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There is a battle brewing
between the Kindle and the Sony Reader, and
the press has made it sound like it might be one-sided in favor of the
Kindle, but all the votes aren't in yet. |
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Kindle vs Sony reader,
Round One!
Both
of these eBook readers are based on the exact same technology, as
far as their displays go, and their microprocessors are quite similar.
They both contain adequate internal storage, and some have the ability
to accept SD cards for external storage. The Sony Reader will support
an extra Memory Stick Duo, so you can save more on the Sony Reader,
since it uses both cards. But eBooks don't take up a lot of room, and
most people can easily make do with only the internal memory, unless
you store pictures (and why would you?) or music on these devices. Both
of these devices will last at least one week per charge for simple
reading, but less if you go wireless or play music or audio.
Kindle
vs Sony reader, Round Two!
The Sony Reader is thinner, smaller and more elegant in most respects.
The Kindle has a thumb keyboard that can tend to be unwieldy, but it's
needed for entering URL's and looking for books. It has a limited
capability for web-browsing and also access to the online Kindle store.
The Sony Reader doesn't need that, since it doesn't connect to the
Internet.
Kindle
vs Sony reader, Round Three!
The Kindle's buttons for next and previous pages stretch up both sides
of the reader, and it's hard to pick it up without clicking on one
accidentally. Handling the Kindle frequently leads to the unintended
pushing of buttons you didn't mean to push. On the other hand, the Sony
Reader puts the previous and next buttons where you normally hold a
book, and that works well. Amazon says that their Kindle is friendly to
left-handers, but some left-handers still prefer the controls of the
Sony.
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What are the features that you
will use? Use them to decide which is best for you! |
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Kindle
vs Sony reader, Round Four!
The Kindle and Sony Readers use the same display, an eInk type. There
isn't a difference in readability between the readers, except for their
built-in fonts. Each reader can zoom in to create larger type editions.
The Kindle has six zoom levels and the Sony Reader has three. The fonts
are readable on each device, but Sony's Reader is said by some users to
have a bit of an edge in readability and smoothness. Older users will
appreciate the larger text available on first-run books.
Kindle
vs Sony reader, Round Five!
You can browse through books easily on both readers, but the Kindle's
scroller works better than the Sony Reader's soft buttons in the view
of most users. Both devices allow you to easily navigate features, and
they are easy enough to understand that many users will rarely need the
manuals. The Kindle has some features that the Sony Reader doesn't
have, that make their use a bit more complicated, considering that the
features aren't all that useful to most users. Sony's Reader is more
easy to navigate, with more obvious, simpler controls for the majority
of features. You can also rotate Sony's display to a wide mode, which
makes it easier to read PDF's and other non-resizable content.
Kindle
vs Sony reader, Round Six!
The Sony Reader is similar to an iPod in the way that it functions,
like a computer peripheral. You need a PC in order to transfer any
content to it. It can display rich text format, PDF, eBook and Sony
BBeB format. Its software is able to automatically convert a Word
document to RTF. PDF's tend to be a bit more difficult to read, since
they are not as easily scaled, but if you use “landscape” mode, it
works well. But it is almost impossible to convert any content into
Sony's eBook format for table of content support, scalability, and
image and link support.
Kindle
vs Sony reader, Round Seven!
The Kindle does not need a computer to access eBooks, since it connects
to the Internet over a 3G connection. You can browse their store and
buy from your Kindle. It's very convenient. But getting your own
content onto your Kindle entails emailing and costs ten cents for each
document. The Kindle could have been made so that it read Word docs and
PDF files easily from Flash cards, but that isn't how it was made. The
conversion process must be used, and Amazon controls that. In addition,
their eBook format, Mobi, is Amazon-owned, and if you want to read on
your Kindle, you may have to repurchase eBooks that you own in a
different format.
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That being said, and all else
being equal, if you want the best
experience, according to most reviewers, buy a Kindle. They have done
what needs to be done in the right way. |
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Kindle
vs Sony reader, as the technology advances the
battle goes
on!
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