[ARCHIVED THREAD] - E-readers...which one? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 9/12/2010 6:56:52 PM EDT
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I want to get an e-reader but have no clue which one would be the best for the money. I leaning towards the Kindle DX but it's a little out of my price range. What are your opinions on what e-reader is the best? ETA: (Sorry this is Mrs Subnet I didn't know I was logged in as Subnet.) |
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What is driving you towards the DX? The larger screen is really only useful for viewing .pdf's full of graphics. For text it's no more a benefit then a larger book would be. You can resize the text size instantly on any of the e-readers, so a larger screen won't make it any easier to read.
The 'normal' 3rd gen. kindles are pretty much the top of the line. It has, far and away, the best integrated store and form factor. You can get it with or without cell coverage, with the wifi only version being quite a bit cheaper. |
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I bought an original Kindle, and the Gen 2. Love them both. I've never used / seen a DX, but I think it would be too bulky. They look damn nice, though. Considering the recent price drops, I'd get a 6" Kindle. If you read much at all, you will love it. Yes, I read a lot. If you don't see me with a book near me or in my hands there is something wrong with me. 
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| I have the Kindle 2, it is nice... have this on order. figure there must be an Android Kindle app. |
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I recommend the nook not because I work in a bookstore but because I've had the chance to handle both the Kindle and the nook side by side. I really like the touchscreen (everything about it, the menus, the sensitivity, everything) and the ability to see the books' covers before you buy them. The Kindle I handled just felt...awkward.
If you get the nook, do NOT get the WiFi only version. I've *cough*heard*cough* that those have the most problems and get returned the most. When you have the 3G version updated to the latest software, it works like a dream, all the time. |
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I have the Kindle 2, it is nice... have this on order. figure there must be an Android Kindle app. That one looks cool and I think it's a plus that it's android. I'm not sure the husband would have to give his opinion. :) |
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I recommend the nook not because I work in a bookstore but because I've had the chance to handle both the Kindle and the nook side by side. I really like the touchscreen (everything about it, the menus, the sensitivity, everything) and the ability to see the books' covers before you buy them. The Kindle I handled just felt...awkward. If you get the nook, do NOT get the WiFi only version. I've *cough*heard*cough* that those have the most problems and get returned the most. When you have the 3G version updated to the latest software, it works like a dream, all the time. I really didn't want a touch screen. I'm not to crazy about them,I would rather have an actual keyboard to type on. |
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Here's my (perhaps unfounded?) concern, with a Kindle: When I buy a book, about the only downside I can think of is the shelf space it takes up. It'll never be obsoleted. I'm concerned (again, maybe this is unfounded?) about DRM and non-open formats. When I have hundreds of dollars tied up in books, I do NOT want to be married to a given reader. I MUST be able to export what I've purchased to a non-DRM format. Thoughts? This is more for MrsSubnet (she's the one who wants an e-reader), but I'm going to be one pissed off cookie if I find that I've got a few hundred tied up in "books" I can't fucking read 5 years from now. |
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Quoted: Here's my (perhaps unfounded?) concern, with a Kindle: When I buy a book, about the only downside I can think of is the shelf space it takes up. It'll never be obsoleted. I'm concerned (again, maybe this is unfounded?) about DRM and non-open formats. When I have hundreds of dollars tied up in books, I do NOT want to be married to a given reader. I MUST be able to export what I've purchased to a non-DRM format. Thoughts? This is more for MrsSubnet (she's the one who wants an e-reader), but I'm going to be one pissed off cookie if I find that I've got a few hundred tied up in "books" I can't fucking read 5 years from now. I only have pdf, rich text, and plain text on my Sony reader. There are also converters out there to convert some of the files to others  |
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Quoted:
Here's my (perhaps unfounded?) concern, with a Kindle: When I buy a book, about the only downside I can think of is the shelf space it takes up. It'll never be obsoleted. I'm concerned (again, maybe this is unfounded?) about DRM and non-open formats. When I have hundreds of dollars tied up in books, I do NOT want to be married to a given reader. I MUST be able to export what I've purchased to a non-DRM format. Thoughts? This is more for MrsSubnet (she's the one who wants an e-reader), but I'm going to be one pissed off cookie if I find that I've got a few hundred tied up in "books" I can't fucking read 5 years from now. This is for you The above program is completely free and allows you to convert one file (.pdf, .mobi, or whatever) into whatever file that your reader reads best. Whenever I find a .pdf version of a book that I want on my Kindle I run it through this thing and everything is not perfectly set up for the kindle. |
