Can anybody help me make a choice on an e-book reader?
I would be grateful if those that have had experience
would be gracious enough to share their sentiments and recommendations.
Amazon Kindle. For the best reading experience go for the £70.00 e-ink version. This is just an e-book reader though with no ability to do colour magazines, films, games etc. They have a new version out called paper white, which as far as I can tell just makes the background more white. The bog standard Kindle is a light grey.
What I love about the Kindle is that it's cheap to buy, the battery lasts for weeks, there's a huge library of titles, it's fantastically portable, there's no back light so I can read for hours if I want with no eye strain and it can be read in direct sunlight.
What I don't love is that Amazon use a proprietary file format so you can't read your books on other E-readers, the Kindle won't read some other formats and while the Kindle is great for reading in daylight it's not back lit so like a paperback reading in bed will require a light to illuminate the page.
As an E-book reader it's near perfect but that's all it is. It's not a tablet and doesn't try to be. For £70 though it's hard to beat IMHO.
I'll support the Kindle. About a year ago I bought the Kindle keyboard and it's fantastic - and the battery does last around 2 months, depending on use ofc :) The keyboard version is a little more expensive but I think it was the only one available at the time. I still buy books as a physical thing but for classic novels it's really good - picked up the complete Sherlock Holmes collection for around 86p. Brilliant. New books are retail price but they usually come down in price over time as kindle editions.
Kindle user too and more than happy with most of it. I've ordered the Paperwhite version as it is front lit meaning I can read in bed with no other light source needed.
Kindle for me too :)
Turn off wi-fi for longer battery life, turn it on when you need to buy another book.
If they could only make it smell like a book it would be perfect.
Another very happy Kindle user here.
Sent from my Galaxy S3 LTE.
I just use an Ipad with Kindle App and that works fine. Just have to remember to turn down the backlight to make long reading seasons possible, it being easier on the eyes and batteri lasts longer.
Another nice feature that might be useful is 'whisper sync'. This lets you store your progress in any given book online with Amazon and this can be synced silently to any other device you have the Amazon Kindle software on i.e. smartphone, tablet, desktop. I can read a chapter on my Kindle and then later pick up where I am on my phone for a few pages. When I go back to the Kindle it knows I've read some pages on my phone and moves the page accordingly. Everything stays in sync. Not much use if you just use a single Kindle device though.
How many times can an E book be dropped onto the floor when the reader falls asleep? :flirty: (no carpets, wooden floor)
Shove it in a mock leather case and quite a few I'd guess. or tie it round your neck with a b it of string, works for me :D
Thanks chaps for all your answers.:thumbsup: Decided on the the Kindle Paperwhite.
Checked price on Amazon.com and discovered price to be $119 (£74)
Price on Amazon.co.uk is £109. :sideways:I'm now awaiting an explanation for the £25 price difference.
Cant see why I should pay a third more.
Oh, delivery mid December. :blink:
Just had a reply, they state that the .com price does not include a sales tax, whereas the uk
price includes VAT.
When did VAT rate go to 33%?
Quote from: Lameduck;360699... Oh, delivery mid December. :blink:
Mine is now quoted as ...
DELIVERY ESTIMATE Thursday 15 Nov 2012 - Saturday 17 Nov 2012
If it's a pile-o-crap it gives you time to cancel yours :D
Quote from: OldBloke;360709If it's a pile-o-crap it gives you time to cancel yours :D
Thanks Oldie! :worship:
I'll be honest and say I'm intruiged by the Nook. It's major selling points are that it is not an Amazon-only environment and that it is cheaper than the Kindle. B&N are huge in the US, so there is some muscle behind it. The fact that it supports a variety of formats seems a winner to me.
