Nook vs Sony (Touch edition)

[ProfCrash]

Even with the buttons and the new screens I wouldn't get a Sony. They are too expensive and the only one with 3G is way too expensive. My Brother has a Sony 505 and has not been happy with the bookstore or Sony's support for the e-readers. He wanted the more open reader but is now regretting he didn't get a Kindle.

I know that there are folks who love their Sony's and I am am thrilled for them. The e-reader is a tool and you should buy the tool that you are most comfortable with. If the Sony came down in price and offered 3G on all their machines, I would think about getting one for the library but I doubt that that is going to happen.


My cell phone is touchscreen and I still use the buttons whenever I can. I just don't like seeing stuff on my screen.

[sherbearjt08]

Can you use the WIfi in the Nook to download from the Library, or do you still have to hook up to the computer? I have a Sony 300 and love it, but just curious.

[geertm]

Originally Posted by sherbearjt08

Can you use the WIfi in the Nook to download from the Library, or do you still have to hook up to the computer? I have a Sony 300 and love it, but just curious.

The Wifi is ony for downloading books from B&N. The Nook browser cannot download files.
But you need to hook up to the computer anyway, because Adobe Digital Editions is needed to set the expiry date of the books. Libary books always must be transferred to the reader from within ADE.

[fyre182]

i recently returned the nook today. Let me tell you why I did and this might help you. I will try to be as objective about this as possible, since mobile read has been an amazing wealth of information for me. This will most likely touch base on things you already know, but I will provide my rationale for returning the nook which might be helpful. Also, as a side note, I hate fanboys and people blindly devout to a device or company because ultimately those people aren't very helpful or rational . . . so here it is:

Con for the nook vs. prs-650/prs-350

1) PDF SUPPORT!!!! Okay, I have a ton of pdfs. I'm a student and, so, I have tons and tons of technical documents I need to read. I honestly don't mind being patient with zooming or flipping or whatever. I understand that PDF documents are not meant to be read on a 6 inch or a 7 inch screen. I totally get it, but the nook is HORRRIBLE for PDF SUPPORT. IT IS WORSE THAN the KINDLE by a mile, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO READ MANGA (if it is in PDF FORMAT since it is an image). I repeat I cannot imagine a conceivable way you would be able to read manga in any meaningful way on the nook. THERE IS NO ZOOM PERIOD. NO ZOOm at all on pdf documents. THE ONLY way you could zoom on a pdf is if you hacked the nook and rooted this. THE NEW nooks are not capable of being rooted yet because of a new chip/firmware. www.nookdev.com (for up to date info on this). You would then need to load an android pdf viewer in order to view the pdfs. YOU can also not view anything in landscape orientation, the nook does not turn. What this means is that your images will not display, you cannot zoom. However, the nook does support enlarging text in pdf format. THIS WILL NOT change the size of images though. I am not sure how anyone can recomend a nook to you based on your preference for reading manga. It seems most of the comments are about the nook store. on this note, the dictionary does NOT WORK with pdfs. So this rules out any documents you might have in a pdf format. Note taking also does not work with pdfs.

2) The nook battery life is terrible. I recharged my nook about every 3-4 days, and this is a pretty normal life expectancy for your average nook (reading roughly 2-4 hours a day).

3) The dictionary, as mentioned earlier by a nook owner, is horrible. Okay, so the dictionary is not in-line. What this means is that if you are reading a document and want to know what a word means you have to use this terribley unresponsive touch screen and navigate through a MAZE of words to get to the word. Then, you have to click on it and wait 10-15 seconds before it loads a dictionary into a separate screen and you enter into a dictionary to read it. On the kindle, the screen is in line which means your definitions up date as you move your cursor through the text and its much more usable than the cursor on the touch screen. Go to a store and try it. You will understand.

4) the nook sd card is not side loaded, youre gonna have to snap on and off the whole back cover to get to it. THIS Absolutely sucks, cause the plastic is brittle and I think that it will break if you do this too much. However, it is important to note that you can always buy a new cover at the store for 18 bucks.

Okay now, the advantages of the nook.

1) THE Color screen looks fantastic and the new firmware has been updated to make it much more responsive. Honestly, I did not notice any lag except when trying to use the cursor to get to a definition - tHis is probably because of the lag from the eink screen though. It is compounded because you have to scroll through an entire page of text to get to an actual word (there is lag while scrolling to each subsequent word) and then it has to process the word in a separate screen that closes your book to show the definition.

2) wifi. Flat out, the nook browser is very usable. Imho. And it can be useful if I'm too lazy to get up and get my laptop. I can just sit there and browse the store (bn store) and check me email. This is a definite advantage.

