E Book readers

[Dargo]

Maybe someone will know the answer, but about 6 or 8 months ago when I bought my wife one I was about to pick up a Kindle when someone pointed out to me that you could not go online and 'borrow' books from the library with the Kindle. With the Nook you can.

Therefore, I bought her a Nook. My wife is an extremely prolific reader. When I say prolific, I mean she reads between 5 to 7 books a week. I'd be broke with a Kindle. Actually, it would have ended up sitting on the shelf and would just be collecting dust. With the Nook, she logs onto our local library's website and loads 8 or 10 books on her Nook at a time and is on her merry way about 15 minutes later.

Someone told me that you still cannot 'borrow' E-Books with the Kindle, iPad etc. I sort of find that hard to believe. Personally, with as many books as my wife reads and her ability to read literally any book she wants free, I can't imagine any other brands selling at all if Nook has a lock on borrowing from libraries. So, does anyone know if you can borrow books free from your library while in the comfort of your home with the other E-Book readers? If not, you may want to take a serious look at the Nook.

 

[Dargo]

Hmm, I just called a lady I know who works at one of our public libraries and she told me that the Kindle, Google and iPad do not work with their free lending programs. Wow!! That fact alone just baffles me as to how Kindle has any share of the market. I suppose that shows advertising works.

My daughter has expressed an interest in an E-Book reader. There's no way I can even remotely consider anything but the Nook. This is really baffling how the others can even compete on the most basic level without being able to borrow books free from any public library.

 

[aczlan]

My daughter has expressed an interest in an E-Book reader. There's no way I can even remotely consider anything but the Nook. This is really baffling how the others can even compete on the most basic level without being able to borrow books free from any public library.

Take a look at the links I posted. Many (most?) libraries use Overdrive and/or the Adobe ePub format for lending books as the books are unreadable after you are done with them (which makes the publishers happy). They have an ipod app and claim that an app for the iPad is forthcoming.

Aaron Z

 

[jinjimbob]

There is currently a war going on between Amazon (Kindle) and Google to win the e-book market. Google's main weapon is deliberately making their entire library incompatible with Kindle, but compatible with everything else. Kindle, OTOH, already owns the lion's share of the e-book reader market. Betamax vs VHS all over again, I guess.

Nope, it is the other way around, Google uses the common standard that Nook and Sony use. Kindle is a closed standard.

 

[aczlan]

Nope, it is the other way around, Google uses the common standard that Nook and Sony use. Kindle is a closed standard.

Ayep. Look at the list of compatible ebook readers for most libraries. The common DRM protected standard for ebooks is epub. Most everything BUT the kindle supports it.

Aaron Z

 

[picker77]

For those who've said they don't understand why anybody would buy a Kindle instead of other types of e-readers, look at this web page carefully and then think about it:

Amazon.com: Kindle 3G Wireless Reading Device, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 6" Display, 3G Works Globally - Latest Generation: Kindle Store

After a year of use, I'm getting ready to buy a second one so my wife will quit borrowing mine. FWIW over that year I've spend a total of $20 on books. The staggering selection of books (especially nearly two million free ones), instant 3G download with no PC required, the fact that I permanently OWN (in my online Kindle archives) every book I've ever downloaded in case I want to download it and read it again someday or transfer it to a new Kindle, plus the sharpest and clearest text display around and a ridiculously long battery life, are all pretty strong selling points, I think.

 

[charlz]

Hmm, I just called a lady I know who works at one of our public libraries and she told me that the Kindle, Google and iPad do not work with their free lending programs. Wow!! That fact alone just baffles me as to how Kindle has any share of the market. I suppose that shows advertising works.

That and they were the second one to market with the new screen technology after the Sony Reader. But Amazon was in such a better position to market the device to readers and make ebooks available that the Sony device never really stood a chance.

 

[Ken45101]

Hmm, I just called a lady I know who works at one of our public libraries and she told me that the Kindle, Google and iPad do not work with their free lending programs. Wow!! That fact alone just baffles me as to how Kindle has any share of the market. I suppose that shows advertising works.

I'm sure it depends on whom you speak with but I have not found our local library people to be knowledgeable about ebooks (and they admit that). I was told that it did not work at all with Macintosh, which is wrong. There are ways to get public library/Overdrive books to an iPad but it's not totally simple.

