Sony or Nook Touch

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by taosaur

And again, 0_o Having direct access to a store on your reader is about as far from being a "cool techno geek" as you can get. It skips all steps involving an actual computer and reduces the process to poke, poke, read. If you see no use for Wi-Fi in your reading, congratulations; some others feel the same way. That fact does not make other peoples' preference for wireless connectivity bad and wrong.

+1. By cutting out the middle man (PC), getting books to your reader is made much easier. No need to deal with buggy installation and bloated software. Just activate your reader using any web browser and boom, you're in business. There's a reason why the Kindle is very popular. The Kindle store is like the iTunes of ebooks. Amazon has made acquiring ebooks very easy. You just click on the buy button and the ebook is sent directly to your Kindle.

It's good that B&N (and others) is taking a page from Amazon's book. Just wish B&N didn't use yet another different DRM solution.

Personally, though, I'd go for the Sony. It looks nicer.

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by taosaur

I think I've stated about six different ways by now that there are legitimate reasons for preferring either product based on your priorities. You asked how the STR's hardware is more powerful and flexible, and I told you. It is more powerful and flexible by any measure. Whether that fact is important to you is a matter of preference. I was not arguing against your preference, simply answering your question.



0_o The Nook Touch has an 800Mhz CPU, probably the same ARM7 found in the Nook Color (we'll know after a teardown). No previously released e-ink reader had such a processor.

According to this thread, the PRS 650 is running a Freescale CPU with maximum clock speed of 532Mhz.




And again, 0_o Having direct access to a store on your reader is about as far from being a "cool techno geek" as you can get. It skips all steps involving an actual computer and reduces the process to poke, poke, read. If you see no use for Wi-Fi in your reading, congratulations; some others feel the same way. That fact does not make other peoples' preference for wireless connectivity bad and wrong.

No, you haven't answered my question. You didn't come up with an actual better hardware thing. You just said it might be hacked to this 'n' that. This is not an argument in terms of better hardware. It is an argument about the abilities of hackers, that's it.

You can't obviously tell if the processor in the Nook is better as the one in the Sony and why. You just state no other reader has it yet. And? Maybe because it is crap? I don't know but you don't know either or you would tell me why it is better.

As for the wifi. Well, I don't know if it is a preference. It caters to a certain aspect of the American culture. But so do TV-dinners and serial killers. Doesn't mean its a good thing.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

As for the wifi. Well, I don't know if it is a preference. It caters to a certain aspect of the American culture. But so do TV-dinners and serial killers. Doesn't mean its a good thing.

Hey! my wife is 100% american and she cooks all days, and works too ... ... so the TV dinners and serial killers is not really an american thing I think.

But wifi is certainly convenient. For buying books or if you're traveling, you don't need a physical computer in order to download a new book and start reading. It's a nice feature in my opinion. You don't need wireless in order to use a laptop, but I'm almost sure you are using wireless instead of a CAT5 cable plugged into a hub or switch on yours, am I right?

I cannot make a comment about hardware and CPUs. I don't know what are the Nook Touch specs without overclocking or if they are better or worse than other ereaders like Sony in terms of CPU speed or hardware.

[Poppaea]

I am sure this Nook is a fine simple reader with a touchscreen. But it is only this: a simple reader. No advanced features to enhance the actual reading experience as far as I can see.

So, as long as no one tries to tell me it is better than its bigger brother the Sony 650 there is no argument. It only starts when someone tries to sell me a bookstore as an actual reader feature or claims the hardware is better when this claim can't be underlined by facts.

The possibility of hacking is no software feature inhibit in the reader. There is a hack for the Sonys. Does it count as a means to blast the Nook off the earth? I shouldn't think so, so I am grateful for not trying this idea on me.

As long as somebody is happy with what they get for $100 less that's fine for me, but please do not try to make it sound as if you just bought battleship Galactica.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

As for the wifi. Well, I don't know if it is a preference. It caters to a certain aspect of the American culture. But so do TV-dinners and serial killers. Doesn't mean its a good thing.

(Looks at Poppaea's location-- nope, that isn't baiting for a Godwining at all...)

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

(Looks at Poppaea's location-- nope, that isn't baiting for a Godwining at all...)

You mean there is a serial killer in town???? Must be an American on holiday

[volwrath]

I'd get two nooks. Also I would be/am worried about identity theft as a sony user.

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by volwrath

I'd get two nooks. Also I would be/am worried about identity theft as a sony user.

There is a theory everyone has a look-alike on Earth.. and you start to worry about identity theft now? Late bloomer, or what?

[jridley]

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

Sony: 12 onboard dictionaries. Also, it doesn't have the ghosting problem reported for the new Nook.

I've never found a use for even one dictionary. And I made the decision to buy the Nook BECAUSE of the ghosting problem. Well, not because I wanted ghosting, but because it results in faster page turns.

