How much is a touchscreen worth?

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by SaraD

Yes, there is a Sony bookstore, but there is no direct link set up the way that B&N and Amazon do with their readers. Of course the lack of wifi or 3G would make that rather difficult to do. The wifi hardware adds little weight, but the 3G hardware adds a noticeable amount.

The first thing I do with a new computer is reformat it to be rid of all the sampler stuff that is preloaded. I don't like the preloaded apps that my Droid came with that cannot be deleted unless I root the phone. Since that is a riskier prospect than reformatting a computer I don't do it. I see bookstore sponsored e-book readers much the same as my Droid and prefer not go that way.

Sony 950's can do "Whispersync" from the Sony bookstore, just as Kindles and Nooks do from theirs.

[Lilly]

No touchscreen, no deal! Ever since I purchased my PRS-900 last January, I knew I would never buy another reader without a touchscreen. Now I also have the PRS-950 and loving it. My Kindle 2 has been on permanent loan to one of my nephews for 10 months now. I still purchase books from Amazon occasionally but have it sent to my K4PC and then I make a Sony copy! I'm finding more stores are matching Amazon prices so if it's off by .50 cents or less, I buy the ePub version. A Year ago 70% of my purchases were from Amazon now about 20%!

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by italianReader

In other words...how much would you pay to add a touchscreen to your e-reader or how much discount do you think it's reasonable between a touchscreen model and a non-touchscreen one?

Just to give the question a little bit more context:

I'm going to buy a pocketboock 90x and I'm trying to evaluate if I should go with the 902 model (no touchscreen, no 3G) or the 903 (touchscreen, 3G).
I know I will never use the 3G, and so I'm trying to evaluate what can be a "right" price for the touchscreen feature. In this particular case the price difference is 70€ (329€ vs 399€).
Personally I'm wavering between the 2 models but I think I will buy the 902.

For reading only purposes, touchscreen adds nothing to the reading experience. Do you touch or used to touch your novel while reading, no right? The equation becomes more complex when you extrapolate that for other types of books or activities, like studying or reading technical material, not just pure text or novels. Such activities help during the learning process and they are missing (or most) in most eink devices today; an exception could be Sony readers though. In other words, for pure text or novels, simple books, I see no reason for a touchscreen.

Now, how much someone would pay or not is not a black and white question. It depends of the whole device and hardware; capacitive screens are not as cheap as resistive screens, and eink touchscreen is different than LCD touch screen.

[Penforhire]

Jo, what about instant dictionary look-up? Not worth that much to you for novels? I've got a broad vocabulary but I still enjoy authors that expand it. Before the touchscreen I'd often let unknown words slide, getting by using context, rather than whip out a dictionary or otherwise highlight a word for look-up. The double tap is just so painless that I find myself using it often.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

Jo, what about instant dictionary look-up? Not worth that much to you for novels? I've got a broad vocabulary but I still enjoy authors that expand it. Before the touchscreen I'd often let unknown words slide, getting by using context, rather than whip out a dictionary or otherwise highlight a word for look-up. The double tap is just so painless that I find myself using it often.

Good point, but ...

I can do the same with my Kindle 3 .... ...

Yes, it takes a bit faster with touchscreen but would not justify the touchscreen itself, not only for a dictionary. Actually, reading with my Galaxy Tab, using Kindle app, it takes maybe a second more while it calls the dictionary app and retrieves the info from Internet or over 3G. Kindle 3 dictionary is built-in; I just need to move the cursor and the word description will be there because the data has been incorporated as part of the device.

I think the touchscreen convenience is more noticeable on an Operating System. Moving around several pages or even browsing, is way much faster via touchscreen. That's why iPhones just changed the way we used phones.

A true story and a funny one:
When I was a kid and was reading something, I used to ask my dad for the meaning of words. He never answered at that moment but pointed me to the home office so I can grab a huge and heavy dictionary that we had, a spanish one. Following that, he asked me to look for the word and before start reading, he just describe or give the meaning to me, which was basically the same on the dictionary. He past away long time ago but I will never forget that and I developed an awesome Spanish vocabulary that way. The whole process would take maybe 5 min for a simple word, but a true learning experience

[Grimm]

After using the touchscreen on my Nook Color, I would hate to go back to the outdated buttons on the Kindle 3.

