Increase in the Demand For Portable Ebook Readers
By Narendra Pal
The new wave of portable ebook readers allows people on the move to take their favorite books and magazines along with them. Digital format certainly weighs less than an equivalent stack of books. In addition, the convenience of being able to gain access to the latest best seller or desired reading while on the move is undisputed. Amazon’s Kindle design and Sony make the most popular portable Ebook readers at present.
Advantages of Ebook Readers
The typical portable ebook reader will hold as many as 200 books, so you can carry almost all of your home library along with you in convenient form. The portable ebook reader often ways only a few ounces, so it is easy to tuck into a purse or suitcase. The titles that are available on the New York Times Best Sellers’s list can be purchased as an ebook so that you always know the latest best read. Because you don’t have to be connected to a computer in order to take advantage of the reader, you can read whenever you have a few minutes to spare. When you find a book you want to read, you simply download the book in digital format. It only requires a minute or so and you can be reading your favorite classic.
Using the Portable Ebook Reader
The convenience of the lightweight portable ebook reader has already been described. There are other features of the typical reader that make it a ‘must buy’ for anyone who loves to read. For example, the size of the font can be adjusted so that persons with vision limitations can still take advantage of the convenience of the ebook reader. Once the optimum size has been determined, the font can be selected as the default size. Ease of use is another reason to make use of a portable ebook reader.
Get more information about using Portable Ebook Readers
By Tracy Falbe
When people say that they have no interest in reading an ebook, what they actually mean is that they do not want to sit and read a long work on a computer screen. But with a dedicated ebook reading device, such as the PRS-505 from Sony, reading an ebook becomes an excellent experience. The main difference from a computer screen provided by the Sony ebook reader is the e-ink technology that supports the reading screen. The e-ink system allows for low power usage and (here’s the big one) comfortable reading. The text is crisp and clear and can be read without eye strain for long periods in both artificial and natural light. Unlike the screen of a laptop computer, the screen of the Sony ebook reader has no glare in sunlight. Essentially the reading experience will feel exactly like looking at the pages of a book. Indeed, upon becoming absorbed in a novel, I have found my thumb seeking to physically turn a paper page because my brain assumed I was holding a book.
The user interface for the Sony PRS-505 is also easy to learn and use. I was able to quickly figure out the bulk of the system’s navigation without consulting the instructions. Figuring out how to move between ebook titles and navigate within ebooks took only moments. The menu choices are obvious and make sense – very refreshing in a gadget! No baffling cell phone weirdness here.
The navigation within an ebook is well laid out. You can access the table of contents and go directly to specific chapters within the ebook. You can also simply “begin” the ebook and page through from the beginning. The nicest feature is the “continue reading” choice, which automatically takes you to the last place you were reading in the ebook. This is exceedingly handy for someone like me who is chronically plagued by gremlins (both real and imagined) that take bookmarks from my paper books.
Additionally, the ebook reader has a bookmark button that allows you to mark any page in the ebook. Bookmarks that you make for any particular title are stored within that title’s menu where you can easily access the pages you marked for later review.
The system to interface your ebook reader with your desktop or laptop computer is also easy to use. This ebook library management software allows you to load files from your computer or access the Sony ebook store online. Because you can easily load files from your computer, you are also free to obtain ebook files in compatible formats from any source.
The Sony ebook reader connects to the computer with a USB cord. When connected, the ebook library interface will add the reader to its display and you can easily add ebooks from the computer library to the reader by dragging and dropping the files. In the same way you can remove ebook files from the portable reader by dragging the files back into the library.
About my only criticism of the Sony ebook reader is that the little buttons for advancing the pages lack perfection. I find them a little stiff and the positioning of both of them is not an optimal fit for my hands. This may not be the case for all users because I am admittedly an ergonomically difficult personality. The Sony ebook reader does have two ways to advance pages, so one or both of the options may work well for other users.
As with most specialized gadgets, you will need to know where to get content for your Sony ebook reader. Certainly, Sony has its own ebook store integrated with the system, but other sellers such as Baen.com and Fictionwise.com serve the Sony ebook reader market as well. Ebook titles from small publishers and individual artists are also plentiful.
For example, my free fantasy ebook Union of Renegades from Brave Luck Books is available to download in the Sony compatible ebook format and many other popular formats, including the Kindle. http://www.braveluck.com
There has been a lot of buzz lately about the brand new e-book reader launched by Amazon. The most popular e-book reader around has been the one launched by Sony.
The price difference
One of the main differences that really stands out between the Sony E-book Reader and Kindle is the vast price disparity. There’s a whopping 100 dollar difference with the Sony reader being priced at 300 USD and Kindle having a price of 400 USD. While the Sony reader promises a host of freebie features like free viewing of PDF files, no internet connection needed, free access to blogs as well as RSS feeds and even a memory card included in the welcome kit, this reader from Sony sure has plenty of upsides to it. However, Kindle isn’t far behind what with the capacity to contain more than 200 titles and an SD card slot that is included with it. However, you do need to pay 1 dollar for every blog and RSS feed respectively which is quite a bit expensive.
The format
While the Sony Reader allows you to view PDF files free of cost, the Kindle charges a 10 cent fee for every PDF file that you would sync into the device. Also Kindle tends to read HTML, plain text formats and images from the SD card but doesn’t do too well with DOC, RTF and PDF formats. But then again even the Sony Reader cannot read DOC formats directly.
E-ink technology
As far as the 6 inch LCD screen display goes in the Kindle, the display uses the revolutionary e-ink technology using ‘Vizplex’ film on the surface. However, both the Sony Reader and the Kindle have used the same technology. The plus side to this technology is that 40% of received light gets deflected and uses reflected instead of transmitted light which makes both devices easy on the eyes.
Printability
There is no need to print any document because Kindle offers portability in taking along all personal documents at anytime in any place, thereby eliminating the need for printing. The 10 cent fee is applicable for wireless transfer of word documents. However, if users do not wish to shell out this fee, free transfers can be leveraged. For this, the file or attachment needs to be sent to ‘name’@free.kindle.com where name stands for the ID used for your Kindle email address. So if the Kindle email ID is smith@kindle.com then attachments need to be sent to smith@free.kindle.com and then the file gets converted and emailed to the associated Amazon account.
Battery life
The Amazon Kindle is by far a better choice when it comes to battery life. You can go for four days at a stretch without any need to charge the Kindle. Besides, this is its good network coverage in almost any area which makes for good portability. Turning pages is as easy at the click of a button which means that even if you are reading the e-book in bed, operating the Kindle is much easier than the Sony Reader.
James Kara Murat the contributor of PrintCountry Articles. Read more about the subject at Kindle vs. Sony Ebook Reader Reviews, and related resources can be found at PrintCountry Miscellaneous Printer Information.
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