. Personally I much prefer the clean lines of the Sony - I find miniature keyboards extremely annoying and ugly. To each his own. The Sonys are generally regarded as the most solidly built, having said that the Kindles aren't flimsy. While Amazon have a great reputation for customer service, I wonder how well that applies from the UAE. If you have to pay return shipping it can get to the point where it's not worth sending it back if you have problems.

Problem is Sony Readers aren't available in the UAE either at the moment, well they are but the models are limited plus in a different city from where I live, so not only will I have to order a Sony Reader online too but if it crashes or any problem occurs, I don't really have any customer service to rely on, regardless of whether it applies to where I live.
Amazon might still have better customer service in comparison as I've read a lot of reviews where Amazon took back and replaced faulty Kindles in Asian countries so I'm assuming it may apply here to some degree?

There has been a bit of discussion in the past about frame colours, and most people found that dark colours improved contrast. I'm pretty sure the Kindle comes in black and white, and I know that the Sonys come in a variety of colours (mine's a deep pink). So I wouldn't worry too much about disliking the white. You can always get a skin or decal.

The color really isn't a problem since the Kindle comes in graphite which I love, but the Sony 350 comes in white and this really ugly (in my opinion) hot pink which I can't stand :P

Keep shipping prices in mind when you're comparing costs. If Amazon doesn't ship to the UAE, I imagine you can still get one from another vendor or a drop shipper, but the cost will be higher. The Sony 350 is currently on sale for $130 at bhphoto.com, and they do ship to the UAE though it looks like the minimum shipping cost would be about $50.

The shipping prices really aren't too much of a problem. Because if Amazon doesn't ship to the UAE, there are actually websites like ebay that are exclusive to here. However the only reason I'm not buying from there is because not only is the Kindle almost twice as expensive, there's even the possibility that it might be used to a point.

Amazon ships to the UAE for $15 so I guess it's a lot cheaper than having a Sony 350 which is more expensive and doesn't have WiFi either (as you said) shipped for $50.

I have been keeping the shipping prices in mind which is why I kept my limit from about $100~$150, because if we add shipping costs and the price of protective covers, it'll make up to about $200 anyways.

Based on your comment that you won't buy books online, I will assume that you are basically interested in DRM free books. If that's the case, getting your books from well known book stores is not your #1 priority here so maybe a Sony ereader is better for you. It is a good device but expensive. Great pearl e-ink screen and good quality as well. Really good for PDF files although you will have to zoom and scroll a little bit.

One of the reasons I considered Sony Reader because I've read a lot of reviews about how Kindle doesn't read PDFs all that well. But like I already said to one of the posters, my friend will be giving me instructions on how to read free e-books on Kindles, and I made sure to ask her if authors that I like will be available on the website that she uses, since she has a lot of free e-books on her Kindle too.

She is actually the one who recommended the Kindle, since she hasn't experienced all too many problems on hers.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by mentalxfiction

One of the reasons I considered Sony Reader because I've read a lot of reviews about how Kindle doesn't read PDFs all that well. But like I already said to one of the posters, my friend will be giving me instructions on how to read free e-books on Kindles, and I made sure to ask her if authors that I like will be available on the website that she uses, since she has a lot of free e-books on her Kindle too.

She is actually the one who recommended the Kindle, since she hasn't experienced all too many problems on hers.

No doubt, you can read and download free books from Amazon, even from other online stores which support mobi, but the main point of getting a Kindle is trying to get advantage of the Amazon online bookstore, don't you think?

I do also have a Kindle and I love it, would not change it for a Sony on my particular case, but for PDF support only I think Sony it is better than Kindle 3. Wish Amazon can push the Kindle DXG firmware though, that will really put the DXG as a solid PDF contender.

[ProfCrash]

You will be happy with either device.

The Kindle has a 30 day return policy. You can buy it, play with it, use it, see how it works for you. If you don't like it you can send it back and get a full refund. That lets you test out your PDF's on it and see how they work.

I am not sure what Sony's return policy is but it will be more complicated if the device is not sold in the country you are living in. So maybe try the Kindle and see if you like it or not. If it does not meet your needs you can order the 350.

Also, ask youself if the one inch difference in screen size is going to matter to you. The K3 is a 6 inch screen, the 350 is a 5 inch screen. They are both very portable.

What type of PDF's are you going to be working with? I finally got some PDF's on my Kindle and am finding that they are easy enough to read. If I want a larger font size, I flip to landscape mode. The zooming in and out seemed to be a pain so I didn't bother with it. That said, I am reading pure text. No pictures, graphs, formulas or anything along those lines.

If you are reading more complex PDF's then you probably want the Sony. If you are reading books in PDF form that are not all that complex, ie mainly text, then I think you will be fine on a Kindle.

As for the web browser. I have the DXG so I cannot say much about the browser on the K3. I do know that I tried the browser on the DXG once and decided it was not worth it. I do like having the wireless connectivity. I order 90% of my books off of the computer but download them using the wireless. I have bought books while traveling and away from computers. It is nice to have that option.

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by mentalxfiction

[FONT="Arial"]The color really isn't a problem since the Kindle comes in graphite which I love, but the Sony 350 comes in white and this really ugly (in my opinion) hot pink which I can't stand :P

I'm not crazy about silver devices, either. I'm pretty sure that the Sony 350 does come in dark blue, but that colour is not available everywhere, perhaps just in Europe.

[mentalxfiction]

No doubt, you can read and download free books from Amazon, even from other online stores which support mobi, but the main point of getting a Kindle is trying to get advantage of the Amazon online bookstore, don't you think?

Very true, but as ProfCrash suggested, I can test it out for 30 days and if using Amazon is a problem, or PDFs don't work etc, then I can always give it back?

Also, ask youself if the one inch difference in screen size is going to matter to you. The K3 is a 6 inch screen, the 350 is a 5 inch screen. They are both very portable.

Hmm not really. One inch to me is only a measured difference, otherwise they'd both just look the same.

What type of PDF's are you going to be working with? I finally got some PDF's on my Kindle and am finding that they are easy enough to read. If I want a larger font size, I flip to landscape mode. The zooming in and out seemed to be a pain so I didn't bother with it. That said, I am reading pure text. No pictures, graphs, formulas or anything along those lines.

I'm mostly going to be using pure text PDFs too. The odd one or two that actually DO have pictures, I'll just edit those out. After all, I need the e-reader for reading not looking at pictures :P

I'm not crazy about silver devices, either. I'm pretty sure that the Sony 350 does come in dark blue, but that colour is not available everywhere, perhaps just in Europe.

Does it? I haven't been able to come across it on the internet.

Thanks once again! I'm expecting the Kindle by next week tops, so when I get it I'll just post a review here about whether it met my demands or not =)

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by mentalxfiction

Thanks once again! I'm expecting the Kindle by next week tops, so when I get it I'll just post a review here about whether it met my demands or not =)