Do you Have More Than One eReader?

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by disney_mommy

I'm wondering about people who have 2 dedicated devices, say the Sony and the Kindle. Why do you have 2 (or more)? Did you get an additional one for a specific reason? Did you get rid of the old one?

My mom has taken over my Sony, and I'm thinking about either getting a new Sony or a Kindle, but I'm curious about people who end up with 2.

I have both a Sony 505 and a Kindle 1. I bought the Kindle first and it's my favorite one to read with. I'm particularly fond of the price of books @ Amazon vs. books from the Sony store. (Not sure which store might sell ePub books compatible with the Sony reader.)

I have not purchased any DRM-laden books from anyone other than Amazon. Instead, I have bought 26 Multi-format books from Fictionwise and 25 Multi-format books from Baen/Webscriptions and a dozen or so Multi-format books directly from the authors. Then I also downloaded some 90+ free SF/F books from Baen and several hundred classics from MobileRead, Feedbooks, and Manybooks. That gives me *plenty* books to read on my Sony. While I know how to do the format shifting, I'm lazy and just want to get busy reading.

Why do I have two? Well, I decided to purchase the Sony -- which I got second-hand from a MobileRead member -- when I started learning how to make books. Looking at the results in the PC-based viewers is fine, but I really wanted to see the books native on the device. Then, my hubby bought me the lightwedge cover for the Sony and I make it a point to have a book queued up on the Sony whenever we're driving at night. The lightwedge bothers him much less that trying to use a booklight with the Kindle.

I don't plan to give either one up -- though I have loaned one or the other to my daughter from time to time. I might upgrade to a Kindle 3 or a Sony 950 (or whatever the follow-ons are called) if the enhancements seem to warrant the investment.

I also plan to buy a Bookwise-1150 and might spring for a device with native Mobipocket support. The colorful Cool-er is appealing and so is the Jetbook -- not sure either of them supports secure Mobipocket. I also saw a BeBook for the first time a couple of weeks ago and could be attracted to it as well.

What can I say? I'm a gadget junkie. Would love to have one of each.

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by edbro

I use my smartphone for reading all the time. At home I use the Sony but I can't sneak a read with that at work. That's where the smartphone comes in.

I also keep one Mobipocket book on my Blackberry. Turns out that in the corporate world, it's permitted to spend some time looking at your Blackberry, so while my colleagues are checking their e-mail, I sneak in a couple of "pages" of my current novel -- The Rising by James Doohan and S M Stirling. I call it "stealth reading".

[FizzyWater]

Let's see...ebook readers:

1. First, I started reading on a Toshiba 330 PDA. Wore out the "page turn buttons" and was disappointed with the battery life. My ebook format of choice was (and still is) the eReader format, because I think it has the least personally invasive DRM scheme.
   
2. So, I upgraded to my lovely Dell Axim 51v PDA. Still carry that with me every day. I can read eReader, Mobipocket, Microsoft LIT and also have uBook (don't know how to make the right character for the beginning "u"). I still mostly restrict my DRM reading choices to eReader, but for awhile there, the books I wanted were being released Mobi only, so I caved on a few of those. And, it does other things as well!
   
3. I talked a co-worker who travels a lot into getting an eBookwise. I had so much fun playing with it (she still can't load books onto it herself), that I had to have one for myself. (Up until then, I swore I'd never had a gadget just for reading ebooks).
   
4. Sony came out with a deal that, if you applied for their credit card - which at the time came with 0% interest for the first year - you could buy a Sony PRS 500 for $50. For that price, I could justify getting another ebook-only device! I loved my Sony, but hated the menus and the inability to change the fonts.
   
5. So, I looked around at what else was available for the longest time and finally bought a Cybook from Books on Board. I had such high hopes for this gadget, but I was so very disappointed with it. I'm sure some of it was suffering by comparison to the eBookwise. I didn't like the placement of the buttons. It seemed to take forever to load the book list. The brown "plastic" padded cover was just ugly. And the page-turn button (which I didn't like being on the right-hand side) was "sticky" (which, to me, means that it takes too much force to turn the page).
   
