Do you know what you REALLY need in an e-reader?

[cfrizz]

I was all set to get a Kindle, but when the snafoo happened with Amazon deleting that George Orwell book without so much as a By-Your-Leave, that took them right out the running.

A coworker has a Sony PRS-500 & I checked it out and discovered all the things it could do. So I researched all of the Sony readers & checked out other readers online.

My requirements for my reader was that it be relatively small & light weight, but large enough for me to be able to comfortably read. I wanted to be able to play music on it. And most important was that all downloads had to be accessible from MY pc. I would be damned if someone would just come in & delete any book I bought from my reader!

The Sony PRS-600 met all of my requirements, so that is what I got.

[Ankh]

Must have, the essential stuff
- ePub support at par with the latest Adobe DE for Windows or a "browser based" rendering software like Calibre viewer.
- A capability to dislplay PDF documents at par with Sony PRS 505 (what I already have defines my expectations for the future), i.e. landscape view for half page.
- Uptime, in reading mode (everything else I should be able to turn off with a single physical button) at least 10 hours.
- weight bellow 1 lb.
- USB connectivity
- external storage (SD card or equivalent).
- user replaceable battery.
- a capability to replace default fonts with those uploaded by user.
- device should not be closed, OpenInkPot should boot up from the day one.

Nice to have - hardware
- screen size big enough to comfortably render letter/A4 PDF documents
- (multi)touch screen (for dictionary lookups and gestures)
- folded design (like a laptop with two screens on two halves)
- uptime measured in days, rather than hours
- refresh rate way better than eInk (comfortable scroll, quick display of pop-up menu for dictionary lookups or such)

Nice to have - software
- Decent dictionary engine, lookups resolved within a couple of seconds.
- A capability to purchase really good reference dictionary (OED on top of list) or dictionaries for other languages.
- Effective Zoom-in zoom-out for PDF documents
- Capability to read DRM protected books loaned from public library

Items in "nice to have" lists are given in descending order of importance.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

Apple is out of the question for me just because of their obsession with platform lock-in. I don't have an iPod, I don't have an iPhone, and I'm not going to buy anything starting with i- from them. With Apple, you have to struggle (and/or pay) to get it onto the device, and good luck using it on any other device, and it's not worth it unless you're in love with sleek white cases and minimalist design. I just bought $20 worth of ebooks over at Baen, and they're on my PRS-500 now, but if I want, I can read them on this PC, or on my netbook, or on whatever else I might have lying around that can read whatever file type I choose (if Baen doesn't offer it, Calibre can convert it). You just can't do that with an iFeminineHygieneProduct (seriously, worst name since the Wii).

Everything you said is true of ALL the devices. I read Baen books just fine with either my iPhone or my iPad. But unlike the Sony, I can read Kindle books on both of those devices as well -- without having to break the DRM.

Don't get an iDevice if you don't want to -- but do a better job of analyzing the reasons. If you buy a book from the Sony store, you can't read it on a non-Sony device. If you buy a kindle book -- you can't read it except via Kindle apps. So the same is true of buying from the Apple iBookstore. When all the players do something, it's not a differentiator between them.

If you want to read Kindle books and Barnes and Noble Books and Apple Books and Kobo Books you can buy one of each of those proprietary book readers....or you can get an iPad and read them all. All except Sony at this point.

Lee

[Rich_D]

I started reading on my Palm T/X, really by accident. The feature was there and the software included a free ebook and one day I was stuck in a waiting room and started reading. Eventually I decided I wanted a bigger screen.

I purchased a number of books in the pdb format, so I wanted something that would read that format.

I also checked out a lot of books from my library and read them on my laptop, so I wanted to continue doing that.

At this point I was torn between a netbook or a nook.

I read at night before bed, but on the weekends and on my lunchbreak, I read outside. I have a hard time reading the lcd screen in the sun, so I decided to go with the nook and just use a book light at night.

[Ankh]

Originally Posted by leebase

If you buy a book from the Sony store, you can't read it on a non-Sony device.

Are you sure about that?

It was my understanding that since the conversion of their store to (Adobe) ePub format, Sony titles can be read on ANY device with Adobe DE software (most of non-Amazon eInk readers, if I am not mistaken, and, of course, any Wintel PC).

[glitch]

My main requirements were;

1) Shows up as a mass storage device in whatever Operating system is on the computer I happen to be using at that time.

2) GSM/3G since when I travel I'm often nowhere near any wi-fi.

3) Recognizes standard formats (mainly epub)

4) Expandable storage

I ended up getting the nook which had the added advantage I could look it over in a store and make certain The screen was comfortable to read and the unit felt sturdy.

So far I've mostly bought a few short stories and downloaded epubs from project Gutenberg. It's all worked rather well. I think as time goes on I'll probably mostly use it for periodicals. Once I've read the Public domain books I'm interested in any purchased reading will probably still be 90% paperbacks. Unless a fair bit of new stuff becomes available in Public domain or really neat things get released in digital form only.

I mostly read for pleasure and generally buy paperbacks, often used, so the $9.99-$12.99 e-book price (U.S.) all the online stores keep jabbering about is way more expensive than the $2-$8 I generally pay for a shaved tree book. But magazines and newspapers that I read are actually cheaper on e-readers than in physical form. Much nicer getting the occasional copy of the FT for $0.75 instead of $2.50

[Blue Tyson]

Very long battery life, fits in my pocket, can use html and text files. Holds a decent amount of books, preferably thousands - even if you have to use SD or something to do it.
So fold up or rollup would be cool.

Also happy to have a bigger one for home.

[Solicitous]

Well I have an Astak Pocket Pro (5" screen), and it is my first ereader. I have done alot of research and kept my eye on the market since the Kindle 1 was released (I was really intrigued by the concept of an ereader). For me the PP is an absolute dream for reading novels, nothing I would change about it at all, comfortable to hold, I find I get about 2/3 of a normal paperback page on the screen at about the same font size, so not all that different, battery lasts forever, large choice of supported files.

Now my only current requirements for the next ereader is something I can use for Uni. It will have to be a 9.7" screen, offer PDF cropping, ability to have multiple files opened and switch between them. That is about it, my needs are very simple. I will probably never get one as I finish Uni in a year, so the money would be kind of wasted, I can't see myself reading for pleasure on a large screen reader.

[Bookster]

Originally Posted by leebase

If you buy a book from the Sony store, you can't read it on a non-Sony device.

That may have been true before the Sony Ebook Store decided to switch to ePub, but surely not now. It's all ePubs drm-ed under ADE. Wait until Adobe finally decides it's time to release an app for iPhone OS and you'll be able to read it on the iPad too :P I use my "Sony" books fine on my Pocketbook.

On topic: at this point, I'd like it to be not-too-pricey, to have a good CS (which is quite true of PB) and a reliable OS (which was what first pushed me out of Gen3-Land ).