8+ Readers in comparison

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by babalou

So, what's you ranking? Over all, for the number of books available, for the quality of display and OS, ...?

Over all:
#1: Kindle 2 (*), Sony 505 and iRex iLiad
#2: iRex 1000S, Kindle DX
#3: Cybook Gen3
#4: Sony 700
#5: BeBook

(*) Would I reside in the US and be able to use Whispernet, Kindle would be sole #1. Amazon, get GLOBAL!!!!

OS:
#1: iRex iLiad
#2: Sony 505, Sony 700, Cybook Gen3, iRex 1000S
#3: Kindle 2, Kindle DX, BeBook

Availability of books and prices:
#1: Kindle 2, Kindle DX BY FAR!!!!
#2: Sony 505, Sony 700 thanks to .epub PLUS officially being available in the German market
#3: iRex iLiad, iRex 1000. Cybook Gen3, BeBook because of .prc.
Most of the books I find in most of the formats. But in some instances, Amazon has been the only one. And usually, they are about 20% cheaper than the other formats"

[junkyardwillie]

Well you definitely make my purchase of a DR1000S seem a lot more rational to me now. I already have an Irex Iliad (I also have to agree that this is my favorite reader) and a Sony PRS-500 (was my first reader). I wanted a large screen reader for scanned PDFs and I just couldn't wait until sometime next year for Plastic Logic to come out or Sony to make a large reader so I went with a DR1000S, still waiting for it to come in. I think that would round out my eReader needs. It'd be cool to have all those devices though, more power to ya

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Lilly

I don't shop at the Sony store at all now. I use to for the 1st 6 months I owned my PRS-505, I bought 99% of my books from Sony 1% Lit from BooksonBoard, now I buy 0% from Sony. I buy all my books from Amazon, BooksonBoard, & CyberRead. I buy .azw, .prc, .lit, .epud in the order stated. I remove the drm and load them on both readers.

Same for me.
I've reduced the Sony shop to about 10% of my purchases.
Right now, it's about 50% .azw, 30% .epub and some .prc or even .pdf.
I've got tons of .lits from my former experience with Pocket PCs. But I don't use these anymore and I prefer to purchase my books in a format, which at least can be read on the majority of my readers.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by junkyardwillie

Well you definitely make my purchase of a DR1000S seem a lot more rational to me now. I already have an Irex Iliad (I also have to agree that this is my favorite reader) and a Sony PRS-500 (was my first reader). I wanted a large screen reader for scanned PDFs and I just couldn't wait until sometime next year for Plastic Logic to come out or Sony to make a large reader so I went with a DR1000S, still waiting for it to come in. I think that would round out my eReader needs. It'd be cool to have all those devices though, more power to ya

The 1000S definitely is a great unit.
Mainly, I miss 2 things:
1.) It's got such a great and huge display, so I'd LOVE to see thumbnails. Cybook demonstrates, that this very well can be done for Mobipocket .prc files. (*)
2.) I LOVE, being able to change book titles or author's names on the fly, directly on the iRex iLiad. This GREAT feature doesn't exist on 1000S, anymore.

(*) Actually, of all my units, only Cybook and Sony 700 can display thumbnails. No biggy, but still would be great.

But the positive aspects clearly outrank the "less positive" ones:
- It's surprisingly leightweight.
- The display quality/contrast isn't reduced by the touchscreen at all. It's got the same great quality as, for example, Sony 505. Quite contrary to the Sony 700. Obviously, a clear advantage of the WACOM tablet.
- Mobipocket .prc already was quite okay for me, I've been able to purchase most of the books I've been looking for. But with Amazon's HUGE collection of .azw and the methods described on this website, it's sheer limitless. Quite contrary to Sony's .lrx.
- Even Kindle DX is rather small in comparison. Sometimes, size DOES matter...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by AJ Starr

I'm sorry you don't have the Astak EZ Reader to add to your evaulation. Would love to see how it stacks up.

