Keep the Kindle or Switch to a Sony

[coryj]

Hello, I am relatively new to the ebook reader scene (and ebooks in general). I like to read books, and I like the look of e-paper. I am in IT, so I stare at a computer monitor many hours a day and the e-paper is much easier on my eyes than continuing to stare at a laptop on my daily train rides to/from work (I don't really need to expedite my eye degredation). Anyway, my situation:

I was looking at ebook readers in the cheapish range. I am in America, so the Sony PRS-500/505 and the Kindle are the main options to me.

I have a Kindle on the way that I got brand new on ebay for retail + shipping... I figured with the high demand for them I could at least find someone to resell it for what it cost me, and if I wanted to keep it, I wouldn't have to pay a premium or wait for one.

I am very interested in reading PDFs created by my colleagues, in fact I am more interested in reading these than in purchasing books from the amazon or sony ebook store. I am not saying I will never do it, but its not the really a selling point for me if I can access the Kindle store anywhere over whispernet.

I have read about the Sony's inability to display "normal sized" PDFs, and I have used some of the converters out there to sample them and I am somewhat pleased with the results (could be better, but its usable quality). With the kindle, I know of the "email it to yourself" conversion method which charges 10 cents per message... is there an easy/effective way to convert without the unneeded charge?

As for whispernet, the access to wikipedia is very compelling. I know it has a web browser, but I can't find an adequate explanation of what it can do and what it costs. If I could access my google reader and read RSS feeds without paying the -in my opinion ridiculously high- $1-2 per month for each blog, it would make me almost definitely want to keep the kindle.

I'm sorry this is so long-winded, I will end it here and answer any questions posed. Lastly, I would like to keep the price at or below the Kindle, and in my research, the PRS-500/505 and the kindle are the only e-ink units that i can get in america at that price point.

Thanks a lot for your help in my getting into the ebook world

[Ervserver]

there is a thread on here about the the 505 getting a firmware upgrade to handle pdf files, I think it was due out in the spring. From what I hear browsing the net on the Kindle is not great.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by coryj

I have read about the Sony's inability to display "normal sized" PDFs, and I have used some of the converters out there to sample them and I am somewhat pleased with the results (could be better, but its usable quality). With the kindle, I know of the "email it to yourself" conversion method which charges 10 cents per message... is there an easy/effective way to convert without the unneeded charge?

You can use the free MobiPocket Reader for Windows. It has an extremely good PDF converter in it - almost certainly the same one that the Kindle converter uses. The Kindle can read MobiPocket books.

As for whispernet, the access to wikipedia is very compelling. I know it has a web browser, but I can't find an adequate explanation of what it can do and what it costs. If I could access my google reader and read RSS feeds without paying the -in my opinion ridiculously high- $1-2 per month for each blog, it would make me almost definitely want to keep the kindle.

Again, you can do RSS feeds very well with MobiPocket Reader.

I'm sorry this is so long-winded, I will end it here and answer any questions posed. Lastly, I would like to keep the price at or below the Kindle, and in my research, the PRS-500/505 and the kindle are the only e-ink units that i can get in america at that price point.

Did your research not reveal the CyBook Gen3 at US$350? Midway in price between the Sony and the Kindle.

[coryj]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Again, you can do RSS feeds very well with MobiPocket Reader.

I am looking for more of an "on the go" access over the cell network, though (as in, go to a feed aggregator through the web browser). Its one of the main things that I don't understand about the kindle: the web browser.

Originally Posted by HarryT

Did your research not reveal the CyBook Gen3 at US$350? Midway in price between the Sony and the Kindle.

I saw this, but I think with a case and shipping to the USA it was more than the Kindle (with seemingly less features). I suppose I will give this a second look-over if you are implying it may suit me better than the kindle or sony.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by coryj

I have read about the Sony's inability to display "normal sized" PDFs, and I have used some of the converters out there to sample them and I am somewhat pleased with the results (could be better, but its usable quality). With the kindle, I know of the "email it to yourself" conversion method which charges 10 cents per message... is there an easy/effective way to convert without the unneeded charge?

