Kindle or something else?

[yankeerider]

...Anyway, after looking at all involved, I am amazed at how well advertising has worked for Kindle. My wife and I both are far happier with the Nook she has used literally every day for almost a complete year now.

It's a good thing that nowadays you can probably try both out locally before purchase. I went to Barnes and Noble and tested a Nook before buying my Kindle. The page turning was too slow on the Nook and I found the small color screen distracting. I also waited until the Ipad was introduced-didn't want that because for reading E-ink is way more comfortable than a backlit display.

 

[blackie65]

My mother-n-law has a kindle and likes it. It works fine if all you want to buy books from Amazon and read them. However, it has some limitations that made it unsuited for my needs. 1. According to my MIL, you can't browse the internet without paying Amazon a monthly fee, even if you have access to WIFI. 2. You may not be able to download and read the thousands of free classics available on Gutenburg.org.

I have an Android smartphone and read books on it and love it. If I wanted a larger format e-reader, I'd consider one of the new Android tablets. With the tablet you can read books, browse the web using your home wifi, send e-mail, listen to music, watch U-tube videos, and many other functions available to a full blown computer. You could also buy a low end I-Pad. I like the Android OS because it doesn't lock you down to Apple.

Obed

The Nook Color has similar features for $250

 

[Jagmandave]

I bought my wife one of the very first Nooks last Xmas and so far she absolutely loves it, and in fact prefers it to "real" books now because it's easier to read....she also reads a fair number of books a week.

That's great to learn about being able to download books from the library, but how does that work? Do they go *poof* after so many days, or can you keep them "forever"?

 

[Dargo]

It's a good thing that nowadays you can probably try both out locally before purchase. I went to Barnes and Noble and tested a Nook before buying my Kindle. The page turning was too slow on the Nook and I found the small color screen distracting. I also waited until the Ipad was introduced-didn't want that because for reading E-ink is way more comfortable than a backlit display.

I suppose that's why there are several on the market. At the rate my wife reads, a Kindle would have cost me 10k by now. LOL When my wife pushes the button to change the page, other than not having useless graphics of looking like a page is turning, I cannot see where 3/10 of a second or so is an issue. It can't be much of an issue with the volume of books she reads. I suppose if you read more than 10 books a week, it might make a difference. There again, when I looked at a friend's Kindle, I can't say I noticed any difference in the page speed. Makes no difference to me what anyone buys. I'm only reporting what I can say is a fact from observing a heavily used Nook. I would think an iPad would look the best but, personally, I just don't get the whole iPad thing.

 

[Dargo]

I bought my wife one of the very first Nooks last Xmas and so far she absolutely loves it, and in fact prefers it to "real" books now because it's easier to read....she also reads a fair number of books a week.

That's great to learn about being able to download books from the library, but how does that work? Do they go *poof* after so many days, or can you keep them "forever"?

My wife did all that research for me. I just paid for it. I think they told her at our public library that if she bought a Nook, she should just bring it by and they'd show her how to get to their website and download the books. I think she gets 21 days just like if she borrowed a physical book. If she hasn't read the book in that time (which has never happened), she can just renew the book. After the time, they are deleted. If she ever wants to read the book again, she just "borrows" it again.

This is the only legal way to read books free according to our public library without violating copyright laws. You can't "own" a book you never paid for. The way my wife reads, I have no desire to spend several thousand dollars a year on books just to say I "own" them. It works great for us. Obviously, as you can read, other people prefer to buy and "own" their book. Surprisingly enough, when I looked into this method, electronic books were not any less expensive than buying the physical book. The same goes for my audio books. They are crazy expensive to buy. I like to electronically "borrow" them. I can't lose them, tear them up or ever pay a late fee that way. I suppose it's whatever you prefer.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Planning on giving my wife an ebook reader for Christmas. Seems like there are several kinds out there, the most well known being the Kindle.

If you have a reader, what do you have, how do you like it, what do you like and not like about it?

I just downloaded the Kindle software for my Blackberry and my PC. I really like the WhisperSync feature that puts you on the same page across platforms.

For some strange reason, the downloaded software won't read the Kindle format on Gutenberg.org, but it reads the freeware MobiPocket .prc format just fine. I like it so much that I plan to get the WiFi only Kindle fairly soon.

The Gutenberg Project is kind of obscure to find books. There is a much more usable free book front end at ManyBooks.net - Ad-free eBooks for your iPad, smartphone, or eBook reader.

 

[ShenandoahJoe]

Reading this right now on an iPad. I really like the iBooks app, combined with free ePub books from google. I'm working my way through all kinds of old farming textbooks, and it's easy to keep reading for a couple of hours at a stretch. The battery lifetime isn't as long as on a Kindle.

Irrelevant, but for what it's worth, the TBN iPad app is one of the best I've used.

 

[jinjimbob]

You can use the Amazon-Kindle software on other devices too.
I have the Nook software also, loaded on my ipod.

I don't know what is happening with the Nook, as Barnes and Noble is getting bought out by Borders.

 

[Pilot]

In a visit to Good Guys I learned a few things. The Sony & nook are pretty comparable and they get the fewest returns on those and Kindles. They have a couple other brands that they get all the returns on. One sales person says even on those they get very few.

What bothered me most was the batteries. Good Guys wants $120-140 for the batteries and $80 to install. That makes the devices a throw away item when the battery goes. I don't like the idea of spending $250 and tossing it in 3 years.

At Office Depot a gal turned me toward an Archos 7 Tablet. Looked like it does everything the ereaders do and more for $179 and easy battery replacement. I'll be looking into it some more.

 

[jinjimbob]

What bothered me most was the batteries. Good Guys wants $120-140 for the batteries and $80 to install. That makes the devices a throw away item when the battery goes. I don't like the idea of spending $250 and tossing it in 3 years.

A lithium battery can be recharged between 500 and 1000 times before its life starts to get shorter. With these mono e-Ink devices last for 2 weeks on each charge, thats atleast 20 years before the battery needs to be replaced...... and by then the books will implanted in our cerebral cortex.