e-readers?

[SOAB]

i'm looking at getting myself one of these but there are so many options out there.

any recommendations?

mainly will be used as a e-book but other options would be a bonus.

[spike98]

From my research its kindle 3 or bust.

If you want a e-reader get an e-reader but if you want a tablet get one, i wouldn't buy a tablet to be used as an e-reader because you dont get the e-ink and the battery life is a lot worse.

[syeve]

^^Basically what I have heard. I am going for the Kobo though. I want JUST a reader, I have an iphone for all the other crap. Kobo has epub which allows you (with a valid library card) to "rent" books for 21 days for free. Plus I have heard it is super light and easy to hold vs the bulkier Kindle.

[SOAB]

Originally posted by syeve
^^Basically what I have heard. I am going for the Kobo though. I want JUST a reader, I have an iphone for all the other crap. Kobo has epub which allows you (with a valid library card) to "rent" books for 21 days for free. Plus I have heard it is super light and easy to hold vs the bulkier Kindle.

hmm... that Kobo sounds pretty good to for the epub app and i know it's available at Chapters.

is the Kindle available anywhere locally? i would like to try it out before deciding on one...

[syeve]

The kobo is available at Chapters and Indigo but I have had no luck finding one in stock. You can go feel them out though as they have some testers.

[Gman.45]

Make sure you do some research before you rush off to buy a Kindle. Yes, they are great units, I have 2 myself, but there are other options out there.

Ectaco's Jetbook is the one to get if you ask me, do a bit of research yourself about it.

www.mobileread.com is the best site for information regarding all the readers.

With the Jetbook you aren't tied to one site (amazon.com) for example, you can upload pretty much ANY format from epub to lit to pdf etc etc etc and it'll read it.

You can also purchase drm's if you wish to be honest Joe, or don't like searching through torrents for your books.

As an example, Tom Clancy's first book in about 8 years just came out Dec 8th. I found it 2 days later on the web on epub format.

The one nice thing with kindle is the wifi access, but remember this is tied to THEIR site, you can't get books from many other places with it. Jebook doesn't have wifi, but I rarely if ever use this on my Kindles, and the battery life lasts much longer without it. You can find Jetbooks for under 100$, I got mine for 75 at my door from NewEgg Canada 3 days after ordering it on a special.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me, I'll be more than happy to help you out and point you in the direction of some good sites for books, as my interest is varied and I have about 10,000 books, and probably 500 on my Jetbook right now.

Also, the Jetbook comes with 300+ books, many of them classics which on their own is worth well over the retail price of the unit.

The Kindle 3 is the one I would get if I didn't get a Jetbook however, as there is TONS of cheaps books on Amazon, and a lot of free ones too. Even new books are rarely over 10$, the most I've spent is 15$. I just find the Jetbook more...torrent/pirate/cough friendly. I haven't paid for one book on it yet, and have only struck out ONCE for trying to find a book I have in paperback already (Larry Bond's Red Pheonix, about a modern Korean war...free McDonalds coupon if anyone can find it, haha).



Take care,

Gman.

[Quickstrike]

[i]
The Kindle 3 is the one I would get if I didn't get a Jetbook however, as there is TONS of cheaps books on Amazon, and a lot of free ones too. Even new books are rarely over 10$, the most I've spent is 15$. I just find the Jetbook more...torrent/pirate/cough friendly. I haven't paid for one book on it yet, and have only struck out ONCE for trying to find a book I have in paperback already (Larry Bond's Red Pheonix, about a modern Korean war...free McDonalds coupon if anyone can find it, haha).
[/B]

Do you like the screen on your jetbook or kindle 3 better?

It only takes seconds to convert epub's to mobi and remove drm from public library books, so ease of piracy isn't a big selling point for me.

[Gman.45]

The kindle has a superior screen, but only slightly.

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=58876&d=1285515377



http://www.mobileread.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=58877&d=1285515377




Decide for yourself bro, hope this helps.