QuoteNOOK Tablet will support the following file formats:
-eBooks: ePub (B&N DRM, Adobe DRM, and non-DRM files), PDF, CBZ
-Other documents: PDF, TXT
-Microsoft Office documents: DOC, DOCM, DOCX, XLS, XLSM, XLX, PPT, PPS, PPTM, PPSX, PPSM, PPTX
-Music: MP3, MP4, WAV, AAC, MIDI, OGG, 3GP, AMR
-Videos: MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, MKV, WEBM, H.264 (Baseline/Main/High profile) up to 1920x1080, MPEG-4 Simple/Advanced Simple profile up to 1920x1080, & H.263 (please see additional information in the Video Files question)
-Pictures/Images: JPEG (JPG), GIF, PNG, BMP
I'll be buying an e-reader some time in Q1 2013, so I'm watching the Nook closely, along with the Sony e-reader which I also like.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/Support-NOOK-Tablet/379003185
Quote from: TeaLeaf;360711I'll be honest and say I'm intruiged by the Nook. It's major selling points are that it is not an Amazon-only environment and that it is cheaper than the Kindle. B&N are huge in the US, so there is some muscle behind it. The fact that it supports a variety of formats seems a winner to me.
I'll be buying an e-reader some time in Q1 2013, so I'm watching the Nook closely, along with the Sony e-reader which I also like.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/Support-NOOK-Tablet/379003185
I've been interested in the nook readers for a while, but haven't been able to get a hands on to test it.
I would want to use an e-reader as a PDF reader for science papers so it would have to handle them nicely and not be confused by equations and symbols (not optimistic, but I'd be incredibly tempted if it did). Other than that I'd probably use it for existing electronic reference book collection I've built up most are exceptionally expensive ( example (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Positron-Cambridge-Monographs-Molecular-Chemical/dp/0521019397/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1351458666&sr=8-3)) in paperback and have no electronic version (not that I'd be able to afford them if they did).
Has anyone used a nook for browsing non-standard content like this? I doubt I'd buy much if anything from the respective stores so Amazon/B&N selection and price matter less to me than general purpose PDF reading capabilities.
A tablet is a better bet for viewing reference books in pdf IMHO. I use ezPDF Reader for my reference stuff.
No experience of the Nook but the Kindle gives mixed results with pdf's. Mostly they're quite reasonable but now and then I've found they display text very small and the Kindles pretty rubbish with images, so as Oldie says a tablet is better for reference books with diagrams and pictures.
My experience with e-readers with scientific pdfs (mathematical & statistical in my case) is that they do not show enough on a page to make it sensible. My Xoom otoh does the job very well and pdfs display perfectly (I've not had any issues with one yet).
But the Nook does seem to solve the problem of not getting locked into Amazon's DRM and also avoids the alternative of having to convert Kindle ebooks one-by-one to some other format using something like Caliber (http://calibre-ebook.com/) (thanks Penfold for the pointer to this).
I've used three models of SONY reader and I would highly recommend them. I also picked up an Elonex reader at the GadgetShow Live two years ago, but it hasn't lasted - my son took it out the case (because it was "girly" colour) and then stood on it a few days later by accident (if leaving the bedroom a foot deep in dirty clothes is accidental...)
At the time I bought my first SONY reader (PRS-500) the Kindle was not available. I now have a SONY PRS-T1 as does my wife.
eBooks themselves were a problem to start with. I read sci-fi, fantasy, horror and thrillers and my wife reads true crime. In the UK there was only WaterStones and they were selling a very limited range of "current" titles in fixed formats with DRM and eye-watering prices. However you could download whole libraries of books from "other" on-line sources, not desirable, but at the time the only recourse to get eBook versions of the books I had already bought. Slowly US on-line bookshops that offered multi-format titles began to appear and were both better and cheaper than the likes of WaterStones (who charge hardback+ prices for eBooks)
Since Kindle hit our shores it's very simple to purchase and download a book from Amazon and drag-n-drop into Calibre and load onto any reader. It is also worth noting there are many FREE libraries of older and newer works where there are no publishers (so no draconian DRM) involved and any format can be obtained legally. Classics like Dracula and Wuthering Heights as well as new writers starting out are all available. There are also free books on the Kindle store, but they do have DRM, so beware.
eReaders are not waterproof (any more than any other book) although you can read them in the bath. Just don't drop it in! If you're planning to go somewhere very wet or dirty, there is a company (AquaPac (http://store.aquapac.net/explore-product-range/waterproof-ipad-laptop-cases.html)) that makes a submersible case for all readers, even tablets, cameras & phones. Handy for going sailing or a day at the pool or beach where a casual splash or a bit of sand could result in hundreds of pounds of damage. Plus, they float.
