Indian Readers discussion
E Books and E Readers
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All e-reader related queries...
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Ahtims
(last edited Oct 11, 2011 09:17AM)
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Oct 11, 2011 09:16AM
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While I can understand your sentiments it's just bad that they breached the contract Don't promise when you dont wanna deliver .. Just leaves a bad taste and spoils the joy of buying a new toy :)
Flipkart is indeed coming into the eBooks business. http://www.medianama.com/2011/10/223-...I don't think that anyone can get the cost of an eBook correctly and ultimately all books would be free labeled with unwanted but necessary ads.
That Infibeam's pi square looks horrible, and it's worth 10k, insane i'd say. In 10k I can order a kindle from US complete with shipping and customs. Who decides the pricing for these guys?
Mod
Smitha, it'd be okay if it was worth 3,000. Like I said, if I can order a Kindle from US for around 8,000 why would I ever consider Infibeam worth 10,000.
Mod
hey guys i am planning to sell my sony PRS 505 which i got from UK. the battery life is superb and leather cover included. Any one in and around chennai interested, please PM me..
Reason for selling? Maybe u shud put this up in a separate thread...
planning to get a tablet..looking for quick sale..anyone interested?
Mod
Galaxy y is a mobile, no? You read on that?
Mod
My old HTC conked out after just 2 years of moderate usage, and I wanted something similar but less costly.
Congrats Colonel.. Put up a review of it after a week.. :)
Yes yes .. please put up reviews on all 3-- My kindle is taking its last breaths I am on the lookout for a good reader
Mod
I wish E Readers had a longer life.
I have 3 - but 2 are out of order(after a measly 18 months) and I am balking to get those repaired as I think the charges will be too high.
Only the latest one is working now - Infibeam Pi2 touch screen. (touch wood). I wish it 'lives' for atleast another 5 years or so.
@Claussius, how long your Kindle survived?
I got it in 2009 end so 2 years .. The only satisfaction I have is that I put it to good use But 2 years is just not long enough
I am waiting for kindle fire now
Claussius, Kindle fire is not an e-reader in the sense it doesn't have the e-ink screen. It has the same screen as other tablets/mobile phones which isn't tailor made for 'reading'
Is it?? I thought it would serve the duel purpose of a tab and a readerSo is there no good E-reader on the block?
One of our members, Srivats, yday enlightened me to the availability of Special edition Kindle prices starting from as low as $79 wi-fi model.The catch is that it shows up some sponsored ADs on the home screen, but never when READING a book! Read more about this device here:
http://gadgetizor.com/kindle-special-...
An e-reader for less than 5k INR, now that sounds cool!
Yep, the 79$ is the Kindle Wi-fi. There is also a Kindle Touch at $139, the special offers is at $99. It's releasing somewhere in November. The special offers is only for sale in US. The best way to do is to get someone in US to buy for you. Again, the Kindle Fire is US only. Even though it's android, the OS is not open. You can't read epub books inside it. Plus, the cloud reader is not open to outside US. I'm not sure how it affects the reading though.I just bought Sony PRS-T1 (shipped it). I liked it way better than Kindle (looks) and also because I really don't want to get locked in to Amazon's ecosystem. I'm always on ebooks now and tricking Kobo to buy from outside US is much easier than tricking Amazon.
$79 Kindle won't ship to India. They are shipping $109 version, with import duty and shipping charges, it comes to $166.
Vi, how much did the PRS-T1 cost you with shipping and everything?
well, am not talking abt shipping to India. It's definitely worth it, if we can get someone to get it from there for us!And i think it won't come to India at all as the ADs are all relevant to the American market/public
Mod
I have never used Indiaplaza, are they reliable enough to order this Kindle? How many days do they usually take?
Smitha wrote: "then why is kindle being advertised in indiaplaza for Rs. 8000 or something? Is it a different version?"I don't see the kindle in indiaplaza. But I checked out Shopyourworld. The special offers supposedly after shipping and everything comes to around 8K. But I'm still not sure if amazon will ship to India or anywhere else.
