E Book Readers

[OldBloke]

A tablet is a better bet for viewing reference books in pdf IMHO. I use ezPDF Reader for my reference stuff.

[smilodon]

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.

[TeaLeaf]

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 (thanks Penfold for the pointer to this).

[ArithonUK]

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) 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 (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 * Amazon Kindle Store * WH Smith * Tesco * SONY Reader Store *  BooksOnBoard
Free Books: Project Gutenburg * The Book Depository *  www.free-ebooks.net
Readers: Kobo Reader Review *   SONY PRS-T1 Review *  Nook Review *  Kindle Paperwhite Review *  BeBook Pure Review * iRiverStory 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.

[Tutonic]

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.

[T-Bag]

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).

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...

[Lameduck]

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.

[OldBloke]

DELIVERY ESTIMATE Thursday 15 Nov 2012 - Saturday 17 Nov 2012

Dispatched according to the email I just received :g: Not complaining, mind

[Lameduck]

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

[DrunkenZombiee]

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.