Time to start dropping Christmas hints

[Warren]

A discussion of ebook readers would seem to be in order.
I would be interested to hear which devices people prefer and why.
Strictly as e-book readers.

[terpkristin]

I have never played with any of the Nooks, Kobo, or Sony e-readers. I bought my Kindle (2nd generation) on a whim in March, 2009. At the time, I had found myself with a little bit of unexpected "extra" money and was getting ready to spend 3 months on work travel. I have never regretted the purchase.

I like the 3G making it possible for me to buy new books virtually anywhere, anytime. I guess that newer versions of the Kindle don't ALL have 3G (and they're cheaper if you get it without), but the 3G was a fantastic feature when I was on work travel. I didn't have any wi-fi and didn't have my personal computer with me, so it was the only way I could buy books.

I like that Amazon quite often does special deals on Kindle books. The Kindle Daily Deal has had quite a few books I was interested in and ended up purchasing (The Heroes and MetaGame are two recent books I bought, for example; some people like Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell which was also a recent deal). I also like that there are a lot of public domain books available through Amazon for the Kindle for free (such as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes).

I like that there are Kindle apps for phones, handheld media devices (such as iPod Touch), and computers so that I can read my Kindle books even if I don't have my Kindle with me, like when I am waiting in line at the grocery store.

I like that Amazon is finally starting to work with libraries for Overdrive sharing. I also like that they're allowing Prime members to "borrow" some books directly from them. I like that I can grab books from various online sources or in PDF format and put them on my Kindle, too.

Admittedly, none of these things is exclusive to the Kindle. The Nook, as far as I know, does all of these things, too. Some it might do better. But when I got my 2nd gen Kindle, it was the only thing out there and boy did it work well. It still works really well, too. But now I have a Kindle Fire to go with...and I'm finding I'm doing most of my reading on it.

I'm really happy with both of my Kindles. And my Kindle iPhone app.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

At the end of the day, I don't just want an eReader. I love my iPad2!

[terpkristin]

Jenny wrote: "At the end of the day, I don't just want an eReader. I love my iPad2!"

Though I love my Kindle Fire, I will say, I really really really really love the battery life of the 2nd gen Kindle/e-ink devices in general. :)

[Micah]

I am a converted fan of E-ink readers. I think I even posted a thread on here at one point wondering what the heck everybody loved about them. But last Christmas I bought my wife a 1st generation Nook reader and finally saw what all the fuss was about.

I think that which E-ink device to go with at this point is just a matter of which eco-system you would prefer. Amazon is locked down with DRM and no e-pub support (that I know of). but they have a better selection and make it really easy to find the content that you want.
Barnes & Noble's Nook is a great device. But the prices on the E-Books are a little higher than Amazon sometimes and its not quite as easy to get books. But they do offer the actual retail space that Amazon cannot if you have one by you. You can take your Nook into the store and read a lot of their e-books for free while you are there.

The Nook and Kindle E-ink devices seem to be almost identical in form and functionality for now. This last generation really saw the E-reader mature I think.

That said I am dropping hints on my wife hoping she will pick me up one of the new Nook Touches for Christmas this year. I really want one.

[Andrew]

Ok Warren, had to pop into your profile to see where in the world you resided as this might have had a bearing on you selection. There is really a handful of devices I personally feel are worth a look. These are;

- Kindle (4/2011)
- Kindle Touch
- B&N Simple Touch
- Kobo Touch
- SONY T1

There is a nice matrix of devices here: http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-boo...

All are very similar in being touch (except for the Kindle 4). All have the same Pearl eInk displays. Functionally a lot of the differences are in nuances of interface and the associated ecosystem as others said. Some also do have physical buttons which you may or may not prefer.

Kindle is the most locked down in not officially supporting ePubs. There are ways around it, but it requires some work (striping DRM, converting files). Whisper sync works rather well, and if you wish to read on other devices using their apps it is nice to have. They also from all reports have the best book selection and seem to have nice pricing. As to the two new devices the only negative I have is the button placement at the bottom which I think I'd hit a lot by mistake. The Touch model does have audio, and I believe support audible audiobooks which might be a pro for you.

B&N is hard for me to comment on as they don't sell outside the US, so someone else will be able to give more insight. As devices go they support the biggest selection of ebooks through their own ePubs (with B&N DRM), but also ePubs that use Adobe's standard DRM (ADE). This means you can get content from other estores should you wish. The device looks nice, has back/forward buttons in addition to touch which some people really like. I have heard some people not liking the interface as much as some other devices, but there was a major update recently so this could be better. If I was in the US I'd probably lean towards this eReader. Just seems nice design and features for the price.

