Hi, Thinking of a ereader...

[Mak5]

Hi All

I am from UK and I have recently seen Sony PRS-505 on display in Waterstones, played a bit, gave it a wee thought, and hey, thats great.

Just have a few (tottaly stupid) questions:

1. Is a color e-ink paper in develpment?
2. Is there any ereader that enables U to browse the net over Wifi? Seen that Boox video and there was something about it. If yes, what are the limitations besides being bw? It would save me from getting netook.
3. How much is an average ebook, (ie. Terry Prattchets paperback is aprox 8 quid in WS, I imagine it would be half-price?) and which format should I be interested in. Which format is the most popular, cheepest, nicest and futureproof (Don't want to buy something that will be not compatibile in 2 years).
4. Which ereader is most popular on the forum and why?

Once again sorry for myself guys.

Appreciate all feedback

Cheers

Luke

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Mak5

1. Is a color e-ink paper in develpment?
2. Is there any ereader that enables U to browse the net over Wifi? Seen that Boox video and there was something about it. If yes, what are the limitations besides being bw? It would save me from getting netook.
3. How much is an average ebook, (ie. Terry Prattchets paperback is aprox 8 quid in WS, I imagine it would be half-price?) and which format should I be interested in. Which format is the most popular, cheepest, nicest and futureproof (Don't want to buy something that will be not compatibile in 2 years).
4. Which ereader is most popular on the forum and why?

1. Yes, but at least two years out IMO. Less fragile B&W displays should be out by the end of the year.
2. Kindle. Not available in UK
3. My average buy price over the years has been around £3. But that's because I keep an eye out for bundle deals and wait for special offers. An individual book that's now in paperback will cost around $7 or about £5.
4. No overall favourite.

In the UK, the Bookeen CyBook is good value, and a good reader for Mobipocket format ebooks. Avalable from WH Smiths online.

[Ervserver]

Hello Luke the 505 is great

[Mak5]

Many thanks for all Your time Guys

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Less fragile B&W displays should be out by the end of the year.

??? You mean that present ones are fragile? 505 looked quite sturdy. Should I be concerned about it.

In the UK, the Bookeen CyBook is good value, and a good reader for Mobipocket format ebooks. Avalable from WH Smiths online.

I looked up WHS and all Terry Pratchett titles are only available in 505s format. Is there any alternative source for Mobipocket format in UK?

Originally Posted by Ervserver

Hello Luke the 505 is great

Yes, I don't know... I read the Sony vs Cybook thread and know even less

Which format (epub or mobi) is more futureproof?

Cheers

Luke

[Mak5]

Originally Posted by Ervserver

Hello Luke the 505 is great

I have seen 505s review on cnet and they pointed out that pdf text can't be zoomed in or resized. Is it still the issue?

Cheers

Luke

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by Mak5

I have seen 505s review on cnet and they pointed out that pdf text can't be zoomed in or resized. Is it still the issue?

Cheers

Luke

No, they can be resized (which kind of zooms it). It doesn't always look great though. What are you hoping to read on PDF?

[HarryT]

They are no more fragile than, say, the typical laptop is. Just don't chuck it around and you'll be fine.

The Sony is the only device on the market which does NOT support MobiPocket, which is the most popular and widespread eBook format by far. I would strongly recommend getting a device with MobiPocket support, of which the CyBook is the best. I generally buy my books from sites like Fictionwise where, for example, Terry Pratchett's books currently cost $6.45, which is about £4.50. Certainly a considerable saving over UK paperback prices.

[Mak5]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

No, they can be resized (which kind of zooms it). It doesn't always look great though. What are you hoping to read on PDF?

I am sorry, I love to read but I'm totally new to e-book market. I thought that I can get some free books in pdf.

I am in the market for 505 or Cybook, but can't find any ebook store that would sell Mobipocket in UK.

Cheers

Luke

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by Mak5

I am sorry, I love to read but I'm totally new to e-book market. I thought that I can get some free books in pdf.

I am in the market for 505 or Cybook, but can't find any ebook store that would sell Mobipocket in UK.

Cheers

Luke

You can get free books in PDF, but also in mobi, LRF, etc. There's a Random House promo right now where they have a website giving away free books in PDF, but many of the other sites are offering the same in different formats.

If you're reading a lot of fiction, don't worry about PDFs too much. Just suffice to say if you get the 505 (I don't know much about the Cybook), you will be able to read PDFs on it if you need to.

[Mak5]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

If you're reading a lot of fiction, don't worry about PDFs too much. Just suffice to say if you get the 505 (I don't know much about the Cybook), you will be able to read PDFs on it if you need to.

