Are E-readers worth the cost?

[anomie]

My latest acquisitions:

Nook Simple Touch for myself, with 4GB sd card, and a case = $45 on ebay. I turn off the wireless, so don't know anything about the internet features. Battery life on this thing is really great, about a month. Occasionally does not wake from sleep well unless you plug it in, but this is the best dedicated ereader we have encountered.

Google Nexus 7 tablet - new $230. Installed 2 e-readers - Aldiko for pdf and FBReader for epub. Plus its wireless tablet functionality gives me all Google products - Chrome, Gmail, Calendar, and more. This thing is amazing. Shorter battery life than the Nook Simple Touch, though. Lasts only about 9 hours of constant use, maybe a few days if you sleep, or in that neighborhood.

[540]

What are we going to do when Amazon decides to charge monthly fees to "store" our digital property? I just know this is coming someday....

[steveo73]

I've been using a Kindle Paperwhite and like it very much. It can quickly pay-for-itself if you support Sweden's Pirate Party.

I love my kindle and I avidly support that party.

[e3434]

Do any of you read a lot of pdf files on your e-readers? How well does it work? Any difficulties to be aware of?

[steveo73]

Do any of you read a lot of pdf files on your e-readers? How well does it work? Any difficulties to be aware of?

I have a kindle and it doesn't work well. Maybe a larger sized Kindle would work. The thing is the pdf is not re-formatted so it all has to fit on the small Kindle page.

[Noided]

*digs this thread from the grave*

I've been thinking of buying an e-reader and I have a few questions maybe you guys can answer.

-Do you guys recommend any brand in particular? For example, I've read that Kindles don't read .epub, which I think is a limitation I would rather not have. Throughout this topic I saw many of you recommending the Kindle Keyboard with 3G. What is so special about that model?
-Usually brands have two types of e-readers, the normal and the "paperwhite" which enables you too read in the dark. Do you guys think the second feature is worth it? Isn't it bad for your eyes like with a tablet?
-Do e-readers allow you to make quick online searches (search for a word, or to read about a subject on wikipedia)?

Thanks

[Ydobon]

I own a Kindle.

.epub documents can be converted for Kindle.

I don't own a Kindle with a backlight. As far as I'm aware 'paperwhite' refers to the display technology (more pixels), not the light. When I'm in a dark room, it's because I want to sleep

[tommytebco]

4 years ago, I avoided a Kindle because of high price. I paid something over $200 for a generic E-Reader. last year, it got lost.

This time Kindle prices had fallen drastically. I guess Amazon figured the books are where the money is. (kind of like Import cars, when they used to give them away and make profit selling repair parts) I bought a Kindle Paperwhite. I had avoided backlighting, because I use the book while hiking and am away from electricity for a week at a time.

Now, the Paperwhite somehow uses little power to backlight. It does last a week between charges.

Details. I bought a factory refurb for $60 and free shipping. Most of a year later, it is still a good buy decision.

[FBeyer]

I've only ever owned a kindle so that's my only reference.
I'm so parsimonious about furniture that I don't have a nightstand or lamp by the bed. If you're as cheap as me, you'll probably appreciate an e-reader with a backlight. Other than that: I have no useful things to say about e-readers.

[BRUTE]

brute has also only ever had Kindles. epub is no problem. there's a tool called Calibre that can convert every ebook format back and forth.

Paperwhite is indeed the name for Kindles with back lighting. brute thinks this is a great feature, as he likes to read before going to sleep, without having to turn on a light. brute believes he got his Kindle for ~$80-100.

the Kindle has wifi capabilities and a simple browser, but the screen and touch controls are so slow brute has never even tried using it for that. he enjoys it solely as a book reading device.

[enigmaT120]

I read books on an old Samsung tablet. It's hard to read in bright daylight though, unlike some of the cheaper Kindles. And now the battery is getting weak, so I have to decide if it's worth a new battery.

[EdithKeeler]

I actually own 5 Kindles.... gifts, upgraded from the older one, wanted a bigger screen, I got a free one... I LOVE the Kindle, both the Kindle Fire and the regular Kindle (don't have a Paperwhite). I think the cheapest Kindle Fire is down to something like $39 or so.

And here's a tip (from someone with multiple Kindles and one reason I have multiples...). if you have a buddy you share books with, it's really nice to have an extra kindle so that you can lend someone your book--just give them the extra Kindle with your books on it. If they have an extra Kindle, they can return the favor. Basically if you have a pal with similar taste in books, you can save money (if you buy a lot of books).

[Ydobon]

I've only ever owned a kindle so that's my only reference.
I'm so parsimonious about furniture that I don't have a nightstand or lamp by the bed. If you're as cheap as me, you'll probably appreciate an e-reader with a backlight. Other than that: I have no useful things to say about e-readers.

We just bought clip on lamps from Ikea. Less than £10 each (think we paid £5?) and they use next to no power. Perfect for reading in bed

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/produ ... #/00315651

The bulb can't be replaced, but we've had ours for 4.5 years with no problems whatsoever.

[Noided]

I just came back from a semi-offline camping experience in which I took a 300+ page book + my smartphone with 2 ebooks on it. I realized I really like to read on my phone, even though its screen is "only" 4.5". That kind of become a feature because I would set the letter size to something relatively big so the amount of content displayed on the screen is small, which helped me with the reading. I think I have some slight learning disability and the size restriction was actually a plus lol. Also, both psychologically and physically it was easier to grab the smartphone than to get the big physical book.

Moreover, the google app to read your .epub files adjust the background color to the time of the day. This means that at night the letters were black and the background was orange. This mimics the flux app for computers that reduce the blue light which hurts our eyes. A con with the smartphone or a tablet is the battery life is just not adequate for trips in which you don't have electricity on hand. I don't know if I will make these trips a habit.

When I posted here 7 days ago I had decided to wait a month to think about the eReader purchase. For now this setup seems to be good to me, but time will tell. I am thinking of reading some PDFs in the future so maybe my smartphone won't do it.

Another question, where do you guys buy your ebooks? I don't know if the books from amazon can be read on any device.

[enigmaT120]

I won't buy e-books, but I read lots of them for free from the library.

[BRUTE]

right.. uh, the library. full of backup copies.

[Noided]

In Portugal we still don't have library ebook lending programs so that is a no go. Some people also mentioned some websites where you can get free ebooks (not talking about piracy). Are they free because they are old? How does that work?

[enigmaT120]

There are lots of books that are free because they are old, though maybe not that many I want to read. I"ve had Meditations on my tablet and a very old Chinese novel for a long time and they don't expire.

[SavingWithBabies]

My local libraries (both city and county -- somehow, I didn't know about county libraries until just recently) subscribe to Overdrive. The selection of e-books and audio books isn't too bad. A lot of the e-books are delivered via Amazon Kindle as a rental. So far, it's really nice and free. I really like reading an e-book in Kindle on the iPad and then reading a few more pages on the train with my phone (and the Kindle app). I've resisted buying an actual Kindle device so far.

[heyhey]

Project Gutenberg is my go-to site for free ebooks. They have to be old enough to be out of copyright (in the US I think - although we should all abide by the copyright laws of our own country if stricter).