Comments on: Ereader review roundup at Macworld

By: Frode Aleksandersen

Frode Aleksandersen — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:12:49 +0000

How is the Sony Reader not Mac friendly? There’s official Mac software for it now, plus there’s also Calibre. If you couldn’t use it on the Mac, I’d think Macworld of all the sites out there would definitely slam it for it.

By: Kate

Kate — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Well, Aaron, it depends.

I was looking into buying the entire A Series of Unfortunate Events – the Sony store had it for a little over $70, which was far below anyone else’s price.

The real point is that with an ePub supported reader, you can shop around. With the Kindle, not so much. Sure, Amazon prices may be lower overall NOW, but that may not last. Personally, I’m willing to pay a little more now to be able to enjoy my books later.

Of course, if you’re not a re-reader, then this won’t matter to you. But it does to a lot of us.

Then there’s that whole ‘a million free Google Books’ thing.

By: Aaron Pressman

Aaron Pressman — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:23:20 +0000

Also, as usual, the long-term book buying experience gets short shrift in these gadgetboy reviews. The winning Sony ereader has no wireless connection capability and is not exactly Mac friendly.

Perhaps more importantly, as the Inkmesh blog recently discovered, you will be paying much, much more for books at the Sony ebookstore than at B&N (and much, much more at B&N than at Amazon). If you buy and read a lot of new books, the Sony is a losing proposition. See http://inkmesh.com/blog/2009/11/30/amazon-barnes-and-noble-sony-ebook-pricing/

You may note that the Sony can read ePub protected books from other sellers. These other sellers were also included in the Inkmesh survey and still came in well behind B&N and Amazon.

The head of Sony’s digital division was recently complaining that ebook prices are too low and singing the praises of tight DRM. This is not a consumer-friendly outfit. See http://paidcontent.org/article/419-ebook-summit-sonys-haber-you-cant-make-money-selling-ebooks-for-9.99-d/

By: Betsy Garret

Betsy Garret — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:10:20 +0000

To see why the Sony is rated number 1, take a look at this review, and the video review that appears around the middle of the page:

Review of Sony Reader PRS-600:
http://www.mobiletechreview.com/gadgets/Sony-Reader-Touch-Edition-PRS-600.htm

It’s getting closer, but these devices still are not offering enough features for my extremely demanding [CUT >personality<] academic needs.

By: Greg Schofield

Greg Schofield — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:06:40 +0000

I have an IREX and an EZReader Pro 5. The bare-bones EZReader has proved an incredibly handy device that I carry everywhere. Its simplicity has proved a great bonus.

Someimes not having features is the best feature.

By: Michael Pastore

Michael Pastore — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:37:09 +0000

Here is the MacWorld score card:

#1 ( 4.5 mice )
Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition

# 2 ( 4 mice )
Kindle DX

# 3 (3.5 mice ) .. 3-way tie:
Interead Cool-ER
Kindle
Sony PRS-300 Pocket Edition

# 4 ( 3 mice )
Barnes & Noble Nook

# 5 ( 2.5 mice) 2-way tie:
Astak EZReader Pocket Pro
Foxit eSlick

Although I like MacWorld, I would not entirely trust these kinds of reviews: so much depends on how you would be using the hardware. Test out the devices for yourself. Try the Nook at a B&N book store; try the Sony Reader at a Best Buy; borrow a Kindle from a friend, and so on.

And keep in mind two notions that the media hardly mentions:
1) It is possible to read ebooks without investing in a dedicated reading device; and
2) Ebook devices coming in early 2010 will be far more feature-rich than the devices offered right now.

Michael Pastore
50 Benefits of Ebooks