A lost Aussie needs help!

[Chris Crouch]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

I noticed the other week that bookdepository.co.uk (not .com) sell ereaders now. The prices shipped to Australia are very very good.

The other cheap place to buy Sony that I know of is B&H Photo - www.bhphoto.com

I haven't ever bought from them, but they've been around for a long time. I have heard people say that they want a fax of your credit card for 1st time customers.

[SneakySnake]

Originally Posted by woodmill

Hi everyone and thanks for the replies.

I had noticed how expensive the Australian makes are!

I am becoming more drawn to the Sony now but will still research.

Thanks for the tip regarding sending over from the US. Much appreciated!

Also compare prices on B&H photo in the US. They will ship to Oz

[Katti's Cat]

I don't really need another reader right now but I am eying up the Pocketbook 302 or even the 360. Atm the only thing holding me back is the price and the loss of idea how to tell hubby I need another one.

Sure, there have been some not so positive threads on any off the Pocketbooks but overall this device seem to me real good (No, I don't work for them). And we have some people here from the company, always willing to help as fast as possible. Check the website out and also some of the threads.

Not that I am trying to convince you. The Sony is a real good reader too, but I still want a Pocketbook :-)

[IndecisiveMe]

I know how hard it can be to make up your mind about which ereader to buy! I spent months researching before I finally decided on my Pocketbook 360. I have not been disappointed with that decision once. It is beautiful and does exactly what I want it to do.

It doesn't connect to online bookshops like the Kindle, but I don't need or want that feature.

Good luck with your search.

I will never buy a reader here in Australia if the prices don't come down significantly. I'm not holding my breath for that to happen, though.

[Marcy]

I can also highly recommend the Pocketbook 360, if you don't mind a 5 inch screen. I have had a Kindle 1, Kindle 2, Sony PRS-600, Sony PRS-900 and a Jetbook lite in additional to my PB360 and the 360 is my far and away favorite. It displays almost any format around, and if you can use FBReader with your ebook, you can control the appearance of the book down to very fiddly details. It is crappy at displaying PDFs formatted for larger screens, but so was every other reader I've had.

The one big advantage Kindle theoretically has is the ease with which you can buy books. If you are so disposed you can browse right from the Kindle, read a book sample and buy, without even being connected to your computer. I never enjoyed or used this feature because the "whispernet" in my major metropolitan area should have been called "molassesnet" making browsing painful. For you international folk, the extra $2 hit per book would be a big downer for me.

One additional advantage of the PB360 is that it doesn't need a separate case. The built-in hard cover is a great feature -- sturdy and attractive.

-Marcy (no I don't work for Pocketbook either!)

[polly]

The big problem with the Kindle is that you're tied in to their store. Living in Germany, I find that the books I want to read aren't available here from Amazon without using work arounds (VPN and US addressed credit card).

I'd recommend a reader that handles Adobe Digital Editions (ePub and PDF). While I despise the Sony Store software layout, they've never used geographic restrictions against me. The same is true for BooksonBoard. I think you're more likely to be able to find a book in ADE from the multiple book stores who sell in that format.

[Chris Crouch]

Originally Posted by polly

The big problem with the Kindle is that you're tied in to their store. Living in Germany, I find that the books I want to read aren't available here from Amazon without using work arounds (VPN and US addressed credit card).

I'd recommend a reader that handles Adobe Digital Editions (ePub and PDF). While I despise the Sony Store software layout, they've never used geographic restrictions against me. The same is true for BooksonBoard. I think you're more likely to be able to find a book in ADE from the multiple book stores who sell in that format.

I've got to say my experience in Australia is very different.

There have been plenty of times that I've looked at a book on Amazon and found that they won't sell it to Australia. I've then gone around and looked at BooksonBoard, Fictionwise, Kobo, Diesel and others. I think in only one case did I find another store that would sell it to me.

Conversely I've found several times that Amazon is the only place that I can buy a particular book in Australia.

One thing I've heard though is that not all stores are equal when it comes to pretending to be in the US. Amazon and Kobo seem the hardest to spoof - they check IP address and credit card location. Others take less care - a friend told me he regularly buys from Fictionwise using a fake address, no VPN and using an Australian credit card.

Another difference is how the different stores show geographic restrictions.

Amazon won't show you a book in search results if the book is unavailable to your area. If you get to the book page (I usually get there by searching for "book title kindle"), it'll show you the normal page with "this title is not available to customers in Australia" where the buy button would normally be.

Kobo will show the title in search results, but will prevent you from seeing the product details page at all, replacing it with a generic page about geographic restrictions.

Fictionwise will show you everything. There's a small line on the product page that shows geographic restrictions.

Diesel will only tell you about restrictions at checkout time, removing items from your cart. It's extremely annoying.

BooksonBoard will show you book details. When you try to add a title to your cart the "buy" button is replaced by "not for sale in you country".

----

Anyway I certainly agree with the sentiment of not wanting to be tied in to both a particular store and a particular device. All other things being equal I'd prefer to have choice in both device and store.

Unfortunately all things are not equal, which is why I bought a Kindle.

Chris

[woodmill]

Hi everyone,

I really do appreciate all of your help. I will be ordering a Pocketbook 360 in ivory when I get home from work tonight!

I will let you know how I go!

