SONY E-READER, TO BUY OR NOT?????

creaghadoos

my wife is showing a bit of interest in the sony e-reader, but the big question is,
is this worth buying?
is it difficult to get books for?
are books expensive?
is it worth the money?

any help would be greatly appreciated

watty

Look also at Kindle and Nook

Also in Jan/Feb the first Mirasol based displays arrive. Qualcom has spent already €2.5B on two factories, one is in production.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interferometric_modulator_display
http://www.mirasoldisplays.com/

The Sony is looking outdated compared to Nook and overpriced compared to Kindle.

All eInk products makers may be using Mirasol displays next year.
Does the following that eInk can't do

• Animation
• Video
• Colour

The colour isn't anything like as good as LCD or OMLED, OLED. But like eInk you can read in direct sunlight, no backlight needed and takes lower power for page turns, essentially nearly none on standby, but may not actually be zero.

However animation or video will eat power.

Nononolan

New sony e reader models announced for the states, more competitive pricing and 3g and wifi on top model. All models in new range are touch screen which seems to add a bit of glare in direct sunlight on the existing pocket version with manual controls might be worth a look if she reads outside. Books can be purchased from Waterstones online store and Project Gutenberg (free classics), and I am sure there is many more alternatives out there aswell.
Heres a link to those new sony models, theres also a link off it to statistics on prospective new owners preferences...interesting figures!

http://gizmodo.com/5627167/a-slim-new-crop-of-sony-readers-arrives-in-town

watty

Same display generation as recent Kindles. "Pearl" eInk.

DeVore

Personally I recommend the iPad. I know its more expensive but it does a million times more imho. The same times and places I will want to read a book, I will want to play a game, read the news or read boards. An iPad does all of these things plus its a damned good book reader and 10 hours usage time (thats me, using it for 10 hours on one charge... not some kind of standby fakery )

Seriously lovely bit of kit the iPad.

DeV.

talkingclock

I had a Sony 505, display broke during travel, now I have a Cybook Opus. Want a Sony back!

Definately prefer reading ebooks via E-Ink (as in e-readers) then LCD (mobile phone or ipad).

watty

DeVore wrote: »

Seriously lovely bit of kit the iPad.

DeV.

It's a tablet. Not an eReader. Seriously.

emo72

watty wrote: »

It's a tablet. Not an eReader. Seriously.

yea i have an ipad too. but if you do a serious amount of reading its not ideal because of the backlit screen. i'm speaking from experience now.

e-ink is fantastic.

presto66

I have the Sony reader touch edition (PRS-600 I think)

Usually not a fan of touch screen, but because the screen on this is quite large it's not a problem (especially with the stylus) Books could be a little cheaper, Kindle books are cheaper but as far as I know,the Sony can handle more formats, and so makes it easier to find books.

The built in dictionary, I find to be more of a novelty than a genuine addition. Still it is cool! Being able to highlight and take notes is also handy if you are using it to store books for uni (for example).

I had a Cool*er first, as they were less expensive. It broke and so I took it back and got the sony instead. All in all I think its a great little thing and well worth the money!

Jumpy

I love the prs-600, only thing I dont like about it is the reflective surface that is the side effect of the touch screen.

PixelTrawler

Where do you buy your books. Is waterstones the only decent option from Ireland?