[Melinda]

Just out of curiosity, why don't you want to use your iphone as your e-reader? I have the kobo app for my iphone4 and I absolutely love it. One less thing to carry around and I can read absolutely anywhere. My library is automatically updated when I start the app, so I don't have to buy books on my iphone if I don't want to. If I buy a book online using my destop computer I just have to start the app on my phone and it automatically loads my updated library on there. I love it. It actually made my iphone 1,000,000 times more worth it to me.

[canadiandaytona]

I really like the new Sony Readers.

great screen, touch screens nice, and can use torrents.

[Mar]

I just set up my mom's Kobo for Christmas and it's the worst piece of trash I've used since the Motorola Q. I spent 10 minutes going through the menu looking for the backlight before I realized by process of elimination that there isn't one. Then I spent 30 minutes raking the device and instruction booklet to get the Wi-Fi working......I never did figure out how it works, there aren't any options for it anywhere.

So in order to buy 2 books for my mom, I plugged it into the computer, upgraded the device software (still no Wi-Fi settings), installed the desktop software and tried to run it. It gave me an error that it wouldn't open and I felt like drop kicking this thing out the back door.

Finally I uninstalled the software but this time when I plugged in the device it didn't give me the option again to access the install file on it. I had to go to the website, download it, then reinstall it again. Finally I got it opened and the interface is terrible. I bought 2 books, unplugged the reader and searched for them.......they weren't on there. WTF? I plugged it back in, opened up the program on the computer again and clicked 'Update Library' and it showed the new books in my library.....awesome. I unplugged the reader, looked for the books......still not there. WTF? I plugged it back in, opened the program on the computer again, searched around for 10 minutes on what the hell I'm supposed to do next until I looked at the reader and it asked me if I wanted to keep reading or manage the library. Well obviously I'm not going to keep reading with a 3 foot USB leash so yes, I want to manage. I had to click another button to synchronize my library with the reader and finally the books were on the device.

I went to the menu for 'I'm Reading' and it wasn't listed in there. I had to go into the library of 100 prepopulated books and search through each page for the 2 that I bought, click them, then add them to the 'I'm Reading' list so they're easier to find in the future. What a headache, if this wasn't a present from my dad I would have returned it already. I run my own software development business and I would be embarrassed to admit if I had anything to do with this trash.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Make sure you get something with PDF and MS word support. All the Sony readers have it, not sure about the Kindles.

I bought a Sony PRS-300 for the ex and she loved it.

As for reading on the iPhone, it's not for everyone. The screens on the dedicated readers are a lot easier on the eyes, and it's nice to have something that is a little larger, especially if you read quickly. Thats just my opinion though, if you like reading on the iPhone then thats great as you have no need for an e-reader.

[legendboy]

I bought my wife a prs650 and its really nice. Will do almost any file format

[bball2]

I have a Kindle 3 (3g version), and I absolutely love it :thumbsup:

I use calibre to manage / convert all my books; lots of free stuff (including popular classics) available on google books / project gutenberg / amazon bookstore.

[syeve]

I grabbed a kobo, Again, I wanted JUST a reader. I have an iphone, ipad, imac...the last thing I need is another "toy'. I run Calibre as an interface and I couldn't be happier. I deleted the 100 pre-loaded books. My co-worker has a epub library of just over 1300 books that she gave me. All loaded up and working perfectly. I would say the weak point of the Kobo is defn the OEM interface (Calibre is free). Other than that, I love this thing.

[Mar]

What is this Calibre? My mom's getting a Kobo for Christmas but I'll load this on it if it'll be easier for her.

[old&slow]

I researched them for 2 family members and came up with this.
Sony newer models for a large amount of formats and dnlding free. Can be used with Library e books.
Kindle 3 for those who just want to grab stuff off amazon...

In the end I got the Sony for the wifey cause I can find her books using the net. :)
And I got the Kindle for my family member in the US who likes to use Amazon!

[silver03gt]

I have the Kindle app on my iPod Touch and love it, however, I want a kindle because as said before it is easier on the eyes and the battery lasts longer. The only way to get one though is to buy it online from Amazon, but I heard that Best Buy is supposed to start carrying it soon, in the new year maybe.:dunno:

[jsn]

Does anyone have any experience with the "Pandigital Novel 7" Color Multimedia eReader"? I picked it up at best buy for my sister for christmas. It's on sale for 150 down from 200. I'm not sure if she'd want one just for reading (i.e., the e-ink black and white ones) or one that she could surf the web and check email on also but this seemed to be a pretty decent deal so I picked up this one. It says it uses e-pub and pdf format so it shouldn't be a problem to find books for it. It also says it runs on android. Has anyone played around with the pandigital novel?