6. The next time I was in Borders, I caved and bought a Sony PRS-505. I (thought I) wanted a silver one, but they only had the blue. Doesn't matter, I still love it. Carry it with me (almost) every day now too (and boy, does the combined weight of it, my PDA, and all my other junk weight down my purse!)
   
7. I have been reluctantly drooling over the Astak models coming out, although it's mostly because of the promised eReader format. I'd love to be able to stop converting my books for all the various devices I have! (Oops, did I say that out loud?) The only thing that makes me unsure is that I'm afraid the same things I didn't like about the Cybook will bother me about the Astak. I like the weight of the Sony and the metal body. I'm afraid I'd still think the plastic felt "cheap" and flimsy. And some of the models being pretty much the same Netronics as the Cybook, I'd worry about that button being sticky there, too (even though Harry assures me the newer Cybooks don't have the problem). I'm afraid - unless I could see one "in the wild" somewhere - I'll likely pass on these.
   

Oh, and by the way. My co-worker has pretty much been borrowing my eBookwise for the last year or two, since I got the Sony PRS500. I loaned out the Cybook to another friend who travels alot in the hopes that, since she doesn't have anything else to compare it with, the things that bugged me won't bother her. If she's interested enough to buy one of her own, though, I'd probably suggest the Astak models to her, though. For the price, she should enjoy the newer technology!

And last year, I gave my Sony PRS500 to another friend with kids in college who would never be able to afford a reader for herself (not until the kids are done with school, anyway!) She doesn't have so many books that the menus are a problem, and since she's never seen the Cybook or PRS505, she doesn't know how much brighter the eInk screens are now.

I wouldn't mind having two that equally pleased me - one for a backup, or to switch formats when I don't feel like converting. The PDA works, but the battery life just seems awful after eInk.

[Studio717]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Let's see...ebook readers:

... The PDA works, but the battery life just seems awful after eInk.

This made me laugh - I remember reading ebooks on my old Palms way back when and the battery life was abysmal! I still have all sorts of gadgets for the little thing, including a dongle contraption that you plugged a 9-volt battery into that then plugged into the Palm. Now that was a sight!

I loved reading ebooks even back then, when there weren't many available and those that were were often badly converted Gutenberg texts.

[Muskrat]

Well, I have a Sony and I had a Ebookwise 1150 but I lost the latter on a train a few weeks ago. I am just about to order another ebookwise. Not that I don't use the Sony (I love the e-paper screen). I use them both heavily. I really miss my ebookwise because of its illuminated screen (for night time) and the ability to use a touch-screen dictionary. Also, ergonomically, it is far superioir to the Sony I think. I've tried to do without it, but I just miss it too much. Going to get another one before the stocks run out! I often have the same book on both devices for reading in different situations.

[Kris777]

I have black color jetBook and my wife has white color jetBook.
I like jetBook and I don't have plans to buy another eBook reader in the near future.

[Lilly]

I have the Amazon Kindle 2 and the Sony PRS-505 (Blue). I actually use both of them. I put different genre on my readers (I basically only read 2 Romance and Fiction)! So when I'm in the mood for Dean Koontz (my favorite author), I pull out my PRS-505! I buy the monthly Harlequin Presents bundle and Amazon has the best prices so that's why my K2 is my romance reader; I don't have to convert and I buy romance more often then fiction!

I love my Kindle 2 (had the kindle 1 from Oct 30th 2008 to Feb 9th 2009), now I have the Kindle 2, but I still have my 1st love (My Blue PRS-505)! When I bought My PRS-505 on Dec 2007, I was a major shopper at the Sony Bookstore site for about 9 months, so I have a lot of books in the LRX format. Not that I mind because I really don't plan on parting with my PRS-505 for a long time! I definitely prefer the PRS-505 for the History Section, How I can organize my library, and last but not least, page numbers (I love how I can easily jump 10, 20, 30 pages etc. without any hassle). I have no need for the dictionary and have only used it a couple time for demonstration purposes but I guess it's a nice thing to have. I love the Whispernet that comes with the Kindle; though I shop on Amazon via my computer 99.9% of the time, I do send my purchase to my Kindle via the wireless connection (basically, for those who don't have a Kindle, you buy the book with your computer, you don't have to hook your Kindle via USB cable, you just pick send it to my Kindle as your option and then turn on the wireless on the Kindle, and your book purchases download without you having to do anything); love that part. I love owning both the Kindle and the PRs-505 but I would not give up my PRS-505 for a Kindle.

