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Kindle vs Sony vs Cool-er eBook Readers

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Hustler 10th January 2010, 14:06 Quote
Sony Pocket Edition PRS-300: Memory 512GB!!!!!

Typo i assume?.
Rkiver 10th January 2010, 14:23 Quote
Yup, it only has half a gig if I recall. Still plenty of room for over 100 books, give or take.

The kindle has my back up. I like the idea, I do not like the locked to Amazon who can control your books. If it's my e-reader I'll have what I like on it thank you very much.

Also I prefer open formats for ebooks (especially as my wife is getting into publishing her short stories as an ebook).
CampGareth 10th January 2010, 14:31 Quote
What you don't mention here is that the Kindle cannot browse the web in the UK at the moment, you are limited to the Amazon book store however apparently Amazon are working to get a contract with a UK network and Wikipedia access will be free. We have no idea when this will happen.
SMIFFYDUDE 10th January 2010, 14:53 Quote
I wonder who will be the first author to complain about pirates stealing their work.
Sifter3000 10th January 2010, 15:10 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hustler
Sony Pocket Edition PRS-300: Memory 512GB!!!!!

Typo i assume?.

Fixed, thx!
C-Sniper 10th January 2010, 15:31 Quote
No mention of the PRS-900 from sony? apparently that is supposed to be their main competitor to the kindle
Stewb 10th January 2010, 15:43 Quote
Umm... the formatting is all screwed up in this article. Information about the Cool-er is under the Amazon and Sony readers, and not under its own section....
bob 10th January 2010, 16:24 Quote
According to the Gutenberg website there's software to convert epub format to something the kindle can read. Here if anyone's interested.
Coldon 10th January 2010, 16:36 Quote
also the scores seems strange, like how the kindle scores higher in all three areas and yet has the same overall score as the other two...
pimonserry 10th January 2010, 16:52 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by SMIFFYDUDE
I wonder who will be the first author to complain about pirates stealing their work.

http://torrentfreak.com/furious-author-cancels-pirated-book-080904/

(September 2008)
DirtyH 10th January 2010, 17:21 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by pimonserry
Quote:
Originally Posted by SMIFFYDUDE
I wonder who will be the first author to complain about pirates stealing their work.

http://torrentfreak.com/furious-author-cancels-pirated-book-080904/

(September 2008)

this book was a "counter-view novel to Twilight", so canceling it was the best that could happen
who needs such crap ;)
Cupboard 10th January 2010, 18:02 Quote
Does the Sony reader remind anyone else of the 3rd gen iPod? Its got a round bit in the middle with four buttons in a row above it and a screen.

Cool-er is a slightly wonky Mini :D

On a (very slightly) more serious note - thinking about the way I read a book, which is often in bed, I think the Kindle looks by far the best as it has large side sections. If the text on a book is too close to the edge it can get buried in the bed so you can read it which is rather annoying!

I'll be interested to see if the Kindle gets cracked to work on more site than Wikipedia over here. Something about a free, unlimited data tablet is rather appealing :D
yougotkicked 10th January 2010, 21:06 Quote
well, i would go with the kindle, the proprietary file format is obnoxious but easily dealt with; there are hundreds, if not thousands, of hacks, mods, and the like for the kindle. someone said the online system for the kindle is restricted in the UK, but
I'm in America so unrestricted web access makes the kindle into something every self-respecting nerd has been longing for since childhood: http://xkcd.com/548/
cyrilthefish 10th January 2010, 22:20 Quote
The kindle seems for too much like Apple's locked-in ecosystem for my liking. Seeing as they also demonstrated their remote book deletion feature on George Orwell's 1984 of all things, i'm not sure it's sensible to trust them...

I really want one of the new Sony readers though, i keep drooling over them every time i'm in a Waterstones :)
aradreth 10th January 2010, 22:45 Quote
Whilst I'd love an ebook reader I think I'll be waiting a bit longer to see if something better comes a long as quite a few are being brought out at the moment.

As for the kindle I wouldn't touch it as it can't read .epub but as the DRM has be circumvented and one can access the American version of the store the amazon store looks like a decent place to nab ebooks from for now until publishers get their act together an offer the same selection of books everywhere at the same price...
TommyVD 10th January 2010, 23:23 Quote
Small error in the review: you mention the Kindle has WiFi. It doesn't, it only has 3G connectivity.
perplekks45 10th January 2010, 23:30 Quote
As long as there are paper books I'll always prefer them, thank you very much.
Rkiver 11th January 2010, 00:56 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by perplekks45
As long as there are paper books I'll always prefer them, thank you very much.

Don't get me wrong, I love books. Have a rather large collection overall. However I got a P505 ereader from my wife for my birthday last year, and I love it. It's dead handy for long trips, I can load countless books onto it, it has a sony pro duo and standard SD card slot for expansion, and for going to conventions (I am a gamer) I can load it with all the books I'd need (and already own standard but are heavy).
BioSniper 11th January 2010, 01:39 Quote
I still can't get the books I want on them sadly (40k Novels and other such sci-fi)

What would have also been nice is to compare these to some of the e-reader apps for portable devices (iPhone/iPod Touch - Kindle, Stanza, etc) to see just how much better or perhaps worse, a dedicated device is to an application for this sort of thing.
perplekks45 11th January 2010, 08:49 Quote
I love my books and there's nothing better than sitting down with a drink/coffee/hot chocolate and a good book. It's what I call quality relaxing. :)

That and that I'm not willing to pay as much for a file as for a "proper" book.
uz1_l0v3r 11th January 2010, 09:01 Quote
I've already gone on record as saying that paper books will remain popular at least until they invent a machine that feels and reads like a book.
Laitainion 11th January 2010, 09:29 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rkiver
Yup, it only has half a gig if I recall. Still plenty of room for over 100 books, give or take.

And the rest, I have a Sony PRS 505 which only has half that. Still got 200+ books on there and it's about a third full. Granted mine are .lrf not .epub, so that probably makes a difference.
xaser04 11th January 2010, 10:04 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stewb
Umm... the formatting is all screwed up in this article. Information about the Cool-er is under the Amazon and Sony readers, and not under its own section....

I'm glad I am not the only one who noticed this. I gave up reading after a while as its all over the place.

As it stands currently I will use my Ipod touch (with free ebook reader app) to read certain books whilst reading others in physical form. To me there is something about reading a book that a digital format can't match.
phuzz 11th January 2010, 11:37 Quote
I spend so much time reading off a screen (all day at work, and then at home), I don't see any problem with reading a ebook rather than a dead tree.
My take is that in 20 odd years only us old weirdos will still be buying real books.
tk421 11th January 2010, 11:42 Quote
when i started driving a lot, i switched from hard copy to audiobooks (mostly mp3 on the laptop) out of convenience.

2 years ago, when i got an old tablet from work i discovered MS Reader, and it pretty much changed my life. While i think ebooks are bloody brilliant, i am not sure i could spend money on a dedicated machine for reading them. my IBM x41t has a backlit screen, wifi, and ya - it's a real computer. If i read something that piques my interest, just minimize reader and open firefox and wiki it.

sure, it's heavier than a kindle or nook or whatever, and the battery life isnt so great. but honestly. 99% of my reading is done on the couch or in the bed. there happen to be outlets close to both. if my tablet were to suffer a sudden catastrophic death (like it almost did whem my 3 year old spilled a quart of icewater in it) i would probably be looking for a new tablet, not a dedicated reader.
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