Buying an ereader: Kindle, nook or Sony Pocket Reader

[pslasher.livejournal.com]

Hey everyone! I’m probably going to be buying an ereader for Christmas and have narrowed it down to the nook, Kindle or Sony Pocket Reader. But I keep debating over them and thought I’d see what the users have to say.

Amothea says that the Sony Pocket Reader supports collections and has excellent sorting abilities:
My Supernatural collection has over 300 stories but I can within the collections sort by date, author, title, and etc. And once I have the title or author selected it gives me a list A-Z so I can jump to the author at the end very quickly.
Do the Kindle or Nook do anything similar, like support the tags from Calibre? I prefer the look and feel of the nook and Kindle, and they are less expensive than the Sony, but this feature is excellent.

　
Kindle: I REALLY like the long battery life and light weight of the 3G but I have a few questions.

1. I think I heard that fics uploaded to the Kindle from Calibre can be tagged and the Kindle will display those tags and the related ebooks, but I’d like that to be confirmed.
2. Can you browse the web on the Kindle? I think I’d really use that feature for finding new fic that I want to put on the device, and I know the nook can do it.

　
Nook: I LOVE the ability to add extra storage, and to browse the web. I think I’d use the web browsing to find new fic often.

1. Does the nook (black and white) have the ability to create My Shelves like the nook color? Can you sort through books in a collection by author, title, ect?


Is there anything I need to know, good or bad, about the devices? I think I’m leaning towards the nook, but I’m still not sure. I’ve got more thoughts about ereaders here.

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

Given Amazon's constant tendency to yank stuff out of a user's online archive, I'd definitely vote against the Kindle, even if your primary usage isn't for Amazon content. However price-wise, it's hard to argue against the Kindle and Nook. We recently looked at the Sony pocket and I'd say one plus is its size in terms of portability compared to the other two. Although we got the Daily Edition, its weight is noticeably lighter than the Nook, and it has a larger screen than the Kindle. So one thing I'd suggest is to think of how and when you plan to use the reader. Holding a heavier reader in the hand can get tiring after a while, but if you're likely to be reading in brief bursts or sitting up at a table, this probably won't be a problem.

My SO just bought a Sony and has used Calibre for tagging because he likes it metadata function. However he is thrilled that the Sony allows him to treat the reader like a hard drive and just transfer stuff over as he likes. He dislikes the way Calibre tends to put stuff in layers of folders. So far as I know, of the three readers, Sony is the only one that allows this sort of treatment.

[pslasher.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, I came back to a ton of comments!

I do remember hearing about Amazon pulling that book and I didn't like that one bit. Has it been done since?

Weight is a factor for me. At times I read for very long stretches and I think the nook is a little heavier than I would prefer - points to the Kindle for that.

One of the commenters below said the Kindle can be treated as a hard drive, so that's good to know.

[taylorgibbs.livejournal.com]

I can transfer stuff over to the Kindle and Nook, they show as a hard drive on my system. I can also back up my reader to my PC that way :)

[poisontaster]

The Nook does indeed have the ability to create shelves like the Nook Color; it was part of their last software update. Sadly, afaik, you can't sort within the shelves, you just have to page through the collection until you find what you want, which can be daunting if you have a large collection.

I have a Nook and I do love it quite a lot, but it seems to me that B&N doesn't do a lot of marketing or successful marketing regarding the Nook. If you have a B&N membership card, it's not applicable toward ebooks at all. They generally have fewer free ebooks at any given time and they don't have the clout that Amazon does in dictating price, so their books are sometimes more expensive than the Kindle equivalent.

I don't know much about Sony readers, but there's really not that much functionality difference between the Nook and Kindle. I will say that B&N has, however, been very good about listening to what Nook users want, in terms of improved functionality (like the shelves) and have been consistent in offering software updates. I don't know if Kindle is the same, but I have liked how B&N seems devoted to improving the Nook you have, rather than forcing you to buy the next gen.

[pslasher.livejournal.com]

That's great to know about the shelves! It's too bad that you can't sort within the shelves yet, that would be handy.

That seems to be kind of short-sighted of B&N. I thought they were supposed to be linked with the Google archive which has millions of books? Plus the free books on Friday sounded cool? I did notice the significant difference in price compared to Amazon, and that makes me lean to amazon a bit.

That's good to know that B&N has good support for the nook. Thanks for commenting!

