April 20, 2008
Sony Reader vs. Amazon Kindle = Form vs. Functionality
I’ve been considering my options on ebook readers for about a week now, and I’ve been going both ways on the topic of which one to pick. However, I think I’ve finally made up my mind.
Sony Reader
Pros:
- Slimmer, sleeker, and all around a nicer looking machine.
- Requires less time between charges (charging my iPhone once every other day is enough).
- Simple, straightforward button layout which makes reading easier.
- Slightly cheaper (though I will address this below).
- More firmware hacks and the like are available, though I don’t mess with that stuff usually.
- 8 shades of gray available, as opposed to 4 on the Kindle.
- Comes with a very nice case.
Cons:
- Lack of any text-search capabilities on the reader itself (you can do it on the software).
- Less books to choose from.
- Books are generally a few dollars more than through the Kindle store.
- The Reader software is honestly not so good, having messed with it myself.
- No easy way to subscribe to blogs, newspapers etc.
- Doesn’t include an AC adapter.
- No way to take notes, limited bookmarking functionality.
- PDF support is bad at the moment.
Amazon Kindle
Pros:
- Full text search capability through everything stored on the machine, including PDFs, Office Documents, and all types of eBooks.
- Annotation and bookmarking is also available, thanks to the QWERTY keyboard.
- Books can be beamed to your Kindle over the air through Sprint’s EVDO network.
- This wireless capability also lets you subscribe to newspapers like the NYT and Washington Post, subscriptions running anywhere from $5.99 to $13.99 monthly.
- You can also import blogs like this one (hint, hint) through an RSS feed, and Whispernet (the aforementioned EVDO network) will poll your blogs regularly for new content.
- More books to choose from than the Sony store (though that may of course