Discussion on:

Ready to ditch paper? Here are the top 10 e-readers

Original post:
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/hiner/?p=6240

Aside from the fact I carry my portable anyway, the choice of books is sadly limited, to populist selections.
Buying another gadget so I have another way of reading yet another book about vampires is not to my taste...

When you don't know what you are talking about you should stay out of the discussion.

How else is one going to learn if not by asking? Regardless, the article asked for opinions; it didn't specify that they has to be positive or informed.

I'm in the market for a device, and I'm leaning towards the B&N Nook because the Kindle still allows Amazon to reach in and remove books. Am I incorrect? Thoughts apreciated.

What I'd like to see is an E-reader with the grey flat background on a PC. For me, the white background on the PC is what wears on my eyes. I haven't been able to find any settings for that on the PC based versions. You didn't mention anything about having any open sourced versions on the ereaders. The Nook can connect to my library for renting books.

You can view black text on a fairly innocuous sepia background, or switch to white text on black background, if that's more comforatable.

Kindle for PC allows you to choose one of three background colors (white, sepia, black), alter font sizes and adjust brightness, among other things. If you use Firefox and add-on called epub reader also allows you to fine-tune the viewing, though it's not as sophisticated as Kindle for PC. Other PC-based readers can do this as well, but these are the two that come most easily to mind.

I am an avid reader. I have owned the Kindle 1, 2 and just got the latest generation. I have over 150 books on my Kindle right now, and that's 150 books I don't have to find room for at home. I love the portability and the immediate delivery of new books. The Kindle is more convenient to read than a paper book (stays open on it's own next to my plate at lunch, and the bookmark never falls out).

That said, I wouldn't choose it for technical books, or anything with illustrations. For those, I really want the old-fashioned, dead-trees kind of book. I find it much easier to mark important sections and then find them again on paper pages. Yes, you can mark and annotate an e-book, but I find it cumbersome to do and less convenient to find later. So, I stick with paper books for reference, and e-books for novels.

Many of the PC-based readers handle books that are more than plain text fine. Since most of what you have is probably Amazon's proprietary format, the Kindle for PC allows you to adjust page width, making plenty of room for graphics, tables, etc. Nookstudy handles such things even better, but won't read Amazon's format.

been packing around something to read ebooks for several years now. one of the simplest and cheapest are the old HP Jornadas. you have to load your own books and they don't connect to the stores and all that, but i don't mind. will never be able to use an e-ink reader, though - they push the ability to read in bright light; i need to be able to read in very low light (work related), sometimes total darkness (home related), so a phone, even my old blackberry, is the way to go.

I use a booklight with my Kindle for the rare times I need to read in the dark...just as I would have used a booklight if I needed to read a paper book in low light or darkness.

I've found looking into a backlit screen too much or too late at night does nothing for my ability to fall asleep. The eInk reader is the better solution for me.

I found that an issue with a book light built into the case for my Sony Touch PRS-600 in our bedroom with the lights out. Luckily my wife will normally sleep through that once she gets to sleep. But I also found positioning the light to shine on all the text without glare/reflection back into my eyes to be tricky.

Using the night mode setting (light text, dark background) available with most reader software makes it much easier for me to read self-lit screen device (now Archos 5 Internet Tablet) in the dark without those issues, and it is lighter than the Sony, so less hand strain (carpal tunnel issues). Does not seem to be much eyestrain, but I cannot read for long in those circumstances without falling asleep anyway ;-}

I went a different route all together
picked up a used pocket pc on ebay and used free Microsoft reader software. Obviously not e-ink but works fine and at less then 1/3rd the cost with VGA and a whole bunch more capabilities works just fine for me.

I don't know how you can logically compare tablet devices and e-books!! I'm a Kindle 1 & 3 owner and there's no way I want to spend a lot of time leisurely reading on an lcd screen. The newest Kindle e-ink screen is pretty much a relaxing read after a day at the computer. And I can read it in the sun, and I can sit on the porch at night with the new cover with integrated light. Not to mention that I don't have to recharge except every couple of weeks.

Again, apples and oranges.

Use your Kindle when it's the best option, old fashioned books when they're what you want.

Smartphones are cool gadgets, but they don't belong in a review of e-readers. Different beasts for different purposes.

I'm prepared to believe that SOME smartphones aren't good ereaders, but there are plenty that do the job very nicely. That's the whole point of a smartphone...it's much, much more than just a phone. It sounds like you're stuck in the era when a phone was nothing more than a phone. The world has moved on.

