Deciding Between Kindle 3 and Kobo Touch

[wastelander]

Hi all, i am looking for a good ereader with a long battery life which can handle PDFs with a lot of images, im talking PDFs that are upwards of 200MB

I am looking at both the Kobo and the Kindle 3 but cant decide so i have a few questions

Do these devices NEED registration? If so what sort of info do i need to provide for this registration process? Either device is going to be bought from a store and not online by the way

Can i put my own ebooks onto it? I have a load of PDF files and other ebook formats to add to the device i buy, are any of these devices have any DRM restrictions i should be aware of? Can i load any and all content even PDFs that are? (SECURE)

Both devices have a web browser right? Which one is better?

What other features do these devices have?

I have read that the kobo does not have a folders feature and the kindle does have this in ther form of collections? If so how many collections can i have at one time?

I may also consider the Kindle basic? (the non touch silver one) any disadvantages to this one?

I dont really like the fact that the kindle has limited memory of 4GB and the Kobos can be up to 32GB? Is this true and does any SD card work with the Kobo? Also the Kobo only has 1GB of space available right?

thanks

[ProfCrash]

You have to register the Kindle if you want to use Collections. It is simple enough, you turn on the WiFi, enter your Amazon account user name and password. Once the Kindle is registered, you can chose to never turn the WiFi on again. I think that collections will work if you build them before you deregister the device.

You have to be registered to use the WiFi and hence the browser.

You can side load PDFs on the Kindle easily enough and they can be placed in the collections. You will have a great deal more space on a Kindle Touch then you will on the Kindle Lite. I have have a K3 and a DXG for quite some time now and have yet to reach 1/2 of my capacity. I don't see the need for more space, but that is me.

The Kindle does have a web browser that works with the WiFi. It works best when you use mobile sites and operates ok. It is not great but it is not bad.

You will have to convert any book that is not in Mobi to Mobi to be able to place it on the Kindle. It is easy enough to do, google Apprentice Alf for help.

The Kindle has text to speech, which some folks find great, and an audio player on it.

Neither are going to be very good for PDFs. PDFs are meant for a larger screen and just look really small on the 6 inch screen.

[NicholasV]

The Kindle 3 has bad ergonomics, too many buttons, leaving little space to grip it comfortably, I found myself accidentally turning pages. I returned it and got a Nook Touch, which has the best design, in my opinion. It is the has page turning buttons on the side, that are hard to press accidentally but easy to press when you need to.

Web browsing on the Kindle 3 is a total pita, you have to navigate through links using the directional pad. Just think of all the links on a given webpage you visit, which you take for granted because of a mouse. When you have to skip over everyone one to reach the one you want, you will understand frustration.

[ProfCrash]

To each their own. I have rarely accidentally turned the page on my K1, DXG, or K3. The ergonomics work just fine for me. (shrugs)

[AndyfromVA]

Originally Posted by NicholasV

The Kindle 3 has bad ergonomics, too many buttons, leaving little space to grip it comfortably, I found myself accidentally turning pages. I returned it and got a Nook Touch, which has the best design, in my opinion. It is the has page turning buttons on the side, that are hard to press accidentally but easy to press when you need to.

Web browsing on the Kindle 3 is a total pita, you have to navigate through links using the directional pad. Just think of all the links on a given webpage you visit, which you take for granted because of a mouse. When you have to skip over everyone one to reach the one you want, you will understand frustration.

I've owned my KK 3g SO for about two months now and, while it has a few minuses, it has some definite pluses as well. Yes, the page buttons can be touched accidentally and I've done it several times. On the other hand, the page buttons are large and work very smoothly. On the whole, I think the page buttons work really well and are a major plus. I totally agree that web browsing on the K3 is terrible as the directional pad is too small and clunky to use comfortably. But to check out your email and write some short messages, it works OK. The KK is small and lightweight, has a good, sharp e-ink screen, great battery life, very fast page turns and is easy to use. Finally it allows you to access Amazon's vast collection of e-books, almost all of which you can sample before you buy. All in all, it's a great e-reader.

I've played around with the Nook Touch and it's a very fine e-reader as well, as long as you're comfortable using the touch interface. But although it has page buttons, they aren't easy to operate. Some people like touch and for them the Nook, Kobo and Kindle touch are preferable, but for a non-touch e-reader it's hard to top the Kindle Keyboard.