After telling myself I wanted to wait for a technology that eventually would combine the versatility of a tablet with the eyeball friendliness of an e-reader, I bought a Kindle.

Why did I give in? Because I almost always do. However my reasoning was that I have to renew a bunch of certifications for work and one thing I hate is trying to sit comfortably to study from a 50 pound technical book so I thought I would try it out. So far, I am very happy.

I tried and could never study from yet another LCD screen after staring at one all day at work and e-paper is truly like looking at real paper. I do not feel fatigued at all when reading it for hours. It also works equally well sitting out on the deck on a sunny day. No more posturing an awkward hardcover to stay comfortable, holding pages down in a slight breeze, struggling to turn a single page instead of two stuck together. Also, I had the book I was thinking about buying for weeks in under 60 seconds without a 30 minute drive to my nearest book store.

I thought I would use it just for technical manuals but after trying it out for a novel, I'm hooked. I still hold some romantic reverence for a printed book but I have to admit, this is just plain easier.

Just curious if anyone else here has gone this route.

I haven't, but I have considered it for the reasons you mentioned, bud. My only concern is that the selection is quite limited. Is this the case?

Depends on your tastes and what you are looking for but I think the selection is actually quiet good. Almost all new release are coming out in e-books now and a lot of older have been converted. Before I bought, I wrote a quick list of ten recently published books I thought I might like to read in various genres and I was able to purchase all 10 electronically.

Google and other groups have taken all of the "classics" that have become public domain and you can revisit all of those books for free or something close to it. When it arrives, I needed a test so I downloaded the entire library of Sherlock Holmes books for 89 cents.

Amazon has the most the most books available at over 250,000. B&N claims the largest library (over 700,000) but the trick is that they include the public domain (freebies) in their count. Amazon has over 810,000 if you include the public domain titles.

However, there is shareware that will convert the various e-book formats to another so not a big deal worrying about who has greater numbers.

I had some e-pub book that I downloaded during my tests to see if I could study from my laptop or Sharon's iPad but I couldn't hack long term "reading" on an LCD screen (despite working all day on one). e-Pub is about the only format the Kindle doesn't naively support but I used freeware called Calibre to convert them and they moved over perfect. I didn't feel bad about breaking any copy-writes in converting them as they were public domain books.

The text to speech features might be handy for you too. I might try it out to listen to a novel during my next long drive.

Speaking of which, I coincidentally had just finished another post asking you for some advice on speech to text.

I was going to get an e-reader, mostly for computer technical books when I thought the price per book was going to be in the $1 to $10 range, like I had heard. Then I discovered the books I wanted were $30 and up. I changed my mind.

The ebooks I needed from Cisco were $40 but if you bought them in a combo that included the 48.00 paper version it was only $65.00 for both. That is the route I went and a coworker is working from the paper versions until my e-book experiment concludes.

While I think it is definitely the way to go for novels, the jury is still out for technical manuals. So far, Im happy, but we will see once I get past the point where I start checking it for references and study vs a front to back read.

Are regular nonfiction books more expensive than an actual book? If so, what would be an approximate percentage increase?

Thanks

Fiction books Average from anywhere from 2 to 8 dollars American.
Popular nonfiction can creep up to $10.00, maybe more.

Either way, the end result is still cheaper than a new paperback here in Canada

However, I got a great laugh when I went to the Kindle store and sorted the Non-fiction list from highest priced to lowest priced and found this.

Selected Nuclear Materials and Engineering Systems by Materials Science International Team MSIT (Kindle Edition - Feb 27, 2007) - Kindle eBook
Buy: $6,431.20

Mrs. Tuttle loves her Nook.

Snicker.

Mrs. Johnson loves her Sony. She downloads lots of books from the library in addition to the ones she buys.

I have both a kindle and a nook (it's a long story) and love them both. BUT, I also still love holding a book on my chest while reading myself to bed at night. So, I'm a winner no matter what media I'm reading.

Have both Kindle and iPad for reading books. I actually use the Kindle more, mostly for my local newspaper that I get for $5/mo. I also get it on the iPad for free (full edition), and you'd think that the full color, multimedia experience would be better on the iPad. I prefer the ipad because it's simple and uncluttered for a newspaper.

Just bought the new touch screen Kobo for my daughter's birthday based on good experience from colleagues. Anybody have experience with Kobo vs. Kindle vs. ...? We have not opened the Kobo yet, my daughter's bday is not for several weeks.