As a user of a Droid X, I'm aware of what smartphones can do. Of course you can read on your phone. I just think that to merit being designated an e-reader, a device must be optimized for serious reading, so that reading on it is as comfortable as reading a book.

iphones, ipad, kindle: I've used all three for reading books and newspapers.

Of the three, I actually use the iphone most for reading--surprisingly. That's because its always with me and I can read it standing up on a crowded bus, subway, or train. Or just pull it out of my pocket at the doctor's or dentist's office. So I would definitely include it in a list of book readers. Having said that, it's not a great reading experience--particularly for books--because the small size requires lots of page turning; there is just not enough space for many words on the screen.

The ipad is a wonderful book reader...absolutely stunning images. Newspapers look like newspapers, books look like books, even with a very cool page turning image that shows the paper slightly curling. But its the least used because of its size. I really can't use it unless I'm sitting down and only in dimly lit rooms because of the reflections on the highly polished screen.

Finally, the kindle. Great size and weight--it can be used standing up and it's easier to carry than an ipad. But books don't feel like books, even if it has a beautiful contrasted image. Although page turning is fast, it's merely a change of screen. Also, you need light to see the image. Amazon has a lot of titles, but very few in foreign languages except for the classics--there are few modern French authors, for example (we live in Paris now). Unfortunately, newspapers are hopeless on the kindle--even the iphone is better--because the kindle doesn't make it easy to navigating between articles within sections. Yes, you can pick a section of the newspaper easily, but once there it is a tedious process to go to a particular article, lots of page turning.

Bottom line: I'm still waiting for the more perfect reader. If Apple comes up with a 6 or 7 inch ipad, I'll wait in line all night to be the first one in the store to buy one. So, for now, I'll use my kindle strictly for novels, use my iphone for crowded public transportation or inside waiting rooms, and save the ipad for moments when I can sit down in a dimly lit room or airplane and just enjoy the reading experience.

A different opinion: I love my Android's Kindle app -- it means that anytime I have a few minutes free I can read one of my books -- never know when I'll be stuck waiting somewhere for an appointment and I always have my phone, but wouldn't necessarily always carry around an e-reader. Also, it saved me the entire price of an e-reader...

but a light on details for me. At best the article provides a list of readers for me to research further.

I would have appreciated at least 2 additions to the article. First, links to the main manufacturer/vendor of each device. Second, a list of (common) file formats each device supports. I understand some of the open devices allow installation of various readers, but at least a partial list would be helpful.

After sitting in front of a laptop screen all day, I could never read a book on the same kind of screen. An iPad would kill my old eyes, backlit or not.

The Kindle is great, small, portable, but the size is just too small for those same old eyes. Yes, I can increase the font size, but who wants to press down that often?

My Kindle DX is perfect. More expensive than Kindle, but costs less than the iPad, and is lighter. It is not just a niche textbook reader. I can see the text without eyestrain, and without page-downing as often (I like to make up words...).

I agree, but I still have the original Kindle, going on three years now. I also use the Kindle for the PC but only on my very large monitor at home, when I'm sitting in my recliner and being lazy.
I am planning to get the 3G Kindle come Xmas as a gift to myself, and because I think they may be reduced in price by then and possibly available in 4G. Since I read a lot (and am a published author too) I like the idea of being able to drag-n-drop quotes to facebook and twitter. But maybe I'd get the DX if I ever got a chance to see it in action.

As for pressing next-page a lot, not a big deal for me, as I have 'trained' both thumbs to do that alternately (I think the newer kindles don't have the next-page clicker on both sides, but am not sure. Mine does.)

At the time, the Kobo was the lowest priced device with local availability and support.

I've since tried using an iPad as a ebook reader since but heavier and harder to read in bright lighting. Colour is nice but most of the books I read only have the cover in colour so not a big deal to me.

The Kobo has the usual issues of an eInk device -- slow display refresh, for one. They did work around the ghosting issue but again the flash black/white slows down the page refresh. On the plus side, the battery life is pretty decent and having 1000 books in a small package is very nice.

I use my computer to charge the Kobo and I update my library at the same time so the lack of WiFi and/or 3G is not issue. Same lack also means that no-one can recall books as Amazon has done with their Kindles. You win some, you lose some.

