8+ Readers in comparison

[jocampo]

Hi mgmueller,

For your old purchases/books, what have you done with those or what are you planning to do? I mean, if you have ebooks from 2000 or so, format could be an old one or deprecated, unless PDF, no?

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by pata

I'm getting a Samsung Galaxy, in part due to your positive reviews, but I'm also interested in an e-ink reader. I'll primarily be reading pdfs & manga/comics (djvu and chm are the other file formats I'll be working but are of secondary importance). I want to have a very portable device. Any recommendations?

If portability is your main concern, I only have 2 recommendations:
- CyBook Opus. Beautifully designed and very positive reviews.
- PocketBook 360. I slightly prefer the design of CyBook Opus, mainly because of PocketBook's ugly "butterfly buttons". BUT: PocketBook 360 does have an advanced version of FBReader. My most favorite feature: You can turn pages by using the G-sensor. Slightly turn your wrist to the left or right and pages turn forwards respectively backwards. Highly configurable.
Both 5" = most portable units out there.

Worth considering as well, although very expensive: Dell Streak is extremely portable as well. And with the recent update to 2.2, it's equal to Samsung Galaxy Tab performance-wise (even seems to be a bit more stable than Samsung Galaxy Tab).

Congrats to the Galaxy Tab. You won't regret it.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Hi mgmueller,

For your old purchases/books, what have you done with those or what are you planning to do? I mean, if you have ebooks from 2000 or so, format could be an old one or deprecated, unless PDF, no?

A brief (and rough) overview of my purchases:

12/2000 to 4/2005 ca. 380 Microsoft .lit
Most of them in the first 2 years for my PocketPCs.
I've tried to re-vitalise .lit in 2004, but then PocketPCs basically already had been dead.
I can read unDRMed .lit for example on BeBook One. But mainly they are my reserve for now. Easily can be unDRMed for conversion.

10/2007 to 7/2009 ca. 250 Mobipocket .prc
After the "death" of PocketPCs, I've paused for about 2 years.
Then I've found the phantastic iRex iLiad (discussed here on MobileRead).
The .prc files easily can be stripped from DRM. I've done so for some of them and put them for example onto my Kindles.
I find .prc being a very handy format for conversion.

7/2008 to 12/2009 ca. 250 Sony .lrx
I'm eagerly waiting for the Sony app for Android, due still this December.
Else I can re-download most (all?) of them from Sony in .epub format.
I've already re-downloaded maybe 1/3rd of them, but for now I don't have any instance of the Sony reader software installed.

All those figures clearly show: The business model of Amazon, Barnes&Noble or Apple is working. I spend at least 3 times the amount for content in the very first year, as I've spent for the respective reader...

More later on...

[jocampo]

Thanks,

Can you please elaborate on this a bit more:

Originally Posted by mgmueller

All those figures clearly show: The business model of Amazon, Barnes&Noble or Apple is working. I spend at least 3 times the amount for content in the very first year, as I've spent for the respective reader....

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Thanks,

Can you please elaborate on this a bit more:

Of course Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble and (to some extent) Sony gladly make some profit on the hardware.
Samsung, developing and manufacturing most of its components, should be highly profitable in the hardware arena as well.
But clearly the potential, at least for revenue but in mid term for profit as well, is in the content.

Studies say, Amazon is taking a loss on lots of books for $ 9.99.
Why should they accept this, if not for market share? If they are willing to sponsor for now, obviously there has to be huge potential in this area in the future.

For Apple it's iTunes. For Amazon and B&N it's their respective bookstores and so on.

My personal statistics:
On average maybe $ 400 per eReader. But usually at least another $ 1.000 for content (eBooks, newspapers, magazines, ...) in the very first year after purchasing the hardware. And usually I'm purchasing content from the provider of the hardware.
For Sony it's different since they've moved to .epub as a replacement for their proprietary .lrx format. Quite frankly, I don't quite get their business model. Obviously, Sony is more interested in the hardware. Maybe they have some revenue share from the bookstores to which they link in their reader software. But basically, for Sony readers you can purchase your content "everywhere".