[bball2]

Originally posted by Mar
What is this Calibre? My mom's getting a Kobo for Christmas but I'll load this on it if it'll be easier for her.

http://calibre-ebook.com/

Think of it as an iTunes for books.

[D'z Nutz]

So what sort of battery life can one expect with these devices? Can you get stuff like cook books for them? Do your eyes get sore staring at the screen for hours? Are they difficult to read outdoors in the sun?

At first, I thought these devices were kinda stupid, but now that I think about it, they might be kinda nice to have since I can get books I'm interested in reading in a nice portable device instead of having to get books that take up room.

[pyroza]

Kindle all the way...

PS. You can just use Calibre to convert whatever ebook file type to a Kindle file type. Also, for those saying you're tied to amazon.com for your books, come on now. Are you tied to iTunes for all your music? ;)


Originally posted by D'z Nutz
So what sort of battery life can one expect with these devices? Can you get stuff like cook books for them? Do yours get sore staring at the screen for hours? Are they difficult to read outdoors in the sun?

At first, I thought these devices were kinda stupid, but now that I think about it, they might be kinda nice to have since I can get books I'm interested in reading in a nice portable device instead of having to get books that take up room.

Battery life is ridiculous with wireless off. It only uses power to refresh the screen, so you can go weeks between recharges. I'm sure you can download cookbooks for them as well. Reading the screen is very similar to simply reading a book, as there's no backlight. My eyes don't get tired at all when reading my Kindle compared to reading an iPad or something with a backlight.

[bball2]

Originally posted by D'z Nutz
So what sort of battery life can one expect with these devices? Can you get stuff like cook books for them? Do your eyes get sore staring at the screen for hours? Are they difficult to read outdoors in the sun?

At first, I thought these devices were kinda stupid, but now that I think about it, they might be kinda nice to have since I can get books I'm interested in reading in a nice portable device instead of having to get books that take up room.

On the Kindle most of the battery life is used when you first load up the books and it's indexing everything or when you are browsing the internet.

If you're using it just for reading it'll last a pretty long time. Most people say it's about a month with 2-3 hours of reading everyday. But it entirely depends on your own reading speed because the only time it really uses any battery power is when the page is refreshed during page turns.

From personal experience it's taken about 4 pretty large books before the battery drained to about 20%. Books 9-12 of the wheel of time series, so that's about 1.2 million words, or 3500 paper back pages, or approximately 8000 kindle page turns with my font setting.

You can get all sorts of books for them, lots of cook books available on the amazon book store, but I prefer reading mostly text as they reflow the best with the adjustable font sizes. No problems for me reading for hours or in the sun either.

Anyways I'd highly recommend the Kindle, I've been reading a lot more since I've got it :thumbsup:

[davidI]

That battery life is really appealing for traveling. I'm tired of hostel book exchanges and the weight of carrying books while I travel.

I'm considering doing a 10-day solo backpacking trip on the Arctic Circle Trail (Greenland) and figure since I'll be on my own I'll want to fill a lot of time with reading. Carrying 3 paperbacks is not practical but if the battery is that great, I'll definitely have to consider it!

[D'z Nutz]

Okay I just ordered a Kindle wifi. I figure if I don't like it, I could sell it and not lose very much on it.

[PulsePro]

I've heard that the Kobos were really bad and that a lot of people returned them within 3 days. With the nook, (the new version) I've heard that you can root it and run Android on it as well.

[D'z Nutz]

Wait, so I just found out the kindle has an experimental web browser... If I'm understanding this right, there are no extra fees to use the 3G service (through Rogers), correct? So does that mean I can use 3G to surf the net with the experimental browser at no additional cost? I understand the browser is very dumbed down and javascript/cookie is basic, but for things like checking and sending email via 3G, that's worth the extra $50 (especially since I have no data plan on my phone).