Specifically, when their EZ Reader Pocket Pro 5" comes out, I think it will make a big impression.

AJ

It's getting tough to keep up to date.
More and more units on the horizon.
I guess, I'll have to cut down to 4 units a year.

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

It's getting tough to keep up to date.
More and more units on the horizon.
I guess, I'll have to cut down to 4 units a year.

you defenetly need jetBook for your collection

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

"How in the dueces did you get your hands on all of them?"
I'm from Germany.
I've ordered:
Sony 505 and 700:
From the US, not from Sony but from an electronics store.
In the meantime, Sony 505 (not the 700, though) officially is available in Germany from various sources.
iRex iLiad and iRex 1000S:
On iRex' website, I've looked for a German store. I've found an excellent one. I think, the owner even posts regularly on mobileread.
Cybook: Same as for iRex.
BeBook: Directly from their website.
Kindle 2 and DX: I didn't want to go through the troubles with US credit card, PO box, .... So I've ordered from eBay. Excellent experience.

Given the actual exchange rate Euroollar, it's really fun, purchasing in the US. Even considering costs for transportation and customs and VAT.

"But more importantly, can you tell how do you juggle..decide which one to read/use now?"
I'll choose my words carefully.
I legally purchase ALL my eBooks.
But somehow they end up on other devices as well.
So my problem is not about content.
So far, I've had 3 favorites: iRex iLiad, Sony 505 and Kindle 2. Between those, I've been juggling:
iRex iLiad for travelling. It's more bulky than the others, but I like to play Sudoku or Kakuro (scribbling on PDFs) on it, great for boring evenings in the hotels.
Sony 505 at home for a quick read. Lightweight, very ergonomic and simply cool. And I've got a great bag for reading in the bathtub.
Kindle 2 I didn't use for travelling yet. But will be a tough competitor to my iLiad.
Probably Kindel DX will extend my top 3 to top 4...

Basically, I've always got a single favorite. As I've got the content available for all the units, I mainly use that single favorite.
In the beginning, it was iRex iLiad.
Then it became Sony 505. For the moment, it's Kindle 2.
Might become iRex 1000S or Kindel DX next week.....

"But somehow they end up on other devices as well."
...on other devices I OWN, not on other people's units!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by AJ Starr

I'm sorry you don't have the Astak EZ Reader to add to your evaulation. Would love to see how it stacks up.

He didn't miss it out. He has a BeBook - it's the same device.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by HarryT

He didn't miss it out. He has a BeBook - it's the same device.

Oh Boy....And I've ranked it last - by far
The OS clearly has some nice features.
But still: It looks and feels like the cheapest plastic.
If you directly compare to the brilliantly designed Sony 505.....

The huge range of file formats isn't that important to me.
If it would accept DRMed .lit, it would be different.
But using a wide range of non-DRM formats isn't too helpful for me...
I usually purchase in a format, which can be operated at least on 1 of my readers without conversion. Then the file "magically" appears on some of my other units...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Kris777

you defenetly need jetBook for your collection

I have thought about it. In the past, I've been using Pocket PCs and didn't have any troubles with the display at all. I'm more than happy with eInk, but having an alternative...And even a "pocket sized" one...
I can live with the fact, that JetBook doesn't support any DRM formats.
But I'm a bit worried about the design.
I don't use my BeBook because of its "cheap plastic". On the pictures in the web, I'm not sure whether the JetBook is of "better quality"?
I've read, JetBook has a faster refresh rate? Actually, I don't have any problems with my eInk devices. And I don't mind the "inversion" as well.
So, what would be the pros and cons in comparison to eInk, say Sony 505?

[sbock]

I own Sony 505 since 1 year, at that time have weighed out I whether I should buy Sony or iRex.
If one compares now Sony 505 to all his advantages with the Kindle in what you see the engraving ones would make a distinction and why you judged the Kindle in your ranking before Sony 505?

