I’ve heard some bad things about Amazon.com’s Kindle, so I was wondering if anyone else has purchased an e-book reader and what they thought. Really, I am not overly interested in getting the special Amazon.com “Kindle Version” books, I’m mostly just interested in a reader that can let me read from a pdf file and not be too bulky or annoying.
Anyone have experiences with any of these things that they’d like to share? Currently a couple of people have recommeded the Bookeen “Cybook”.
I have a friend with a Sony. She loves it. It’s nice and lightweight, really a delight.
What negatives have you heard about the Kindle?
The problem with the Kindle is that it’s proprietary so if Amazon tanks on them and discontinues the line then you’re stuck with an electronic brick with only whatever books you’ve already downloaded.
The plus is that the Kindle has an internet connection through cell service (no charge) so you can download books pretty much anywhere. It also has a wi-fi but a horrible browser so forget any real surfing.
Amazon also has a larger library.
Sony has no wi-fi so you have to upload from another computer. Library is smaller but probably has most of what you want (they even have Nate Green’s new book for download). But if you like esoteric titles like Gregorian chants translated into German you’re out of luck.
Sony gets higher marks for overall look and feel. Both use a similar display that looks much like paper with no backlight so no eye strain but you will need external light source.
Neither is great for PDF files because they lack the ability to zoom and increase the font size. Many PDF flies will be unreadable at standard size.
I believe the iRex iLiad is currently the best eBook reader on the market and has full annotation functionality:
Expensive at MSRP of $699, though.
There are a couple of larger screen readers coming out this winter if that’s what you’re wanting (it’s what I want). I’ve been waiting for something with a 9-10" screen, decent contrast, good pdf support and a sub $500-$600 price point for a while. I have a ton of books I need for reference in pdf format and it’s a pain carrying around my laptop when I just need them. Then there’s all the pdf stuff I read normally on top of that, so the investment will be justified when the tech is just a tad more mature.