[bball2]

I have the 3G version, and I've used the experimental browser maybe 4-5 times since I got it. It's based on webkit so everything looks pretty close to how a browser should look, but it's really slow and the interactivity is not great.

On most pages you have to pan across to see the different parts (0.5-1 second refresh each time, and you have to use the arrow keys to find links / click on them). Also with limited javascript / cookie support it's almost view only.

That said the free 3G is really great for browsing wikipedia / google / using the amazon bookstore. If you're away from wi-fi and you want to know more about something, just highlight the keyword and google it / check it out on wikipedia, or if you see a good book you want to try out, you can download a free sample from amazon in under a minute.

[D'z Nutz]

Awesome, I think I'll stick with the 3G version. Thanks for the info!

[toyboy88]

Found this when I was researching, great for those interested in something cheap...

6" Kobo e-reader for almost 50% off right now at futureshop, only $79 (refurb), regular $149:

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/kobo-kobo-6-ebook-reader-n416-kbo-w-white-refurbished-n416-kbo-w/10161397.aspx?path=8329d8d69968945f4608452b5a35bb65en02

[jsn]

Not quite 50% off. The refurbished one does not have WIFI. The $149 version is the kobo Wifi version. Where did you guys order your kindle wifi from? Amazon.com said it's not shipping to Canada.

[D'z Nutz]

Bwahaha!

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Amazon-Kindle-3-Skin-Cover-Case-Decal-Wolf-Wolves-Moon-/150505758827?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item230ad7a06b

[syeve]

Originally posted by toyboy88
Found this when I was researching, great for those interested in something cheap...

6" Kobo e-reader for almost 50% off right now at futureshop, only $79 (refurb), regular $149:

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/kobo-kobo-6-ebook-reader-n416-kbo-w-white-refurbished-n416-kbo-w/10161397.aspx?path=8329d8d69968945f4608452b5a35bb65en02

I would personaly stay away from the first gen Kobo's. The second gen with Wifi had a lot of the bugs fixed and are defn worth the extra $.

[Thomas Gabriel]

I got the Sony Touch eReader for Xmas. I quite like it. Drawing/writing on it sucks. But the rest of it is great.

[D'z Nutz]

so my kindle arrived today. in fact i'm typing on it now!
hahaha! i really like it so far and can't wait to use it more

[Muji]

I ordered two Kindle 3 (WiFi) models this week, all my research showed this was the best choice.

[Muji]

Originally posted by jsn
Not quite 50% off. The refurbished one does not have WIFI. The $149 version is the kobo Wifi version. Where did you guys order your kindle wifi from? Amazon.com said it's not shipping to Canada.

Amazon.ca

[bball2]

Originally posted by Muji


Amazon.ca

If you go to amazon.ca and click on the kindle, it goes straight to amazon.com

Didn't have a problem shipping to Canada from there.

[D. Dub]

Have 2 Kindle 3G's in my house now. They're great little units.

Both on one account and my wife and I can share the same books.

[D'z Nutz]

Are you guys using any cases for your e-readers? I'm just trying to get an idea as to what's out there. Some of the really cool ones are way more than I'd like to spend.

[D'z Nutz]

Are there any good alternatives to Calibre for OS X? It is soooo brutally slow!!

[derpderp]

I bought a Sony Reader about two months ago, I love the thing, I've been reading much more since I got it too. Much nicer having something I can put in my pocket.

Also, I don't like the Kindle, only because Amazon took so long to send it to Canada, it took years and people in Canada wanted them but they wouldn't send it up here until competition arrived and Sony came out with an eReader, Amazon is a bunch of wankers and I won't buy their product.

[soupey]

ive been using stanza on my touch...i know a few ppl who use it on the ipad as well...

[D'z Nutz]

In case anyone's sick of the default screensavers on your Kindle:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/37424/jailbreak-your-kindle-for-dead-simple-screensaver-customization/

[Mys73ri0]

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nookcolor/index.asp?cds2Pid=35700#productimg

anyone have one by chance? and what do you think?

Read online, also very to root and make into a great tablet...

[davidI]

Finally got my kindle 3 and love it.

