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I would like to buy an eBook reader so i'm trying to gather a lot of informations and users experiences to do the right choice.
From my search the market is currently dominated by 3 models: - Sony PRS-300 aka poket reader with a 5" screen, no mp3 player, no SD card reader - Sony PRS-600 with a 6" screen, mp3 player SD card reader - Kindle 2: 6" screen, mp3 player, no card reader
They all use the same technology called E-Ink or Eink Vizplex.
Sony PRS-600 (6" screen) vs PRS-300 (5" screen)
Kindle 2
I saw there are a lot of chinese brands too but are they trustworthy? Does the difference between a 5" and 6" screens is big in terms of reading comfort? In general, i'm looking for all tips and advices from ebook readers owners!
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iRiver Story
- SD slot - Mp3 player - PDF/Word/Doc/Ppt/XLS/Plain Text/EPUB/ - Built in speaker - 2 Gig storage - Diary and Memo function - 6" screen - E Ink - One charge = 3-4 hours of reading per day for a week - Voice recorder
iRiver owns !support. GL
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Low budget: Kobo eReader, it knocks the socks off prs300 at its pricepoint
High budget: iRex iLiad (and other models), these are basically the biggest screen eink readers on the market... ideal if you have a lot of money to burn and need to read lots of technical pdfs.
Kindle, I would go for if you plan to use Amazon as the main ebook source. It's quite clunky imo. I believe there's a $100 deal right now? If so, that makes it pretty attractive.
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I have a Sony PRS 600 Touch Edition. First, the positives:
It is quite small. Battery life is great. The text is readable in a lit room. The background looks exactly like paper. I'm not sure if you'd consider this a plus, but I prefer touch interface over actual keys to control the interface. It can play MP3s and view pictures in many formats. The sound quality is excellent. The interface is good, but standard for most e-readers (make notes, marks, etc. using the touch screen).
Now the bads: There's only 512MB of integrated space. You should purchase a big memory stick if you want more space (but if you're just gonna store eBooks, 512 MB is a lot already.)
Not readable in complete darkness. Well, you either pick this reader's paper-like background or find an LCD screened e-reader.
I purchased this thing for $300 back then, but it costs about half the price now just about everywhere.
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I'm by no means advocating the iPad (I firmly believe it is pretty much useless/gimmicky). That said if you are willing to spend 300 on something that can only read eBooks, you're better off spending the extra 100 or so to get the iPad. I personally would never have a use for either device, but despite the iPads short comings at least it can do more than one thing unlike the Kindle.
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I have been considering doing this too. However I like to use these for math books but I am not sure if these things' pdf viewing ability is good enough...
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On July 18 2010 04:16 SichuanPanda wrote: I'm by no means advocating the iPad (I firmly believe it is pretty much useless/gimmicky). That said if you are willing to spend 300 on something that can only read eBooks, you're better off spending the extra 100 or so to get the iPad. I personally would never have a use for either device, but despite the iPads short comings at least it can do more than one thing unlike the Kindle.
It's been argued many times before. A dedicated e-reader is better at what it does than an iPad. The iPad should be seen as a trendy laptop replacement.
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On July 18 2010 04:16 SichuanPanda wrote: I'm by no means advocating the iPad (I firmly believe it is pretty much useless/gimmicky). That said if you are willing to spend 300 on something that can only read eBooks, you're better off spending the extra 100 or so to get the iPad. I personally would never have a use for either device, but despite the iPads short comings at least it can do more than one thing unlike the Kindle.
+ Show Spoiler +I'm by no means advocating a laptop (I firmly believe it is pretty much useless/gimmicky). That said if you are willing to spend 500 on something that can do almost nothing, you're better off spending the same or less to get a laptop. I personally would never have a use for either device, but despite the laptop's short comings at least it can do more than zero things unlike the iPad.
I would assume OP has put a lot of thought into this and wants things only an ereader can provide, such as the ability to read in direct light or long battery life.
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I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Barnes & Noble Nook(sp?) as a possibility too...
Or is that e-Reader so horrendous, it's out of the OP's running?
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It may be that it's not available in the OP's country.
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Kindle has 3G support and a web browser. So, that's why I would want it, free Internet? Hell yeah.
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The iRex iLiad look awesome but 699.00 €.... is way too expensive for me. I dont know if i can load free ebooks on a Kindle 2 or only ebooks from amazon? As works published before January 1, 1923 are totally free, i need an ebook reader that allow me to load free ebooks. And a keyboard seems useless for a simple reader?
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Barnes & Noble Nook(sp?) as a possibility too...
Do you have one? Is it good?
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I use an iPad for one reason. It does more than just read books.
It still does that as well, and excellently. I can convert any other book format into an epub and read them fine, while also being able to use the reader as a laptop in a pinch.
Obviously it doesn't take the place of a computer, but email/web browsing/media consumption is all very pleasant.
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Never had one, but there are two things I'd look at here:
1) What's your budget? 2) How important is to you not to be leashed to the manufacturer? For example, the kindle is pretty much purely a device for buying books from amazon.
Also, some people really don't like e-ink. It's not a very advanced technology and it has some weird kinks, like the low resolution or the unpleasant way it flashes when you change the image (read: turn the page). You should try one of these devices for a while before buying, if you possibly can.
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I'm hoping to get an ebook reader too so like the OP, I would greatly benefit from any insight. The kindle seems to be very popular but the barnes & noble nook doesn't look too shabby either. The interface seems to be a lot cleaner than the kindle, but seeing as i've used neither, take my words with a grain of salt ><.
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United States22883 Posts
I got the Sony PRS 600 for all the things newvsoldschool mentioned, and it was around $160.
The main reason I wouldn't get the iPad (besides price, utility vs my phone) is largely because you can't read outside with it, so lying in the Sun and reading a book isn't an option.
The other main reason I got the Sony reader was for easy annotations, and the better open support (although not the best.) Kindle is way too locked down, and I'm not a fan of the crappy keyboard at all.
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To people advocating an iPad to read books.. Just glance only once in real life on an iPad and one of the generic ebook readers.
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