Kobo isn't a bad option (a bit of an underdog) in being similar to B&N in supporting their own Kobo ePubs and ePubs in general (this is the eReader I have). They have a store with a reasonable selection and pricing though from what I can tell B&N and Amazon offer more. Their apps for other devices are decent and like Kindle/B&N you can sync Kobobooks between. Their device has gone through a lot of firmware refreshes and is pretty nice now, having some cool little features like loading your own fonts. That said there have been a few rumblings that CS could be better. One nicety though is that books you buy through them are also offered to you with the standard Adobe epub DRM such that you can take your purchases and use them on other devices that support this - Nook, SONY..etc.

SONY is still a favourite with long time eReader lovers. Their latest device the T1 is rather nice, being reasonably priced as SONY's go. I've only had limited time with it but the interface seemed nice, and its really light to hold (lightest out of all the eReaders I believe). In the US they have their own store (which I can't comment on, not being in the US). They have also aligned with Google Books such that I believe you can purchase from the device directly. Beyond this it supports the standard Adobe DRM epubs that most estores sell. Well worth a look.

All these ereaders when functioning are pretty good. A lot of it comes down to personal preference - physical buttons, epubs or not, SD slots to expand memory or not, available selection of ebooks and pricing (jump on the store and compare some books you might want), or price of device. I will say that none of them are great for .pdf's (even though they support) and that ebooks that you need to jump around a lot in are just better on tablets or computers so do keep that in mind. Also if you plan on taking a lot of notes while reading the old Kindle 3/Keyboard might even be worth a look, and the Kindle 4 would be a pass as it is clunky for text input.

[Walter]

I've got my Kindle. What I want rhymes with Fred Fepic.

[David]

I love my Nook simple touch there was a recent software update after which it responds faster. The Biggest plus is the epub support which if you combine it with the Caliber software (free) make it easy to put just about any thing on it. When I am reading a series I just make a list and import it into the library and now I have the order in which to read it. Its got some rubber buttons for turning the page which are good if you are eating and don't want to get the screen dirty.

[Matthew]

David wrote: "I love my Nook simple touch there was a recent software update after which it responds faster. The Biggest plus is the epub support which if you combine it with the Caliber software (free) make it ..."

I'm in David's camp. I have a Nook simple touch and love it. When I was deciding, it was between Kindle and Nook and I went with Nook because of its epub support.

The one thing I don't like about it, though, is that you can't delete books you've uploaded ('side loaded') directly: you have to connect it again and delete it via your computer.

[Walter]

I actually do have an eBook reader question. I bought the newest Kindle (keyboard, 3G) at Target last night because it was $85 as opposed to the normal $140. I currently have a second generation Kindle. Do you think it's worth the upgrade? It's smaller, lighter, and faster (I'd assume). Anybody in the same boat?

[Dale]

I swore id never get an ebook, but i have just got the New Kindle ( non -keyboard )..........i love it!!

Im running out of room for my book collection ( i havent had chance to put it up on goodreads yet, also mh GF's collection ofr Xmen comics is taking up room ) so decided to go with a kindle.

I was very surprised with it, fairly easy to use and the experimental web browser was kinda cool, reds nicely and the screen change is not an issue as i thought it maybe, its very light and you can read it in direct sunlight.

I use amazon alot to get books anyway as im always in work so i can get them shipped out to my sisters but with my kindle i have learnt a little trick.

If you have an Android phone that has the wifi hotspot on then you can use the phones 3g connection by hooking up your e-reader to it. Sould work on all wifi readers. who needs the big expensive kindle!!

[Andrew]

Walter wrote: "I actually do have an eBook reader question. I bought the newest Kindle (keyboard, 3G) at Target last night because it was $85 as opposed to the normal $140. I currently have a second generation Ki..."

*confused* Sorry, your asking if you should get the Kindle 3/Keyboard after you've already bought it?

The Kindle 3 (what they call Keyboard now) is faster than the Kindle 2, and has a better screen. It has the Pearl variant verse the older Vizplex in the Kindle 2. So yeah personally I think it's an ok upgrade for $85 for the better screen alone.

[Walter]

*confused* Sorry, your asking if you should get the Kindle 3/Keyboard after you've already bought it?