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by sbock

I own Sony 505 since 1 year, at that time have weighed out I whether I should buy Sony or iRex.
If one compares now Sony 505 to all his advantages with the Kindle in what you see the engraving ones would make a distinction and why you judged the Kindle in your ranking before Sony 505?

Kindle:
Pros:
- Amazon webshop. By far the biggest collection and usually the lowest prices.
- "on the fly" dictionary. I mark any word via the "jogdial" and -directly in the "footnote"- can see the definition. Unfortunately, no bilingual dictionary, just English-English. iRex even has a better dictionary support via tablet functionality, whereas Sony doesn't have any dictionary at all.
- Speed: I didn't actually take any measures. But turning pages and jumping forward seems faster on Kindle. I've read somewhere, it's a "2nd generation eInk with new and improved processor"....
- iPhone app (for free!!!). I can read all the books, purchased from Amazon, without any additional costs, on iPhone and iPod touch. With Whispernet, they even would be in sync.
- File format. I wouldn't dare, actually ranking the quality of file formats. But for the Kindle, it's basically Mobipocket. There are some interesting "tricks" for almost all file formats - with the exception of Sony's proprietary format.
UPDATE: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...652#post536652
Just have been able to add multilingual dictionary English-German. GREAT!
Cons:
- Design. The Kindle 1 was fugly. Kindle 2 and Kindle DX are okay but still far from perfect. Whereas Sony simply is elegant and cool. (At least, that's for Sony 505. Sony 700 severely is harmed by the display quality.)
- Menu structure. No folders. No "manual intervention", just standard sorting by author, title, ....
In addition: I can't use Whispernet (my problem, but still...), so my Kindle's internal clock dates 1970. Meaning, all my reads are put LAST in the reading list.
- Cover. There's no cover included, neither with Kindle 2 nor Kindle DX. For the moment, I don't have any cover for the DX yet, so I wouldn't know how to transport it when traveling.

Sony:
Pros:
- Design. The Sony 505 more or less is "perfect", elegant and efficient.
- Menu structure. No folders, but I can generate "collections" via Sony's PC software. So I can "manually intervene" and sort by genre, webshop, format, ...
- Cover. Included and with its magnets quite functional.
Cons:
- I have to install the Sony library software for most of the features. With Kindle, I just purchase via the Amazon website. Not to mention Whispernet...
- No dictionary support at all, not even on the Sony 700 (which has touchscreen, similar to the iRex iLiad).
- File format. It's a proprietary format, solely used on the Sony readers.

Conclusion:
Sony 505 is a phantastic unit, which I still heavily use. But I don't like the reflow in .pdf or .epub (prefer the zooming in iRex iLiad) and can't really "work" the proprietary .lrx format. In addition, Sony's webshop usually is more expensive and clearly has less books to offer.
BUT: Sony 505 still is within my top 3!
Without the Amazon webshop, Kindle actually only would be mediocre, probably ranking equal to Cybook.

[dreams]

Welcome to MR, sbock

I think, mgmueller ranked the Kindle above the Sony because the books he likes are cheaper at Amazon.

If only I could find a way to pay my bills AND collect shiny new gadgets I think I just turned a little green with envy... It's always nice to read the reviews from people who have actually played with the devices... Thank you.

Dang... you posted back as I was typing...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by dreams

Welcome to MR, sbock

I think, mgmueller ranked the Kindle above the Sony because the books he likes are cheaper at Amazon.

If only I could find a way to pay my bills AND collect shiny new gadgets I think I just turned a little green with envy... It's always nice to read the reviews from people who have actually played with the devices... Thank you.

Dang... you posted back as I was typing...

"If only I could find a way to pay my bills AND collect shiny new gadgets"
Haven't found that way either, simply don't pay my bills

[kacir]

Great thread mgmueller.

I am interested in BeBook. Well, not BeBook itself, but in Hanlin V3. I am even more interested in 5" Hanlin V5 but you do not have any 5" device yet.

Can you please describe the use of folders on the device?
Have you tried flashing it with OpenInkpot?