8+ Readers in comparison

[electrotype]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Sony 600/700/900 have the very same zoom capability. But only for a single page, whereas iRex iLiad/1000S can use this zoom for the entire document.

I'm not sure I understand that. Does it mean you have to press the zoom button each time you turn the page on the Sony models?

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by JerseyBiker

Thanks. I am looking forward to your opinion. The readers on my short list are the Nook, Kindle2 and the Sony 900. The Sony 900 looks like it would be the one I would prefer but the price is a little more than I want to spend.

~eddie

I've managed to set the clock on Nook, thus register it and download my B&N books. Would be a shame not using the cover flow mode (which only works on B&N books).
If I just compare readers, not the bookstores in the background, I'd prefer Nook over Kindle.
I think, Nook will make my top 3.
I guess, the ranking is: Sony 900, iRex 800, Nook.
Sony 900 by far (even considering Nook's cool and innovative touchscreen) has the best form factor for me. I really like the width/height ratio. I like the cover, and I'm okay with the display quality (usually reading under acceptable light conditions).
iRex 800 demonstrates the display quality, that's possible with touchscreen.
Nook's display is very close or maybe even with my "benchmark unit" Sony 505. And it's my only WiFi unit (iRex iLiad having WiFi as well, but I can't access any websites or stores without 3rd party applications). Being in Germany, I can't shop from B&N directly on the reader, but I can download via WiFi, which simply is fantastic.

Meaning for the 3 units you name:
I prefer Amazon's webshop over B&N. But I don't link reader and shop and switch/convert formats all the time.
If I just compare readers, Kindle 2 (although still being a great reader and still one of my favorites) ranks last (of your selection, definitely not over all).
Nook outranks Kindle 2.
Even with the lowest display quality, Sony 900 outranks Nook a bit. Sony 900 simply is a beauty and I love the form factor. But quite a few members claim, the display wouldn't be acceptable to them. I can't understand that, but I'm not reading at dawn on the train for example. You probably should check it out to be sure.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by KunoK

I agree that collecting ebook readers is not that expensive, compared to many other things. A holiday to somewhere for a week and you have spend some more than a couple of readers. Buy a car, and you can buy several readers a months for the same cost.Ok, I live in Denmark where cars are really expensive.
Some would argue that you only need one reader. True, but do you really need to go Egypt or to go skiing in Austria? Your choice is as good as the next guy's.

For me, your posts on this forum are a great source of information, and I enjoy reading them.

Car is a very good comparison. From 2002 to 2006 I've had leased a car, which (including gas, tax, insurance, maintenance) was € 2.000 per months.
One of the things which fall into the category "you should do each stupidity once in your lifetime".
Back then, I've really enjoyed that car. Until I recognised, that I've been driving less every year. In the last year, it only has been 15.000 kilometers. Meaning, every single kilometer was more than € 1.50.
I can't drive that much taxi to have similar costs.
If I compare to my readers, a single hour of reading is about € 1.50 (including hardware and content). Even if I read the entire day, costs really are minimal.
Only problem is, I do the same with iTunes, PSP/NDS and all those other gadgets.
What I've learned from this: Cash is flowing. So far, I've only learned letting it flow into one direction...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by electrotype

I'm not sure I understand that. Does it mean you have to press the zoom button each time you turn the page on the Sony models?

Even worse. You don't just press the zoom button, but choose your zoom by adjusting sliders. This only applies for the respective page. As soon as you turn pages, the zoom resets.
On iRex iLiad or iRex 1000S, you mark the area of interest (for example only the text, thus eliminating the margins from PDFs) with your stylus (you can draw a rectangle or circle around it or just draw a diagonal line), explode it to full screen and can keep this zoom level intact for the entire document.
Sony's zoom would be perfect, if it didn't reset when turning pages.

[electrotype]

Thanks again mgmueller.