Sorry. Yeah, I bought it at the sale price knowing that I could return it if need be. Does the new screen get rid of the glare problem on the 2G?

[Andrew]

Walter wrote: "*confused* Sorry, your asking if you should get the Kindle 3/Keyboard after you've already bought it?

Sorry. Yeah, I bought it at the sale price knowing that I could return it if need be. Does the..."

Never had a Kindle 2 so don't know. Never heard of any glare issues? I have a one of the Pearl eInk screens in my eReader and don't get have any glare issues so maybe that indirectly answers your question?

[Walter]

Andrew wrote: "Walter wrote: "*confused* Sorry, your asking if you should get the Kindle 3/Keyboard after you've already bought it?

Sorry. Yeah, I bought it at the sale price knowing that I could return it if ne..."

Cool! Thanks!

[Warren]

Thank you for the reviews.
Particularly those that were specific about the pluses and minus.
Deciding between them is a challenge.
Any of the tablets will be an
improvement over reading on a phone.

[Tamahome]

It was Jenny's idea to post our latest 'new releases' episode in time for xmas buyers. If anything you can use those last 3 links in the notes to find books to read:

http://www.sffaudio.com/?p=34444

[Chad]

The selling point for me on the nook was its support for e-pub. It's a little clunky, but I try to purchase e-books from a local bookstore retailer that offers e-books through google books. The clunky part is downloading them into e-pub and then importing it into Calibre and then loading it onto the nook but I love being able to support a local book store.

[Andrew]

@Chad. Interesting. Is this through an estore, or do you literally go into the store and purchase them there? I could see a future with books stores having special limited edition/collectors books while offering ebooks for the masses.

[Chad]

@Andrew I actually purchase them right from the store. Not sure how I ended up there, but I found a list at indie books (http://www.indiebound.org/google-ebooks) and then picked one for my state. The receipt comes right from the bookstore. I did notice that they didn't have pre-orders on a ebook that I wanted, but not sure if that was a google books issue or a bookstore issue.

[Warren]

One final question.
Physical buttons vs touch screen.
Anyone regret having selected one form over the other?

[Andrew]

Warren wrote: "On final question.
Physical buttons vs touch screen.
Anyone regret having selected one form over the other?"

Well considering my first eInk eReader didn't have buttons (Kobo Touch) I'm not missing them no, touch works pretty well for me. I know some people who have been using the Kindles for years find the transition harder/don't like it.

[Chad]

The nook touch comes with touch screen and buttons. I don't think I've used the buttons yet. I find it easier to touch the screen with the touch being very responsive.

[Micah]

Warren wrote: "One final question.
Physical buttons vs touch screen.
Anyone regret having selected one form over the other?"

The only thing that I have noticed (on store models mind you) is that the touch on the Kindle responds a little slower than the touch on the Nook. And the Kindle's button model responded faster than either of the touch models. Once again that was on in store models though.

[Sam]

I bought a Kindle Fire for my wife on out anniversary. My jealous side got the best of me, and I received mine in the mail yesterday. Best gift to myself… ever.

[Tora]

I don't have a touch screen ebook reader, but I have a regular Kindle and the Kindle app on my iPod Touch. I love the iPod, but I have to say that there are times when I wish it had buttons. My hands get really dry in the winter, and to combat that, I use hand lotion, which really makes a mess of the touch screen, whereas it doesn't really effect the Kindle buttons much. And just yesterday as I was waiting outdoors at a bus stop, I was *really* wishing there was a way to turn the pages on the Kindle app without using the touch screen, which required taking off my mittens. (They do now make gloves that work with touch screens, but gloves don't keep my hands warm the way mittens do, so...) I *can* operate the Kindle buttons with my mittens on. So overall I prefer buttons.

[Andrew]

@Tora: The touch eInk readers are IR touch-screens (why they have a black border around the screen) verse the capacitive ones on smartphones/tablets (ipads) which means you don't need flesh touching the screen to use them. A finger in a normal (not one of those special) gloves should still work fine, or you can use the end of a pen/stylus if you wish. Heck a stick would work :). Obviously a mitten would be awkward but would also work (I'd probably just use my thumb wrapped around). I can't imagine it is much easier for the buttons. I guess the best way to tell would be take some mittens into a store and try one out.

Anyway none of these issues affect me living downunder where our winters are probably a spring day compared to some parts of the world.

[Tora]

@Andrew Thanks, that's good to know! What a shame iPods/iPhones don't work that way.