Electronic book help

[zombie goat fetish]

I want to get a E-Book for Xmas as I have tons of books on my laptop and I am a bit stumped at which one to get. A friend said I should get a Ipad for it's memory.

If anyone has one could you tell me the pros and cons of what ever E-book reader you use, thanks.

 

[smearyllama]

I have an old, old Kindle, and it's actually pretty nice. One of the corners is busted from when my dad dropped it, but it works great.
While it doesn't have a backlight, it's nice because that reduces eye strain. It's also a nice size. The newer models have touch screens, as well as keyboards, but I don't have a clue if they're better or not.
The only issue I really have is that if you're reading for school and have to do annotations, you can't write in the margins/put sticky notes on the pages. You can make notes, but the tiny keyboard is a pain to type with.

I hope that helps.

 

[zombie goat fetish]

I have an old, old Kindle, and it's actually pretty nice. One of the corners is busted from when my dad dropped it, but it works great.
While it doesn't have a backlight, it's nice because that reduces eye strain. It's also a nice size. The newer models have touch screens, as well as keyboards, but I don't have a clue if they're better or not.
The only issue I really have is that if you're reading for school and have to do annotations, you can't write in the margins/put sticky notes on the pages. You can make notes, but the tiny keyboard is a pain to type with.

I hope that helps.

All information helps, thanks.

 

[Korolev]

I have a Sony eReader. It's nice when it works. Sadly, however, I've run into problems with it. Even with all the system updates, some books just WILL not work on it, even when they should work fine. My sister, who also has a Sony eReader, has had similar problems.

The thing is, it's a great reader. Very low power usage, light-weight, and the screen is comfortable to read on for hours. The page-turning time is responsive and it comes packed with 6 different dictionaries which allow you to look up pretty much any word in English, Italian, German or Spanish. You can adjust font sizes, page layout, and it can read PDF files reasonably well. It's better than the iPad, because it's super light weight and it only uses a very tiny amount of power to refresh or change the page display - one charge can last about 3 weeks of moderate use, and even longer. Storage is more expensive - but hell, if you're just storing books, the SD card that comes with it is more than enough (it can hold over 2000 books. Not even I have that many books I like to read).

But, there are problems with newer books, even in the same format as older books, just straight up failing to work. The Adobe Reader Library Software which you use to put the books on it is a right royal pain to use and sometimes will just not recognize the DRM on books you have paid for.

When it works (and it works for most books), it's a good experience. But there is nothing more frustrating than buying an Ebook you REALLY want to read.... and having it fail utterly when you try to read it.

For the record, the book that doesn't work with my Sony eReader is "The Better Angels of Our Nature" by Steven Pinker. It's a great book that examines the rate of violence and murder throughout history and discusses possible causes for its decline in developed nations. And it doesn't work on a Sony eReader. I've downloaded the book multiple times, I've cleared it, I've FORMATTED my eReader, I've made sure my eReader is up-to-date in terms of its firmware.... it just refuses to work. It only says "PAGE ERROR"!

Support for it has also been pretty crappy. Despite numerous problems, Sony only very rarely updates its software and they have been very unhelpful answering my questions (I have about 6 emails only stating "We'll get back to you", only they never do).

So, if you want to get a Sony eReader, know that you'll get a technically impressive reader, with some support and compatibility and DRM issues. It really is a GREAT reader, on a technical level, but it can be extremely frustrating to use at times.

 

[Xanadu84]

Kindle is the best choice, IMO

iPads are a computer substitute. It plays games, checks e mail, does a lot of fancy schmancy stuff. iPad does have more memory, but that's because you need a lot of memory for games, movies and the like. For READING, you don't need much: Your not going to fill up any E-Reader with more books then you can read, no matter what the storage space is. Get an iPad if you want a tablet. If you want an E-READER, get a Kindle.

Kindles have E Ink. They LOOK like books, and the cases make them feel even more like a book. There's no backlighting or glare. It is the best for reading like your reading a book. Theres a few tablet-like options, free internet (Black and white though), text to speech, and yes, you can buy audiobooks on it. But those options arn't as good because the Kindle is focused entirely on the reading experience. Its a kinda nice extra, but Kindles you buy for the reading. Its important to note that if you just want the reading, a Kindle versus an iPad, you save HUNDREDS of dollars with the Kindle. Kindles are damn cheap these days

Of course, the Kindle isn't in color. If you want to read magazines or comics, an iPad might be necessary. Theres also the Kindle fire, which is basically a iPad focused on reading, paired down of other options, but half the price.

There are other e readers that do the e ink thing, but Id still go with the Kindle. The store for Kindle is the best, and with Stanza, converting a good deal of other ebooks to kindle format is relatively easy.

So basically, if you want a e reader, and not a tablet, get a Kindle.

 

[Something Amyss]

I want to get a E-Book for Xmas as I have tons of books on my laptop and I am a bit stumped at which one to get. A friend said I should get a Ipad for it's memory.

If anyone has one could you tell me the pros and cons of what ever E-book reader you use, thanks.

I've owned an Amazon Kindle DX and the Third Gen model.

What's best for you depends on whether or not you want a backlight. As the above poster said, the lack of backlight reduces eyestrain. The e-ink display reads well in almost any lighting conditions where one could normally read. Even with wireless on, it'll run for a week or two, and boasts over a month with wifi off. The newer one has better contrast.

As I've only owned Amazon Kindle e-readers, I can't speak to drawbacks compared to other readers. The biggest drawback I can name is that, if you own a lot of books, even use of the collections and tags options to sort them can be a bit cumbersome. This may be true of other e-readers though.

It's cheaper and more comfortable to read on than an ipad, but has less functionality.

The iPad is pretty cool, but I wouldn't want to read on it.