No direct experience. There was no smoking gun during my research into models. I passed on touch screen options on a dedicated reading device because I didn't see enough increased usefulness vs. reading through smudges. Sony's felt the worst in my hands and receive the poorest reviews. Other than that, it came down to how they felt for comfort and build quality and the fact that I was already very accustomed to buying books and music from Amazon and I have been very happy with their service so I suppose mentally, it seemed easier to make the jump.

I want to get the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 which can be used as an e-reader. Are tablets like this more straining than a Kindle?

People say they are, because they're backlit rather than being e-ink, but I don't have any problem reading on my iPad.

I don't have a problem reading on LCDs either. But the Kindle's screen is definitely superior.

Thanks, guys. I can't afford both in the near future, so I'll tough it out with a Tab 10.1 when my finances permit. If I don't like it, I'll consider a Kindle down the ramp.

Another thing to consider is size. One of the things I prefer about the kindle vs. the Nook, is how small and slim it is. I can actually slide it into a front pants pocket or a coat pocket. The nook isn't large, but it is thicker and heavier than the kindle, as are the tablets. If portability isn't important to you, then this advantage is moot.

I read that as you could slide it into your pants, and was about to make an off color comment, but I looked again and you're safe.

I use LCDs all day almost every day and if I don't take breaks it can be tiring but I'm used to it. However, I tried long term reading with my with my wife's iPad and I find the big difference is that with the LCD screen, I am compelled to keep it a fair distance away from my eyes to reduce strain. If I do I'm fine. With e-ink, it is almost identical to reading paper and therefore I can hold it at a more natural book-like distance.

I realize comfort at distance can be related to vision but I'm using the same font size and my same glasses on both and there is a difference for me.

If I were buying an Internet/Computing tablet, there is certainly no way e-ink can yet offer a usable interface but since this is strickly for reading only, I have to say that e-ink is far superior to LCD for strictly reading purposes. I also like to read outside in the summer and it suffers no ill effects from brightness or glare.

I will counter argue myself on one small point. A technology that returns us to those tiny, clip on reading lights could be considered a laughable step backwards but at least now with LCD lights, you don't risk falling asleep and setting your bed on fire.

I have an iPad 2 and Kindle and love them both for different reasons.

iPad 2 has tons of functionality for me, helps that I have an iPhone 4 and several Macs at home. I'm pretty tied to the ecosystem. But one of the biggest reasons was to read comics. I tried on my iPhone 4 and while it works, the screen causes me to read panel by panel which isn't the greatest sometimes. The iPad allows me to read page by page. I'm using some apps that let me transfer a bunch of CBZ and CBR files and it works great.

I thought the ipad would kill my Kindle usage but it doesn't. For straight book reading, the Kindle (v2 in my case) is a much better experience. Lighter, easier on the eyes and better in daylight. I've found that the newspapers are easier to read on the Kindle as well.

I have a Kobo reader which I thoroughly enjoy. The books are reasonably priced. I bought my wife a new iPad for her birthday. The iPad has a slight edge with the color screen however the Kobo is easier to read when sitting outdoors in the sun.
Most of my reading is done in the evening before bed so I find it easier looking at the Kobo or iPad screen versus a paperback. Just my 0.02 worth.

I'm really liking the look of the upcoming Kindles. I may have to pick up one or two.

Has anyone borrowed Kindle ebooks from their local library yet? Just wondering how smooth that process is.

I have been over seas for an extended period for work and bought a Kobo before leaving. I really liked it, especially since most of my reading is out in the sun. Alas, I learned the fragility of these things when I forgot it in my pocket (in a semi-hard case) and went crawling briefly. Cracked screen forced me to get a replacement and I decided to give the 3G Kindle a go. It also was great to read from and the free internet connection anywhere was fantastic with a quite reasonable (for what it is), though not optimum, web browser. I was quite upset when this screen also cracked (in a different semi-rigid case) seeing as how I was now paranoid about breaking it so took extreme care. Just picked it up one day and it was broken.

Having limited access to anything I then managed to pick up an Archos Arnova 10 Android tablet. It was relatively cheap, and I now know why (frustrating beyond belief to use). It does reasonable service as an e-reader once you download other software, although only indoors/at night. Unreadable in the sun.

All in all, when I get back, despite my experiences, I will be getting another e-reader (maybe Amazon will replace this one). I greatly prefer them to paper books. Much lighter, easier to hold, carry, and store. Although I understand the attachment to the solid item, I do not share it. The paper copy now is really only good for lending to others (or for when the technology lets me down, as it always seems to ).

