Any Sony Reader Touch/Pocket users here?

[LilFluff]

(AARG! Accidentally did a page-back, and however Yuku works it isn't one of the sites where Firefox will still have your text if you accidentally leave the
page and come straight back.)

Does anyone here have and use the Sony Reader Touch or Pocket? I have a chance to get one of those for almost $100 off at (so-called) Best Buy, but nearly all
the reviews I'm finding are from people who only used them for a few days or maybe a week before writing the reviews (or are for older models). I'm
open to being convinced that I should go for a different ebook reader, but keep in mind even for the touch I'd only be paying roughly $200 + tax (that
would blow more than one paycheck's entertainment budget, but it should last alot longer than one pay period), so I'd need to be convinced that the
price difference would be worth it.

I like that the Touch has a bigger screen in nearly the same size unit, on the other hand I do not like that neither has support for external memory (come on,
SD cards are cheap, let me stuff Project Gutenburg on one, okay Sony? (CORRECTION: No SD on Pocket, but the Touch does have an SD slot)) but at least the
internal memory is half a gig, room for a metric boatload of books. I also like that the Touch and Pocket support ePub files (the current iteration of the Open
Ebook Format), which for those who haven't investigated ebook file formats is little more than one or more html files zipped up with the file extension
changed from .zip to .epub, so easy roll-your-own ebook support too. On the other hand the Pocket would drop to just over $100, for which I could see viewing
it as a temporary one-or-two year holdover until hopefully much better models are available (heck, even after tax, even at one year that would be only around
ten bucks a month and could still serve as a spare/backup device even if I bought something else).
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Will the transhumanist future have catgirls? Does Japan still exist? Well, there is your answer.

[Wiregeek]

I cannot in good conscience reccomend a 'book reader' by Sony.
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies

[LilFluff]

Problems with Sony in general (Hello Sony BMG rootkit, why no I don't mind if you molest my machine -- yeah, I'd be using the available 3rd party
support software)? Issues with Sony ebook hardware? Issues with ebook hardware in general? Issues with ebooks in general?
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Will the transhumanist future have catgirls? Does Japan still exist? Well, there is your answer.

[classicdrogn]

I will say only that I consider the PSP to be the finest html ebook reader I could want, and hey you can web browse and play music or movies too, Memory Stick
Pro Duo cards are available just as capacious as SD, and with a USB A-to-micro cable transferring files is as simple as using a keydrive. I've even heard
there's games available for it
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[Bluemage]

Seconding the PSP. $180 for a video/music/game player and ebook reader is awesome, and I love mine to pieces.

...especially since mine has an oversized battery (10+ hours while playing games off disc, ~12 when playing off memstick- original PSP had 3-5 with a disc),
and can also play my PS1 and GB/GBC games. I don't carry any other handheld anymore, and I'm a Nintendo fan.

---

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.

[LilFluff]

I have been considering picking up a PSP or DS, but even the Reader Pocket has a larger screen. No color, but for most books that isn't an issue. And
I've been coming across references of people going weeks between charging eInk based ebook hardware since unlike LCDs they only require power to change the
display not to maintain it.

Although considering that my gaming lately has been little more than Spider Solitaire, the Plants vs Zombies demo, and flash based tower defense games...
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Will the transhumanist future have catgirls? Does Japan still exist? Well, there is your answer.

[Wiregeek]

My anti-sony bias is against their software and forced propietary lock-ins. Minidisc, The optical for the PSP, Memory Stick, etc, etc...

I use a Dell Axim X51V for my bookreader. I get 4 days out of the extended battery under normal-use conditions. 640x480 screen, and an open OS.

Well. relatively open.
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies

[VladimirTherin]

I have a sony reader I use when I am not reading on an actual computer.

As for proprietary format, you can buy an SD card and just slot that in the expander, adding new books then becomes just a amtter of putting rtf or pdf files
directly on the sd card without any other fuss.

Display is very readable even in low light, battery life is un-matched. It doesn't drain any use except on page-change, so battery life is actually rated
in pages as opposed to hours of use.

The reader itself is also much lighter weight than any lcd-based one as well, if that matters to you.