Writing the post below got me thinking about whether I should be upgrading my e-book reader. Here are my current thoughts on the subject.
I currently own an original Sony Reader and a Nokia 770 and 800. Since I’m using my iPhone I don’t consider my Treo to be a reader any longer, and there is no real reader for the iPhone, so that is out of consideration. The 770 and 800 are nice units, but are rather kludgey when used with FBReader. I guess the Sony has spoiled me. I would really like to upgrade the Sony because of the lack of contrast on the screen, and this leaves me with the following:
Sony Reader, latest version: this is my prime candidate, given the excellent experience I’ve had with the current version.
Bookeen Cybook: really attractive given its ability to read the Mobipocket format. However, I’m a bit shy of buying an expensive product from a company that doesn’t have any service facilities in the US.
iRex Iliad: just too expensive. This one is aimed mainly at the corporate market. Same service problems also.
Ebookman, etc: old technology. Not in consideration.
Amazon Kindle: if it exists. My current thinking is to wait for this to come out before making any decision. Amazon has done such an excellent job with its new MP3 store that it gives me hope that they will do the same thing for ebooks.
What are you going to do?
If you are aiming for more contrast, then you should wait for the next generation displays.
The Sony 505 and the Gen3 are quite similar, but if you have the 500, i think its not a necessary upgrade. The contrast is not that much better if you compare brand new units. (E-Ink displays seem to degrade a bit in the first couple of weeks, thats probably why the new 505 and gen3 seem so much whiter.)
The kindle is still a rumour, though i have heard people say, that they have seen it lying around at some publishers. We will see if it ever surfaces.
I expect larger devices with better contrast mid to end 2008. Lets see if i am right 😉
Best regards
Falk
Hello
I use a iPhone for reading and I’m very happy with it, I use Books.app reader (http://code.google.com/p/iphoneebooks/), It’s very basic but it works.
Best regards
Guillermo
My 770 easily gets washed out if you’re walking around outside. Only my LCD Palm really can cope with the outdoors. If you don’t like FBReader’s defaults, the foreground and background colors can be changed. The font and size can be changed. FBReader can be used easily without the stylus. It displays plain text, understands compression, displays HTML books (though it isn’t a web browser – books that are all one HTML file work, though). Lots of good free books are available on Gutenberg or Baen (baen.com). They can be downloaded over WiFi or USB. So, what, exactly is kludgey?