Meaning:
Apple, Amazon and all those others that have various sources of revenue easily can take a hit in a single area. Apple, for example, could reduce their hardware prices and compensate the loss via iTunes. Rumor has it, Amazon has been sponsoring their books heavily for getting (on of the) market leader for eBooks.....

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Of course Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble and (to some extent) Sony gladly make some profit on the hardware.
Samsung, developing and manufacturing most of its components, should be highly profitable in the hardware arena as well.
But clearly the potential, at least for revenue but in mid term for profit as well, is in the content.

Studies say, Amazon is taking a loss on lots of books for $ 9.99.
Why should they accept this, if not for market share? If they are willing to sponsor for now, obviously there has to be huge potential in this area in the future.

For Apple it's iTunes. For Amazon and B&N it's their respective bookstores and so on.

My personal statistics:
On average maybe $ 400 per eReader. But usually at least another $ 1.000 for content (eBooks, newspapers, magazines, ...) in the very first year after purchasing the hardware. And usually I'm purchasing content from the provider of the hardware.
For Sony it's different since they've moved to .epub as a replacement for their proprietary .lrx format. Quite frankly, I don't quite get their business model. Obviously, Sony is more interested in the hardware. Maybe they have some revenue share from the bookstores to which they link in their reader software. But basically, for Sony readers you can purchase your content "everywhere".

Meaning:
Apple, Amazon and all those others that have various sources of revenue easily can take a hit in a single area. Apple, for example, could reduce their hardware prices and compensate the loss via iTunes. Rumor has it, Amazon has been sponsoring their books heavily for getting (on of the) market leader for eBooks.....

Good point.

And like you, I am still confused by Sony. Good hardware but can't see a clear business strategy if not tied up to an online bookstore.

[Clamb]

Mgmueller, you`ve said before that prefers Sony PRS 950 over Sony PRS 650. Would you tell me what are the pros and cons of each one? I don`t know anything about ebooks and I need one now. I agree with you that the best ones are the big names like Sony, so I`ll probably buy one of these. Is there such a great difference between 6 and 7 inches? And the thing you said about zoom, are sony`s readers difficult to zoom? Are they good for PDF and DOC formats?
What about the wi-fi, is it true that it only works in the US?

Thanks a lot. Clamb

[Clamb]

One thing that I forgot to ask before, does the touchscreen really affects the e-ink reading technology? I`m not english native speaker, so I`ll try to explain myself better: do the ones with touchscreen lose when it comes to better reading?

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Clamb

One thing that I forgot to ask before, does the touchscreen really affects the e-ink reading technology? I`m not english native speaker, so I`ll try to explain myself better: do the ones with touchscreen lose when it comes to better reading?

This has been the case with the older touchscreen models from Sony: Sony 700, Sony 600 and Sony 900 (these are the ones I've got).
The new models (Sony 350, Sony 650 and Sony 950) have a different technology. I haven't seen the new Sony readers live in action, but similar models.
I've been fine with Sony 600 and Sony 900 (Sony 700 was at the limit of readability because of the additional integrated light). But the new ones are a significant improvement.
There's (almost) no difference in contrast/Readability to non-touchscreen readers.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Clamb

Mgmueller, you`ve said before that prefers Sony PRS 950 over Sony PRS 650. Would you tell me what are the pros and cons of each one? I don`t know anything about ebooks and I need one now. I agree with you that the best ones are the big names like Sony, so I`ll probably buy one of these. Is there such a great difference between 6 and 7 inches? And the thing you said about zoom, are sony`s readers difficult to zoom? Are they good for PDF and DOC formats?
What about the wi-fi, is it true that it only works in the US?