[Sweetpea]

Not yet, but I will have...

I only have my PDA now, but I'll buy a 5" this summer and I will buy a larger screen too. Not too sure on which device yet. (or when, for that matter. Depends on the devices, but most importantly, on my finances).

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes, I can read my Mobi books on my Windows Smartphone too, come to that. I rarely do, but it's nice to know that the capability is there "just in case" .

That's the only reason I installed Mobipocket on that phone and put those books on the memory card... Not that I use it, but you'll never know when you're stuck somewhere without your dedicated reader...

[DDHarriman]

Hi

I have a Cybook and a Sony prs 505.

The Cybook was the first one (17 months of heavy use and counting) and still is my main reader.
The Sony was bought because I wanted to check the reflow pdf function and see how epub looked… did that and now use it some times, specially with pdf because it is much easier for me then the Cybook (epub on the Sony can not be forced to show the text justified and thus it’s useless for me), also stays as a backup if anything happens to the Cybook.

The lady of the house as not get the eBook “fanatism” yet, but two weeks ago we have spend a week “in club med” (do not ask!), I used the Cybook and she used the Sony, and she loved every minute with it.

Best regards,

[rcuadro]

I have a Kindle 2, 505, iPhone...

[revfish]

I have been doing the ebook thing for quite a number of years, since about '97 or so (I think)

I started out with a Palm V, then moved to a Palm VX, then to a Palm 500 followed by a Palm 505 followed by a Palm Tungsten E (see a trend here...dang brand loyalty). I currently have a Sony 505SC and it goes with me everywhere. About the only times it is not in my bag strapped to my side is when I am with a client at work and bedtime (and showertime) and at those times, it is within arm's reach. My wife has a 505SC as well and her sister who lives with us has a 505RC. We need to get one more for her dad but I can't justify the money at this time. oh yeah, my almost 9 y/o keeps asking us to get him a 505 also. I don't think so. He gets to stick to pbooks for now.

Oh yeah, I hope to be getting and iPhone 3GS on the 23rd or later so that will be another one I will have on me at all times.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Elsi

I also keep one Mobipocket book on my Blackberry. Turns out that in the corporate world, it's permitted to spend some time looking at your Blackberry, so while my colleagues are checking their e-mail, I sneak in a couple of "pages" of my current novel -- The Rising by James Doohan and S M Stirling. I call it "stealth reading".

Hey, I must charge my PDA some time! So, I'll have it hanging on my laptop at work (it charges through USB) and since I always have mobipocket open...

[junkyardwillie]

I've got an old Sony 500 which is collecting dust and my Irex Iliad, looking for a third

[pwalker8]

I've got three, a Sony 500 (which I keep as a backup), a Sony 505 (my main reader) and a Kindle 1 (which I use to purchase books from Amazon and to read topaz books on). I also read via the kindle app on my iTouch and iPhone. I bought the Kindle because I decided that Amazon has a much better selection of ebooks than Sony, and it's a lot easier to buy Amazon books that it is to buy Sony books (I have a mac) and finally, I can format shift most Amazon ebooks (except the topaz books) so I won't lose my investment. I generally buy books from Amazon, de-drm the books and read them on my Sony.

[disney_mommy]

Thanks, everyone, for the replies. I love hearing different opinions.

Originally Posted by Elphaba

Disney do you and your mom share books? If so unless you want to resort to 3rd party tools you need to stay with compatible readers if you read books that aren't considered part of the public domain.

No, generally we prefer different types of books.

Here's a new question: if I were to get another ereader, say a K2, would it be possible to convert my books on the Sony to the Kindle, using a program which I have used before, but that cannot be named here?