Cnet's good E-reader comparison won't post my Kindle information

CNet's John F. Falcone, in his otherwise excellent new overview of several e-readers, which I recommend, has posted a brief comment I made about the difference between Sprint and AT&T access in the various Kindles.

 For some reason he has decided not to publish my earlier longer general comment - even though he specifically asked us for our experiences.  I had signed it with "kindleworld.blogspot.com" and figured that this was the problem, so I re-uploaded it without that identifier at all.  But after almost an hour and a half, he has not published it.  Although it gives him extra information which I think is extremely important when comparing models, I have to think he does not want this information added to his e-reader comparison, for whatever reasons.  Maybe he wants to verify that the info is correct and that takes awhile.

 But in the interests of not having the differences hidden by some gadget sites, when they can be important to those looking for an e-reader today via reading comparisons and overviews in a good publication, here is what I wrote to his invitation for our own experiences.

 That way, the added information is available at least here, though I wish more serious gadget sites would note some of these differences.  It could be they don't spend enough time with the many e-readers to explore these types of differences.

' That is an excellent overview, with a lot of things caught that other reviewers don't.

I want to add a couple of important items though, since you guys are even asking for what we think (which is not that usual).

The Kindle includes, in its Free 3G mobile-network access, a (now much faster) web-browser that has no limits on where you can use it.

It's of course useable (as e-ink is slow) mainly with mobile versions of websites such as ESPN's, CNN, BBC, etc. That means you can use this for lookups at Google, Wikipedia, Yelp, etc wherever you are, while camping or sitting on some park bench, at no added cost.
Using it is a bit of a drain on the battery for a session though.

But no other e-reader does this, and for sure, not for free.
The Kindle's web browser is now working officially in about 56 countries and unofficially in about 65 countries.  (I asked people to write me if it was enabled in their countries and Amazon's product pages show 56 countries officially enabled for that.)

About 100 countries that get wireless do get at least the free Wikipedia accessible from their books.  It used to be very slow but they improved it recently.

Also, functioning needs to be looked at.  The nook is beautiful and has better screen contrast than the Kindle, but if you've used their directory and Search functions you'll see how many menu steps you have to go through to use them.

With the Kindle you just start typing the keyword or phrase for Searches while reading, and you get a list of results with context and links to the pages.  The inline dictionary has a summary definition of the word your cursor is on at the bottom and if you want more info, you press Enter to get it.

With annotations, the nook software currently is a problem for the person trying to find the annotation later, because you have to page through again until you reach it.

With the kindle you can get a list of your annotations with links that get you to them, and the Kindle features include a customer's private password-protected webpage that holds all the annotations made for each book, displayable to you on one page for each book, and it's copyable and editable.
This is available to us only if we don't "Disable Annotations backup" backup .

The new software update also allows you to highlight a passage you're reading and send it to friends at Facebook and/or Twitter, with an intro note, even if you're sitting on a bus.

That is not possible w/other e-readers either (except the iPad with 3G, which as you point out costs more).

- Andrys '

Two hours later and it's not up, though the later short note is, so my information is posted here instead.  I recommend his article, nevertheless, because it is more thorough and more accurate than I've read elsewhere.  It was just missing the information on the differences between the Nook and the Kindle when it comes to what the 3G wireless does and does not include.

Experimentation with the Kindle Basic Web browser today shows Amazon has really sped it up quite a bit from only a month ago.  Some of us won't pay for web-data plans on our smart phones, so the Kindle's no-added-cost 3G can be quite valuable when we're outside the home or office.

---

Check often:  Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
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CNet review and some corrections

Here's a new CNet review that is more thorough than most today (after so many e-readers hit the market and very few have been actually really trying them out for functioning before reviewing them). The downsides are explored in this review, and buyers should be aware of them.

I'm linking readers to the review but pointing out a few erroneous statements (which are somewhat common to Kindle reviews) for those wondering about the pros and cons of the the Kindle International 6" reader. Still, the review is much more accurate than most I've read.

According to CNet, the font darkness or screen contrast is now better than it was with the Kindle 2.
Although they say, rightly, that the free websurfing is slower than we'd want but it's doable, they don't understand why Barnes and Noble is not giving this web-surfing capability with the Nook reader. (It's costly.)

Correction 1
On page 2, CNet says that *.txt and *.jpg files can't be natively viewed on the Kindle and that this is problematical.  The Kindle does natively view .txt files, and jpg files are read with a 'pictures' folder function though the latter's not that easy to use.

Correction 2
They also say that you'll "need to email" these and other formats for conversion at a cost of 10 cents per file. No, you can email them to be converted and sent to your computer for free and then move the converted files to the Kindle yourself with the USB cable. No cost.
  There IS a charge for mailing them direct to the Kindle and that is now 15 cents per file (per megabyte of file). They are right that the Kindle 2 does not natively read PDF files but converts them, which is allright for novels, but not particularly accurate with multi-column text and complex pages with illustration and labels. On the other hand no 6" reader will show these well and anyone needing PDF reading capability should go with the coming Plastic Logic's larger model or iRex's due in December, though they'll be more expensive. They allow annotations on PDFs, which is important for academics and business users.
  Update - I should have mentioned that the Kindle DX does a good job of reading PDFs and enlarges them when you rotate the unit.  It currently does not allow editing of PDFs but we can convert copies to flowing-text "mobi" or "prc" files for that while using the original PDFs for reading, on the DX, the layout as presented.