Thanks a lot. Clamb

I've got the older models, Sony 600 and 900. Not the new ones (Sony 650 and 950). I've read, the new ones have a way better zoom.
The old ones did have a zoom only for a single page. If you wanted to crop margins for example, you had to do it again and again for every single page. Not anymore with the new ones.
The Sony readers are okay for PDFs, but not benchmark. iRex for example does a better job. Many users favor iPad as well.

Re. Sony 650 vs. Sony 950 (respectively in my case Sony 600 vs. Sony 900): For me, it never was about the additional 1". I just prefer the form factor of Sony 900. That's one of the reasons, why I prefer Samsung Galaxy Tab over iPad as well. To me, the 16:9 ratio (or something like that) is more natural for reading than 4:3 (or something like that).
The smaller the reader, the easier to hold in one hand. I want to relax while reading, not lift a bulky and/or heavy reader with both hands.
And the additional screen estate of Sony 900 (respectively Sony 950) allows for some nice gimmicks: On the home page, there are additional thumbnails, for example for the last book read.
But that's all just personal taste, there's no technological difference.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Clamb

Mgmueller, you`ve said before that prefers Sony PRS 950 over Sony PRS 650. Would you tell me what are the pros and cons of each one? I don`t know anything about ebooks and I need one now. I agree with you that the best ones are the big names like Sony, so I`ll probably buy one of these. Is there such a great difference between 6 and 7 inches? And the thing you said about zoom, are sony`s readers difficult to zoom? Are they good for PDF and DOC formats?
What about the wi-fi, is it true that it only works in the US?

Thanks a lot. Clamb

Re. WiFi:
WiFi of course works globally. But the 3G in Sony 900 doesn't work outside of the US.
Kindle's 3G for example is working globally for 18 months now.
nook comes with an AT&T SIM, but you can replace it by your own SIM and hack the OS to accept your SIM.
For Sony, it's the "wrong" frequency band to work outside of the US.
At least this has been the case for Sony 900 (but I haven't heard otherwise about Sony 950).

One year ago, when I bought my Sony 900, this wasn't a biggy to me. Back then, by far most of the eBook readers had to be managed via USB. But in the meantime, all Android tablets, iPads, Kindles and lots of other readers come with global 3G capability. In my opinion, Sony 950 is kind of outdated in that instance. Maybe they'll introduce a global model later on?

[Clamb]

Hi Mgmueller, thanks for the answers. What about Ipad? When it comes to reading, do you know if it is as good as sony`s ebook readers? I`m considering buying one of them but my main goal is reading, not the other features. So, is Ipad too much or it`s good enough for it and also more?
Thanks again.

[stevenjotello]

I am waiting to add a player of 8.9 or 10.7 at the end of this year or early next year (probably depends on if Sony comes out with it this year or I'll wait Plastic Logic). This will make 3 and is much work to juggle 2, I have now, then wow.

[astra]

Originally Posted by stevenjotello

I am waiting to add a player of 8.9 or 10.7 at the end of this year or early next year (probably depends on if Sony comes out with it this year or I'll wait Plastic Logic). This will make 3 and is much work to juggle 2, I have now, then wow.

Sony? No way.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Clamb

Hi Mgmueller, thanks for the answers. What about Ipad? When it comes to reading, do you know if it is as good as sony`s ebook readers? I`m considering buying one of them but my main goal is reading, not the other features. So, is Ipad too much or it`s good enough for it and also more?
Thanks again.

Personally, I don't use iPad at all as a reader.
I don't have any problems with the display quality/contrast.
I just find it way too bulky and a bit too heavy, to comfortably hold it.
Some say, they've found a convenient holding position.
Well, I don't want to "find" a holding position. I just want to hold it "naturally". I can do so with Sony 900, nook, Kindle or iRex 800 for example.
Else, quality-wise, iPad would be totally fine. Actually, it even has the advantage to use various apps, so you can read Kindle and nook books for example - legally and without any hassle...
If you want to go for a tablet instead of a dedicated (ePaper) reader, personally I'd recommend Samsung Galaxy Tab. nook color may be worth checking out as well.