Kindle or Sony--Which e-Reader for You?

I don't have an e-reader and I want one. Why?

• Unfortunately, I need large print.
• I don't like to haul around tons of books with me.
• My house keeps getting smaller and smaller every time we buy more bookcases, yet still there are stacks of books all over the place.

Both my husband and I love books. His peepers are better than mine, but I'm sure he'd rather carry one e-reader with him on the plane rather than four paperback books . . . and then find out that he didn't want to read those books after all. And yes, you have to put these books somewhere. We had so many books that we had to move to a larger house, and now this house is getting too small.

What to do? Buy an e-reader.

So while we're cogitating on the available choices, Amazon comes out with the Kindle. New? Hardly. Sony has used the same kind of display for a year and their newly released model is probably much better quality than the Kindle. What are the pros and cons? Here's the gist of the conversations between my husband and I.

The Kindle costs $400.
The Sony costs $300.
Winner: Sony

The Kindle has wireless technology that allows uploading books in less than a minute.
The Sony requires a connection to your computer, same as all the rest of the e-readers.
Winner: Kindle

The Kindle shops exclusively at Amazon.
The Sony takes uploads from your computer, so you're free to shop anywhere.
Winner: Sony

You can enlarge the print on a Kindle.
You can enlarge the print on a Sony, but there are problems with some formats.
Winner: Kindle, but close to a draw

With Kindle, there's no encoding so you can borrow books from your local library.
With Sony, you can easily borrow books from the library.
Winner: Sony

With Kindle, you're dependent on wireless technology, so you must be in a coverage area to buy books. What happens if you're in Outer Mongolia where there are few cell towers?
With Sony, you upload from your home computer only, so it doesn't matter.
Winner: Six of one, half dozen of the other

Wow, with heavy hitters in the market, e-books will become more and more common. There are plenty of other reasons why we should go to ebooks.

• The stripping and return of huge quantities of books is environmentally detrimental, and financially disastrous business model. (Have you seen a store clerk strip an entire dumpster full of books? It makes you sick to your stomach, and it happens hundreds of times every single day.)
  
• More and more people are developing allergies to dust, and can't have print books in their homes.
• Many babyboomers are requiring large print.
• With more people traveling from country to country, it's easier to find reading material.
• e-books don't take nearly as much storage space as print books do.
  

Of course, I love books. Print books. I love the feel of the paper and the smell of the ink. I don't think print books will go away anytime soon, but it's time for a new option. We have two good options available that I'm familiar with, and there are many others that I don't know about, but that people swear by.

What about you?

Jacquie




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