Thanks alot for feedback. I read somewhere on the forum that 505 has brighter screen than Cybook, could please someone confirm this. I am not bothered by the lack of dictionary and tbh I don't really understand what is it for... To check how the book will end?

I am short sighted and I don't want to strain my eyes to much. I read that 505 has 3 levels of zoom is it fully comfortable to read max zoomed in?

Cheers

Luke

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by Mak5

Thanks alot for feedback. I read somewhere on the forum that 505 has brighter screen than Cybook, could please someone confirm this. I am not bothered by the lack of dictionary and tbh I don't really understand what is it for... To check how the book will end?

I am short sighted and I don't want to strain my eyes to much. I read that 505 has 3 levels of zoom is it fully comfortable to read max zoomed in?

Cheers

Luke

I don't know about the brighter screen, but yes the 505 has three zoom levels. Occasionally thought the font on a book is extra small, so medium is small, and large is medium.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Mak5

Thanks alot for feedback. I read somewhere on the forum that 505 has brighter screen than Cybook, could please someone confirm this.

The screen on the CyBook and the Sony is identical. I mean "identical" as in "made on the same production line". They are the same screen.

I am not bothered by the lack of dictionary and tbh I don't really understand what is it for... To check how the book will end?

It's to look words up in. Suppose you're reading a 19th century novel and you read about a "chaise" and a "phaeton". They are both types of carriage, but do you know what the difference is between them? You could say "I don't care" but for me it enrichens the reading experience to be able to look up exactly what the author meant.

I am short sighted and I don't want to strain my eyes to much. I read that 505 has 3 levels of zoom is it fully comfortable to read max zoomed in?

The Sony has 3 zoom levels; the CyBook has 12, plus it support "real" bold and italic fonts (the Sony "synthesises" them), plus you can load any font you wish onto the machine. The CyBook has the best font handling of any device out there.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Mak5

Which format (epub or mobi) is more futureproof?

epub is the new industry standard format. aside from being an excellent ebook format in many ways, that also makes it by far the most "futureproof" format available ; it can be read natively by more and more devices (currently : the sony 505 and 700, the iphone / ipod touch via stanza, soon many more like the txtr, the BOOX and many others), is an excellent archival format, and can also be easily converted if necessary to other formats, although you will inevitably lose some of the special formatting features which aren't compatible with older, non-standard and less well-developped formats like mobipocket. it's an open format based on xhtml and css which means that it continues to improve and can already support much richer book layout options than any other format.

most european publishers getting into ebooks are supporting epub from the start, some of them exclusively.

you can easily create your own epub books with personal content using calibre, a free library management app developped by one of our members and, and epub allows you to specify whatever font you like (i personalise all my epub books with Fontin or DejaVu which are two free fonts that look very good on a screen), including full true italic and bold options.

to find out more about the epub format you can check our wiki, and read the first page of this thread to find out why the standard format is important.

i would strongly recommend getting a device with epub support.

[Mak5]

Hi again Guys.

Wow, thanks for all Your advice and patience.

I think I will go for 505.

Seen some videos on Youtube and Cybook looked a bit laggy with Its own DRM - Mobi. While, when I play with 505 in Waterstones, it seems very responsive with LRF.

It's not only that. 505 Is more to my taste aestheticaly as well. Would go for PRS 700 but its like 150 quid more.

Just two more Q:
1) Is it possible to convert Mobi into LRF or Epub?
Like Mobi - PDF - Epub? I realize some formatting options might be lost, but is it possible technically?

2) I read that Sony requires PC connection to upload any new e-books and Cybook doesn't. How does it work for Bookeen then? There is no Wifi...

Sorry for being a bit chaotic...

Once again thanks for Your time.

Cheers

Luke

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Mak5

Just two more Q:
1) Is it possible to convert Mobi into LRF or Epub?
Like Mobi - PDF - Epub? I realize some formatting options might be lost, but is it possible technically?

you can convert non-drm mobi directly to epub (don't go via pdf, it's not necessary) using calibre. it's not the best practice in terms of formatting and meta data but for personal use it's perfectly acceptable.

2) I read that Sony requires PC connection to upload any new e-books and Cybook doesn't. How does it work for Bookeen then? There is no Wifi...

hm, i'm not sure what you mean by that ; both require being connected to a pc (via usb cable) to upload new books. perhaps it was a reference to the sony software, which is only compatible with pc (not mac) ? in any case, both will mount as an external disk and files can be transferred via the file explorer, or you can use calibre, or you can use the bundled software (but whenever i recommend calibre !).

take a look here for lots of free books to get you started. the 505 will read epub and lrf natively, and other formats can be converted. also check feedbooks.com for more free books ; you will find excellent quality epubs there.