Kindle Vs Sony Reader
This article dwells on Kindle vs Sony Reader. Ebook readers are amazing gadgets that entered the technology market a few years ago. While gadget freaks have already lunged forward and bought them, most of us are still unaware of the different types available.
Amazon's Kindle Vs Sony Reader
Sony came up with their first ebook reader in 2006 and only 14 months later, in 2007 did Amazon introduce its Kindle. However, Sony was forced to take the back seat, due to stiff competition from Amazon's Kindle, as well as Barnes & Nobles' Nook. Since 2007, Amazon has been constantly launching different models of the Kindle and have captured a major portion of the ebook market. In the year 2011, they successfully managed to introduce their fourth generation Kindle.
However, Sony hasn't given up on the race and since then has been striving, to come up with new improved versions of their ebook reader. They recently launched their sleek and stylish PRS-T1, which takes on Amazon's Kindle Touch 3G. Sony claims theirs is the lightest 6 inch, ebook reader available in the market. At 5.93 ounces, Sony's PRS-T1 is definitely the lightest 6 inch model available. However, does the PRS-T1 have a cutting edge over the Kindle Touch 3G. Let's find out.
Amazon's Kindle Touch 3G Vs Sony Reader PRS-T1
Before we head into the differences between the two and try to figure out, which one has a cutting edge, let's have a look at their similarities.
Similarities...
Price
Both the Kindle Touch and the PRS-T1 are priced at $149. For Sony this has been a considerable price drop, compared to their previous models which ranged above $200. But, if you purchase the PRS-T1 from the Sony store, it will cost you only $129. Moreover, the Kindle provides the facility of avoiding advertisements on your Kindle. If one is alright with the ad-supported Special Offers version, one can get the Kindle at $40 cheaper. That's a major bargain. However, before you get too elated, everything right from the AC charger to the cover, in the Kindle is charged additionally.
Display and Size
Both the models possess a 6 inch, E-ink pearl multitouch display, with a resolution of 600x800 pixels. The E Ink Pearl is specifically designed to deliver sharper and clearer, book-like text, which makes reading from ebook readers feel more natural and comfortable. However, since E-ink screens do not have backlighting, external lights are required in dim-lit and dark rooms.
USB Port
Both these ebook reader feature USB 2.0 ports, which can also be used to charge the devices from the desktop.
Differences...
Style
Available in pinkish-red, black and white, Sony's ebook reader is sleek and stylish, with the Sony Xperia glossy-finish look. Its case design is smooth, with metal accents that enhance the entire look. It combines the ebook necessity with fashion accessory and appeals much more than the drab gray of the Kindle Touch 3G. It also comes with a stylus, however, the stylus doesn't have a storing place, so this is a downside. Nevertheless, the menu system is more easier to use than the Kindle's. Moreover, navigation is far easier and browser, far quicker. Page formatting options are also much more than the Kindle.
Winning Edge: Leaving the stylus drawback aside (you get covers to solve this problem), the Sony ebook reader has the winning edge here.
Weight
Being ultra-light, Sony's PRS-T1 weighs only 5.9 ounces, making it the lightest ebook reader available. This helps one to effortlessly hold it, while reading books. Moreover, it's only 8.9mm in thickness, which makes it easy to store in the jacket pocket. On the other hand, Kindle 3G weighs 7.8 ounces, which is quite a bit of weight difference.
Winning Edge: In terms of weight, once again Sony wins.
Operating System
While Amazon's Kindle runs on MS Windows, Sony's ebook reader runs a heavily modified version of the Android operating system.
Winning Edge: Sony has an edge here.
Wireless Capability and Connectivity
The Kindle 3G supports 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity and does not need USB cables to transfer files. This enables one to browse and download endless books, without having to connect to a computer. This device uses HSDPA modem (3G) for the connectivity with a fallback to EDGE/GPRS. Moreover, with the Kindle, one can email PDFs directly from the computer and can read it wherever and whenever one wants. Sony's PRS-T1 on the other hand, has Wi-Fi connectivity, but no 3G.
Winning Edge: With 3G facility, the Kindle is definitely superior to the PRS-T1
Contents Format Supported
The Kindle Touch 3G supports MP3, AA and AAX. It also runs text formats like TXT, Kindle (AZW), DOC, PDF, HTML and image formats like JPEG, PNG, GIF and BMP. Sony's PRS-T1 also supports ePub, Adobe DRM, PDF, JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF, MP3, AAC and TXT formats. However, Sony's ebook reader is the best PDF file reader in the market. It doesn't struggle with large PDFs, which is a major convenience.
Winning Edge: Sony has the winning edge here.
Touchscreen Facility
While both models have the touchscreen feature, the Kindle 3G has a traditional touchscreen feature, which responds to actual touch. On the other hand, Sony's PRS-T1 has an infrared touchscreen. Thus, one does not have to tap the touchscreen forcefully, to get the device to work. In fact, in this device, as long as one's fingertip is within a millimeter away from the screen, the device detects it and provides necessary input. Moreover, its clear touch infrared technology provides the facility of pinch-and-grab for zooming and resizing. The user can also use the finger or stylus to make notes (or drawings) or underline words on pages. However, the touchscreen can at times be over-sensitive, but this is not a major issue.
Winning Edge: Since Sony's ebook reader has a more advanced touchscreen technology, it wins again.
