Kindle vs Sony Reader

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by igorsk

Actually Kindle reads DRM-free Mobi files just fine. And TXT.

And even many HTML documents if you change their extension to TXT.

Dale

[bkilian]

Originally Posted by GingerTez

I just thought I'd point out that for anyone not in the USA the Kindle doesn't have the attraction of wireless download or the easy access to the library from amazon.com.

I do still like the idea of it's dictionary lookup, notation, and bookmarking features that seem superior to my PRS-505.

To be honest, I planned to buy the first properly supported reader that became available (and was supported by a major bookstore/chain) in the UK and that happened to be the Sony. If Amazon had got the Kindle out on amazon.co.uk sooner then I'm sure I'd be just as happy with my Kindle as I am now with my Sony.

Cheers,
Terry.

The only bothers I have with the Kindle are it's huge thickness (it doesn't fit in my pocket like my Sony does), it's complete lack of an organization system like collections, and what I consider possibly the worst user interface (button layout and form factor) of any device ever made, except possibly my Denon AVR remote. The cover is useless unless you modify it with velcro, which is apparently what everyone does as soon as they get the thing, it's impossible to hold without pressing next page/back/prev page multiple times, and if you hold it with your right hand, you can only go forward pages, not previous. And as soon as you've settled down and are getting into the book, your thumb hits "back" instead of "next page" and you get dumped out to a menu.

The whispernet stuff? Genius. But they should really consider firing the dude who did the industrial design.

[carld]

Originally Posted by bkilian

The only bothers I have with the Kindle are it's huge thickness (it doesn't fit in my pocket like my Sony does), it's complete lack of an organization system like collections, and what I consider possibly the worst user interface (button layout and form factor) of any device ever made, except possibly my Denon AVR remote. The cover is useless unless you modify it with velcro, which is apparently what everyone does as soon as they get the thing, it's impossible to hold without pressing next page/back/prev page multiple times, and if you hold it with your right hand, you can only go forward pages, not previous. And as soon as you've settled down and are getting into the book, your thumb hits "back" instead of "next page" and you get dumped out to a menu.

I can't say I have any problems with the Kindle's design, at all. I think the cover works very well, my kindle doesn't fall out, it doesn't need velcro, and I rarely hit buttons I don't intend to. It feels very much like a book to me, and the thickness doesn't bother me one notch.

[tlrowley]

Originally Posted by bkilian

The only bothers I have with the Kindle are it's huge thickness (it doesn't fit in my pocket like my Sony does), it's complete lack of an organization system like collections, and what I consider possibly the worst user interface (button layout and form factor) of any device ever made, except possibly my Denon AVR remote. The cover is useless unless you modify it with velcro, which is apparently what everyone does as soon as they get the thing, it's impossible to hold without pressing next page/back/prev page multiple times, and if you hold it with your right hand, you can only go forward pages, not previous. And as soon as you've settled down and are getting into the book, your thumb hits "back" instead of "next page" and you get dumped out to a menu.

The whispernet stuff? Genius. But they should really consider firing the dude who did the industrial design.

Have you used a Kindle for any length of time, or are you simply summarizing the knee-jerk, negative, it's not as pretty as my iPod, reviews that are out there?

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by carld

I think the cover works very well, my kindle doesn't fall out, it doesn't need velcro, and I rarely hit buttons I don't intend to.

The buttons are ok, but my Kindle was always falling out of the original cover. It seems that the tab that holds the cover in place varies from Kindle to Kindle, so it works with some but not all (or even most). With a Medge cover I am very happy with how the Kindle works. It definitely is designed to be used in a cover, that is why the keys can be so close to the edge.

[astra]

Originally Posted by tlrowley

Have you used a Kindle for any length of time, or are you simply summarizing the knee-jerk, negative, it's not as pretty as my iPod, reviews that are out there?

Do you mean that if someoen dares to voice their honest negative opinion about kindle they are just copy/paste trolls and have no opinion of their own?

[tlrowley]

No, I'm making the point that very few people have the same negative view of the Kindle after using it for more than a second or two.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by tlrowley

No, I'm making the point that very few people have the same negative view of the Kindle after using it for more than a second or two.

[B]kilian gave us his experience in using the Kindle. Although his experience was negative, he couched his opinion in language that was not defamatory, aggressive, or unnecessarily mean.

Your language - YOUR RESPONSE to him - was uncalled for, aggressive and not very nice. Your clarification of your comment - if it had been an initial comment to bkilian - would have been more apt, appropriate, and positive.

The fact is there are negative things to be said about ALL the ebook Readers, even the one I own and even the one you own. No Reader is perfect and opinions about their use, convenience, and practicality will continue to come under fire. There is no perfect unit out there.

Thank you,
Don

[tlrowley]

bkilian, Don, and anyone else who was offended by my reply,

I apologize.

[bkilian]

Originally Posted by carld

I can't say I have any problems with the Kindle's design, at all. I think the cover works very well, my kindle doesn't fall out, it doesn't need velcro, and I rarely hit buttons I don't intend to. It feels very much like a book to me, and the thickness doesn't bother me one notch.

To each his own. I will say my wife loves her Kindle, and she says that she rarely hits the wrong buttons now, although it still happens. According to her, it took a few days to get used to the fact that you can't actually hold it , you have to essentially hold the cover, or lay it on something. For me, this is unacceptable, since I read by holding the book in one hand with either my left or right hand, and the Kindle just makes it very uncomfortable for me to do that. The new Sony 505 design also bothers me because although they fixed it for right handers by moving the page buttons over to the right, the concave scoop they took out of the right side makes it hard for your thumb to securely hold the book.

Originally Posted by tlrowley

Have you used a Kindle for any length of time, or are you simply summarizing the knee-jerk, negative, it's not as pretty as my iPod, reviews that are out there?

I've read a couple of books on the one my wife owns. I went back to my Sony with a heartfelt sigh of relief. I couldn't hold it with my right hand, because I couldn't page back, and I couldn't hold it at the bottom, no page buttons, and I couldn't hold it with my left without folding the cover over backwards, which seems sacriligious.

Originally Posted by tlrowley

No, I'm making the point that very few people have the same negative view of the Kindle after using it for more than a second or two.

Well, I still have the same negative review despite having used it for many hours. Sorry about that. It really is a great device and is doing a huge amount to make eBooks more common, but only the most hardcore fanboys would insist that it shouldn't be redesigned somewhat.

Things I really like about the Kindle: Whispernet, large selection, removable battery, software interface (other than the lack of collections, it's very well done)

Things I really don't like about the Sony: Sony Connect Software (Especially since they disabled the ability to drag from the file system directly into the book). I wish you could remove the status bar, or at least make it reversed from it's current colour scheme. The aforementioned scoop on the right side which causes your thumb to slip off while holding it.

On the whole though, I vastly prefer my Sony, not least because of Calibre

[tlrowley]

Thank you for your more detailed review. I really do appreciate it. I apologized for my snarky comment and I did mean it. It wasn't clear (to me) from your earlier post that you had more experience with the Kindle than looking at a picture of it on the Amazon site, but I still shouldn't have been snarky. I could give a whole lot of reasons why I was rude, but they're not important. The bottom line is, I was rude and I shouldn't have been.