3) the nook has speakers. This is nice for me, because I can listen to audio books without having to put on headphones. It's an underestimated amenity.

4) and here is the number one reason to get the nook, like many other people mentioned, the book store. THE book store is miles ahead of the sony. The sony definitely has a limited selection and each book will cost you a few bucks more. the bn book store is much more comparable to the amazon store. I'm not really one to try de-drming my books so this is a huge advantage if you want to buy books.

5) the next huge advantage for the nook is price. like all the other people mentioned, the nook is going to cost you around 80-90 dollars cheaper for the wifi version when all is said and done. The 3g version will still run you 20 dollars cheaper than the 6 inch sony. You can mitigate a lot of this by buying through an online retailer like abt which wont charge you tax or shiping. This means while you pay 218 for a 3g nook (because of tax) you pay 229 flat for the prs-650 with no additional fees. You'll still, however, end up paying more.

6) the nook has great Great great firmware updates. when it first came out it sucked, they've added new features regularly to teh nook to where it is a strong competitior. Sony never ever seems to add features. so what you buy is what you get (end of story). the nook also recently got 2 games added to it on one of the last firmware upgrades! You can now play chess!

7) the nook has bn support behind it. this means you can go to bn book stores and get random freebies like free coffee.

8) I also have no clue when the new sony's will be available and they are back ordered currently. So, its way way way easier to just drive to bn and pick up a nook.

9) the nook has easily changeable fonts too! (sony sorta requires a hack for this, you have to add css code to each of your epubs)

okay, so if you want to read pdfs in any capacity the nook is a no go. If you want wifi and you only read ebooks the nook is a pretty viable option if you want a great bookstore to pick up books from that offers an affordable alternative to amazon - you can also purchase books from the sony store - get the nook.

Since, however, you seem to want to read manga. I think for you the nook is a non option. Don't even bother trying, you can't side load (you have to keep popping off the entire back cover which is held together with plastic clasps) and pdf support is absolute shit for purely image pdfs. You also would need to keep taking out the sd card cause it drains battery. And since you cant zoom, you wont be able to read any text at all.

if i've missed something then feel free to correct me, but this is just my opinion.

Both are fantastic e-readers, but they are meant for very different purposes. The nook has certain advantages that are indisputable and so does the prs series.

[geertm]

Originally Posted by fyre182

i
Since, however, you seem to want to read manga. I think for you the nook is a non option. Don't even bother trying, you can't side load (you have to keep popping off the entire back cover which is held together with plastic clasps) and pdf support is absolute shit for purely image pdfs. You also would need to keep taking out the sd card cause it drains battery. And since you cant zoom, you wont be able to read any text at all.

if i've missed something then feel free to correct me, but this is just my opinion.

There is no need to use an SD card to sideload content.
If you connect the Nook to your PC both the Nook and the SD card will show up as a drive letter and you can just drag and drop your files to the Nook or the SD card.

I have also never heard anyone on the B&N board complain that the SD card drains the memory.

[sbtx99]

I've thought about switching to the nook, but B&N has one big con for me in that their DRM scheme uses your credit card number. That's probably not a con for most people, but for online purchases I use virtual credit card numbers that expire soon after purchase. Plus, for ebooks, I prefer to use gift cards purchased at retail outlets (to cut down on impulse buying, plus if I buy the gift cards at Kroger's, I get double fuel points ).

Neither Amazon nor Sony have given me any problem with this. I can buy ebooks using my gift card balance while having an expired virtual CC number linked to my account. The only time Amazon asked me to update my CC info was when I pre-ordered an ebook. But I think it would be a problem with B&N due to their DRM scheme using your CC number.

[geertm]

Originally Posted by sbtx99

I've thought about switching to the nook, but B&N has one big con for me in that their DRM scheme uses your credit card number. That's probably not a con for most people, but for online purchases I use virtual credit card numbers that expire soon after purchase. Plus, for ebooks, I prefer to use gift cards purchased at retail outlets (to cut down on impulse buying, plus if I buy the gift cards at Kroger's, I get double fuel points ).

Neither Amazon nor Sony have given me any problem with this. I can buy ebooks using my gift card balance while having an expired virtual CC number linked to my account. The only time Amazon asked me to update my CC info was when I pre-ordered an ebook. But I think it would be a problem with B&N due to their DRM scheme using your CC number.

The B&N DRM indeed needs a valid card to encrypt the books when downloading (even when using gift certificates).
The great thing about the B&N DRM is that it is not tied to your e-reader hardware (Kindle) or an online activation server (Abobe ePub).
The B&N social DRM is completely enclosed within the book, and allows you to copy the book to an unlimited number of devices that support the B&N DRM. Anyone who knows the credit card number and name the book is encrypted with can open the book.
This makes the B&N DRM great for sharing books with family and friends.