[nessaancalime.livejournal.com]

I use Kindle 2, and it doesn't display the Calibre tags. Possibly Kindle 3 does. Kindle organise in collections and has a good search function enabling you to find content fairly easily.
I am a bit puzzled that Amazon are "constantly" taking back content, as far as I know it has only happened ONCE. And that was the publishers, not Amazon itself. I am sure Amazon made sure future contracts covered this properly. This is clearly a kind of publicity they don't want.
Nook is not an option for me, not living in US, but if it was I think I would have considered it a very good alternative.
My experience with Kindle is that Amazon has improved it majorly twice since I bought it and seems very keen to follow the input from users. But it remains to be seen what happens with updates for Kindle 2 now that Kindle 3 has arrived. Anyway, that is always the risk one runs buying electronics. I am certain Nook will arrive in new and improved versions too, and there is a limit to much updates old ones will receive.
EDIT And yes, Kindle can browse the internet, I use it a lot for finding info about what I read. But I've never tried to download anything. The browsing improved a lot after the last software upgrade, but it is still obvious that this is not a computer, and the processor is scaled thereafter.

[nessaancalime.livejournal.com]

I got curious, and checked, and no, you can't download from the Kindle webbrowser, it just hasn't got that feature. Actually I would not assume you can download to the Nook with their inbuilt browser either, as they don't say so and these browsers are made specially for the devices.

[pslasher.livejournal.com]

That's good to know about the Kindle collections, that's exactly what I'm looking for. It's also good that the Kindle is updated often, I've heard that it has excellent customer support. Thanks for taking the time to tell me!

[haikitteh.livejournal.com]

I have a Kindle and while I love it, I'm not sure that it would suit you from your list of criteria.

Like the sorting/collections - Kindle's collections are very simplistic. You can re-order your items within a collection by Most Recent First, Title, or Author, but that's it. Though I use Calibre frequently, and my books have some tags, I've never seen the tags show up anywhere on the kindle device. I suspect that they don't, or I would have seen them somewhere.

You can browse the web on a kindle, but it's not a very nimble system. It's webkit based, and still very slow-loading. It's nothing like a smartphone or ipad or Nook Color, which mimic the experience of browsing on a laptop/desktop.

What the K3 has going for it is how light it is. You can read with it in one hand easily, for hours. And the long battery life.

[pslasher.livejournal.com]

I did wind up getting a Kindle and I love it. The light weight and battery life were really big selling points for me, and are what made me choose it.

The sorting features work well enough for me. I just wanted to make sure that it did have some sorting features.

The web isn't as nimble as an iPhone, but it still does what I want. I'm able to check the AO3 and LJ to read from the Kindle. Maybe Amazon will develop it further if people express an interest in it.

Thanks for commenting! :)

[sineala.livejournal.com]

You can create collections on the Kindle and sort within them by Author, Title, or Most Recent, or if you prefer you can sort your entire device this way.

Unless Calibre has changed something recently, it can see your Kindle tags but not manipulate them directly -- any tagging has to be done on the Kindle itself. Which isn't that bad, really. But, yes, you can tag ebooks you've uploaded to your Kindle just like you can tag bought books.

Yes, you can browse the web on the Kindle.

Just to expand upon something yourlibrarian said, the Kindle also lets you treat the reader as a hard drive. You plug it in via USB, it shows up as looking just like any other drive, you drag books into the "documents" folder.

[pslasher.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your comment, it was accurate and helpful! :)

[josieb1.livejournal.com]

I have a kindle 3G, I moved over to a Kindle from a Sony ereader. We can't get the Nook in the UK. I loved my Sony ereader but much prefer my Kindle. I have over 800 stories on my Kindle, around 200 of them are books I bought from Amazon, and the rest are fan fiction stories. I use Calibre to convert non DRM epubs, RTF(rich text font) and PDFs to MOBI format, and transfer them to the kindle. No the Kindle does not read Calibre tags, but you can set up Collections on the Kindle once the books are on there. You can surf the web with a kindle 3G but it isn't very user friendly, and tbh I don't bother. I did like my Sony ereader but having a Kindle means I can combine my fan fiction reading with books from Amazon.

[pslasher.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your comment, it was very helpful!

[amalthia]

I think the Kindle does not support expanding storage. I know I can add microSD card and an SD card to my Sony PRS-650 but I'm not sure that feature is available for the PRS-350 (the 5 inch screen version).

I don't have a Nook so I'm not sure how well that works.

Honestly, I've rarely met a person that was unhappy with their purchase. But again it depends on what you plan on reading and how you use your device.

The main reason I would not recommend Amazon's Kindle is because I'm unhappy with the way they remove books with gay/lesbian themes and last week they removed fantasy/erotica books that featured adult incest. (they also removed the books from the patron's archives for about a week until a lot of people complained) So for myself I do not want to give the company any money. But again that's my personal choice and well I already have a Sony so it doesn't hurt me to buy ebooks elsewhere.