Haven't had a chance for library lending, but my neighbor borrowed tons for her Kobo and she was quite happy with her experiences. Not sure if we have kindle format stuff up north yet, but I know that Calibre can convert epub to kindle easily enough (not sure how library files work, however).

Library lending is not available here yet. However, I can definitely see why e-book sales are skyrocketing. Not only have I found I am reading more, it also makes it soooo easy to get new books that I have purchased more than I normally would as well.

For instance, I recently finished book three in the Song of Fire and Ice series. Normally, I would wait until I got to the bookstore someday, whenever I get the urge and the free time. In browsing at a real bookstore, something else might even catch my eye and I'd go another way. Eventually, I might even forget about that series, although I usually like to finish them if I enjoy them.

In any case, with the Kindle, as soon as you finish the last page, you are given the opportunity to buy the next book in the series. Of course, it's hot in your mind so if you enjoyed it, you probably will do so. In less than 60 seconds, you are already reading the next book.

They get you while you are still excited. It's a marketing person's dream.

I wonder if they'll start doing fixes for inadequately edited text. Seems like it would be pretty easy to roll out updates for electronic versions of books. But probably not. I notice glaring typos that persist in later printings of books, after they've had plenty of time to catch them.

After what Sony did with the PS3, the less hotfixes I see coming, the better in my products. Fix what's broken. Don't remove what I payed for!!!

What did Sony remove in the PS3?

The coffee maker.


Too hard to clean.

Via firmware updates they removed the Linux OS option. In order to ever update again (ie to play new games or BR) you were forced to lose this functionality.

I am actually speaking of Cinavia, or whatever it's called. If you stream a movie from your PC that is tied to Sony, it has code built into the soundtrack that the PS3 (and certain co-operating BR players) picks up. It lets you watch for about 10 minutes or so, then it informs you that you did not pay for the movie and it turns off the sound or kills the play altogether.

Yeah, this type of flag is what kept me from Blu-Ray for as long as it did. The very idea that the studios can physically turn off my hardware is galling. I eventually caved in as I have no moral strength and didn't want my 80s to go to waste.

Good thing there are alternatives. Really, what did you expect Sony to do?

Considering they once added a trojan (there can be no other word for an undocumented, stealth program) into all their CD so that as soon as you popped it into a PC to make a copy...... I should have expected nothing less.

I don't mind buying or renting the BRs I intend to watch but I also want to watch them streamed from my HTPC so I can store away the disk copy. I'm reading now that this should still work as long as you ensure the HD audio track does not get modified in any way or form so I will go back and double check my ripping process.

If not, this puts us back to when Sony (and others of course) didn't feel we should copy music to our MP3 players. Imagine if they tried to prevent that now. Not too many portable Walkman's for sale out there anymore.

Hey I rarely rant. Give me this one. LOL!!!!

That reminds me of a lawsuit a couple of years back that nobody talks about filed by a small French firm that found Sony had knowingly pirated its software. Subsequent investigation found that 60% of the software run at Sony's head office was pirated.

Those who shout loudest...

Just downloaded my first library book to my Kindle after using my Nook for months. I gotta say that I DO like the Kindle a bit more.

I got a Kindle Fire, but so far I haven't done much with it. I didn't get it for reading books, since I think I'd rather have one of the other models for that. I was hoping to use the Fire as a nice little music player for work or wherever, but unfortunately my Android app of choice, PowerAmp, isn't available in the Amazon app store. There don't seem to be any options for playing FLAC files yet, and I'd rather not resort to making keeping MP3s alongside my FLACs. Here's hoping a decent music player app shows up sooner rather than later.

Oh, yeah, and I was wondering why web content was taking so long to load when my Android phone could pull the same content so much faster. I finally deselected the "Accelerate page loading" box in the settings, and now it loads pages this year. So much for Amazon Silk's split browser architecture so far.

I was perusing the variety of Kindles, last evening. I have what they now call the "Kindle Keyboard" which is a fancy name for the older model. I really like it.

But, if I were going to replace it, for reading books only, I would go with the inexpensive model ($79 with ads; $109 without the ads). It's smaller, while maintaining the same screen size (6"), and lighter (5.98 vs. 8.5 ounces).

I already have a tablet so I don't need all the other goodies available on the Fire. However, if I didn't have a tablet, the Fire would be a VERY attractive option.

My mom is getting my nephew one of the $79 Kindles for Christmas. I may get one, too. I was originally going to get Kindle Touch, but I wanted to see how the reviews were compared to the other models. I think I would prefer physical buttons. Thanks for your thoughts!

