She is a winsome wee thing, She is a handsome wee thing, She is a bonny wee thing, This sweet wee wife o' mine - Robert Burns
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GET YOUR READERS READY as The INQUIRER compares the Sony Reader Touch, which is on sale today, and Amazon's WiFi enabled Kindle 3.
Screen
The devices both come in with 6in displays, but the Kindle is slightly larger at 190 x 123 x 8.5mm, compared to the Touch at 168 x 119 x 10mm.
At 241g, the Kindle is also slightly heavier than the 220g Reader Touch.
The Sony Reader now comes with the same e-ink screen as the Kindle although it is capable of touch input as well. We tested the Reader outside, and there was no glare from sunlight on the Reader. In fact, reading text was just as comfortable outside as inside.
Although the Kindle screen has a matte finish, very bright light, for example the sun or a spotlight that is directly perpendicular to it, will result in some reflected glare. However, tilting the screen by a degree or two is enough to eradicate this.
Winner: Sony Reader
Inputs
The Sony Reader is very responsive to finger and stylus input. Users can tap text to highlight or to get a definition of the word. The notes and annotation feature also allows users to highlight passages and jot down notes within the text.
Writing with the stylus isn't the best, as you have to push quite hard and it is not possible to write much in the small space available between lines of text. Nevertheless, this is a good feature which Sony can build on for future models. Any annotations are saved and can be exported as a Word document when the e-reader is connected to a PC.
The Sony Reader supports EPUB, PDF, BBeB, Text, RTF, Word, JPEG, PNG, GIF and BMP, MP3 and AAC formats.
The current generation of the Kindle has no touch capabilities. Instead it has a physical Qwerty keyboard which is small and quite fiddly. While it is possible to take notes on the Kindle, there is no annotation feature.
The Kindle supports its own AZW format along with TXT, PDF, Audible, MP3, unprotected MOBI and PRC natively. Other formats, including HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP are all supported via the Kindle's automatic file-conversion tool.
Winner: Sony Reader
Storage
Perhaps the most important feature for an e-reader, aside from the screen quality, is the number of books it can store. The Sony Reader comes with 2GB of onboard memory, 1.4GB of which is available for use. The Reader is capable of storing 1,200 e-books as standard according to Sony's specifications, but also supports Memory Stick PRO Duo and SD cards, so in theory it has unlimited capacity.
Amazon includes 4GB of memory with the Kindle, with 3.3GB available for user, so it can store 3,500 e-books. However, there is no additional storage option.
Winner: Sony Reader
Connectivity
The Sony Reader does not come with any wireless connectivity. The device has to be synced up to a PC or Mac to transfer books. Users are able to download over 500,000 books from Sony, as the manufacturer has made a deal with Google.
The device also supports free loans from local libraries. There are 50 libraries that support this service, and books can be downloaded from home and transferred to the e-reader.
Amazon sells Wi-Fi-only or Wi-Fi plus 3G readers, so books can be downloaded without having to synchronise the device to a PC or Mac. Books can be purchased from the Amazon Bookstore directly from the device on-the-go. It is estimated that there are over 415,000 titles available, plus one million free books.
Winner: Amazon Kindle
Battery life
The Sony Reader is capable of a claimed 10,000 page views on a single charge, and Sony said that the battery will last two to three weeks before needing to be recharged.
Battery life for the Kindle is one month with wireless off, according to the manufacturer. The Wi-Fi-only model lasts up to three weeks with the wireless, while the power-hungry 3G drops this to 10 days.
Winner: Amazon Kindle
Pricing and availability
Like all Sony devices, the Reader Touch isn't cheap. It's available from Waterstones for £199.99. Those looking for more portability may want to look at the smaller 5in Reader Pocket edition, which ships for £159.99.
The Kindle Wi-Fi is available for the aggressively low price of £109, and the Wi-Fi + 3G version is priced at £149 making it ideal for those who are on a budget. Both are available now from the retailer's website.
Winner: Amazon Kindle
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the amazon kindle has remained steady at £153 for the 3g model. However, the sony has dropped to approximately £166 pounds, making the pricing almost irrelevant. if you wait a couple of months, the sony will own another category.
Did any of you bother to read the whole article? The Kindle beats the Reader in terms of 3g/wireless and price. I couldn't care which one is better than the other as long as they do their intended task that's all that matters.
Why must every electronic device popular in the US have a hysterical following of fanbois?
And to the author: Can you please test audio books and picture books on them for the US audience?
I BET THEY'RE ALL PRETTY MUCH THE SAME DESPITE THE SO-CALLED BIAS. COME ON, HOW CAN YOU BE A GEEK ABOUT READING BOOKS? RIDICULOUS.
You should have called it a Sony Touch review. So you like the ability to touch the screen. Everything else seems trivial. The Kindle is a balanced piece of tech given the current state or the art and afordability. When it first came out, I thought Amazon was raping early adopters. The sweet spot for these devices is the sub 150 usd mark or under 175 euros.
Oh and don't even get me started at how you tried to tell people the Kindle is not readable in sunlight. Being that that is the purpose. It is perfectly readable, even if Sony's device is slightly better... I and many people have no problems with reading it outside in direct sun on a beach at 12 noon. Geez.