Correction 3
CNet writes that "The Kindle is natively compatible with only Amazon's own .azw file format" - what you get from the Amazon Kindle store. This is decidedly not true.  It reads, natively, 'mobi' and 'prc' files which you can get and download for free from places like http://feedbooks.net, http://manybooks.net (http://mnybks.net) and as I have said often, this also includes 30,000 well-formatted free "mobi" books from Project Gutenberg.

Correction 4
They also say that you "can't read the huge library of free Google books, but you can, with a simple 3-minute conversion.

Correction 5
CNet's review claims that Kindle's Whispersync does not allow two people to read a book at the same time. This is misleading at best. Whispersync is for people who want to read on one device and continue reading on a second device.
  Those sharing a Kindle account can just turn off Whispersync and then up to 6 people sharing that account can read a given book at the same time for the cost of one book.

Despite the above, the review has very good information, otherwise.

(Am still on vacation but reading every now and then.) Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

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A Sony-PRS700BC review & comparison w/ the Kindle

Computer Shopper's Matt Safford reviews the SonyReader PRS-700BC, with a touchscreen and with side-lighting, and compares its features, pro and con, with the Kindle (both the Kindle 2 and Kindle DX).  Good photos, in that they're large enough to get a good idea.   Best to read the review there, but for those reading this blog on a Kindle reader, the Kindles do fare better. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

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CNet review of Cool-er Reader

I made an earlier report on the UK's Cool-er Reader, with blog updates added to it afterward.

Several columnists who don't mention the basic features of the Kindle units have referred to the Kindle pricing as "ridiculous" while not pointing out that the Cool-er Reader has virtually none of the Kindle's basic features (especially for a student who would want to search, highlight and add notes to books) -- and definitely not the free 24/7 wireless access almost anywhere that there's a cell phone signal, as the Kindles do, allowing free access to Wikipedia and Google.
  But I've thought for awhile that Amazon should make a budget Kindle without the wireless, to compete in areas (Europe, Canada, etc.) where there is no wireless Amazon has no wireless contracts yet like the one with Sprint for the U.S., since many would appreciate its research features at a more affordable price.

Here's CNet's review by David Carnoy, edited by John P. Falcone.  It includes a videoclip of the Cool-er Reader and is mainly an itemization of drawbacks, while it duly credits the native PDF-support, screen rotation, replaceable inexpensive battery, and SD slot features.  They summarize that it's not quite the bargain they'd hope it'd be.  One notable drawback:

' ...its interface lacks polish and its buttons aren't designed all that well, both in terms of placement and mechanical function (the biggest issue is that they're stiff).  Adjusting the font size, for example is a much more tedious process than it should be;  a dedicated font button like there is on the Kindle would have been nice.  You often end up dealing with menus within menus and check boxes you have to click.  It's just a bit cumbersome...'

They end the article with "At this point, the safer buy in this price range is the Sony PRS-505"... (which also does not have inline dictionary, searching, highlighting, note-adding features either -- nor the 24/7 wireless with web browser).

UPDATE 6/8/09 - Ken Hess writes about the Cool-er and wants feedback.
He asks "I'm wondering if a USB network interface (NIC) would make it wireless capable?  It would be bulkier and a bit clumsier to use but certainly a $249 initial purchase price and a $10 USB NIC still comes in at $100 less than the Kindle."

It wouldn't be actively wireless (even if a USB NIC worked with it) without a wireless contract, which nowadays is about $60/month.  So that margin is eaten up very quickly.

  Kindle pricing is $360 because Amazon advertises that there are no monthly wireless charges though it's available in the U.S. 24/7 almost anywhere and there is even a built-in web browser for the Kindle.  But I didn't want to join yet another discussion circle to merely write that.  I don't think most reviewers are aware of the lack of an inline dictionary, highlighting and note-taking, and searches. He's one of the few who realize the always accessible wireless feature can make a difference although Cool-er has no competition from Amazon outside the U.S. since Amazon has no wireless contracts in those countries.  There's no interactivity with this unit, for $250 though.  I think it will do better when their price is lowered some.  But I think I would personally try it over the Sony PRS-505 if I lived outside the U.S.

  Amazon offers a trial period up to 30 days for the Kindles, with full refund if the device is just not suitable or enjoyable.  Few companies seem to do that.

  Oh, re the paragraph that the USB port allows one to be free of having to buy from one vendor, Kindle users are free to get books from anywhere, unless they're copy-protected -- as long as they're in the common MOBI/prc format (Project Gutenberg, Fictionwise.com, Feedbooks.com, Mobileread.com, mnybks.net etc etc) and just about all direct to the Kindle without needing a cable, but the Kindle has the USB cable too. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

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(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
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