Kushal wrote: "Vi, how much did the PRS-T1 cost you with shipping and everything?"I'm living in Singapore - so shipping for me is much cheaper than shipping to India. Plus I had a few coupons - it all came to around 155 USD. (149 USD + shipping)
I just went through Shopyourworld again - Man, the prices are expensive. 99 USD is around 5K but they charge 7.3K and this doesn't include customs etc. Bah, I'd advise against buying from them.Kushal, you do know that Kindle Wi-Fi is not touchscreen right? I'd actually go with K3 or Kindle Keyboard - since atleast you can search using the keyboard - but it is 20$ extra for the special offers.
Aacharya Didn't wrote: "well, am not talking abt shipping to India. It's definitely worth it, if we can get someone to get it from there for us!And i think it won't come to India at all as the ADs are all relevant to th..."
I agree - It'll be dead cheap (really, 5K!) if we have someone getting it from the US
I am unknown to the world of e-readers. I am prejudiced about the fact that it kills the joy of reading. Should I continue to believe so or otherwise??
Mod
Okay, I sometimes don't get it.. How does e-readers kill the joy of reading? Reading is not just about the medium, it's about the content. And the content is still the same. Why are you so prejudiced?
Mod
with ebooks -
storage and carrying is better, dictionary referral is better.
You can change fonts and sizes easily. But the eink screen,
however much it may be better than backlit screen is still not as soothing to eyes as paper and print. I have had the unfortunate experience of my ereaders conking off within 14-18 months of purchase, without any trauma or mishandling. So even though E readers claim that over all cost is less, I dont agree. If you can afford to replace ereaders every couple of years, its not a problem, but for people who are not as fortunate enough, its just money gone into the drain
Repairs cost about 1/3-1/2 of the original cost of the EReader and you go by the philosophy that better buy a new one rather than get the old one repaired every now and then.
with paperbacks - you can smell, flip through, read the blurbs, go back again and again, much easier than ebooks. These are softer and cuddly. There is no problem of the battery giving up, and if you lose it, its only one book you've lost which can be easily replaced.
As regarding content, in ebooks, especially the public domain ones available for free, sometimes there is no free flow and the words get jumbled, pages are missing (though this sometimes happens with paperbacks too)
I love my ereaders too, but not my ebooks (I cant explain it much better)- I erase my ebooks without compunction once I read them, provided these are stored somewhere in the computer
Another thing is that I dont get the mental satisfaction and happiness looking at those gadgets, which I get while lovingly glancing my vast bookshelves, removing a title here and there, dusting the book, or just smelling it, or going through random pages and reliving when and where I bought those books.
Another joyful thing I do when I get a paperback or hardcover is smell it againg, write my name and address with a flourish and add the circumstances and place where it was bought from, and with an equal flourish at the end of the book I scribble the date which I completed the book (though this is a practice which I have recently started)
(by now I must have established myself as a complete loonie :D)
Sorry Smitha, I was not asking you, I was asking Parikhit.In a way, I agree with all your points except for the E-readers going boink - The oldest I have is over 13 months old and ***touch wood*** so far, it is working very well.
The one thing I have against E-readers and ebooks are the geo restriction. Though I don't buy all the books I read, I do buy some and for all those I buy, I have to go through hoops. Some others I can get at my public library here but only those that are not geo-restricted. In those case, I can use bookdepository to buy (free shipping!!)
Somehow, the mental satisfaction from seeing my bookshelves has transferred to GR. I look at the books I've read - many out of my comfort zone (credit goes to GR) and the number of books, who recommended, how I came across - and I feel that satisfaction. I don't know if it will beat the physical, because truth be told, I never had the chance to create a physical library. I jumped into the ebooks and I really love the convenience of it. This almost beats out the physical experience. That and also the fact that I'm a gadget freak.
I wouldn't say you are prejudiced. You obviously have experienced both sides and you are able to appreciate the different aspects of both. I just wanted to hear Parikhit's view.
