For me a good screen is #1 priority. I don't care much for any bells and whistles if the device isn't best at it was made for. But I hear the new Sony readers have the same screens as Kindle 3, so that should solve that problem.

I read somewhere that Amazon is supposed to be working on a feature that should allow one Kindle user who bought a book to lend it for a limited time to another user. They only have to allow that one user to be a library, too.

I do not feel tied to Kindle. If DRM stays as it is, I can buy books in EPUB format, too and convert them to MOBI. You need a certain experience for that, but it's not a rocket science either. But anyway, I think that at the moment Amazon cares more about their customers. They are doing it for their own benefit, of course, they want to make money both from readers and the books, but users benefit from that, too. With Sony you are on your own, to find a way how to set up the computer, the reader to be able to buy DRM protected books, etc.

The crucial thing is that the DRM on the Kindle is totally invisible to the user, and no PC is required.

The Adobe DRM on the Sony is a pain in the neck, as is using their appalling online store. I liked the PRS-505 a lot (still use it for some things), despised the PRS-600 (gave it to the children for doodling), but bought a total of three or four books for them. For the Kindle I've bought four times that in a matter of months.

The other killer features of the Kindle are previews and sync across devices. I move effortlessly between reading on my Kindle, my wife's Kindle, and my iPad, and at present the Sony devices can't compete with that.

Not to mention that Sony are apparently not even updating the firmware of older models to keep them up to date with epub standards.

Sony's future isn't in selling ebooks, it'll be in selling Kindle compatible devices.

I wouldn't be so sure, the publisher's association is already making stupid recommendations about library ebook lending, their latest being that the library user would have to be on-site to check out an ebook because they are worried about people in different regions accessing ebooks they are not entitled to. I don't expect ebook lending will have a smooth ride, especially given how trivial it is to strip the DRM and keep the ebooks.

I like epub as a standard, and it does seem to have gained momentum but I don't think swapping one DRM system for another is any improvement even if the underlying format is a better standard.

I buy ebooks from WH Smith for my Sony. Sony is a hardware maker, not a publisher, but it certainly won't be making Amazon richer.

Amazon as hardware and content king is bad news.

The company libraries use called Overdrive handle all the licensing issues. It's a multinational company that has the process nailed.

The libraries that lend do so via individual user authentication based on a library card. When they all do it people will begin to realise just how restrictive Kindle is.

Oh I know, I use two local library services and one in the US.

As I said though, the publisher's association want to change the way Overdrive manage the system, which would require the library card holder to be on the premises to borrow an ebook, thus defeating one of the major advantages.

I love library ebook lending but I guarantee there will be more opposition from publishers as it becomes more popular.

Good heavens, I just read the article, and it's madness! If you have to go into a library to get an ebook, then you may as well just get a real one, and not have to spend time on a germ-infested library terminal, hoping like heck that their software doesn't fry your ereader. I do agree that libraries should be more careful about who they let sign up, though - if their terms and conditions with the publishers say only local people, then it should only be those people.

My library has 398 fiction ebooks, and has had them for a whole year now. They've never added any to that total, and I suppose with the spending cuts they probably won't. At this stage I think ebooks are probably still so niche that it would make more sense to spend their money on paper books, but I do like the ease of downloading the ebooks, which I just read on my laptop as I have a Kindle. I was thinking about a Sony because of the library book issue, but when my library's total remained at 398 for the entire year I decided that perhaps they weren't the way of the (immediate) future

Amazon are also going to allow users to lend their books to other Kindle owners for a period of 14 days. The terms of this haven't been fixed yet but it's likely to lead to a situation where world wide websites spring up allowing people with Kindles to exchange books in a kind of massive online library.

As with all of these things though, it depends on the publishers as to whether they will allow it.

Hmmm, I'm not sure I'd trust loans from someone I didn't know (or actually some people I do know ) - surely it won't be long before some hacking gang manages to turn participating Kindles into a network of bots or whatever it is they do (the finer points of computer crime are a little bit lost on me ). But I did see that about the one-time loan. I wonder how complicated it would be, though, if you had to go somewhere and put in someone's Kindle address and then nag them to finish it so you could have it back

I still have a stack of worthy classics that I am definitely going to get around to, just as soon as I can break my habit of downloading 1980s bodice-ripper romances which they are re-releasing for really very reasonable prices...

In terms of the one time loan, I read that it would last for a fixed period of 14 days so, whether or not they'd finished it you'd get it back.

Well my kindle is coming, horrendously expensive given our income but hopefully worth it. Just don't know when it will arrive given this snow.

I've always loved books, but the Kindle is the best thing I have ever bought,.. I can sit in bed or on the sofa, buy a book (or get a free sample) and be reading it a few mins later ...

Would not part with it for anything ... its amazing

Birmingham Libraries are offering loans of audiobooks - not via Overdrive, but from a similar company that also offers ebooks - and they work fine on Kindle.

Had a quick skim and didn't notice this mentioned.

To convert cbr/cbz to epub use

http://sourceforge.net/projects/comictoepub/

Personally I use an iPad for my reading, mainly because I don't like screens that aren't backlit, and it copes with everything thanks to Calibre. Usually I convert using Calibre and view on Stanza (for comix - you can adjust the margins to get a fuller view) or iBooks (cos it's so straightforward).

I do occasionally think a lighter device would be nice but from past experience with a Sony e-ink display it appears everywhere I usually read is puddled shadows amidst the half-light and gloom. Damn energy saving light bulbs.

What's the battery life like?

I'm a paper lover myself, but with Amazon now making apps available for Ipods, smart phones etc, what is the advantage of the Kindle?

Battery life & a screen that is easier on the eyes for long sessions and which is easier to read than any normal screen in a wide range of light conditions such as bright sunshine.

Just thought I'd update on this in case anyone is interested. I finally deregistered it from the first account and registered it to mine (left it till now because of a subscription that was running). Initially all the books that I'd either read or put in folders under my partner's account disappeared, but the unread ones remained. A couple of hours later, everything returned exactly as it was, in addition to the new things I'd added since changing the registration (apart from the subscription which I had to change to the new account). So I'm happy!

Screen above all. You can read comfortably even in a direct sunlight. You do need an external light just like when you are reading a real paper book. It is not a disadvantage, if it were backlit the reading experience would be worse. With other platforms it's an LCD backlit display, it's like reading off a computer screen, it's OKish, but not very comfortable for longer times, not for me anyway.

Well got my kindle today and it's great, so easy to handle and read.

And amazon are removing more Kindle titles on a whim:

http://slash-and-burn.blogspot.com/2...t-erotica.html

I wish people would take much more seriously one company being in charge of both device and content. It's very very bad for free speech.

Not really. If you want incest-based erotica, you're still free to buy it on paper.

I'm all for free speech but Amazon are a private company so they can sell or not sell what they wish, it's nothing to do with freedom of speech. If they were kicking down doors and burning books I might be worried but nobody is stopping the alternatives.

They're choosing not to sell them, but they're not deleting them from Kindles. They may or may not have made the right decision, but it doesn't raise an issue of principle.

The people involved can go on selling their books to Kindle users through other stores.

Kindle evangelists are unbelievable.

Still, it's cheap, eh? Never mind that they control what's sold and that's the ONLY reason they sell it to you cheap.