[repods]

I was thinking you should do a photo of all your readers including the dr800 and the nook, like the one in the first post, putting them side by side sorted by screen size..
would be very useful

[repods]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Even worse. You don't just press the zoom button, but choose your zoom by adjusting sliders. This only applies for the respective page. As soon as you turn pages, the zoom resets.
On iRex iLiad or iRex 1000S, you mark the area of interest (for example only the text, thus eliminating the margins from PDFs) with your stylus (you can draw a rectangle or circle around it or just draw a diagonal line), explode it to full screen and can keep this zoom level intact for the entire document.
Sony's zoom would be perfect, if it didn't reset when turning pages.

but on the sony 900 there is a margin crop feature instead of zoom..
can you explain us what is it ?

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Minor changes in my ranking:
iRex 800 has grown on me (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70664).

#13: BeBook (a bit ugly, looks a bit cheap)
#12: Sony 300 (don't like turning pages with the 5-way-button)
#11: Sony 700 (great unit, but given Sony 600 it has lost its place)
#10: Cybook Gen3 (nice unit, especially after the firmware update. But no real arguments against Kindle 2 and others)
#9: iRex 1000S (great unit, but too bulky for me)
#8: Sony 600 (very pleasant surprise, but given Sony 900 it has lost its place)
#7: Kindle DX (flawless, but the big screen doesn't have any real advantage to me and makes it bulky. Maybe with more advanced PDF support?)
#6: Sony 505 (still one of my favorites, but no real advantage over Sony 900)
#5: iRex iLiad (still one of my alltime favorites, but replaced by iRex 800)
#4: Cybook Opus (only a niche product for me, 5" often difficult to read. But within its niche it's phantastic)
#3: Kindle 2 (there's a reason why Amazon is considered market leader)
#2: iRex 800 (has grown on me and we've learned a lot in our dialogue with iRex)
#1: Sony 900 (a real beauty. Display quality a bit below iRex 800, but more than acceptable)

As always, absolutely subjective evaluation.

My ranking can't be a purchasing recommendation, we all have our own demands.
So my ranking reflects "probability to take the unit with me on a trip when traveling light and not taking all of them".

New addition: Nook slightly has changed the picture:

#14: BeBook (a bit ugly, looks a bit cheap)
#13: Sony 300 (don't like turning pages with the 5-way-button)
#12: Sony 700 (great unit, but given Sony 600 it has lost its place)
#11: Cybook Gen3 (nice unit, especially after the firmware update. But no real arguments against Kindle 2 and others)
#10: iRex 1000S (great unit, but too bulky for me)
#9: Sony 600 (very pleasant surprise, but given Sony 900 it has lost its place)
#8: Kindle DX (flawless, but the big screen doesn't have any real advantage to me and makes it bulky. Maybe with more advanced PDF support?)
#7: Sony 505 (still one of my favorites, but no real advantage over Sony 900)
#6: iRex iLiad (still one of my alltime favorites, but replaced by iRex 800)
#5: Cybook Opus (only a niche product for me, 5" often difficult to read. But within its niche it's phantastic)
#4: Kindle 2 (there's a reason why Amazon is considered market leader)
#3: Nook (very elegant, very positive surprise. No problems at all with the touchscreen. And my only unit to download eBoks via WiFi.)
#2: iRex 800 (has grown on me and we've learned a lot in our dialogue with iRex)
#1: Sony 900 (a real beauty. Display quality a bit below iRex 800, but more than acceptable)

That's my personal ranking. Something like "How likely is to to take the respective unit with me on a trip".
But there's a different ranking, when considering costs.
Just an example: iRex 800 and nook are close in my ranking. But if I consider the prices (iRex 800 = €499 = ca. $ 680; nook = $ 259) it's a different picture. Still doesn't change my personal ranking. But if you're looking for purchasing recommendations, costs certainly are a factor.

Ranking considering costs:
#14: BeBook
#13: Sony 300
#12: Sony 700
#11: Kindle DX
#10: iRex 1000S
#9: Cybook Gen3
#8: iRex iLiad
#7: Sony 600
#6: Sony 505
#5: Cybook Opus
#4: Kindle 2
#3: iRex 800
#2: nook
#1: Sony 900

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by repods

I was thinking you should do a photo of all your readers including the dr800 and the nook, like the one in the first post, putting them side by side sorted by screen size..
would be very useful

I'll make some new pics in a few days (traveling right now), good idea.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by repods

but on the sony 900 there is a margin crop feature instead of zoom..
can you explain us what is it ?