A simple leather binder-style case will stop any "drop" damage, however nothing is indestructible and you could still break one if you stood on it. I prefer the leather binder, as the eReader then feels like a book in the hand.
Prices were fixed in the UK (to the penny in most cases) so US ebook sites were a lot cheaper. Sadly many are now blocking overseas purchasers or opening UK stores with the same fixed prices. Amazon has driven prices down, although they are not always the cheapest, so shop around for books if you can. Remember, you can use Cailbre (http://calibre-ebook.com/download)(think iTunes for books, but free and for Linux, Windows & OS X) to convert from any format to YOUR format. There are plug-ins to cope with DRM.
Shops to visit http://www.ebooks.com/ * Waterstones (http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/browse/ebooks/4294964587/) * Amazon Kindle Store (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kindle-eBooks/b?ie=UTF8&node=341689031) * WH Smith (http://www.whsmith.co.uk/eBooks.aspx) * Tesco (http://www.tescoebooks.com/tescoweb/home.aspx) * SONY Reader Store (http://lu.ebookstore.sony.com/?utm_source=Sony_UK&utm_medium=banner&utm_term=Term&utm_content=Content&utm_campaign=Name) * BooksOnBoard (http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?ebooks-audio-books)
Free Books: Project Gutenburg (http://www.gutenberg.org/) * The Book Depository (http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/free) * www.free-ebooks.net (http://www.free-ebooks.net/)
Readers: Kobo Reader Review (http://www.techradar.com/reviews/gadgets/portable-video/portable-media-players-recorders/kobo-ereader-touch-1037152/review) * SONY PRS-T1 Review (http://www.trustedreviews.com/sony-reader-prs-t1_Peripheral_review) * Nook Review (http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/24/nook-simple-touch-with-glowlight-review/) * Kindle Paperwhite Review (http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/tablets/amazon-kindle-paperwhite-1095314/review) * BeBook Pure Review (http://www.pocket-lint.com/review/5969/bebook-pure-ebook-reader-review) * iRiverStory Review (http://www.theverge.com/2011/10/24/2454686/iriver-story-hd-review)
You'll notice I've not listed the Kindle Fire or iPad - because while tablets CAN read eBooks, they are not true eReaders (any more than a laptop or PC). eReaders have eInk displays which can be read in sunlight and measure battery life in months, not hours.
I accidentally smashed my kindle (had it in a jacket pocket, forgot it was there) resulting in a cracked screen.
Amazon replaced it, next day delivery, no questions asked.
Sent from my Galaxy S3 LTE.
Quote from: TeaLeaf;360720My experience with e-readers with scientific pdfs (mathematical & statistical in my case) is that they do not show enough on a page to make it sensible. My Xoom otoh does the job very well and pdfs display perfectly (I've not had any issues with one yet).
I had worried that would be the case. I've got a cheap tablet, and whilst it's slightly nicer than reading on a computer monitor (mostly because you can hold it in any position) it doesn't match the readability of paper (which I avoid as much as possible since it's rather wasteful). I wouldn't mind too much an e-reader having an A4 size screen and just outputting 1:1 pdf pages, but I imagine they'd be painfully expensive as in laptop prices (since they're targeting business' rather than the public and would need all sorts of features that sound useful to a meeting environment to sell well like NFC or ad-hoc networking for sharing documents).
Fingers crossed at some point in the future then...
Been and grabbed the horns by the balls and ordered a Nook Simple Touch Glowlight
from Blackwells, £109 delivered. Deliverery scheduled 8th November. Full report to follow.
Thanks again for all your advice.
Quote from: OldBloke;360709DELIVERY ESTIMATE Thursday 15 Nov 2012 - Saturday 17 Nov 2012
Dispatched according to the email I just received :g: Not complaining, mind :D
NOOK arrived, 6 days earlier than scheduled.:yahoo:
Nice interface, wi-fi easy to set up and have downloaded some Dickens from Project Gutenberg
Will road test with Pickwick Papers tonight :D
I got a NOOK simple touch from the US from a Target store in Pheonix AZ sometime in Feb of this year.
Damn cheap little thing and great as you can run full android on it with a small hack and run any e-reader app you want as well as play angry birds and use chrome browser etc. For £40 it was a great purchase and I got $10 worth of books free.