Page Turns
Although both the Kindle and PRS-T1 are fast when it comes to pages turns, the Kindle seems to be slightly faster when you compare the two. However, the speed difference is almost negligible. Sony's reader lacks shoulder buttons (as in Kindle) for page turns, thus, if one is holding the reader in one hand, one will have to reach the lower bezel buttons with the thumb. Or else, one could use the touchscreen facility, which enables you to swipe pages from left to right.
Winning Edge: For slight speed difference and swiping facility, Sony wins. But, this is personal choice.
Battery Life
While Amazon's Kindle 3G provides a battery life of 2 months (when wireless is off), Sony's ebook runs for only a month, when the wireless is off (usage being half an hour a day). With the wireless on, Kindle 3G runs for 4 weeks, while the PRS-T1 runs for 3 weeks.
Winning Edge: The Kindle is a clear winner here, due to its longer battery life.
On-Device Storage
Amazon's Kindle has an inbuilt storage capacity of 4GB for 3000 titles. Sony's PRS-T1 on the other hand has only a 2GB storage capacity for 1200 books. Nevertheless, it also contains a 32GB expandable microSD slot. With the help of this slot, there is plenty of room for MP3s as well. However, listening to music will exhaust the battery much faster than reading books.
Winning Edge: The vast difference in storage capacities once again leaves the Kindle as the winner.
Dictionary Function
To look up the meaning of a word in the Sony reader, one only needs to tap and hold on a word, while the device looks up the twelve dictionaries loaded onto it. If the Wi-Fi connection is on, then it will also look up the word in Wikipedia and Google. This feature is absent in the Kindle. The dictionary feature in the Kindle is such that, if the word exists in the dictionary, it will pop up in a small window. However, it is nothing like the advanced dictionary function in the Sony reader. Moreover, Sony's stylus is helpful in making notes and highlighting portions of the book. It also features six adjustable font sizes to customize. The Kindle provides only three font size options.
Winning Edge: Sony again has an upper hand here, due to the advanced dictionary function.
X-Ray Feature
The Kindle features the amazing X-Ray facility, which is functional for about 1000 Amazon books. With just a tap, the reader gets to view the different ideas, historical figures, fictional characters, etc. mentioned in the book, along with descriptions from Wikipedia and Shelfari. This gives the reader a lot of information about the subject. Sony on the other hand, has not provided this facility in their ebook reader.
Winning Edge: Kindle is the clear winner here.
Music Support Feature
Since Sony's PRS-T1 can play MP3 and AAC audio files, one can play music on this device. It also has a head phone jack for listening to music and is great for those who want to listen to music, while reading. This feature is lacking in the Kindle (although the Kindle does have a head phone jack.)
Winning Edge: Sony wins again.
Read-to-Me Feature
For all those times when you find yourself too lazy to read, the Kindle has come up with the 'read-to-me' feature, which can read content in English out to you. This feature is not present in Sony's ebook reader.
Winning Edge: The Kindle strikes PRS-T1 with this feature.
Whispersync
While Sony's ebook reader doesn't have the feature of saving where one left off in a book, the Kindle has this amazing Whispersync feature. This feature synchronizes the last page read, bookmarks and annotations across one's devices, enabling the reader to pick up where he or she left off.
Winning Edge: Undoubtedly, the Kindle wins.
Continue Reading Section
Unlike the Kindle, which displays a variety of books in the continue reading section, Sony's ebook reader only displays one book. This may prove to be a problem for those who like to browse through several books before making their next choice.
Winning Edge: Once again, the Kindle wins.
Lending Library
People using the Kindle can opt for an Amazon Prime membership, which allows the user to browse through and borrow from thousands of books on the lending library. One can also lend from the public library. Over 11,000 public libraries permit Kindle borrowing via the industry leader Overdrive. Amazon, the world's largest content provider provides a much bigger library to users, which gives it the edge over the Sony library. Even Sony provides the public library facility. The reader can download ebooks without having to transfer them with Adobe Digital Editions. However, several people have faced difficulties with this. When they tried to borrow books, it showed an invalid message.
Winning Edge: The Kindle wins again.
Online Stores
Sony lacks its own ebook store, however, its software links readers to online bookstores from WHSmith, Mills & Boon, the new Google bookstores and Waterstones. Readers can browse through the large variety of books and on purchase, the books will be added to one's desktop library. However, online stores like Waterstones are known to charge much higher rates for books, which is a major con in the long run. Sony is also the only ebook reader to partner with J.K Rowling, with regards to her Pottermore website. They are the only ones to provide digital Harry Potter books. Amazon on the other hand, has a massive collection of over a million books, newspapers, magazines, audiobooks, etc. out of which over 800,000 books are less than the price range of $10. This makes the books affordable.
Winning Edge: Sony's online store is not as extensive as Amazon's. Because content is the primary reason people buy the Kindle, these limitations in the Sony PRS-T1 are a major set back. So the Kindle has a major winning edge.
The Verdict
Sony has primarily focused on the style factor and has brought out its sleek, glossy model. As far as the previous models of Sony are concerned, the latest PRS-T1 is quite an improvement, however, as compared to other ebook readers, it doesn't provide any remarkable features. Sony PRS-T1 happens to be a solid ebook reader, nevertheless, there seems to be no reason to buy it over the Kindle Touch 3G. As far as content providing is concerned, Amazon cannot be beaten. And when you purchase an ebook reader, content is the major factor to look into. The other fancy features are not of such prime importance. Now it's up to you to make the choice!
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