Pros & Cons Ebook Reader

[happypear]

I have a Sony PRS-350 e-reader and I love it, although the little stylus pointer thing broke after about a week and I can't get a replacement .

I was torn between that and the Kindle, and there isn't a huge difference between them. The main selling points of the Sony over the Kindle for me were a) Sony has a touch screen, the Kindle doesn't and b) it's 100% better looking, all silvery and metal.

It depends what you're after really - with the Kindle you can buy books through the Kindle itself which is good, with the Sony you have to download them onto your computer and use the cable to put them on the device which is less convenient. Also you can either buy a WiFi or 3G Kindle - with the 3G one I think you get free 3G internet in most countries so you can buy books wherever you are, which I think probably explains the better reviews the Kindle gets. Also, the Mobi format e-books (the special format for Kindle) are usually slightly cheaper via Amazon than the ePub format (used on other readers) books are from Waterstones or WHSmiths.

In terms of screen quality, they're about the same. They both have the non-back lit e-ink screen that looks like paper and both are brill to read from. I hear that the Sony has a very slightly better quality screen but the Kindle has a nicer font to read but I've never done a side by side comparison, this is just from my research when I was trying to choose between them. Overall I can see why more people would choose the Kindle, I'm just shallow about the look of my gadgets :flirt2:.

Sorry for the ramble, that was really long, phew!

 

[Princess_Ames]

I love my Kindle!!! You can also download *cough* free books for it if you know where to look.

My Harry Potter's and Twilights cost me nothing

 

[Starlight]

Im a huge fan of free downloads

 

[bunny_hops]

I'm slightly leaning towards the Kindle over a Sony but, if i got for a Kindle does that mean i'm restricted to where i can download books from?

 

[Starlight]

Nope not at all

 

[Princess_Ames]

Nope... not if you're handy with a computer. LOL

 

[bunny_hops]

Nope not at all

Oh, thats good. I thought that i could only download from Amazon with a Kindle?
And i thought that if i go with Sony then i can't download from Amazon.. So i could download an ebook from Waterstones on a Kindle then?

Nope... not if you're handy with a computer. LOL

What does that mean?...i'm quite good with my laptop..

 

[Starlight]

If you get books in formats other than mobi you can convert them. But it's dead dead easy x

 

[Jeep]

I'm very tempted for a Kindle, specially for holidays etc, but I am unsure about the battery life. I see that it can last for up to 10 days - reading for 1 hour a day - when I am on holiday I can read for up to 6-7 hours a day nearly every day (depending on what I am doing etc) so to have a machine that needs charging every couple of days is a bit of a pain. So just wondering if you guys read it for more than 3hrs a day for several days in a row how often you have to recharge it ?

I am one of these people that are really reluctant to go to an e-reader because I just love the feel of a book in my hands.

 

[Starlight]

The battery lasts ages it's great. Make sure you switch off the wifi though. You'll probably find it only needs charged a couple of times. I just do mine overnight every couple of weeks.

I was totally in the 'can't beat the feel of a book club' but now? Wouldn't go back

 

[Lynn_]

I rarely have to charge my Kindle, it seems to go for ages without recharging. Ive never yet had the battery go flat on me, every now and then I remember it and put it on to charge just in case.

 

[smirnoff]

can anyone please tell me if i can convert the ebooks from my sony into kindle format for free? i haven't got a great deal on my sony but am planning to sell it on ebay and would like to put them onto my kindle if possible. i have downloaded a couple of free ones but they chopped chapters out and wanted me to buy the full version lol

 

[Lynn_]

if no one else replies with answer smirnoff, ill give you instructions later. My hubby converts mine for me, but he is out at the moment.

What is the Sony file format? do you know?

I understand that .lrf files can be converted , but not .lrx which are DRM'd

 

[smirnoff]

i understand that it is the drm that is the problem that i haven't been able to convert them already. i only have about 10 quids worth of books i am bothered about so if i can't do it then i'm not too fussed as i have enough books on my kindle to last me the year lol

 

[Starlight]

I take it you've tried Calibre on them?

 

[smirnoff]

yes, tried that first but didn't work!

 

[Lynn_]

Unfortunately you cant convert DRM'd books, not until someone finds a crack and they havnt so far, not that I would even suggest that anyone uses such a thing

 

[happyhippo]

Hi all, i was a love the feel of a book type of person then my hubby bought me an ipad, so i read digital and tree books until i finish the books on my bookcase, although i will still go to the library on occassion when the purse strings are tight . I must admit i love my ipad for reading books though

 

[brads27]

If you go to this website Project Gutenberg - free ebooks you can download thousands of e-books free and it`s all legal and above board,i think there are about 36 thousand of them.if you need to convert them use calibre.PS Kindle is the best for reading in bright sunlight,it is just like reading a normal book.

 

[clarelon]

It's great to see I'm not the only one struggling with the decision to get the Kindle! Though I have to admit, my inner-geek has been crying out for it since the moment I first saw it. I love holding a book, but I'm just not as good as most of you seem to be with passing the books around (not that I don't share, but I don't necessarily give away) I just love my books too much, and I re-read them constantly, which is why I have bookshelves overflowing - I figure the Kindle would be a good way to try and keep what little book-free space I have left!