Amazon Kindle vs. Sony Reader: The 2008 Review
Trying to choose between the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader is no easy task! This is made even more difficult by the fact that there are fans on both sides of the argument. The best thing for you to do is to look at the facts for yourself to make your decision.
The first thing you might be interested in looking at is the price. The price is around the same for both ebook readers. However, Sony's newest model, the PRS700, is priced at just under $400-$40 more than the Kindle which is currently at $359. While neither version is cheap, the Kindle wins out on the price front.
Another very important feature when comparing the Kindle vs. the Sony Reader 700 is the availability of content. In this category, the Kindle beats the Sony Reader hands down. At the time of this writing, there are over 190,000 books available at the Kindle Store as well as today's most popular magazines, newspapers, and blogs. The eBook Store from Sony only has 60,000 titles but that is expected to grow to 100,000 by early 2009. You cannot download newspapers, magazines, or blogs from Sony's store either.
Your next concern is probably which reader has more visual appeal, in both senses of how it is easy it is for reading from, as well as how nice it looks for showing off to friends. Both readers exploit E-ink technology which visually resembles 'normal' paper, so that eye strain while reading is reduced and it feels as if you are reading a "normal" book.
In terms of what these devices look like, the Sony Reader easily trumps the Kindle. The biggest gripe about the Kindle is that the device is plain ugly! It looks like a device designed in the late 90's. The Sony Reader 700, on the other hand, has a slick black "iPodish" look to it. It is what you would expect for a design of a device in 2008.
Speaking of design, the Sony Reader display is a touch screen while the Kindle is not. While this is a great step forward for ebook readers and would seem to give the Sony the advantage, it seems to have affected the overall quality of the Sony's display. Sony had to add the touch screen layer on top of their e-ink screen layer. This means that some of the contrast and "real book" feel that is noticeable on the Amazon Kindle are missing. That doesn't mean that books are unreadable, it just means that if you were to compare the displays on these two devices side-by-side, you'd probably be able to tell the Kindle has better contrast and is a bit sharper.
You can enlarge the font size of the print in both of these products which is a godsend if you find it challenging to read small print. The Sony Reader 700 has an LED backlight which, in theory, is quite helpful when you are trying to read in an environment with little ambient lighting. The reality of the situation is, though, that many Sony Reader users feel that the backlight does not adequately light the screen; sometimes it even makes it more difficult to read due to poor contrast and visibility of the text. So although the Amazon Kindle does not have a backlight feature, it may not be at much of a disadvantage.
Fortunately, both readers are only about ten ounces. This is good news to those who don't want to carry something large and awkward around. Instead, it would be like carrying around a small paperback novel. For this reason, many will find the readers great for travel. If size was the main factor for you, the Sony reader is slightly smaller than the Kindle. Smaller is good for those who want the convenience of carrying a small device, though sometimes bigger is better.
What clearly distinguishes these two devices is the ease with which you can download contents and input them into the reader. While for the Sony device you need to first download the content into your PC and then download them into the reader via a USB cable, a PC is not necessary for the Kindle because of its own built-in wireless capabilities. You can just connect to the Kindle store and download content directly into the Kindle with the click of of a few buttons, making the Kindle far easier to use in this aspect.
Storage space is something else that you really need to consider. Both readers offer plenty of storage space for the average user with the ability to store over 200 books. If you tend to buy a lot of books or need to reference many different ones you might want to consider the Sony Reader. It holds more books than the Kindle and it also supports larger external memory cards giving it far more storage capacity than the Kindle.
And finally and most importantly, it is within your great interest to take responsibility for managing the eBook formats you choose to utilize on each device. Although both tools have been designed to work with their own proprietary formats, only the Amazon reader also interfaces with the highly preferred MOBI file format. So if you have MOBI files, your choice of readers is a no-brainer.
There you have it-a comparison of the two best ebook readers on the market. What is right for one person might not be right for the next, so you need to think long and hard about these features to consider which one is right for you. For most people, however, the Amazon Kindle is one device that simply can't be beat due to its wireless capabilities and breadth of available content.