My sister is considering an e-reader for her 10 yesr old daughter. None of us can figure out if these are appropriate for someone her age.

Thoughts?

It's fantastic for kids. My 10 y.o. daughter is an avid reader and all her shelves are already full. Bought her a Kobo for her bday a few months ago - she loves it and uses it all the time. We have the password on it so we control the content, but she is free to read whatever is on there. She has a little clip on LED light for reading in bed at night. Highly recommended for a 10 year old IMO.

For me as an adult I'd start getting tempted by a tablet - why limit yourself to just reading books? But for a kid where you want that to be the main focus I think it's a great idea. I don't have to worry about my daughter surfing the net when she should be reading or sleeping. And if she's reading instead of sleeping, how upset can I really be with that?

My personal experience on the e-ink vs. LCD

I have now read several books on my Kindle 3. I truly love it and have come to prefer the entire experience over paper format.

Because I only recently invested in a protective cover, I was not travelling with it and I have spent a few good hours reading on Sharon's iPad if she was with me. It could just be my aging eyes but I found book reading for more than 30 minutes or so on the LCD screen Very tiring on the eyes.

Yes, I use two LCD screens all day at work and possibly more at home but I keep them situated a rough minimum of 4' back from my eyes. There is something about an LCD at hand held distance for serious reading that I find tiring. I definitely could not do longer than an hour without enough discomfort to quit.

It may not be a deal breaker for some but I thought I'd share my experience. If your a casual reader looking for a cheap tablet, the Kindle Fire is attractive for it's price point, even if it's a bit under powered as a full tablet. If you are a serious reader (long sessions), I would definately recommend an e-ink device.

I just received my Kindle (the cheap $79 one) which I'll be using to re-read The Wheel of Time. Definitely easier than toting around the hardcovers, which, while not as bad as the softcovers, like to fall apart. I still like having the books on my shelf, but I'm thinking I'll really like the convenience of the Kindle. I guess we'll see after I charge it and actually begin reading with it for extended periods of time.

I'm still enjoying my Kindle. Currently trying to slowly finish book five in The Song of Fire and Ice series in what little spare time I seem to have.

Just last week we bought a Kobo Touch for Sharon. Our local library recently started using Overdrive as thier lending platform and they don't support the Kindle in Canada yet. Booooo!

Joyce has decided she wants a Fire now that we have wireless in the place. She wants to play "Words with Friends" with her family but refuses to pay another $30/month on our wireless bill for a new phone!

She also has a Sony e-reader, but as we're Amazon Prime members, she probably would read on the Fire, despite the lack of e-ink.

I guess there's no perfect device for anyone at this point... and certainly no one "right" device for the masses.

Yesterday at work, someone I know with a Kindle Fire though it'd be nice to have her's password protected, so she gave it to her retired husband to figure out and put a password in it. Which he did, but then couldn't remember exactly what it was.

So she called her son, and he said the only way to use it now without a password is to reset the entire thing back to the way it was when she bought it. With absolutely nothing on it. Which she did. Painful lesson somewhere in there.

All her books will still be available. She will just need to re-download if it didn't happen automatically. Amazon keeps a backup of everything. Well technically, it is actually more like they keep track of what you own. It would make not sense for them to backup the same book thousands of times for each individual users.

Anything else she added will still need to be manually added again of course, but at least the books have been made simple. Alleviates the fear that if you drop your reader in a puddle that you lose your library.

Thanks, I'll tell her that.

Sadly, that's what I've been using my Fire for mostly. I hadn't even played the game until recently. I still want to use it as a music player, but they just don't have a music player app available that's what I'm looking for.

You can tell I'm a newbie with Android apps. I finally looked a little deeper into PowerAMP and found I browse to their website on the Kindle Fire and install it from there by simply allowing non-marketplace apps. It seems to be working just fine.

It's still not quite the ideal portable music player I want to take to work with me, but it's not bad. I bought a neoprene sleeve by BUILT for it, and an AmazonBasics stylus. I'm using a BookGem book holder to keep it in place, though it only works in landscape orientation because of where I need to plug in the audio cable. But yeah, the pair of black M3 v3s that I bought a while ago ended up at work. They're powered by an AudioSource AMP-100, so this is what I hook my music players to when I'm there. It's nice working in a storeroom during the evening shift. I get to blast my music after day shift leaves at 4:30.

I suppose the only thing the Kindle Fire needs is expandable storage to do what I want it to.

