My older boy (10) is a real bookworm and we were considering one as a Christmas gift.
My daughter wants one too and I figure why the heck not? Of course you're gonna get all the "it will never replace books/libraries" "it's not the same cuz you can't write on it" "it doesn't look the same" arguments and they are right; but kids today have grown up with a much more advanced level of technology than we did and that sort of thing is pretty normal for them.
library card.
Like...a breakfast one? To read in?
I have a breakfast nook and I like nookie.
Technically all e-readers using e-ink display are pretty much the same. The defining factor when buying an e-reader is the catalog of books available for it.
i.e. if you're in the EU only the kindle makes sense.
Have one.
Not quite what I was looking for, but thanks for contributing
I've been interested in an e-reader... but the whole fact of buying the book is keeping me away from it. I'd rather buy the cheap copy off amazon or get it "free" from paperbackswap.com. If there was a simple, easy way to bootleg the e-versions (anyone know of any), I'd be all over it. Otherwise, not interested in dropping $10 a pop...
Amazon has bargain e-books too from .99$.
Then you have hundreds of classics with expired copyrights which are free.
For the latest issues e-books are still cheaper than hardcopies.
The only thing you can't do is swap e-books. Would be nice, but i don't see it happening.
I know the NOOK has a feature that allows you to "lend" an e-book book to a friend for 14 days. Right now we're leaning more toward the Kindle, just because there are more books available for it.
Is it a Nook feature or a Barnes&Noble feature?
Oh and don't buy a color screen reader (iPad or Color Nook). Low battery life and just as annoying as reading books from your PC (I know some people can, I can't).
What's the price difference between the Nook and Kindle for you?
I bought a 3G Kindle a few months ago, and use it quite a bit. There are hundreds of free classic books, and many of the les I've bought are about 6.99.
The screen is very easy to see....much better than your average laptop screen. True, it is a black-and-white screen, but that's a minor consideration.
There are no charges for the 3G connection, so I can make a purchase while traveling with no problem.
The unit takes about 2 hours to fully charge, and a full charge lasts about 2 weeks. You get several hours warning about a low battery.
The 3G Kindle lists at 179 bucks, and I found that to be reasonable, as I no longer have to lug around a small stack of paperbacks on a business trip, and when I hear about a new book I'd like to read, I can have it in my hands within about 30 seconds.
I keep any book I want to read in my cart on amazon saved for later and when I need to buy something from amazon, I go through the list and find the cheapest ones... so like the 3 last books I've added to my list...
$14.49 for kindle, $7.28 used
$1.72 for kindle, $0.01 used (okay... that's not bad... maybe I could get one after all)
$16.50 for kindle, $13.50 used...
Most of them on my list, the Kindle version is $10 and I can get a used hard/paperback for $0.50-4.00. I know about the free stuff, but honestly, it's mostly stuff I'm not interested in reading. I have a pile of books probably 20 deep I've ac ulated since I've started back to school that I just don't have time to read now so buying one isn't the smartest idea for me... but I still kinda want one.
I haven't paid too much attention to these things until I read this .... if I had a Kindle, I could download Stephen King's new book that came out yesterday for $14.99, instead of going out and paying $25 for it at Target or wherever.
Also, I just finished his Under the Dome ... which is over 1,000 pages in hardback. A Kindle probably wouldn't have been as huge & heavy to carry around everywhere as that book was. lol
But I don't know ... I still like holding books ....
3G & wi-fi, or just wi-fi?
current issue of Consumer Reports ranks Kindle as the best e-reader. Kindle 3G + wi-fi is #1, wi-fi kindle is #2, and the Nooks are #3 and #4.
No charge for 3g connection is pretty nice.
There are book clubs for the e-readers also which might be a cheaper source depending on how fast you go through books.
From what I understand the Kindle isn't compatible with ePub (the NOOK is), but I have to look into it more to see whether that should influence the final decision. One of my friends got a Pandigital, but I've heard a lot of complaints about those.
pandigital ranked #5 in consumer reports, below the two kindles and two Nooks, but CR basically says not to buy any other reader other than kindle or nook.
CR ranks nooks a little better than Kindle under "file support', maybe that's what they mean (ePub)...
my mother has a nook and it's cool i suppose. i have an ipad and the reason i like the ipad more is because i read technical books and never really regular ol' novels and whatnot. the books i read are usually filled with programming bs and photos so being able to read all my pdf's is awesome. i'd get a nook if i just wanted to read a regular ol' book.
pdfs are easy to convert to epub, and there are plenty of books and comics out there available in pdf form
they're easy to convert but they definitely come out looking like crap
For me it was the screen. I was lucky enough to get an early prototype of the e-ink screen from Sony and it behaved almost like paper. If reading is your thing you get used to it really fast.
The only thing I kinda miss is not having my favourite books in my little personal library, but since I have run out of space a long time ago it's actually becoming an advantage.
If you go for the kindle go for 3G&Wifi.
Formats are not an issue anymore. Calibre is a free software that converts between them very well (correctly transferring metadata and everything). My kindle is my 3rd "real" reader and I was able to transfer earlier books to my new device without problem with Calibre.
Now if the books are encrypted (or DRMed) you will not be able to transfer them from one format to the other so this is why it makes sense to buy the device that has the most books you want to read available for purchase. The free non encrypted ones you will be able to transfer from one type to the other.
Putting pdfs on an e-reader regardless of the format (epub, mobi...) is a bit of a black magic since many things influence the end result (graphics, pictures, page width...) but it can be done and playing around with it in Calibre is a good way to start. If you're only interested in the text of a pdf, then its much easier.
I had no idea what a NOOK was until I saw this thread, but I'm wondering if...
1) you can use it outside to read on the porch like a normal book?
2) concentrating on the screen for extended periods of time hurts your eyes?
3) how tiny is the font?
Technology is some crazy .
Don't own a nook, but e-readers using e-ink screens are very similar to each others (if not identical).
1) yes, there is slightly more reflection/glare from the screen as there would be from paper, but slightly adjusting the angle takes care of that. It is remarkably similar to print on paper.
2) Again similar to regular print on paper. I have been using computer since the age of 14 and I never could read long text from the screen. Even the most recent and best LCD screen make my eyes "itch" after prolonged reading (mind you I'm talking about reading pages and pages of text, not surfing the internet). I have no problem with e-ink (or e-paper) screens and I've been using them for 6 years now.
3) It is still electronic, so you adjust the font size as you wish.
P.S. E-ink screens do not consume power when displaying text/graphics only during the changing of the content of the screen.
so can you browse the web if you get the 3G version, I mean other than just places where you can d/l books...
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