Amazon will convert your PDF for free. The 10c charge is to download it for you to the Kindle via whispernet (so it is free if you download it to your Desktop and copy it to the Kindle via USB). The results of the conversion are probably similar (or even identical) to what the Windows MobiPocket Reader will do, but I have not seen any reports of an actual comparison between the two.

The standard Amazon/MobiPocket PDF conversion "reflows" the text. It is also possible to convert PDFs page by page into images, but the maximum size of a displayed image in AZW/MOBI format on the Kindle is something like 480x640 (with larger images rescaled on the Kindle before being displayed). In principle any of the PDF to IMAGE programs could come with a custom Kindle output option, but none does at present so far as I know.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by coryj

I saw this, but I think with a case and shipping to the USA it was more than the Kindle (with seemingly less features). I suppose I will give this a second look-over if you are implying it may suit me better than the kindle or sony.

I consider it to better than the Sony, personally, although somewhat more expensive. The fact that it support MobiPocket gives it access to a huge range of books from multiple retailers, rather than being tied (more or less) to a single source. I also like the fact that you can load your own fonts on to it (something that neither the Kindle nor the Sony really support), the extensive dictionary support (the Sony has no dictionary, the Kindle has a fixed dictionary; the Gen3 has something like 300 different ones available), and the fact that there's an excellent desktop reader available too. The fact that it has a user-replaceable battery is nice, too (the Sony doesn't, but I believe the Kindle does).

The Kindle is out of the picture for me, not living in the US.

Web browsing is horrible on an eInk screen, believe me (I tried it on my iLiad). The slow refresh-rate of the screen severely restricts its practicality for that purpose. The fact that the Kindle (unlike the iLiad) lacks a touch screen also makes navigation difficult or impossible on many web sites, according to reports I've read.

[coryj]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I consider it to better than the Sony, personally, although somewhat more expensive. The fact that it support MobiPocket gives it access to a huge range of books from multiple retailers, rather than being tied (more or less) to a single source. I also like the fact that you can load your own fonts on to it (something that neither the Kindle nor the Sony really support), the extensive dictionary support (the Sony has no dictionary, the Kindle has a fixed dictionary; the Gen3 has something like 300 different ones available), and the fact that there's an excellent desktop reader available too.

The Kindle is out of the picture for me, not living in the US.

I like the Gen3 quite a bit (I had seen it and forgot about it). However, the more Kindle reviews I read, the more it seems to be what I want. I'd like to hear more opinions, but I am starting to lean towards keeping the Kindle. Thanks for your help.

[JohnClif]

There's nothing the Sony ereader will do that a Kindle won't. Neither reads DRM MOBI files (ebooks), but the vast majority of these are available in the Kindle's AZW format. The Kindle has about twice the # of titles available, and it will read unprotected MOBI format ebooks; the Sony device won't (unless you go thru a 3rd party converter).

Unlike the Sony, the Kindle can download books over-the-air from Amazon and other sites, e.g., Feedbooks. This only works in the US, but since you live in the US it will work for you. You can also browse basic websites, like MSN.com, or your favorite blog, directly on the Kindle, and yes, browsing of text-based websites is acceptable.

You can also use the free Mobipocket Reader for PC application to bundle RSS feeds to the Kindle (in the form of a book for each feed that is automatically updated with each sync). You can't view RSS feeds easily on the Sony.

Both devices aren't great for viewing PDFs, although the Kindle allows you to use either Amazon's PDF conversion service or the Mobipocket Creator application to convert PDFs to readable files. Amazon's PDF conversion is getting better continually. I don't think Sony is working on this as hard because it isn't a potential revenue generator for them as it is for Amazon (Amazon's conversion is free if you download it, or ten cents per document if they download it over-the-air).

Quite frankly the only advantage the Sony has over the Kindle is that it is cheaper. The Kindle has a much larger library of titles, allows you to buy books and periodicals over the air without needing a computer, allows you to browse the web, check your email, etc., and IMO much better matches the paradigm of a book.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by JohnClif

There's nothing the Sony ereader will do that a Kindle won't. Neither reads DRM MOBI files (ebooks), but the vast majority of these are available in the Kindle's AZW format. The Kindle has about twice the # of titles available, and it will read unprotected MOBI format ebooks; the Sony device won't (unless you go thru a 3rd party converter).