Speaking of e-readers, one advantage is being able to get classics and 'out of copy write' books for free (or something close too it.) My first Kindle purchase was the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes for 99 cents.

Most recently, this helped clear up a mystery for me. Excuse the long story.

Recently quoted from one of the recent movie promos "John Carter, beloved hero of millions of Sci Fi Fans......"

As geeky as I am, how was it that I never heard of John Carter and his Martian adventures? Well Wiki tells me that it is because the books were written in and after 1911 but here is the kicker, it was written by none other than Edgar Rice Burroughs! [Insert Carol Burnette's Tarzan yell here."]

Now I was a bit intrigued so then I wondered if the books would be old enough that they fall into the free (ok, kinda free) category for e-readers. They were, so I donwloaded the 5 story, John Carter of Mars Collection for 99 cents.

I just finished the first story. It's a bit quirky, as one would expect from Sci-fi imaginings from a writer in early 1900 but it's actually pretty enjoyable. If you enjoy sci-fi written before modern times (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jonothan Swift, The Last Man, etc." then it is definitely worth your single dollar.

I have no idea if the movie will be any good, but I'm a bit more intrigued now.

Short version of above.....
E-Readers are an excellent way to explore some classics you might not otherwise invest in.

my wife does a lot of reading, and the books are piling up...she is thinking about a Kindle Fire, what do you all think?

If she does a 'lot' of reading, as you have mentioned she does, I would suggest an e-ink model. It won't have the cool factor of the Fire which is more like a tablet PC but it will be a lot easier on the eyes than a backlit LCD screen.

E-ink is pretty much identical to real paper as far as the eyes are concerned. LCD is fine for light reading but not as easy on the eyes for longer durations. Some people say it doesn't bother them but there has to be a relative difference, even if you are lucky enough not to notice it.

I agree with Murph. If reading is the reason for getting a Kindle, go with E Ink.

Yup, for straight reading, get the e-ink version of the Kindles. If you want one to use 'sometimes' as a tablet, the Fire is fine. If you want a tablet, iPad.

If you have Amazon Prime, you can use the Kindle with the Lending Library for free. Also, you can check w/ your local library for digital titles. Many libraries now allow you to check out digital titles to download/read directly on your Kindle. Works on both my regular, Kindle 2G and Kindle Fire.

I disagree with Andrew but agree with Charles and oldschoolboarder.

I'm pretty sure my friend mentioned John Carter to me a long time ago, but yeah, millions might be a stretch. I'm looking forward to the movie based solely on the guy playing John Carter. Taylor Kitsch was excellent as Tim Riggins in the series, Friday Night Lights. Of course, just about everyone in that show was excellent. I'm glad to see him getting work, so here's hoping the writing and directing are up to snuff.

I'll definitely have to get that 5 story collection. Thanks for the heads-up!

Not to mention that my wife and both daughters drool over the guy.....I was always torn between Lila and Tara.

My wife is anti e-reader. She cites things like the tactile experience with the book and the smell of a book. We did get our sister-in-law an ereader (E-ink) for Christmas. A small bonus is you can extend the gift opportunities by purchasing a light or a cover with light....just sayin'

I disagree with Cam but agree with...............
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OK, I got nuthin. Well played!

Went into techno spasm when my wife expressed an interest in an eReader for Christmas. Followed this path.

Kindle (e-ink). Functional, inexpensive (relatively 79-189), can read outside AND the size is right. One trick pony that doesn't do much else. Probably need a reading light in low light situations. Apps / internet - fuggedaboudid.

Kindle Fire / Nook Color. Color, LCD. The size is right. More expensive (199-249) and absolutely slanted to being an Amazon or B&N media acquisition machine. Limited apps and internet (see the acquisition comment). No thanks.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus. LCD, the right size. More expensive (349) Does all the eReader stuff and can use ALL of the eReader apps. Does APPS and internet as a fully functional tablet. Wi-fi, Bluetooth and GPS. Mobile, portable, great screen, allows for addition of SD card storage, can use as music player, uniformly terrific user reviews. Very fast. OH YEAH - we have a winner.

Love this thing. Bought it online from Costco to take advantage of a 90 day return privilege (won't be using) and they double the warranty on electronics/computers. The wife is absolutely thrilled too and that always makes life more palatable.

As far as eye strain, that's solvable by using the settings in the various ereader apps to change from black type on bright white screen to either sepia on tan or reversing to an e-ink like white type on black background.

This sight should grow to prove interesting for some.

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