Deciding on a reader (cybook/sony505/bebook)

[reader_uk]

Have been reading these forums for the past week or so & have found it very useful - thanks everyone. Now am close to getting myself a reader. Have seen only the Sony reader, hoping to get look at the other two this week.

My question is this :
I need the reader to be able to handle pdf & rss. (in addition to the regular mobi & ebook formats that you buy online) The recommendation in most threads is to go for the Iliad - but I can't afford it. So I am fine with having to make some compromises.(zoom, userfonts) and can manage the conversions using the tools (calibre etc.,)
What would you guys recommend - the RSS capability is slightly more important than PDF. All three come in the same price bracket these days (£176 - £199- £207) Thanks in advance.

[DDHarriman]

For your necessity I would say: Cybook.

Rss feeds work without a problem using the desktop Mobipocket Reader, and this one creates prc files from them.
Then, the Cybook is the one that as the best Mobipocket Reader inbuilt.

[zelda_pinwheel]

just one word of caution, in my experience, the rss feeds compiled by mobipocket don't include pictures, which was very frustrating for me. calibre can also compile rss feeds, and it does include pictures. it can easily export them in lrf or epub, and i believe it can also save in mobi format (or it will be able to, soon... not positive). epub can be converted to mobipocket using the mobipocket destop app, but i'm not sure what it will do with the images from the rss feed, maybe someone who has more experience with mobi can test that process.

[mobelby]

If RSS is an important factor to you (as it is to me) maybe ask bebook if there's any updates on the release of their wireless version that they're testing at the moment. The last time I asked they said March 09.

The ability to sync my own RSS feeds in the morning before leaving the house and without booting up my main PC makes this wait till March worthwhile if indeed they do meet March.

[reader_uk]

Thanks guys,

That is a good point, will check with bebook folks. wifi is a nice-to have, but am not convinced that the price point will be comparable... and that will be an important factor...

[wallcraft]

I suggest getting your RSS feeds into ebook form before deciding on a device. If Windows MobiPocket Reader does what you want, then this argues for Cybook, although Calibre only adds one extra step for the PRS-505. If Calibre is your choice, then the PRS-505 may be best although again Calibre will soon have a MOBI export option (and, as zelda_pinwheel said, Windows MobiPocket Reader or mobigen.exe can do ePub to MOBI today). The output of MobiPocket Reader can be tested (viewed) using MobiPocket Reader. The output of Calibre can be viewed using Calibre, or Sony's Windows ebook Reader.

[reader_uk]

wallcraft : The idea would be to have the quickest turn-around from RSS -> something readable. As you can imagine - would like to be able to switch on & dump all the RSS updates to the reader each morning, so don't want to be doing too much in between.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by reader_uk

wallcraft : The idea would be to have the quickest turn-around from RSS -> something readable. As you can imagine - would like to be able to switch on & dump all the RSS updates to the reader each morning, so don't want to be doing too much in between.

calibre uses "recipes" to automatically fetch rss feeds and turn them into ebooks, and then automatically send them to your device as soon as you connect it. once you set up the recipe (telling it to download that feed, and how often) you don't need to think about it at all.

i think wallcraft's suggestion of trying out the different applications before you choose a device is a good one ; install calibre and mobipocket desktop and test out some rss feeds (calibre has some recipes built in, which you can use ; if you want a specific rss feed which is not already there and you don't know how to make it yourself, you can request it (there's a thread for that) and some kind person will make it for you). see which one gives better results for what you want, and how comfortable you are with them. then decide which device is better suited to you.

[reader_uk]

thanks Zelda_.., just tried the mobi-reader and it seems to work fine. Am trying to get it to work off-line ie., want it to download the articles also, but the default setup doesn't allow me to do it.. will read through their documentation to see if that is possible) Something like google-gears.

[reader_uk]

looks like calibre might be able to do the trick - ie., extract the full html in addition to the snippets, will give that a try..