Unlike the Sony, the Kindle can download books over-the-air from Amazon and other sites, e.g., Feedbooks. This only works in the US, but since you live in the US it will work for you. You can also browse basic websites, like MSN.com, or your favorite blog, directly on the Kindle, and yes, browsing of text-based websites is acceptable.

You can also use the free Mobipocket Reader for PC application to bundle RSS feeds to the Kindle (in the form of a book for each feed that is automatically updated with each sync). You can't view RSS feeds easily on the Sony.

Both devices aren't great for viewing PDFs, although the Kindle allows you to use either Amazon's PDF conversion service or the Mobipocket Creator application to convert PDFs to readable files. Amazon's PDF conversion is getting better continually. I don't think Sony is working on this as hard because it isn't a potential revenue generator for them as it is for Amazon (Amazon's conversion is free if you download it, or ten cents per document if they download it over-the-air).

Quite frankly the only advantage the Sony has over the Kindle is that it is cheaper. The Kindle has a much larger library of titles, allows you to buy books and periodicals over the air without needing a computer, allows you to browse the web, check your email, etc., and IMO much better matches the paradigm of a book.

the Kindle also supports dictionaries and dictionary lookup while reading a book. It also allows adding notes to a document.

dale

[Just4Fun]

"This only works in the US, but since you live in the US it will work for you."

Be sure to check the Sprint coverage in your area though. Some areas don't have access to the Sprint network coverage. There were a number of people who live in Montana that bought the Kindle and were VERY upset to find out that it doesn't work in their state!

[coryj]

Originally Posted by Just4Fun

Be sure to check the Sprint coverage in your area though. Some areas don't have access to the Sprint network coverage. There were a number of people who live in Montana that bought the Kindle and were VERY upset to find out that it doesn't work in their state!

I work in Philadelphia, which seems to be one of the best regions for Sprint coverage. It says I should have high-speed EVDO access at my work, home and the entire area that covers the one-hour-each-way trainride that I take daily in between. I also make frequent trips to Scottsdale, which also seems to be good. I was pleasantly surprised to find this

Like I said, I am leaning toward the Kindle, especially with all the positive opinions of it on here.

[Alisa]

I was just out there in the Philadelphia area and the coverage was great. As for the Montana folks that Just4Fun mentioned, Amazon states very clearly on the Kindle page that Montana has no coverage. It's not even buried in fine print. They seemed to try to make that quite clear.

[JSWolf]

The thing is, if you want DRM free eBooks, the process is almost the same regardless if you have the 505, gen3, or the Kindle. It requires purchasing in MS Reader format and removing the DRM with ConvertLIT and then converting the DRM free LIT file into something else. LIT2LRF works very well for the 505 and Mobipocket Publisher works for the Gen3 and Kindle. But, you do need Windows. While Libprs500 work on OS X and Linux, you'll need Windows to be able to purchase and download MS Reader eBooks.

[Gideon]

Well, if you decide to switch let me know. I'm thinking the reverse. I got my sony reader and love it yesterday, but I think I need that search function on the Kindle enough that it's a deal breaker. So I'm probably going to take it back and wait for my Kindle to show up.

Which, I gotta admit, makes me kind of sad. But I plan on using mine for textbooks primarily and the lack of a search function makes that a bit difficult on the Sony Reader.

[coryj]

Originally Posted by Gideon

Well, if you decide to switch let me know. I'm thinking the reverse. I got my sony reader and love it yesterday, but I think I need that search function on the Kindle enough that it's a deal breaker. So I'm probably going to take it back and wait for my Kindle to show up.

Which, I gotta admit, makes me kind of sad. But I plan on using mine for textbooks primarily and the lack of a search function makes that a bit difficult on the Sony Reader.

I am pretty sure I am going to keep the Kindle (still a day or two from my home)... it seems like the better one in the long-run at least for my needs. Some of its weaknesses right now seem to be fields that amazon and/or third party hackers will make better in a short time.