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Here's my (perhaps unfounded?) concern, with a Kindle: When I buy a book, about the only downside I can think of is the shelf space it takes up. It'll never be obsoleted. I'm concerned (again, maybe this is unfounded?) about DRM and non-open formats. When I have hundreds of dollars tied up in books, I do NOT want to be married to a given reader. I MUST be able to export what I've purchased to a non-DRM format. Thoughts? This is more for MrsSubnet (she's the one who wants an e-reader), but I'm going to be one pissed off cookie if I find that I've got a few hundred tied up in "books" I can't fucking read 5 years from now. That remains the issue for all readers. Yeah, you can get .pdf's and other book formats but they add up to a small chunk of the market and there's no assurance those formats will be supported in the future. With Amazon, at least, you are licensing the book, not buying a file. The idea is that you'll be able to redownload the book as many times as you like onto new devices as long as Amazon is around. While they won't be supporting a 'kindle for the nook' app anytime soon, they are supporting accessing those files on just about every other device under the sun. So while this is not ideal, it's far far from the horribly draconian predictions a lot of people toss around. It's not like a printed book lasts for ever, either. And I can download my e-books again if my apartment burns down, or I drop the reader in a lake. It's not as 'secure' as a printed book in some respects, but more so in others. |
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Quoted: Quoted: I bought an original Kindle, and the Gen 2. Love them both. I've never used / seen a DX, but I think it would be too bulky. They look damn nice, though. Considering the recent price drops, I'd get a 6" Kindle. If you read much at all, you will love it. Yes, I read a lot. If you don't see me with a book near me or in my hands there is something wrong with me. Just get one, then. It will very quickly become second nature, and you'll like it better than real books. |
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Quoted: Personally I am waiting til the get one with a friggin built in light or backlight. I like to read in the dark to go to bed. Right now I use an Iphone. Would love a kindle or nook or something in E-Ink that has some method for darkness use. I thought this way too, at first. A book light works great though, and since you're not turning pages, it's always pointing where you need it. The best part of the E-Ink is that you can read it perfectly in direct sun.
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One of the things I don't like about the Kindle was the controversy a few months/years ago when they reached into everyone's devices and deleted everyone's copies of 1984. To my mind, that's intolerable. I've been assured that BN can't do that with the nook.
Regarding the lack of backlighting, there's a fantastic hard-shell case for it with a built in light that lifts up out of the inside spine, and can rotated/move up and down the screen. One of my friends has one. VERY nice. |
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Quoted: One of the things I don't like about the Kindle was the controversy a few months/years ago when they reached into everyone's devices and deleted everyone's copies of 1984. To my mind, that's intolerable. I've been assured that BN can't do that with the nook. Regarding the lack of backlighting, there's a fantastic hard-shell case for it with a built in light that lifts up out of the inside spine, and can rotated/move up and down the screen. One of my friends has one. VERY nice. There's more to that story. Someone sold copies (which they had no right to do) of Animal Farm, and 1984 for $.99. Amazon deleted these stolen works, and refunded the 99 cents. Amazon has also said they won't do this, again. Not sure if this is the company that makes the case(s) you're talking about, but I bought one from these guys, and like it. http://www.medgestore.com/ |
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Quoted: Quoted: One of the things I don't like about the Kindle was the controversy a few months/years ago when they reached into everyone's devices and deleted everyone's copies of 1984. To my mind, that's intolerable. I've been assured that BN can't do that with the nook. Regarding the lack of backlighting, there's a fantastic hard-shell case for it with a built in light that lifts up out of the inside spine, and can rotated/move up and down the screen. One of my friends has one. VERY nice. There's more to that story. Someone sold copies (which they had no right to do) of Animal Farm, and 1984 for $.99. Amazon deleted these stolen works, and refunded the 99 cents. Amazon has also said they won't do this, again. Not sure if this is the company that makes the case(s) you're talking about, but I bought one from these guys, and like it. http://www.medgestore.com/ Dont forget the part where if you piss off amazon and they kill your account that kindle becomes a pretty brick...(well that is over stating it a small amount, you can still use whatever is actually downloaded to the device, but all the books on "the account" are dead to you.) As far as readers go Kindle is better hardware, but the Nook is better UI/software. |