The first thing you might be interested in looking at is the price. The price is around the same for both ebook readers. However, Sony's newest model, the PRS700, is priced at just under $400-$40 more than the Kindle which is currently at $359. While neither version is cheap, the Kindle wins out on the price front.
Another very important feature when comparing the Kindle vs. the Sony Reader 700 is the availability of content. In this category, the Kindle beats the Sony Reader hands down. At the time of this writing, there are over 190,000 books available at the Kindle Store as well as today's most popular magazines, newspapers, and blogs. The eBook Store from Sony only has 60,000 titles but that is expected to grow to 100,000 by early 2009. You cannot download newspapers, magazines, or blogs from Sony's store either.
Your next concern is probably which reader has more visual appeal, in both senses of how it is easy it is for reading from, as well as how nice it looks for showing off to friends. Both readers exploit E-ink technology which visually resembles 'normal' paper, so that eye strain while reading is reduced and it feels as if you are reading a "normal" book.
In terms of what these devices look like, the Sony Reader easily trumps the Kindle. The biggest gripe about the Kindle is that the device is plain ugly! It looks like a device designed in the late 90's. The Sony Reader 700, on the other hand, has a slick black "iPodish" look to it. It is what you would expect for a design of a device in 2008.
Speaking of design, the Sony Reader display is a touch screen while the Kindle is not. While this is a great step forward for ebook readers and would seem to give the Sony the advantage, it seems to have affected the overall quality of the Sony's display. Sony had to add the touch screen layer on top of their e-ink screen layer. This means that some of the contrast and "real book" feel that is noticeable on the Amazon Kindle are missing. That doesn't mean that books are unreadable, it just means that if you were to compare the displays on these two devices side-by-side, you'd probably be able to tell the Kindle has better contrast and is a bit sharper.
You can enlarge the font size of the print in both of these products which is a godsend if you find it challenging to read small print. The Sony Reader 700 has an LED backlight which, in theory, is quite helpful when you are trying to read in an environment with little ambient lighting. The reality of the situation is, though, that many Sony Reader users feel that the backlight does not adequately light the screen; sometimes it even makes it more difficult to read due to poor contrast and visibility of the text. So although the Amazon Kindle does not have a backlight feature, it may not be at much of a disadvantage.
Fortunately, both readers are only about ten ounces. This is good news to those who don't want to carry something large and awkward around. Instead, it would be like carrying around a small paperback novel. For this reason, many will find the readers great for travel. If size was the main factor for you, the Sony reader is slightly smaller than the Kindle. Smaller is good for those who want the convenience of carrying a small device, though sometimes bigger is better.
What clearly distinguishes these two devices is the ease with which you can download contents and input them into the reader. While for the Sony device you need to first download the content into your PC and then download them into the reader via a USB cable, a PC is not necessary for the Kindle because of its own built-in wireless capabilities. You can just connect to the Kindle store and download content directly into the Kindle with the click of of a few buttons, making the Kindle far easier to use in this aspect.
Storage space is something else that you really need to consider. Both readers offer plenty of storage space for the average user with the ability to store over 200 books. If you tend to buy a lot of books or need to reference many different ones you might want to consider the Sony Reader. It holds more books than the Kindle and it also supports larger external memory cards giving it far more storage capacity than the Kindle.
And finally and most importantly, it is within your great interest to take responsibility for managing the eBook formats you choose to utilize on each device. Although both tools have been designed to work with their own proprietary formats, only the Amazon reader also interfaces with the highly preferred MOBI file format. So if you have MOBI files, your choice of readers is a no-brainer.
There you have it-a comparison of the two best ebook readers on the market. What is right for one person might not be right for the next, so you need to think long and hard about these features to consider which one is right for you. For most people, however, the Amazon Kindle is one device that simply can't be beat due to its wireless capabilities and breadth of available content.
About the Author:
Still not sure which of these ebook readers is right for you this year? See the side-by-side comparison of the Amazon Kindle vs. Sony eBook Reader and it will make your shopping decision much easier!