My Sony Reader.
I take it everywhere I go, and it’s a great way to spend time when I’m stuck in a traffic jam.
You should all get one.
Just sayin’.
My Sony Reader.
I take it everywhere I go, and it’s a great way to spend time when I’m stuck in a traffic jam.
You should all get one.
Just sayin’.
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Katharina
February 19
10:40 am
I would buy one today, didn’t it cost 300€. Way too much, IMO.
SarahT
February 19
10:46 am
Which model do you have? The Sony Reader will be released in Germany next month and I’m seriously tempted to hop across the border and get one (I live in Switzerland).
Where do you shop for e-books? Do you find them cheaper than the paperback versions available at Amazon? The main thing holding me back is the fear that it will be difficult to find a wide range of affordable e-books which are available to customers outside the US.
Sorry for all the questions but I’ve been salivating over the red Sony Reader for some time now…:-)
Katharina
February 19
10:59 am
Regarding ebooks: Swiss francs are a strong currency, so when you buy $ ebooks, the exchange rate is to your favour. From time to time I shop ebooks at Books on Board, they are generally cheaper, and sometimes they have promotions that tempt you to spend quite a bit. But ebooks are still expensive, so I mix them with paperbacks. Sometimes you can find promotions on eharlequin (ebooks.eharlequin.com) where you can buy books up to 60% cheaper. And I remember fondly a 100% micropay rebate over at Fictionwise. I spent about 20€ and got worth books for 40€. However, normally Fictionwise is too expensive, IMO, so I avoid them.
AztecLady
February 19
3:03 pm
*lusting over the Sony reader*
I’m with Katharina–not enough disposable income right now. But one of these days….
kirstensaell
February 19
5:26 pm
@ SarahT
I’ve got a 505, and I love it. The only thing that bugs me is that regular Adobe pdf fies get a bit wonky when you enlarge the text (still readable, but kinda distracting), and most epublishers don’t sell direct in Sonypdf. When you buy from the Sony eBookstore, you’re buying DRMed files, so I’d usually rather buy direct from an epub. You can convert files with Calibre, but I’m too big a weenie to figure that one out just yet.
At the moment, ebooks from NY publishers are generally the same price as print, though I HOPE that will change as readers demand pricing that more accurately reflects production costs and the fact that you can’t share/resell ebooks. The per-read/per-reader cost really needs to come down, IMO. I mean, Bausch and Lombe wouldn’t expect you to pay the same for a pair of disposable contact lenses as you do for long-term ones, right?
But at the moment, I’m mostly buying from epubs, and Samhain, at least, puts most of theirs out in Sonypdf, and has competitive prices. I do pick up some titles on special at Sony’s store (Brent Weeks’ The Way of Shadows was pretty damn good for only a buck and change). And I’ve bought some HQ Spice titles there that I’ve been pleased with. But you still see many books for upwards of $20, and sorry, I’m not paying that.
I would assume if you can log onto Sony’s ebookstore, you’ll be able to purchase from wherever in the world you are. Same with publisher sites.
I also saw the red Sony on special this week for $269. So it stands to reason that the price issue might be dealt with in time. I can’t see an e-ink device costing less than $150-$180, because the screens are expensive to manufacture, but they will become more affordable.
SarahT
February 19
6:28 pm
@Katharina
Thanks for the feedback. I’ll definitely check out Books on Board. So far, I’ve only looked at Fictionwise.
@kirstensaell
I’m not sure what Sony will charge for the e-reader in Germany, but I’d imagine it will be more expensive than it is in the US.
I agree with your point that e-books should cost less than the print versions. I’ve read many arguments defending the present pricing system but it still doesn’t seem justifiable to me.
Miki
February 20
5:00 am
I think Waterson’s is selling epub books for the Sony Reader. I believe one of the posters kept calling these “Sonypdf”.
Jenn
February 23
11:48 pm
Hey Karen I was debating getting an amazon kindle. running out of space for books. wondered what the opinions of the kindle versus the sony reader
kirstensaell
February 24
12:11 am
Thing with the Kindle is it’s only available in the US. I’m not sure if that means you can only buy/download their ebooks while in the US or not. But it would suck to be on vacation and stumble across a book you wanted, and not be able to download it because you were outside the States.
I also wonder, if you had two Kindles in the family, whether you’d have to buy a specific book twice if you wanted to put it on both readers…