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by sbtx99

I've thought about switching to the nook, but B&N has one big con for me in that their DRM scheme uses your credit card number. That's probably not a con for most people, but for online purchases I use virtual credit card numbers that expire soon after purchase. Plus, for ebooks, I prefer to use gift cards purchased at retail outlets (to cut down on impulse buying, plus if I buy the gift cards at Kroger's, I get double fuel points ).

Neither Amazon nor Sony have given me any problem with this. I can buy ebooks using my gift card balance while having an expired virtual CC number linked to my account. The only time Amazon asked me to update my CC info was when I pre-ordered an ebook. But I think it would be a problem with B&N due to their DRM scheme using your CC number.

You know, that is an interesting issue I had never occurred to me before. I wonder how the Nook handles books bought with Gift Cards?

--
Bill

[simplyparticular]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

You know, that is an interesting issue I had never occurred to me before. I wonder how the Nook handles books bought with Gift Cards?

--
Bill

It doesn't matter if you use a gift card, you still need to have a valid, live credit card on file with B&N. The gift card pays for the download, but B&N uses the last 8 digits of the credit card on file to create a key to encrypt the book. (note that the credit card itself is not in the book file - the 8 digits are used to create a hash that unlocks the book).

I buy everything from B&N with the multitude of gift cards I get as gifts, but they still require a valid credit card.

eReader invented the "social" DRM, and they didn't require an active card. A real card number, yes, but not an active account.

However, with the new PCI compliance rules, B&N probably has to have a valid card that gets pinged for anti-fraud purposes.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Plus, of course, the Sony still has page turn buttons. For those things that you have to use the touch screen for (eg opening a new book) I always prefer to use the stylus.

The only real problem with the Sony is the "library scan" issue. When you boot the machine, or disconnect it from USB on the PC, it scans its library to see if you've added any new books. If you have more than a few hundred books on the machine, this can take a very long time indeed (scan times of several hours have been reported).

Harry, I have 1000 books on my Sony PRS-600 at present (and plan on adding more) all stored on an SD card...and I'm STILL not getting the library scan issue. Mine never has taken more than a minute at the absolute most. I guess I should count myself lucky....

[Latinandgreek]

I just thought I'd mention: Yes, the Sony store isn't the greatest, but you are by no means tied down to the Sony store to get books. There are many other places to buy epub books besides Sony or BN.

[Amalthia]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

Harry, I have 1000 books on my Sony PRS-600 at present (and plan on adding more) all stored on an SD card...and I'm STILL not getting the library scan issue. Mine never has taken more than a minute at the absolute most. I guess I should count myself lucky....

what happens when you reboot your device?

I normally don't have a problem when i'm just adding ebooks and then unplug from the computer. What kills my device when I have over 1000 ebooks is when it crashes and reboots. That's when the 45 minutes to 2 hours wait time kicks in.

I'm still using the PRS-505 so I can't test this myself.

[fyre182]

Originally Posted by geertm

There is no need to use an SD card to sideload content.
If you connect the Nook to your PC both the Nook and the SD card will show up as a drive letter and you can just drag and drop your files to the Nook or the SD card.

I have also never heard anyone on the B&N board complain that the SD card drains the memory.

no, youre completely right. You can do that, but you could do that on either reader. The advantage of side loading is being able to have multiple sd cards with full volumes of manga or switching them out on the fly. This is why people talk about side loading. It's especially advantageous if you don't have your reader on you but have your computer and want to read it on your reader later at home. it is much much more convenient than having to carry your reader with you at all points in time.

there is no real advantage if you use your reader to only read epubs because they're small files. But if you use your reader for pdfs/manga, and/or music/ audiobooks (which run about 500 mbs), then, you really really need the ability to side load.

[PhishStyx]

My wife has a Nook and likes it a lot, but I wouldn't want one for myself, mostly because I'm not inclined toward the LCD touchscreen on the bottom. I find trying to navigate 1 screen from a different screen difficult, but that's pretty much a personal quirk, I guess.

[sbtx99]

Originally Posted by geertm

The B&N social DRM is completely enclosed within the book, and allows you to copy the book to an unlimited number of devices that support the B&N DRM. Anyone who knows the credit card number and name the book is encrypted with can open the book.
This makes the B&N DRM great for sharing books with family and friends.

Yes, that's why I mentioned it's not a con for everyone. It's great for most people who use one or two credit card numbers for purchases. But for people like me who use virtual CC numbers for online shopping, where the CC number can change from month to month or purchase to purchase, and must change from merchant to merchant, it's not practical.