I haven't got Sony 900 with me to check (traveling light, only with my newest addition Nook).
But if I remember correctly (I'm pretty sure), the margin crop doesn't zoom at all.
The document can reflow. You can broaden the width to reflow more text per line, but it doesn't zoom in.
Margin crop is helpful for some documents to increase information per page ratio, but still it "kills" the original layout.
If I remember correctly, margin crop even doesn't work for all documents - for whatever reason.

It's more or less the same with iRex 800. You can define the width of the margins. So it reflows more efficiently. But still it does reflow instead of zoom.

[JerseyBiker]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Meaning for the 3 units you name:
I prefer Amazon's webshop over B&N. But I don't link reader and shop and switch/convert formats all the time.
If I just compare readers, Kindle 2 (although still being a great reader and still one of my favorites) ranks last (of your selection, definitely not over all).
Nook outranks Kindle 2.

I thank you very much. With your experience if you like the Nook it must be good. I think I will be ordering one very soon. A couple of the complaints I have read about the Nook is that it's slow and clunky compared to the Kindle and the menus are confusing. What is your opinion of that?

~eddie

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by JerseyBiker

I thank you very much. With your experience if you like the Nook it must be good. I think I will be ordering one very soon. A couple of the complaints I have read about the Nook is that it's slow and clunky compared to the Kindle and the menus are confusing. What is your opinion of that?

~eddie

I only found one thing kind of "confusing". A few times I've tried to touch the eInk screen of Nook instead of the touchscreen (never did happen with any other reader without touchscreen). I don't know, whether that's a compliment to the quality of the display (so good, you forget about everything else) or whether that's because one's so into their touchscreen.
Anyway, I don't find the menu confusing at all and I don't understand complaints about the touchscreen being slow or non-responsive.
To me, Nook is kind of a "polished" Kindle 2. About same measurements, about same button positioning for turning pages. But a bit more stylish and elegant. And the touchscreen certainly is a looker.

Maybe one comment: I can't use Kindle's Whispernet over here in Germany (I've got the US versions of Kindle 2 and Kindle DX. After only a few months I don't see any valid excuse to already exchange them for the international ones). So I'm used to download my books via PC and upload them onto the reader via USB. So Nook is kind of a revolution for me: I can download from the B&N webstore directly via WiFi.
Actually, I don't see the need for 3G. Very rarely I'll have to buy a book while on the road. But I find it extremely convenient, to use WLAN instead of USB. All readers should support this, but so far only Nook does. Huge plus to me, which may be meaningless for you in the US. Without that, Kindle 2 may be a bit closer in the ranking...

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I haven't got Sony 900 with me to check (traveling light, only with my newest addition Nook).
But if I remember correctly (I'm pretty sure), the margin crop doesn't zoom at all.
The document can reflow. You can broaden the width to reflow more text per line, but it doesn't zoom in.
Margin crop is helpful for some documents to increase information per page ratio, but still it "kills" the original layout.
If I remember correctly, margin crop even doesn't work for all documents - for whatever reason.

It's more or less the same with iRex 800. You can define the width of the margins. So it reflows more efficiently. But still it does reflow instead of zoom.

With the 900, the margin crop is a slight 'zoom'. It simply scales up the text slightly so that the same amount of text fills the screen. It doesn't work half the time due to how a PDF or ePub will define its margins (as padding content, rather than as a true margin), and the 900 won't remove padding.

[mgmueller]

I'll take pics of the other readers as well, to compare sizes.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by repods

but on the sony 900 there is a margin crop feature instead of zoom..
can you explain us what is it ?

Pic1: With margin crop.
Pic2: Without margin crop.
Pic3: The respective menu to activate margin crop.