I have read two books on the Nook STR so far, one about 800 pages and the second 500 pages. I have yet to have the ghosting even be noticeable to me when reading; it's less apparent than the text printed on the obverse side of a piece of paper. I can see it if I hold the device to a strong light and find the right angle, but that IMO is a ridiculous test.

I would make the same decision again; purchase BECAUSE of this feature.

I also chose this reader in part because it has very few distractions. I wanted a reader, not a toy.

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

No, you haven't answered my question. You didn't come up with an actual better hardware thing. You just said it might be hacked to this 'n' that. This is not an argument in terms of better hardware. It is an argument about the abilities of hackers, that's it.

You can't obviously tell if the processor in the Nook is better as the one in the Sony and why. You just state no other reader has it yet. And? Maybe because it is crap? I don't know but you don't know either or you would tell me why it is better.

Do you think if you keep waving your hands the numbers will go away?
PRS 650 CPU: 532Mhz theoretical maximum. It may not actually run this fast.
Nook STR CPU: 800Mhz stock speed. The same CPU has been overclocked as high as 1300Mhz in other devices.

I'm sorry if you do not understand the other components I pointed out which make the Nook's hardware objectively more powerful and more flexible than the Sony's. The fact that the Nook has more powerful and flexible hardware does not mean that you must like the Nook better than your Sony. I am not saying so. No one is saying so.

Originally Posted by Poppaea

As for the wifi. Well, I don't know if it is a preference. It caters to a certain aspect of the American culture. But so do TV-dinners and serial killers. Doesn't mean its a good thing.

So now you're expanding your trolling to nationality-baiting? Listen, someone else's preference for the Nook does not invalidate your preference for the Sony. Your identity will not crumble if you accept that someone somewhere has a legitimate use for Wi-Fi in an e-reader.

You're being fanatical, in the religious sense, about a gadget. It's silly.

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by jridley

I've never found a use for even one dictionary. And I made the decision to buy the Nook BECAUSE of the ghosting problem. Well, not because I wanted ghosting, but because it results in faster page turns.

I have read two books on the Nook STR so far, one about 800 pages and the second 500 pages. I have yet to have the ghosting even be noticeable to me when reading; it's less apparent than the text printed on the obverse side of a piece of paper. I can see it if I hold the device to a strong light and find the right angle, but that IMO is a ridiculous test.

I would make the same decision again; purchase BECAUSE of this feature.

I also chose this reader in part because it has very few distractions. I wanted a reader, not a toy.

I'm glad that you have no use for dictionaries on your reader and that the ghosting on your unit isn't as bad as it was made out to be in other threads. As for wanting a reader and not a toy, I don't think that any e-ink readers offer many features that serve as distractions, other than internet browsers. Some may have simple games that can be downloaded, like Sudoku or whatnot. Generally speaking, though, I think the e-ink readers are pretty distraction free.

At any rate, to each his own. Everyone has different priorities when it comes to their ebook readers.

[graycyn]

Sony. But that's me, and the Sony 950 has features *I* want that the new Nook STR reader doesn't have.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by boswd

12 built in dictionaries? Ohh OK now I see that is soooo worth the extra $100+ dollars for the Sony

I'll take wirelessly downloading your books, superior bookstore, more font choices and you can keep your 12 dictionaries.

Originally Posted by taosaur

And again, 0_o Having direct access to a store on your reader is about as far from being a "cool techno geek" as you can get. It skips all steps involving an actual computer and reduces the process to poke, poke, read. If you see no use for Wi-Fi in your reading, congratulations; some others feel the same way. That fact does not make other peoples' preference for wireless connectivity bad and wrong.

I've not bought a lot of books since they blocked me, but those books I did buy, I bought from Amazon. Wifi in itself is nice. But Wifi in a device from a company that has its own store, I can do without. Simply because that device is most likely to be locked in that one store. So, unless you primarily buy with that store, you're probably not going to use the wifi. As I said, the last books I've bought are with Amazon. And I bought them from the comfort of my pc.

Now, if the device had wifi and the store wasn't locked but you could select multiple stores, now, then wifi would mean something to me.

[HistoryWes]

I bought the nook touch for one reason-- price. At 139.00 I won't worry about it being lost or stolen and I won't be afraid to carry it around and leave it in the car. If it hadn't been ePub format and hadn't been very responsive and looked good when I tried it out in the store, I wouldn't have bought it either.

[viviena]

Sony 350 for me (or the upcoming Kobo Touch if it's any good *cough*). Love the library organisation, portability, dictionaries.

No Nook Simple Touch simply because its bookstore is US-only, and I don't see the appeal in having to jump through hoops to access B&N books. Otherwise, it looks to be a great reader. The partial refresh doesn't appeal to me, the battery life claims are mostly marketing bull, but I definitely see the appeal of an integrated book-buying experience.

I think the idea 'whatever works best for you' should be repeated endlessly through this thread. That some people find the dictionaries useful, others wifi connectivity shouldn't be the cause of laughter and derision, and people could do with less stroking of e-peens over the honour of their respective ereaders.