Mind made up

[Kingston]

Originally Posted by HarryT

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.

I've got all 4 of the big four devices (OK, I'm nuts)...I started out with Kindle, then Iliad followed by Gen 3 and Sony.

For my money the Sony is the best buy. Forget about the looks (although many have commented that it rocks appearance-wise), the controls and menus and ease of use and display is the best out there, especially for the price.

Gen 3 has some bugs in the current software (it can erase bookmarks and 'forget' your place in a book). My biggest gripe with Gen 3 is that finding your place in a book is difficult. This is because the page number is not displayed, only a progress bar. This despite the fact that you can type in a page number and the Gen 3 will go there. But the current page number is not displayed so you are fishing in the dark as to 'where you are' currently.

I read the same book on several devices and without a numerical frame of reference as to where I am in the book from the Iliad, Sony or Kindle, I would have a terrible time finding my spot in the Gen 3.

Gen 3 is definitely number four in ranking. Sony and Iliad are the easiest to use and have the most features. Kindle is a little behind but the wireless, search and built-in dictionary elevates it.

Gen 3 has a delete button prominently displayed on the side of the device but it is not activated with the current firmware! I get the feeling the device was hurried onto the market without taking the time to go through extensive user testing that the other devices must have had before release.

Maybe the new firmware will correct some of the Gen 3's problems, but right now the Sony is hard to beat. Plus it is the cheapest of the big 4 eink devices , and it's the only one that is not sold out more often than not.

I think you made the right choice. Just be prepared to do some conversions to get the books you want into lrf format.

I've had my Sony for about a week and the battery meter has yet to go below full charge. With Gen 3 or Kindle it drops down to 80% or less in one day. And with Iliad it is down to 75% charged within 20-30 minutes of use. I wonder why Kindle and Gen 3, not to mention Irex, can't create a battery with the extremely long life of the Sony.

Here's what a reviewer had to say about Gen 3:
'To be honest, the current firmware feels like it was rushed to the market too soon, and it handles more like a beta version than an actual commercial version. The device does seem to have a lot of potential, as long as Bookeen continues to release updated firmware versions to fix many of the current issue and adds several features to make the device a highly capable e-book reader.'

Full review here: http://www.tfot.info/articles/1013/c...ok-review.html

[Vanessa]

@Kingston : Very interesting post, Kingston (although you ARE indeed a bit nuts, or very rich ^^). Since you know very well all four main readers on the market, would you be interested in making an article on them ? (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23034)

@Riedje : when are you receiving your Sony ? It's hard to wait, once the decision is taken and the order is done, isn't it ?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Kingston

Gen 3 is definitely number four in ranking. Sony and Iliad are the easiest to use and have the most features. Kindle is a little behind but the wireless, search and built-in dictionary elevates it.

Well, that just goes to show that different devices appeal to different people. I too have owned both a Sony and an iLiad, and for my money the Gen3 "wipes the floor" with both. It is the only device out of the four which allows you to load your own fonts and fully supports font families. For me, that's an essential feature.

I completely disagree with your view that the firmware is "unfinished" - certainly it could be improved, but that's true for all the devices. The Gen3's Mobi Reader is way ahead of the iLiad's (why can't you display a book's cover picture on the iLiad?) and the mere fact that they do support the Mobi format put all the other devices ahead of the Sony for me.

Horses for courses, etc.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Well, that just goes to show that different devices appeal to different people.

Absolutely. I regard the iLiad as a different class, personally. It's like the difference between a laptop and a UMPC. The iLiad is larger and harder to tote around. Plus it has the boot time and battery issues. It has great features and can do a lot more than most readers, but I think of it as a work/study tool rather than a replacement for tossing a novel in my handbag.

Of the smaller readers I put Cybook and Kindle as practically neck and neck and the Sony a distant third. Sony could close that gap with some serious work on their firmware, but for now I regard them as a barebones device.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Alisa

Absolutely. I regard the iLiad as a different class, personally. It's like the difference between a laptop and a UMPC. The iLiad is larger and harder to tote around. Plus it has the boot time and battery issues. It has great features and can do a lot more than most readers, but I think of it as a work/study tool rather than a replacement for tossing a novel in my handbag.

Yes, those are exactly the reasons that I replaced my iLiad with the Gen3. Although the iLiad is undoubtedly a more flexible and "open" system, and very good if you want to read A4 PDFs, it's too big to carry around everywhere with you, and the 45s boot time is too long if you just want a quick reading session.

[riedje]

Originally Posted by Vanessa

@Riedje : when are you receiving your Sony ? It's hard to wait, once the decision is taken and the order is done, isn't it ?

I (finally!) received it saturday morning and I haven't been able to put it down, this weekend I've read 5 novels on it to my immense satisfaction.

To be honest, I'm kinda in shock still, I don't know how to describe what I feel, it's somewhat scary... I've been blown away by this piece of technology, I'd be hard pressed to remember any other device arousing similar feelings (except of course the almighty Commodore 64 in the 80s!). I love technology and I love reading (even more), so this is somewhat of a dream come true

Anyway, this starts to sound like the ramblings of a junkie, so I'd better stop before I say something really embarrassing...

PS: Reading with device approaches pbook reading so much I caught myself a number of times trying to turn a page by flipping the page (which ofcourse wasn't there). My wife saw this happening and immediately started laughing at me... Anyone else experiencing this (the page-turning, not per se the laughing wife )?

[Dr. Drib]

I fully understand your enthusiasm, riedje. I feel overwhelmed sometimes, when I simply LOOK at my Reader (Sony PRS-505) and realize I have almost 200 books in it's internal memory and with 75 megs left. AND, I have an option to add so many more books if I want to via internal memory cards.

As an aside, I don't think it matters too much what device one has - Sony, Gen3, Kindle, etc. - if we like the unit we bought, then we're going to be dogmatic about loving the device of choice. That's human nature.

I love e-Readers!!

Have fun.

Don

[Vanessa]

@Riedje : Lucky you ! I don't know when my iLiad will be here. And Commodore 64, that was indeed something
Now, I want pictures ^^

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

As an aside, I don't think it matters too much what device one has - Sony, Gen3, Kindle, etc. - if we like the unit we bought, then we're going to be dogmatic about loving the device of choice. That's human nature.

Plus, in my opinion, none of them are actually bad. We all value some features over others and that comes out in our critiques and our buying decisions but even though I love my Kindle, I'd happily read books on a Cybook or a Sony.