For one I have never used an E-reader yet and it would only be illogical if I, albeit, present my opinions of not 'liking' one. Honestly, I would very frankly proclaim that technology and I are an impossible duo (as of now). E-readers are unexplored territory to me. However, I have recenly devoted free time at office to E-books. The experience has not been charming nor has it been disastrous. I could not agree more that it is content that absolutely matters and not the medium. In my case, I re-read lines that have profoundly touched me and scrolling over an E-book or a mouse click for forward or back annoy me. And that becomes the killjoy. And physically storing books gives me greater joy, though with physical space reducing and virtual increasing E-books would be a better option.As Smitha mentioned that you can cuddle books, smell the newness in them or the mustiness and browing in old books, I second that. Moreover some old books have the names of previous owners with a writing that exudes nostalgia and grandeur. I miss these finer details in E-books and E-readers. Again, I tend to sleep off, many a times, with books lying on my bosom which later suffer the pangs of my weight. I would not want to choke my E-reader, if I eventually own one, to an untimely death. (A tragic fate that my ear-phones have been through)
Mod
@ Parikhit, I forgot about the point of going to sleep with books beside me - especially in the afternoons; now with E Readers I am extra cautious - when I am at the point of drifting off, I quickly place my E Reader somewhere safe.
I think this isn't a question that can be easily answered. I have been using a Kindle for the last 2 years. Does that mean i dont buy paperbacks anymore -- Nope. I do, and thanks to flipkart even more compulsive. However with the space constraint, Kindle is a like a God sent. Even more so when I am travelling. I needed atleast 3-4 books for a vacation and well Kindle made it really really convenient.
So I like to believe it expanded my base and the number of books I read.
Smitha you are absolutely correct -- the excitement of a new book, the smell, the feel, all of it is a part of the experience and NEVER EVER will I get that excited when an ebook gets uploaded.
So each mode serves a purpose and on its own isn't sufficient
Am unable to make my choice from among the current offerings:Kindle Special Wi-Fi: Looks great, especially at $79. But not supporting epub is a big turn-off. Most ebooks i have are of the .epub and .pdf formats. Though conversion tools are available, am skeptical as to the quality of conversion from epub to the amazon format (yeah, i know Claussius, u assured me the conversion works fine - call me old-fashioned, or just plain lazy!)
Nook 1st edition Wi-Fi: Looks stunning, at $89. Supports epub. But weighs heavier than kindle, is larger than kindle. Nook 2nd edition looks even better
Looking at Kindle's 'special edition' am assuming Nook also will come out with a similar strategy with it's 2nd generation device. In that case Nook would make better sense to me. Maybe i should just wait for another 6 months and i hope meanwhile, Amazon is in no hurry to take those 'specials' off the shelf.
Kindle is like Maruti here where-as Nook represents my good old Fiat :P
I will Reiterate -- the Conversion works :)) You cannot ignore its power :-pLaziness excuse also doesnt work coz it really isn't that cumbersome
After much thought i think I will buy another kindle itself, maybe the Kindle touch when it releases in November.
But it looks so boring yaar, in that dull slate gray kinda color, while Nook looks so live and vibrant in it's whitish shades.Maybe in 6 months time if Kindle 're-designs' and releases another 'special' edition with epub support, i will run out of excuses :P
I'm with Claussius on this. Conversion from epub to mobi works with Calibre very well. Period. Nothing more to add. The major reason I didn't buy Kindle was that I didn't like its looks. That and its organization sucked. Sony is better at both.The one advantage of Nook is it can open all EPUB DRM including it's own. The disadvantage is the shelving. I heard that all side-loaded books are given second preference. Check out mobileread forums for more details.
If you don't have calibre, go, go download first =P
Smitha wrote: "@Vi - its only 13 months - wait till 18 months pass (just joking - dont blame me if your E Reader conks out in near future :D)@ Parikhit, I forgot about the point of going to sleep with books besi..."
Smitha, I hope not!
Parikhit, I agree with you on the sleeping portion as well. Oh well, each has its own advantage and disadvantage.
