eBooks discussion

Okay, folks. I want to know why the Sony E-Reader is better, in your eyes, than either Kindle or Nook. What technical differences are there? Why do you prefer them? As an author, I try to stay current on the differences.

I personally have a Sony eReader; I purchased it rather than the Kindle as I don't want to be tied to a vendor to buy books. With my Sony, I can access my public library system 24/7 from anywhere in the world (with an internet connection). I can't comment on the Nook, but I think it may also allow library access. I'm not sure this would matter to an author who would rather I buy the book than get it from the library.

Christine, thanks for the scoop. It sounds like the Sony has a lot of good functions.I think Kindle is going to have to get onboard with the library system or lose market share. Believe it or not, I would love for my book to be availale in all the public libraries as an e-book. For me, hearing from my readers is the best thing.

Kindle is going to allow library lending at the end of the year. So that will be one less difference between the Kindle and other e-readers on the market. With the Kindle, you will still have less e-book stores to buy from since the Kindle only reads Amazon's proprietary format and books in mobi format.

I own a first generation Nook. I knew I didn't want to consider the Kindle because at the time, they hadn't announced they were going to support library books and because I don't want to support their efforts to monopolize the e-book market. I'd rather support other e-book vendors. Amazon has more than enough market share already.

I considered the Sony and the Nook. I love the design and the feel of the Sony. If you ever get the chance to play around with a Sony in a store, it is very intuitive to use. It's very light and I love the touchscreen. It also felt very sturdy to me. I've also read that Sony is much better at organizing books if you use a program called Calibre (it's free) to organize your books.

I went with the nook primarily because of price. Although I love the design of the Sony, I couldn't really justify spending $80 more for a reader. The nook reads library books and can also read ePub. So I can buy from either B&N or other bookstores that sell ePub books.

Now there is a new nook out called the Simple Touch Reader. It has a touch screen like the Sony Readers and it's also very light (the specs I've read say that it weighs less the current Sonys on the market). Beyond that, I don't know how it really compares to the Sony Readers.

TY....great info.

Faith wrote: "I've also read that Sony is much better at organizing books if you use a program called Calibre (it's free) to organize your books."

This is correct, neither the Kindle or the Nook allow direct write via USB of their collections/shelves. This limitation gives the Sony devices an edge when using Calibre to manage your ebooks. Calibre can create collections directly on the Sony devices and automatically sync changed metadata between the Calibre library and the Sony.

Recently someone created a GUI plugin addition to Calibre that allows Calibre to create collections on a Kindle, the only caveat being that the Kindle must be restarted after Calibre updates any collections.

Generally speaking, Calibre integrates better with Sony devices but does a great job with virtually any ereader.

Thanks Walt.

Hi, I have a sony ereader as well that I adore. Orginally, I started with a kobo ereader because of price, but it had to many techincal difficulies. So I said enough, and got rid of the reader and purchased a sony 300 on ebay for less than $100, then purchased 350 for less than what is sells for now. I have been happy with my sony ever since. Now, I don't have to sit in antcipation for firmware updates in hopes that it corrects flaws like the kobo. My sony is small and light enough that is fits in my purse making it easy for travel. On airplanes It is not one of the devices that has to be turned off during take off because of wifi.

Hi, I just wanted to add to the discussion that the Sony Reader ( I have the small one) is much more solid and less plasticy than the kindle and feels much more like a book in your hands.
I've ordered both readers to be able to compare and I'd say that the sony reader might be a bit more expensive but the price difference is very well worth it for me.

anyone received the email to transfer from sony reader store to kobo? I am impatiently awaiting mine

I got that e-mail but since I haven't purchased any books from the Reader store, I ignored the e-mail

I find myself praying my Sony e-reader never breaks. I definitely don't want a Kindle. I bought the Sony because I wanted a reader that wasn't strongly tied to a vendor (especially Amazon). Too bad Sony bailed on the US e-reader market.

Evelyn wrote: "anyone received the email to transfer from sony reader store to kobo? I am impatiently awaiting mine"

I received mine on the 20th, but I have long ago liberated all of the books I bought through Sony so I have no need to investigate the Kobo store.

I had the notice they were going to make the switch on the twentieth but have yet to receive the email on how to do it. I guess they are going about it slowly (as usual)

Evelyn wrote: "I had the notice they were going to make the switch on the twentieth but have yet to receive the email on how to do it. I guess they are going about it slowly (as usual)"

The notice I received on the 20th had a link to follow to log into Kobo.

I am pretty sure mine didn't. they said to wait until late March and they would send out another email link that would switch the books from the reader store to the kobo site. from what people are saying this link started to come out in the last few days.

You are correct, my link came in an email on the 27th of March.

30 th here and no link yet