Thanks again - you have been brilliant.

[valerian]

Hi Chris. I live in country Victoria and my computer access is via wireless with Telstra. I am thinking of a Kindle and downloading via USB through computer. Does the download show up on my Telstra wireless internet usage? Sorry, I have no idea how this actually works.

[valerian]

Originally Posted by Chris Crouch

I've got to say my experience in Australia is very different.

There have been plenty of times that I've looked at a book on Amazon and found that they won't sell it to Australia. I've then gone around and looked at BooksonBoard, Fictionwise, Kobo, Diesel and others. I think in only one case did I find another store that would sell it to me.

Conversely I've found several times that Amazon is the only place that I can buy a particular book in Australia.

One thing I've heard though is that not all stores are equal when it comes to pretending to be in the US. Amazon and Kobo seem the hardest to spoof - they check IP address and credit card location. Others take less care - a friend told me he regularly buys from Fictionwise using a fake address, no VPN and using an Australian credit card.

Another difference is how the different stores show geographic restrictions.

Amazon won't show you a book in search results if the book is unavailable to your area. If you get to the book page (I usually get there by searching for "book title kindle"), it'll show you the normal page with "this title is not available to customers in Australia" where the buy button would normally be.

Kobo will show the title in search results, but will prevent you from seeing the product details page at all, replacing it with a generic page about geographic restrictions.

Fictionwise will show you everything. There's a small line on the product page that shows geographic restrictions.

Diesel will only tell you about restrictions at checkout time, removing items from your cart. It's extremely annoying.

BooksonBoard will show you book details. When you try to add a title to your cart the "buy" button is replaced by "not for sale in you country".

----

Anyway I certainly agree with the sentiment of not wanting to be tied in to both a particular store and a particular device. All other things being equal I'd prefer to have choice in both device and store.

Unfortunately all things are not equal, which is why I bought a Kindle.

Chris

Thanks Chris (I have posted another message to you down the page) for your info. What I would like to know is how the downloads work. If I download via computer, does that mean my monthly Telstra wireless usage is involved? I can't seem to get my head around how all this works. I live in country Victoria and we have G whatever it is phone coverage. Hope you can fill in the gaps for me! Thanks, Val

[IndecisiveMe]

Originally Posted by woodmill

Hi everyone,

I really do appreciate all of your help. I will be ordering a Pocketbook 360 in ivory when I get home from work tonight!

I will let you know how I go!

Thanks again - you have been brilliant.

Congratulations on your decision! You'll love your PB360!

Just as a heads up, when I ordered mine in early March, the international shipping defaulted to the quickest/most expensive method - around $110 from memory. I needed to hit the dropdown menu to change it to another method which was around $45. I did mention this to Pocketbook, and they said they would change it (at least two people nearly didn't buy from them because they thought that was the only method). I'm not sure if it's been changed yet. So keep an eye out

It arrived in less than a week in perfect condition.

[Chris Crouch]

Originally Posted by valerian

Thanks Chris (I have posted another message to you down the page) for your info. What I would like to know is how the downloads work. If I download via computer, does that mean my monthly Telstra wireless usage is involved? I can't seem to get my head around how all this works. I live in country Victoria and we have G whatever it is phone coverage. Hope you can fill in the gaps for me! Thanks, Val

If you download via the computer, then you'll be using your Telstra wireless. Ebooks are quite small though, often less than a megabyte, so it's a trivial download size.

If you can get Telstra wireless coverage where you are, then you can probably download direct to a Kindle without involving your computer if you want. For books that you buy from Amazon and for samples, this is free - as I mentioned above, it's paid for by the extra $2 per book that we are charged.

According to Amazon's wireless coverage map 95% of Victoria is covered by 3G - see http://client0.cellmaps.com/tabs.html#cellmaps_intl_tab - so it's likely that you can download directly to your Kindle, especially if you get Telstra 3G wireless already.

Hope this helps!

[bandhphoto]

Originally Posted by Chris Crouch

The other cheap place to buy Sony that I know of is B&H Photo - www.bhphoto.com

I haven't ever bought from them, but they've been around for a long time. I have heard people say that they want a fax of your credit card for 1st time customers.

Thanks. I'm going to suggest inexpensive rather than 'cheap.' :-)

We do ask for a fax of both sides of a credit card for a card issued by a non-USA bank but that's only for the first time the card is used here. Thereafter, no fax is required. This helps deter credit card fraud and identity theft. We've done this as long as I've been here (15+ years) and I know of no customer who's ever had cause to regret complying.

Henry Posner
B&H Photo-Video

[woodmill]

Originally Posted by IndecisiveMe

Congratulations on your decision! You'll love your PB360!

Just as a heads up, when I ordered mine in early March, the international shipping defaulted to the quickest/most expensive method - around $110 from memory. I needed to hit the dropdown menu to change it to another method which was around $45. I did mention this to Pocketbook, and they said they would change it (at least two people nearly didn't buy from them because they thought that was the only method). I'm not sure if it's been changed yet. So keep an eye out

It arrived in less than a week in perfect condition.

Thanks for the headsup!

[AlexBell]

After reading this thread I too am thinking of buying a Pocketbook for Christmas - or my wife is even if she doesn't know it yet.

One important question though: does it have folders?

Regards, Alex