Sony Reader

[SharonDee]

So who's going to buy and review the Amazon Kindle? That's the reader I'm leaning towards. (I wish I could remember why.) But criminitly ... $359?


ETA: Here's one take: Amazon Kindle vs Sony Reader Bitchfight

[ceptimus]

Wikipedia says that Kindle owners often complain that the Kindle is difficult to hold without accidentally pressing one of its many buttons. That, the extra cost and the clunky-looking design of the Kindle made me choose the Sony product.

[JoeP]

I need to add more gadgets to my life.

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by ChuckF

How durable does it feel?

That's what

Originally Posted by ChuckF

Could it handle the abuse it would probably face riding around in my backpack or laptop bag?

she

Originally Posted by ChuckF

I feel afraid of cracking a display that size and that thin.

said!

[SharonDee]

I remember now: The Kindle provides a WiFi connection that would enable me to download new reading material wherever I could get a cell phone signal.

As for the ergonomics of the thing ... well, I'd have to hold both devices in my hands before making a decision.

[ceptimus]

Sony have launched a new reader with a touchscreen, faster processor and a built-in light.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...52921665562069

[viscousmemories]

I read about that today. Now I'm really tempted.

[viscousmemories]

Okay, I bit the bullet and bought a PRS-505 this weekend. The new features of the PRS-700 just didn't excite me enough to a) wait 6 weeks and b) pay $100 more. I got a certificate for 100 free classic books with my purchase, and was able to select 80 things I've always wanted to read - from Moby Dick to the Federalist Papers. It's doubtful I'll ever get around to reading all of them, but they're cool to have.

One thing I can't figure out how to do is use the file name as the "book name" when importing .pdfs and .docs. Any ideas?

[viscousmemories]

Okay, I bit the bullet and bought a PRS-505 this weekend. The new features of the PRS-700 just didn't excite me enough to a) wait 6 weeks and b) pay $100 more. I got a certificate for 100 free classic books with my purchase, and was able to select 80 things I've always wanted to read - from Moby Dick to the Federalist Papers. It's doubtful I'll ever get around to reading all of them, but they're cool to have.

One thing I can't figure out how to do is use the file name as the "book name" when importing .pdfs and .docs. Any ideas?

[seebs]

I am really hoping that someday a company which is neither Spamazon nor Sony "Rootkits R Us" Corporation releases one of these. I'd totally buy one, but they're both pretty nasty companies.

[Alex]

If the day ever comes in which you can download the text of virtually any book as easily as you can download a music album, I might invest in a Sony Reader. (I suppose my reading habits are too weird to justify the outlay right now).

[ceptimus]

vm, the best way I've found to read pdfs is to convert them to LRFs using the attached freebie converter.

If you leave it on its default landscape setting that seems to leave the pdfs more readable (to me) though it does mean turning the reader sideways.

If you drop the .lrf files into the reader's 'books' folder, then they appear in the normal contents pages with the .lrf filename. There's no need to use the supplied software for this, just drag and drop the files like you would to a memory stick.

[viscousmemories]

I didn't really use the Sony Reader much and now it's dead, so* I got a Kindle. I much prefer the Kindle already because it is lighter and slimmer, making it much easier to hold with one hand for extended periods of time. My second favorite feature is the Kindle for iPhone app that lets me share content between the devices, and my third favorite feature is the Whispernet access. You can even download free books from Gutenberg or other sources and MP3's so you can have background music while you read. So far I am very pleased (as is my Mom).


*Okay that's not actually why I bought the Kindle, but it's why I'm keeping it. I bought it for my Mom but accidentally had it delivered overnight to my house instead of hers. I ordered another one for her figuring I'd just return the first one when I got back to Austin, but after playing with hers I changed my mind.

[Ensign Steve]

Ordered a pair of these off of woot for me and bey.

http://www.woot.com/Blog/ViewEntry.aspx?Id=12826

[Crumb]

I expect a full report.

[Ensign Steve]

We're hoping we can put our text books on it. Can you imagine not schleping a bunch of paper around on our backs all semester?

[Crumb]

That would be great.

[Waluigi]

I've had my Kindle for about a year now. I've read about 40-45 books on there, and I still think it's the bee's knees. If you're a bookworm, it is the way to read. Much less clutter in boxes and on bookshelves, too.

[viscousmemories]

There must be another thread where cep convinced me to try breathing life back into my Reader and it worked. I ended up giving it to my niece because I have the Kindle. I don't really read though, so the Kindle isn't getting much action.

[Deadlokd]

Originally Posted by ES' link

Of course there will always be those technophobic, progress-averse Luddites who’ll whine about how you never have to worry about battery life with an olde-fashioned book of pulped and bound tree flesh. But you know something, Grandpa? You never have to worry about a sewage clog when you poop in a chamber pot, either. Does that make it better than our fancy, newfangled indoor plumbing?

[Ensign Steve]

Here's a gawker piece by the head copywriter at woot. I don't know if he's the one who wrote the text above, but he's on that team, and he talks about writing the copy for that site.

The Hack Hustle: The Inspiring Story of the Slacker Behind the Woot-Off

[livius drusus]

O hai reader peeples. I have a question for you. Do any of the digital books you've encountered have active hyperlinks? I understand the Kindle doesn't really give you easily clickable navigation options, but what about Sony or the iPad?

They all have some form of Internet connectivity, after all. I'm wondering if that is it being put to use within the books themselves yet.

[ceptimus]

Well my Sony Reader (PRS-505) doesn't support links between different documents, it doesn't directly support HTML and it DOESN'T have internet connectivity.

Links inside a PDF document work - for example the manual of the Reader is supplied as a PDF and it has lots of links that jump to other pages within the manual. Lots of books come with indexes or contents pages that work like this so that you can, for example, jump direct to the beginning of a chapter.

You can't add your own links within a document on the Reader - the only thing you can do is 'bookmark' a page (or pages) - this puts a 'dog ear' symbol in the corner of a page, and you can jump directly to such bookmarks - but there's no way of entering any text to say what a bookmark refers to.

There's also a sort-of hidden automatic bookmark system that remembers what page you're reading within each book so you can switch between books or switch off the Reader without losing your place in any of the books.

[livius drusus]

So you can't buy book straight off the Internet with your SR?

[ceptimus]

You need a PC to download the book and then you connect your Reader to the PC to transfer it.

If you buy a book with all the shitty DRM stuff, then you have to use Adobe Digital editions to transfer it to the Reader. But nowadays I only download free, out-of-copyright books in ePub format from Project Gutenberg, and then I just drag and drop those to the Reader like I would to a USB pen drive. I can do that on any machine with internet connectivity, and I've done it from Windows, Mac and Linux.