Canadian - Kindle or Sony? and Library books!

[frozennorth]

Fellow canuck and heavy library user here. Interlibrary loan which a lot of libraries use to bring in books from other libraries does not cover ebooks at least not in our library system. Believe me I tried. So to get a specific ebook for you they would probably have to buy it. My library system just started to carry ebooks last year and the selection is still very small (under 1000) but increasing steadily. I'm considering to get a library card from a larger city with a bigger ebook selection. Definitely check first what's available ebook wise in your library system.

[Care]

Yep, that's the way it works here too. I know in our area we can't get mobi ebooks through our library, so the Kindle would be out for me. I also heard they soon wouldn't even be offering them. Does anybody know if this is true?

I know the OP decided on a Kindle, but in case others read this and wanted to know, I just bought a book via wifi through the shop button on my Nook. I live in Canada, but I do have my address listed as my old address at my dads. I also have the box checked saying it is my billing address as well. This was a new release, and a fairly popular book (or I should say author ), so I don't know if that had anything to do with it.

[kaireece]

Well, since the Kindle is so backordered I have lots of time to change my mind!
I think I'll go to the library tomorrow to try and get some more info on the ebooks there.
thanks again

[ATDrake]

In the meantime, you may also want to try practising your strip & convert technique, just to get a feel for how easy/convenient you find it. Possibly it may turn out to be more complicated/tedious than you really want, especially if you end up doing it a lot.

You can use some of the free promotional books offered at the Sony and Kobo stores for test fodder, and use Kindle for Mac/PC or better yet, Kindle Previewer to check how they'll look. ePub tends to lose formatting on the way to Mobi, which only allows for a much simpler display in general, but this shouldn't matter with most books.

[GreenCanuck]

I went with the Kobo because of the store. The Sony Reader store is frustrating and insulting to Canadians. It is hard to even find the link to take you to the limited Canadian books. Amazon is better and of course there are other sources. I'm sick of being told about special offers and free books only to find. NOT FOR CANADIANS.

[Latinandgreek]

I'd say that the Kobo store is better for Canadian titles than either Amazon or Sony, but you can read Kobo books on many devices including the Sony readers - but epub can't be read on a Kindle. I hate to be a nag, but stripping DRM and converting book files is not legal, is it?

Here are my two cents: If you plan on buying many books from the Amazon book store, go for the Kindle. If not, go for the Sony. Side loading books is a bit more of a hassle than downloading them directly onto the device, but the fact that you can use epub library books more than makes up for it, in my opinion. If you really want wi-fi/ 3g, check out the sony prs.950. Also, I'm pretty sure that some Canadian authors are only available in epub, so it might be a good idea to make a list of the books you might want to buy and see what stores they are available at: the amazon bookstore, sony, kobo, fictionwise... and then factor that into your decision. I'd hate to buy a device only to not be able to do what I want with it.

[terraskye]

I love my Sony PRS650. I buy most of my books through the kobo store and its easy to transfer over to my reader. I'll eventually get a Kindle 3( because I am not into DRM stripping) but right now I'm 100% happy with my 650.

Kobo.com is also compatible with quite a few non kobo readers

http://www.kobobooks.com/ade

I haven't bought anything through the Sony ebook store so I can't comment on that but so far I have found what i'm looking for at a lot of other sources.

My only hesitation about buying a kindle3 is not being able to see it before i buy it plus the shipping there and back if i have to return it. Though I'm sure curiosity will win out lol

[québecoise]

I agree with GreenCanuck--the Sony Store is insulting to Canadians. They have the nerve to call it the SonyStore.ca, as if there's a special store, just for us. When you get to it, you find it's not Canadian at all. The prices are in American dollars, which can lead to extra charges on your credit card.

[ATDrake]

Plus there's the annoying thing where if you search for a book on the website version of the Sony store, you a) can't buy it from there and b) can't even tell if it's available to your country until you load up their awful Reader Library software and find out it's greyed-out to US-only. Or it's available, but the price seems to be different (i.e. higher).

About the only real advantage they have over Kobo is the use of a shopping cart and the wishlist, both of which I'd like all stores to have. And their search function does seem to be somewhat more functional and less annoying than the Kobo website's.

And Kobo charges Canadians in Canadian dollars and offers discount coupons.

I say go for Sony hardware if you want the extra features and ePub/library support without having to do the DRM stripping dance*, but shop at the Kobo store for actual books.

* Currently still legal in Canada, where our current Conservative government has not yet managed to completely destroy the notion of fair use, for those who were wondering.