Ken

 

[charlz]

There are ways to get public library/Overdrive books to an iPad but it's not totally simple.

Which is really the key, they are not tech support, they are not going to spend hours trying to show someone how to convert, transfer, modify, whatever.... if it is not a straight forward deal they are going to tell you 'No, it doesn't work'.

 

[milkman]

Well, I'll have to decide real soon, I was real close to choosing the Kindle when I asked the question, but now because of Dargo's posts here and in another thread, the Nook is looking like the better choice. I like the idea of free reading from the library. I bought the wife and IPod Touch for her birthday and I have read that it will work as an ereader, have to check into that some more too.

 

[blackie65]

Not as well versed on E readers as you guys seem to be but my wife and I just purchased the Nook color for our teenage boys. This device, for the $249, seems to have many benefits. You might want to check this out as well.

 

[jinjimbob]

The Nook colour will give you about 8 hours battery life, if you turn off the wifi.
The Nook mono will give you many weeks life.

The Nook colour isn't that easy on the eyes to read a book on, it isn't E-Ink, just a normal LCD.

 

[dmccarty]

... I like the idea of free reading from the library. I bought the wife and IPod Touch for her birthday and I have read that it will work as an ereader, have to check into that some more too.

Let her try to read on the iPod before spending more money. My downloaded a bunch of apps to read the various book formats though I was very skeptical that the small screen would make reading a book easy.

I downloaded a couple of books. One was a bunch of short stories by Kipling and I reread quite a few of them. I also read a full book as well. I was shocked and surprised that reading the book was not hard at all even on the small screen. I think this is because you can easily change the size of the letters and the page reformats on the fly. I would guess the bigger screen devices would make reading "better" but my smartphone apps are good enough so that I am not going to spend a couple of hundred dollars on another device.

Downside to my smartphone is that the battery life stinks. The Kindle wins that contest by a mile.

Later,
Dan

 

[milkman]

Let her try to read on the iPod before spending more money. My downloaded a bunch of apps to read the various book formats though I was very skeptical that the small screen would make reading a book easy.

I downloaded a couple of books. One was a bunch of short stories by Kipling and I reread quite a few of them. I also read a full book as well. I was shocked and surprised that reading the book was not hard at all even on the small screen. I think this is because you can easily change the size of the letters and the page reformats on the fly. I would guess the bigger screen devices would make reading "better" but my smartphone apps are good enough so that I am not going to spend a couple of hundred dollars on another device.

Downside to my smartphone is that the battery life stinks. The Kindle wins that contest by a mile.Later,Dan

I played around with the IPod for a while yesterday and downloaded a free book and I too was surprised at how easy it was to read, finished reading the book too. I've looked at the free library books and downloaded one og them, but it wasn't as easy to read, not much print on each page.
One reason that I'm hesitant to give her another electronic device is that she only uses the IPod to listen to music when she walks and this weather has put a stop to that, so it just lays on her desk. I think I'll let her play around with this and get her a gift card to her favorite store. I know that the battery on the IPod won't last as long as one of the ereaders, but it worked for several hours, probably longer than she would read at one setting. If I were to get one of the readers, I'm pretty much set on the Nook after several comments here and looking at them on line, mainly because they will work with the free books at the library.

 

[milkman]

Well, I decided to go with the Sony, found it at Wallys, free ship to home and looked like a good price.


Black Sony E-Reader Pocket eTouch Edition - Walmart.com

 

[texbaylea]

Well, I decided to go with the Sony, found it at Wallys, free ship to home and looked like a good price.


Black Sony E-Reader Pocket eTouch Edition - Walmart.com

Thanks for the info. WalMart is one of the places we stay away from so I hadn't seen the offer. I just ordered one to see if we like using a reader. Since I will have a Knee replaced right after Christmas I will give it a shake down cruise
I was considering the Sony already but the PRS900. This saves some money.


Vernon

 

[Ken45101]

Re: the iPod, I think readability depends on the format of the book. I don't have an iPod, but I do have an iPad. From what I've seen, epub books can be resized and the lines wrap ("reflow" I think is the term). But a lot of the PDF books are more just images that cannot be reflowed. I think that's the Google public domain approach.

Ken