Mind made up

[riedje]

I found this site a week ago while searching for information the iLiad. Needless (perhaps) to say this has been the most informative site/forum on ebook readers I've stumbled upon!

Thanks to this forum I believe I'm making an informed decision: I'm going for the Sony PRS-505 !.

In the spirit of info sharing, so others may know my considerations:

Originally I was aiming for the iLiad, but the high price (almost triple the Sony), the size (too big to conveniently take along in my pocket) and the battery life in particular changed my mind...

Wrt to choosing between the cybook and the sony, the sony looks nicer and has a better button layout. Other than that, it's just tossing a coin... I've been changing my mind continuously the last few days (causing much stress and agony), so making the final decision will hopefully bring some rest (that is, until the device finally arrives!).

As a final note, even though I'm in Europe and thus might experience warranty issues, if it breaks I can buy a new one and still have spent less than I've otherwise would have buying an iLiad, so it's all relative... Also, it helps that Sony apparently announced they would bring the PRS-505 to Holland this year

So, thanks again everyone, I hope in time I can be as much of help as you all have been!

[Shenzhov]

Congrats on your choice. I have a Sony also and am very happy with it and I'm sure you will like it a lot.
There are always going to be trade offs with any technology. The point is not to stress over what a device can't do, but enjoy what it can.

Let us know how you like it when you get it.

[Vanessa]

If you want to change your mind once more (I'm kinda sadistic), here are some really cool pictures of the Cybook, compared to a real book :
http://blog.lesenfantsdelo.com/tag/bookeen/
The article is in French, but you can still have a look at the pictures.

For info, a friend of mine took the pictures. He has been using the Cybook for a while and loves it. (for my part, I'm going for the iLiad, because of the big screen and the ability to write on it)

Please tell us your experience with the Sony once you get it ! I'm eager to see it

[riedje]

Originally Posted by Vanessa

If you want to change your mind once more (I'm kinda sadistic), here are some really cool pictures of the Cybook, compared to a real book :
http://blog.lesenfantsdelo.com/tag/bookeen/
The article is in French, but you can still have a look at the pictures.

It looks wonderful, it was a close call actually, but in the end usability (navigation buttons in particular) was the deciding factor...

BTW: What helped me enormously was a tip in some other thread; I printed out all three readers (iLiad, Cybook and Sony) in real size, put it on cardboard and cut it out in order to get a feel for actual size/handling. That really helped (since I can only touch/see the iLiad here in NL) put all 3 in perspective...

I hope you enjoy your iLiad, it's certainly a very nice reader! (I feel doubt rearing its ugly head again... )

[Vanessa]

Hey, that was a really good idea !!! I would never have thought of it. For my part, the bigger it is, the better it is. Actually, some years ago, I was tempted to buy an A4 ebook reader.

Are the Sony and Cybook very different in size ? I read somewhere that it's not easy to flip the pages on the Cybook if you hold it in your left hand.

[riedje]

The difference between the cybook and sony is (judgment based on my paper models) is that the sony is slightly shorter and a little bit wider. That does give it little bit more appeal tho... Button placement also looks nicer, you have a round nav button on the left and two nav buttons on the right so however you hold it, you should be able to easily navigate pages (in contrast to the cybook). All of this is based on hearsay however, I haven't actually tested this

Wrt to the A4 reader, if it would be foldable and thus easy to transport, I'd get one in an instant . But alas, it is not to be (yet)...

[HarryT]

The CyBook is exactly the same size as a standard paperback book (but a lot thinner, of course). I'm sure that was a deliberate design choice.

[RobbieClarken]

I hope you enjoy your Sony Reader as much as I enjoy mine. When you get it, I highly recommend using libprs500 - especially for the cool features like downloading RSS feeds and easily converting files. Although for converting PDFs you should definitely use PdfLrf.

[WDecraene]

Although navigation is probably easier on the Sony, I don't have any problems navigating my cybook. True it's a bit harder with the left hand but not to the point that it's annoying. You couldn't read a pbook with only your left hand either.

The difference in price is there of course, on the other hand do not forget that the Sony does not support the mobipocket format !!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by WDecraene

The difference in price is there of course, on the other hand do not forget that the Sony does not support the mobipocket format !!

And nor does it have dictionary lookup, the ability to load your own fonts, proper support for font families, a user-replaceable battery, and a world-wide warranty, all of which the Gen3 does. Yes, the Gen3 is more expensive but it is (IMHO, speaking as a former Sony owner) well worth paying the extra for.

[riedje]

And nor does it have dictionary lookup, the ability to load your own fonts, proper support for font families, a user-replaceable battery, and a world-wide warranty, all of which the Gen3 does. Yes, the Gen3 is more expensive but it is (IMHO, speaking as a former Sony owner) well worth paying the extra for.

Actually, not that it is a major reason for choosing it, the Sony does represent more of a 'challenge' in terms of hacking (to add those functions you mention). When I'm not in the mood for reading I can fool around with the reader OS-wise. Admittedly the same goes for the Cybook...

OTOH, seeing all the comments about the Cybook, I believe in the near/not-too-far future I'll 'convince' my wife she too absolutely needs a reader, which coincidentally will be a Cybook...

[WDecraene]

Originally Posted by riedje

OTOH, seeing all the comments about the Cybook, I believe in the near/not-too-far future I'll 'convince' my wife she too absolutely needs a reader, which coincidentally will be a Cybook...

Well Riedje, that's all we hoped to achieve here

[Dr. Drib]

...AND let's not foget that the Sony has 200 megs of internal memory, which leads to FRUSTRATION because there's more room in having to decide what books to put on the unit!

(Harry, the above comment was really for you...all in good fun.)

Don

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

...AND let's not foget that the Sony has 200 megs of internal memory, which leads to FRUSTRATION because there's more room in having to decide what books to put on the unit!

(Harry, the above comment was really for you...all in good fun.)

Don

I use a 2GB SD card on my Gen3, Don, and with about 180 books on it at present (most of them my multi-book omnibus editions) am currently using a little under 200MB of space on the card. I don't think that storage space is really an issue on any of these readers.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I use a 2GB SD card on my Gen3, Don, and with about 180 books on it at present (most of them my multi-book omnibus editions) am currently using a little under 200MB of space on the card. I don't think that storage space is really an issue on any of these readers.

I absolutely agree with you. If anything, it's now only a matter of convenience, perhaps only one of preference.

I see all our Readers in the future equipped with more ram, because it's relatively cheap to install and the storage capacity just keeps going up, anyway.

Somewhat of a sidebar: Back when I had a pocket PC, I loved ubook for its capability of reading multiformat files. I would love to see a Reader - yours or mine or one in the future - that can do this.

I also hunger for a Gen3 to add to my nice Sony Reader.

Don