Another thing many people do not mention is that many libraries do not support Mobi ebooks. So if you had planned on checking out ebooks at the library the Nook or Sony would be better options.

If you have the chance to go to best buy, I recommend heading over there they had the different models on display. I found the Nook was too bottom heavy and the Kindle, at the moment only the Sony feels like the weight is evenly distributed. If you do go to Best Buy, see if they have the newer Sony models. When I went about a month ago they still had the older Sony models out on display and that's not a fair comparison to the Kindle 3 they have out. The newer Sony 650 is VERY light and has sharp contrast.

[taylorgibbs.livejournal.com]

Didn't they remove the one book with teenaged (underaged) incest? I wasn't aware of them removing books with gay/lesbian themes. None of my male/male purchases have ever been affected.

[pslasher.livejournal.com]

I decided to go with the Kindle, and I do love it. I'm all asquee about it! :)

The Kindle doesn't support expanded storage, but since it will hold 3,500 books (according to Amazon) I figured that swapping books out every so often won't be too difficult.

I'm not too happy with their track record of removing content... But they do have the lowest ebook prices so I decided to go with them anyway. We'll see if I regret that in the future.

That's a good point about the libraries, thanks for bringing it up. My library system currently doesn't support MOBI, but I plan on petitioning them to start.

Also, can we get a 'Nook' tag? Some people gave some really good comments on this post and I'm sure nook users or potential users would appreciate being able to see this post.

And to throw a wrench in it...

[kimboosan.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty much where you are, although I have totally discounted the Kindle due to Amazon's morality!police tactics. (Yes, it is their right to choose what to sell, but I do not need a babysitter, okaythnxbai.)

I was leaning towards the Nook as well, but now I'm tempted by this tablet, which costs about the same as the new Nook but is actually an internet tablet, and is a little bigger which I honestly kind of like: Archors 101 (http://www.archos.com/products/ta/archos_101it/index.html). It has gotten really good reviews, but I have not actually test driven one yet.

Personally I'd go for an iPad but I can't afford that, so there you go. :(

Re: And to throw a wrench in it...

[suonguyen.livejournal.com]

I agree, I have a kindle but am going to be buying a new reader due to Amazon's superiority complex. :D

[pelespen.livejournal.com]

The nook has My Shelves just like the Nook Color. And you can sort by Most Recent, Author, or Title, as well.

I really love my nook, after seven months I'm still giddy and sparkly about it. I could go on, but right now I"m exhausted from Christmas lights & cookies. Feel free to ask me anything about the nook, tho.

[pslasher.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the offer to answer questions! I decided to go with a Kindle, but I really appreciate your offer. :)

[sqweakie.livejournal.com]

I've got a nook and am loving it for the most part. The 'Shelves' update helped a lot since you can put a 'book' on multiple shelves and you can jump to a certain folder. For example I've started sorting books onto shelves and one story can be filed under Fandom, Pairing/Gen, and Humor all at the same time. I only buy certain books off of BN.com. What me and my coworker (who bought her nook the same day as me) found were better e-book prices on booksonboard.com which, depending on the book, can be a few dollars cheaper than bn or amazon. There are a couple other less known ebook sites that offer similar prices.

My only complaint about the nook is the sucky battery life. I get about a week or so out of normal use while other people with other e-readers can get up to a month on one charge. I'm not sure if that is a concern of yours but I thought I'd throw it out there.

[taylorgibbs.livejournal.com]

I don't even get a week :( I get about 8 hours, maximum :(

[ed263.livejournal.com]

I have a Kindle 2 and love it! I've never had any problems with Amazon.

Some issues others have mentioned...Amazon has only removed one ebook and only that one time and I have downloaded A LOT of gay porn from their site in Kindle format and I see lots more available. :-)
That's one thing I like about the Kindle, no one can see what I'm reading!!

As far as storage...you can 'remove from device' once you have finished reading the ebook and it will be stored in you account indefinitely and can download it again to your Kindle if want to read it again, at no cost. As for storage, the Kindle 3 can hold 3,500 books, but remember to you can remove from your device to hold all those fanfiction stories you want to keep on it.

You can orgainze your stories in collections. You can make up the collections into anything, for example you can have a collection folder for h/c stories, etc. This may help to get to a story you want to read a little faster. As for Calibre, sorry, I don't know very much about it. I have it, but use it convert to Kindle format and transfer the story to my Kindle. I really don't do anything else with it, maybe I should! :-D

As for browsing the web, I believe you can, I just don't. I rather use my laptop for that. I have no idea what the Nook can or can not do, but I do know I would not trade in my Kindle for anything else! :-)

[ed263.livejournal.com]

Edit: Removing ebook from your device and have it stored by Amazon..that is only for Kindle ebooks purchased on Amazon's web site. All other ebooks will be deleted from Kindle if you remove it from your device.

