Sony Reader vs. Laser Printer vs. Ink Jet Printer
October 9, 2006 2:26 PM   Subscribe

Should I buy a Sony Reader (ebook) or a laser printer or keep using my inkjet printer?

Does anyone have any experience with the new Sony Reader. I would like to use it to read long pdf documents or pirated ebooks off alt.binaries.e-book. I would only buy an occasional legit book to read on it. I would also like to queue up web pages that I want to read and read them offline on this ebook.

Am I better off spending my money on a laser printer? I currently only have a wide-format inkjet printer.

From both a cost/convenience perspective, would I be better off with

a) Sony Reader
b) Laser printer + toner + paper
c) Keep using my inkjet printer + inkjet ink + paper

I've read somewhere the Sony Reader does a horrible job with formatting of documents.

I also want to know if there are any stores in Orange County that has them in stock for me to "rent."* I went to a Borders bookstore the other day and the guy there was completely clueless. He actually looked at me like I was speaking Chinese to him (the man was white and I'm assuming he probably does not understand Chinese)


* Rent meaning I buy it, play with it, then return it.
posted by zzztimbo to Technology (14 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Buy a laser printer that will print double sided automatically and multiple pages per sheet. My Laser printer prints up to 8 pages per sheet (4 each side), making a 100+ page document fit on 13 pieces of paper. To my eye, though the print is tiny, it's more legible than any electronic device. This is very handy for carrying around lengthy documents.

In addition, after reading the book "Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot" (a book about the brain), I'm a firm believer in the theory that the brain is more receptive to words read off a light-reflecting surface than a light-generating one.
posted by dobbs at 2:33 PM on October 9, 2006


Re: "renting", have you tried Fry's?
posted by trevyn at 2:34 PM on October 9, 2006


The Sony Reader is neat, but it's definitely a first-generation device. The interface is a little clumsy, and the refresh rate is very slow.

$350 buys a lot of dead trees, and if you wait a year or so, the second-gen devices will probably be out. If general technology trends are any indication the next generation of ebook readers will be better, cheaper, and more compatible.
posted by bshort at 2:36 PM on October 9, 2006


Not quite answering your question, but I read ebooks on a Sony Clio PDA, many from alt-binaries but also from Gutenberg, Baen, and other ebook providers (converted to Plucker or Palm format for preference). The Clio works excellently for me, and is much more portable than the Reader. I don't know of a good Palm-OS PDF viewer though.

The gossip I've read gives the Sony Reader low marks for user interface / usability.
posted by anadem at 2:37 PM on October 9, 2006


I'm a firm believer in the theory that the brain is more receptive to words read off a light-reflecting surface than a light-generating one.

The Sony Reader uses e-paper, so it is a light-reflecting surface.

Anyway, I'd suggest waiting for the second generation of book readers. If you really want one now, though, you might consider the Jinke V8 Reader. This looks better to me than the Sony, because it has wider support for different non-DRM formats and a slightly lower price.

That said, I think that none of these are going to be worth the price until a year or two from now, once the interface has been smoothed out.
posted by vorfeed at 3:48 PM on October 9, 2006


I read books (generally downloaded from #bookz on Undernet) and magazines on my mobile phone. I own a Nokia 7610 (with Symbian as an operating system).

The software I use for reading books is Airpedia Reader. It's a great reading software, but it can only read .txt and .apd files (no PDFs, I'm afraid).

Still, if you own a phone with Symbian, Airpedia is way cheaper than shelling out 350$ for a Sony Reader.
posted by Masi at 3:53 PM on October 9, 2006


Two things:

* Sony can't be trusted. I would expect them to gradually reduce the features in their new ebook until it doesn't do what you want. I know some people will say "just don't install the upgrades", but Sony has shown that it's willing to do fairly underhand things to get crippling upgrades onto devices, ie; the PSP.

* The cool thing about printing out books is that you can hand them to other people, or shed them as you travel.
posted by krisjohn at 4:18 PM on October 9, 2006


I print quite a bit, so I can read whilst on the bus, or while I'm at lunch.

I purchased a used laser printer for under $40, buy toner from eBay for ~$30 a cartridge, and boxes of paper for $30 at the office supply store. Which takes forever to use. (I keep some nicer, brighter stuff for the occasional resume or what have you.)

Do NOT use your inkjet. It costs a fortune, even with 3rd party carts, and the ink smears with even a drop of coffee, which usually happens before I even leave the house.

(on preview: what krisjohn said about disposing or sharing said printed documents.)
posted by action man bow-tie at 4:38 PM on October 9, 2006


Buy a laser printer that will print double sided automatically and multiple pages per sheet. My Laser printer prints up to 8 pages per sheet (4 each side), making a 100+ page document fit on 13 pieces of paper.

Printer recommendations?
posted by grumblebee at 5:44 PM on October 9, 2006


Multiple pages per sheet is almost always a function of your driver software, not the printer itself. And while auto-duplex is handy, you can simulate it by printing the even pages, then putting those into the paper tray upside-down, then printing the odd pages. (Or something like that, you all know what I mean.)
posted by trevyn at 5:55 PM on October 9, 2006


The Nokia 770 is my favorite ebook reader of all time. Granted, I haven't tried any of the epaper interfaces, but I read about a novel a week on my 770. It's a great form factor, has an amazing screen (not so much in direct sunlight) and runs linux. FBreader is the ebook reader I use, and I have a previous comment about the Nokia 770 with regards to ebook reading here.
posted by adamwolf at 6:24 PM on October 9, 2006 [1 favorite]


Printer recommendations?

My printer is an HP LaserJet 1320 and it's worked flawlessly for me. I think I bought it... a year and a half ago and I print quite heavily for home use. I use the double sided feature regularly and it hasn't jammed once.

I'm on a Mac, btw, so can't speak for the windows drivers.
posted by dobbs at 7:43 PM on October 9, 2006


Here is a review of the Sony Clie used as a reader.
posted by flickroad at 6:44 AM on October 10, 2006


Printer recommendations?

Anything other than Lexmark.
posted by krisjohn at 7:45 PM on October 10, 2006


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