How much are Sony paying you, have you even picked up a Kindle I can tell you that the display is perfect on my new Kindle in direct sunlight !!
I think the author should be sacked for his total lack of any kind of unbiased view.
The author deserves to be sacked for such blatant lies, they are a discredit to The Inquirer, and make this funny and informative website look really shitty.
What do you expect from the so called newspaper that on the 13th, when they were on preorder, did an article titled:
Iriver WiFi Story e-book reader
Unlike Kindle, this one's not 'out of stock'
I thought theese were supposed to be unbiased? this one is so much it could be used as a boomerang, or maybe a stick as it is biased so much it has a full 180 almost
Top objective journalism and a superbly researched and balanced review.
Just one question: how could you see the non-backlit screens of the eReaders with your head so far up your own @rse?
I'm laughing, but it just isn't funny.
This couldn't be a more biased review. Perhaps the author has shares in Sony? Or perhaps is upset because he ordered his Kindle 3 late and hasn't received it yet due to Amazon's backlog ... you know, because of the MASSIVE POPULARITY of their product. It certainly sounds like the author hasn't used the new Kindle.
But it's the biased review that's so annoying. There's no attempt at all at a balanced take on what's good and bad about each product.
Really? Come on did you even test the two? I think not because the errors and blatant LIES are staggering. I suggest you withdraw this article before you get hammered by Amazon for a total fabrication of their product. Since when was 21g "whopping"? The Kindle can be read perfectly easy in direct sunlight, I know I used mine today in it. Saying the Kindle has two book formats is a massive LIE. You have no idea about the Kindle, so be thanful to Sony for giving you a free ebook reader, the fact it can't do a lot the Kindle can do shouldn't dampen your spirit, after it according to you it's miles better.
Nothing like a shitty review to make people go all click happy. Enjoy your page hits.
I don't believe this reviewer has even seen a Kindle to be able to compare it to a Sony. A kindle is graphite, not silver, and by graphite I mean almost black. It displays perfectly in bright sunlight, and it does have an annotations feature - you can add annotations, bookmarks and highlights. Other advantages - how about 450000 books available for Kindle, just from Amazon and 3G and/or wifi connectivity meaning you don't need a pc to get books
What are you on?? Sony are clearly desperate for sales if they are going to you for increasing their potential sales. Ebooks are not Sony's forte and they should stick to TVs and other electronics. The Kindle is a movement for book readers with an avid fan base, I would love for you to do a public comparison of the Touch vs Kindle and see who wins. Bring It On.
This review is simply not worth the space. It is replete with half-truths and missing details and is clearly heavily biased in favour of the Sony product, even where there is no difference between the two.
Some of the "advantages" of the Sony have an air of desperation: 21g is less than three quarters of an ounce so the difference in weight is insignificant - it will vary more depending on what type of cover you use.
The list of supported formats for the Sony is longer than that for the Kindle, mostly by including image and audio formats (which, incidentally are also available on the Kindle) and comparing them with only text formats (and not all of them).
The drawbacks of a touch screen have not been explored (grease marks; trying to highlight with fat stubby fingers like mine).
The reading experience - text sizes, fonts, etc. - was ignored even though I would consider such things critical to comparisons of e-readers.
In short a badly researched and intellectually dishonest effort.
Oh come on - how one sided.
Its not even right to say these devices are head to head - one has wifi and free 3g, the other doesnt. A fairer comparison would be to compare the, yet to be released in UK, Sony Daily edition which does have wireless (and is also significantly more expensive than the Kindle)
Also, factually wrong (brushed metal look to Kindle? really?)
They both use exactly the same screen, one is cheaper, one has wireless.
This review is so one-sided you couldn't even make a sheet of paper (e or not) out of it.
The bit about storage space is priceless for example, will storing large PDFs on the Sony not also decrease the number of books you can store on it (expandable memory or not)?
You can also put more than Amazon (AZW) and PDF 'documents on the Kindle, how about: Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion?
Can you write it again properly please?
This bloke obviously hasn't seen a Kindle. I would advise anyone to completely ignore his review.
So, how much are Sony paying you lot? I've just been outside in direct sunlight and I can read my Kindle fine, thank you very much - so you made that up. Other "errors" in your review have been picked up by earlier commentators. This is a ridiculous, biased and incorrect review.
So, how much are Sony paying you lot? I've just been outside in direct sunlight and I can read my Kindle fine, thank you very much - so you made that up. Other "errors" in your review have been picked up by earlier commentators. This is a ridiculous, biased and incorrect review.
It reads much more like a child has attempted to write an advertisement for Sony. Evidence seems have been obtained by (in some places mis-)reading wikipedia.
Completely one sided review. Did you even pick up a Kindle?
The free books available from Google are out of copyright, the same books will be available for Kindle via gutenberg.
Since when was 21g (a less than 10% difference) "whopping"?
And bashing the Kindle for glare? Come on, the Kindle is excellent in this area. That's not just a reach - it's a fabrication.
You say:
"the Amazon Bookstore is the only place to buy books from"
That simply is not true and makes me wonder whether you have actually used a Kindle 3. There is a web browser and a number of other sources offer facilities via this to automatically download books to the Kindle via Wifi. And what's this about both products having a 'brushed aluminium finish': the Kindle 3 comes in black or white.