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Quoted: ipad can read every other readers books, which none others can claim. It also does a billion more things, so it might be to much device. it's a little heavy and battery compared to a dedicated reader is a joke. and the cheapest one is $499. Requires a separate plan for 3G. If you're looking for an E-Book reader, this isn't it. I LIKE the iPad, but if you're looking for a way to read books, I'd look elsewhere. |
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Got a Kindle DX a couple of weeks ago, love it. I have an ass ton of PDF rifle manuals that are on it and of course 40 some books. LOT of free stuff out there too. Have "Calibre" to convert files to view on the book. http://calibre-ebook.com/ |
| I have had a Kindle 3 for 2 weeks and it is spectacular for regular fiction and non-fiction books. I would strongly recommend it for those purposes. However, as a software developer I have to constantly read new technical books and it is quite poor for that purpose. It does not have a fixed-width font, only proportional ones, so all the code must be rendered as images. The images are hard to read on the small screen. They might show well on the Kindle DX but I don't feel like spending $380 to find out. |
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I've had the Kindle 2 for about 1 year (the screen broke one night, my son probably did it) and now a Kindle 3, not the DX model. I liked the kindle 2 better than the 3. The 2 was an aluminum body, the 3 is plastic. The 3 has a better screen but I like the 2 for a few reasons: Better button configuration for changing pages, the button pivots inward vs. outward in the 3. The buttons were also much larger than now. Larger overall Other buttons layout made more sense to me. Maybe I'm just not used to the 3 yet but I really like the 2. 2 was much more sturdy due to the aluminum case Usage wise, they are about the same so far. |
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I've had the Kindle 2 for a while now and love it. I travel a good deal with my job and this thing is perfect if you've got a job that has you on the road often.
It took me a couple of days to get used to it, but now it just seems like the natural way to read a book for me. No experience with any other e-readers though so I can't comment, but again, the Kindle is great. Also, got an M-Edge case for it that's worked out perfectly too. |
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Can't beat this: http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireless-Reader-3G-Wifi-Graphite/dp/B002FQJT3Q And to the people pushing ipads as e-readers, stop. Most objective reviews have found it makes a lousy e-reader for somebody that actually reads a lots of material. |
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New Kindle 3 - form factor rocks, the improved contrast rocks, double the memory of the kindle 2, more battery life, 20% reduction in size from the kindle 2... it's uber. I own a Kindle 2 and recently got the GF one of the new wifi ones for her birthday. She loves it. And use Calibre (software) to convert anything you feel like to Kindle format. |
| We had a Nook when they first came out. HUGE, STANKING PIECE OF SHIT! It froze several times and the only way to get it running again was to let it run out of power and then reboot it. I spent alot of time on the phone with tech support- trust me, ALOT of time.......We took it back and got a new one. Same fucking thing. Told them to stick it in their asses and I bought the wife a Kindle II and I bought a Sony E Reader for me. They actually work! and I'm pleased with both. If it were me I'd get one of the new Gen III Kindles. |
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Quoted:
Here's my (perhaps unfounded?) concern, with a Kindle: When I buy a book, about the only downside I can think of is the shelf space it takes up. It'll never be obsoleted. I'm concerned (again, maybe this is unfounded?) about DRM and non-open formats. When I have hundreds of dollars tied up in books, I do NOT want to be married to a given reader. I MUST be able to export what I've purchased to a non-DRM format. Thoughts? This is more for MrsSubnet (she's the one who wants an e-reader), but I'm going to be one pissed off cookie if I find that I've got a few hundred tied up in "books" I can't fucking read 5 years from now. Yeah, as someone who just ash canned some 8 tracks I unboxed that would be my concern. I still have a ton of cassettes. Oh yeah, and a shelf full of reel to reel. 3.5" floppys are no longer made. My old computer with the ZIP drive is toast. Got a bunch of those. I figure any day now they'll phase out DVDs. The only problem I have with my books is some of the old paperback pages are getting yellow and brittle. Sometimes it's good to be an old fart. 
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We had a Nook when they first came out. HUGE, STANKING PIECE OF SHIT! It froze several times and the only way to get it running again was to let it run out of power and then reboot it. I spent alot of time on the phone with tech support- trust me, ALOT of time.......We took it back and got a new one. Same fucking thing. Told them to stick it in their asses and I bought the wife a Kindle II and I bought a Sony E Reader for me. They actually work! and I'm pleased with both. If it were me I'd get one of the new Gen III Kindles. I was reading for the first time a copy of Churchill's Life of Marlborough I bought decades ago. The binder had left out a 32 page section. I called the publisher and they mailed me a new one with the missing pages.
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