Questions for those with a Kindle:

- Do you convert .pdf files to another format with Calibre or leave them as .pdf? If you convert, how do you do it (I'm still a Calibre n00bie)

- Favourite sites for downloads? I've found Library.nu and Gutenburg.org quite good but would like to find more sites with .mobi format.

- Any cheap cover recommendations. The lighted Amazon one at $60 is pretty dear, but if it's the best as some review sites have indicated then I guess I'll have to place an order.

[dennisaur]

Originally posted by Mys73ri0
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nookcolor/index.asp?cds2Pid=35700#productimg

anyone have one by chance? and what do you think?

Read online, also very to root and make into a great tablet...

I have one and got it running Froyo. Great so far, my only problem with it is the built-in speaker is not very loud, which is understandable as it was built as an ereader and not as a tablet. Plug in earphones and you're good though.

I do use it to read... loaded it up with the Kindle app, Aldiko, and even the Nook app for ebooks. You can set them up for Night mode and it's pretty easy on the eyes for reading in bed. I also read the entire Walking Dead series through the Perfect Viewer app, which seems to be great for comics. PDF scans of magazines aren't all that great on a 7 inch screen... lots of pinching and zooming that I just said forget it for the most part.

[pyroza]

Originally posted by davidI
Finally got my kindle 3 and love it.

Questions for those with a Kindle:

- Do you convert .pdf files to another format with Calibre or leave them as .pdf? If you convert, how do you do it (I'm still a Calibre n00bie)


I convert them to mobi format because pdfs can be a pain to read if the text is small. To do that, just add pdfs to the calibre library, then hit the convert button. Go to page setup and make sure Kindle is selected as the output profile.

[oupzwrongthread]

Originally posted by davidI
Finally got my kindle 3 and love it.

Questions for those with a Kindle:

- Do you convert .pdf files to another format with Calibre or leave them as .pdf? If you convert, how do you do it (I'm still a Calibre n00bie)

- Favourite sites for downloads? I've found Library.nu and Gutenburg.org quite good but would like to find more sites with .mobi format.

- Any cheap cover recommendations. The lighted Amazon one at $60 is pretty dear, but if it's the best as some review sites have indicated then I guess I'll have to place an order.

I am not sure if is the same, I have a kobo and I convert everything to epub. If you go to a site like vuze though you can download peoples entire libraries and they are already in epub format. I downloaded like 6 libraries and I have just over 13,000 books lol.

[legendboy]

We are having problems with our sony prs-650. thing won't turn off

[Despair*]

Originally posted by dennisaur


I have one and got it running Froyo. Great so far, my only problem with it is the built-in speaker is not very loud, which is understandable as it was built as an ereader and not as a tablet. Plug in earphones and you're good though.

I do use it to read... loaded it up with the Kindle app, Aldiko, and even the Nook app for ebooks. You can set them up for Night mode and it's pretty easy on the eyes for reading in bed. I also read the entire Walking Dead series through the Perfect Viewer app, which seems to be great for comics. PDF scans of magazines aren't all that great on a 7 inch screen... lots of pinching and zooming that I just said forget it for the most part.

Was there any place to buy the Nook locally or did you have to order it? The Nook looks great as far as ereaders go, but I like the fact it runs Android.

[natejj]

So... don't step on your Kindle.

http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/5788/img0516av.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/838/img0516av.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[dragonone]

e-ink. period. anything else is not for reading > 1 hour.

[D'z Nutz]

FYI, Kindles are available at Staples now:
http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Static/static_pages.asp?pagename=kindle&cmSearchKeyword=kindle

[Grogador]

I just got my Kindle 3G! The screen is superawesome and I can't wait to hit the beach/campground with it. Still trying to find something better than Calibre to convert/manage books. Not only is it retardedly slow (it can take over an hour to convert ~100MB books) but the conversions end up looking like ass anyway :thumbsdow Next step... jailbreak!

[D'z Nutz]

I found that Calibre is only retardedly slow on OSX. The Windows version runs pretty normal.

[Nufy]

Thanks to D'z Nutz for pointing me to this thread.

My search capabilities are somewhat lacking apparently...

So what is the latest & greatest available for e-readers...

Looking to pick one up for my wife.

Thanks...