[Grimm]

Originally Posted by jocampo

For reading only purposes, touchscreen adds nothing to the reading experience.

For reading only purposes, buttons add nothing to the reading experience either.

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by jocampo

For reading only purposes, touchscreen adds nothing to the reading experience. Do you touch or used to touch your novel while reading, no right? In other words, for pure text or novels, simple books, I see no reason for a touchscreen.

This is pure nonsense. Of course you touch your book: To turn the pages. And of course it adds to the reading experience when the page turning process is as close to the one one is used from pbooks as possible. This is why it is so wonderful to just swipe a page to turn it when using a Sony. It feels like reading a book!

Maybe you should just try it, before you say it adds or it does not. Now you act like a poor person or a kid that can not afford caviar or champagne and claims it does not taste and is not worth it even when they have never tried it in their lifetime.

[Anke Wehner]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

Isn't there a sony bookstore?

Yeah, but it's only for US customers.
(Eh, OK, I'm not sure exactly what areas all can or cannot buy there, but in Germany, I'm locked out.)

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

You don't *have to* buy from the Amazon bookstore either; you can buy from any bookstore with the appropriate format. I don't know why people think that you do.

But all the other BIG ebook sellers use DRM-crippled epub, which doesn't work on Kindle. So if you have a Kindle, it's either buy at amazon, or don't buy books from a lot of publishers, or strip books of DRM.

[dogsballs]

my next reader will be touch screen if only for the swipe function.
worth £40 to me

[Richey79]

I do like touch-screens, but there has to be an easy way of exporting annotations in a format usable by other applications, using reliable software, otherwise it's pretty useless to me (Sony).

When turning pages, I much prefer the haptic feedback of retro-clicky buttons like the Kindle's than soft buttons like those the Sonys have, or touch-screen flicking accompanied by a naff 'physical book' page turn animation.

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by Richey79

... soft buttons like those the Sonys have ...

Have you used the page turning buttons on any of the Sony PRS-n50 models? The ones on my Sony PRS-650 provide both a tactile click sensation - ie provide haptic feedback, plus an audible click sound.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Grimm

For reading only purposes, buttons add nothing to the reading experience either.

The buttons are for changing the pages is an electronic device. How are you going to change pages otherwise?

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

This is pure nonsense. Of course you touch your book: To turn the pages. And of course it adds to the reading experience when the page turning process is as close to the one one is used from pbooks as possible. This is why it is so wonderful to just swipe a page to turn it when using a Sony. It feels like reading a book!
Maybe you should just try it, before you say it adds or it does not. Now you act like a poor person or a kid that can not afford caviar or champagne and claims it does not taste and is not worth it even when they have never tried it in their lifetime.

What are you talking about? I own a Galaxy Tab.

On a simple eink device you click and turn the page, that's it. My finger is always there or close so is an easy process.

For a simple book or novel the only advantage with a touchscreen is press the word for open a dictionary. It's sometimes slower because in some Android apps the dictionary is on the web.

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by italianReader

In other words...how much would you pay to add a touchscreen to your e-reader or how much discount do you think it's reasonable between a touchscreen model and a non-touchscreen one?

Just to give the question a little bit more context:

I'm going to buy a pocketboock 90x and I'm trying to evaluate if I should go with the 902 model (no touchscreen, no 3G) or the 903 (touchscreen, 3G).
I know I will never use the 3G, and so I'm trying to evaluate what can be a "right" price for the touchscreen feature. In this particular case the price difference is 70€ (329€ vs 399€).
Personally I'm wavering between the 2 models but I think I will buy the 902.

Originally Posted by jocampo

What are you talking about? I own a Galaxy Tab.

On a simple eink device you click and turn the page, that's it. My finger is always there or close so is an easy process.

For a simple book or novel the only advantage with a touchscreen is press the word for open a dictionary. It's sometimes slower because in some Android apps the dictionary is on the web.

The fact that you own a tablet which takes time to open the dictionary as it doesn't have it on board is irrelevant when the ereaders in question do have their dictionaries right on board... Your buying decision is hardly the OP's fault.