[elf]

#1 Detail: Most people who love reading, love reading on whatever device they get.

#2: This is all cutting-edge tech, which means "buggy as hell and updates every six months change how everything works." All of them have *some* way of sorting ebooks, some more efficient than others; none of them actually work well with large collections. (Over ~2000 books.)

#3: The companies that make the hardware & software seem to be under the delusion that all their readers will be buying, at new-book prices, all the ebooks they read. And they will all be novel-length or longer. This includes the handful of companies that *advertise* access to Google's 2 million free public domain works, and the ones who sell lots of short stories.

They are all confused at the idea of "I want to have 3000 tiny ebooks on my reader; how can I flip through them other than alphabetically 10 on a page?"

KINDLE is tied to Amazon's super-sleazoid ethics, and can't read epub, which is (1) carried by more places and (2) objectively, a more versatile/better format. (However. The "better" levels are pretty invisible for standard novels.) Kindle comes with a decent web browser (best, AFAIK, among e-ink readers), lots of upgrades, and Amazon nifties of various sorts.

NOOK has two entirely different devices, the e-ink and Nook Color. B&N wants you to think these are two versions of the same thing. I suppose they are, if you think a VW bug & VW bus are kinda the same thing with a few different features. I'm blurry on the exact advantages of either Nook (other than the e-ink being the only device that reads ereader PDB, which I love despite its obsolescence).

[taylorgibbs.livejournal.com]

The Nook Color is a LCD screen, closer visually to an Ipad rather than a 1st gen Nook.

[sothcweden.livejournal.com]

I have a Sony Pocket, and the reason I chose it over the Kindle (I know nothing about the Nook) is that I use my reader mostly for fanfic rather than downloaded books. I don't have 'net access at home, and to load "personal" documents onto the Kindle they have to be emailed to Amazon for conversion and loading onto the device, which just won't work for me. I prefer to copy stories into .rtf files and load them on the reader myself.

[taylorgibbs.livejournal.com]

Personal documemts can be dragged and dropped onto the Kindle. you don't have to necessarily email them. I drag and drop to mine all the time.

[nessaancalime.livejournal.com]

Honestly I don't get why people are so upset with Amazon. It's a book store and all book-stores have their policies. Do you get gay porn in your local book-store? I don't, but I do get it on Amazon. Again they did not remove anything, only made it harder to find. Due to massive reactions from users, it was quickly changed back.
You are not committing to Amazon when you buy a Kindle. Books in Kindle format are available from book-stores all over the net, including adult ones. With a built in browser you can download directly.
I have also discovered that restricted e-pub is no problem. It is easy to remove restriction and Calibre will make e-books for Kindle with better quality than the original e-pub. Where I live that is legal as long as I have bought the book and is converting it for my own reading device.

[amalthia]

There was a huge debate on this issue at the Mobile Read forums but most users agreed yes it's amazon's store they can sell what they want and etc...but at the moment Amazon does have a near monopoly on the ebook market and if author's can't publish their books there due to the content then they probably won't write it as much, which is tantamount to censorship.

I think the main issue is that amazon has not listed their restrictions so authors don't know if they are publishing a story that Amazon will boot from the site.

True, an enterprising publishing house could decide to cater to all the books that amazon refuses to host.

Also, as an adult I like to make the choice of what to read or not. Amazon's been good at providing a wide variety for every user but now that's no longer the case.

[taylorgibbs.livejournal.com]

My husband and I share a Nook (B&W) and a Kindle. There are pluses and minuses to each machine.

I did not want a Kindle, but when I got one, I was impressed. Yes, Amazon did pull the one book (the classic) and there have been some issues with a couple of other titles. I had a problem with the second instance. They refunded my money and allowed me to redownload the book impacted, so I actually got a refund and my initial content though it was delayed.

You can use the web browser to browse, but it is very basic.

With the Nook, i LOVE the idea that I can read library books on it. The latest firmware update allows for shelf creation, but it seems clumsier than the Kindle's option.

Both machines are great--my Sony went by the wayside in comparison--but it is all a matter of what works the best for you.

I haven't investigated tagging, so I'm not any help there--sorry :(

[pslasher.livejournal.com]

I decided to go with the Kindle and I really love it. I regret that I can't read library books on it, but I'm hoping that either Amazon will adopt epub or the library will eventually offer mobi. Something's gotta give, right?