The UK's Consumer Association (www.which.co.uk) compared hardware e-readers and software readers in August 2010. Surprisingly perhaps Stanza that runs on PC, iPhone and iPod platforms (amongst others) performed almost as well as the best dedicated e-reader hardware scoring 68 compared to the leaders Amazon Kindle and Sony Touch PRS-600 scoring 72; the scores based 25% on features and 75% on Ease of use. As a PC and iPod user I find this free reader ideal as I can read on either PC or iPod; PC sitting down, and iPod in bed, on bus, train, taxi, loo (comfort room for US) passenger in car or waiting for concert / theatre to start.

I ordered a Kindle from Amazon.co.uk when the newest one was advertised, however, it took ages to come and in the end I cancelled the order.

This was due to the fact that I wanted an eReader to carry my work books around - I'm an Oracle DBA - and also the number of books I have in PDF format far outweighs the Kindle's ability to store them.

I checked with Amazon support and found that I couldn't upgrade the memory on the Kindle and on that happy note, I cancelled and purchaed an iRiver Story (Wifi Edition).

This has 4GB internal and up to 32 GB external on an SD card. Mine currently has a 8 GB card fitted and is almost full up.

I love my iRiver, it has it's faults like many devices these days - the manual is pretty basic and lacking in places, the screen could be a little bigger (the new Story is better I believe) and reflowing a PDF isn't always the best option.

I use calibre as my laptop library and I use it to convert some of my PDFs to eBook format for use on the iRiver. Again, it's not totally the best way of doing it, but I don't carry my laptop at all times. The iRiver, on the other hand ...

The biggest drawback to any eReader is the total inability to use it in the bath. Well, use it safely and without potentially wrecking it with an ill advised splash!

I have now two copies of all my books - paper (for the bath) and eBook/pdf for the iRiver on the move. APress books are the best. When you buy the paper copy, you get to buy the PDF at a very cheap price. Highly recommended.

Cheers,
Norm.

PS. In my opinion, the only problem with using an iPhone as an eReader is the fact that you have to have an iPhone. No thanks!

(Other opionions are available!)




Cheers,
Norm.

Use my Droid X, but screen is really only good for novels and such, too small for graphics, etc.

My best ereader is still my good old tablet pc, an hp tx2

For some unknown reason, I have a hard time absorbing detailed information on a computer screen. User manuals and MS Technet drive me nuts, especially since Technet doesn't offer a way to print more than a single at a time.

I realize dedicated readers use different technology, but my workplace experience means I'll be sticking with 'dead trees' whenever possible. E-books also limit my ability to trade books with my father, although the continued decline in prices may one day make it affordable for us to get one each.

they change so quickly. Kindle alone has had three price drops in the past year.

With all the competition, we could see further price drops this fall heading into the holiday shopping season.

Don't know about other devices, but it's actually pretty easy to share books on multiple Kindles, as long as they all share the same Amazon account. Most books allow usage on multiple Kindle devices (including Kindle-enabled smart phones, PC, Mac, etc). Just set up a new Amazon account you can share and you're good to go.

Sharing them would require us both to have readers, and $250 will buy a lot of paperbacks instead.

Yes, good point. You do have to make the decision to commit to the technology in the first place!

Try out some cheaper ebooks with the free PC or Mac ereader app downloads from Amazon/B&N/Borders to get a feel for the reading experience.

I did that while on vacation, when I just had to get the 4th book in Michael Scott's Alchemyst series after going through the 1st 3 (paperbacks) early in the week.

The only feasible option at the beach was the $20 hardback (no paperback till early 2011) at a nearby bookstore vs installing the Borders reader on my notebook, and buying the ebook version for under $10 with my Borders Bucks discount, so I decided to give it a shot.

The only downside was "their" reader is Adobe's Digital Editions, and it has a horrible tiny semi-light font on a black background with very little adjustability, and that did not play well on my 9-inch, hi-res 1280x768 Fujitsu P1610 (with my eyes). I searched around on the 'Net, and found utilities to decrypt the file, so I could then view it with FBreader on Linux, and it was then quite delightful (I was reading inside since the only problem for me with the beach is the Sun/sand/heat/surf - I stay in the beach house, and my wife gets her fix of Sun/sand/heat/surf ... .

So that having worked out, I went further with the Pandigital Novel ($146 from Bed,Bath & Beyond with their 20% coupon, and if you combine coupons, rebates and price matching at Kohl's when they mark it down to $165, it can dip under $100) since it is a decent Android tablet with the proper unlocking hacks from slatedroid.com.

Now I can read Kindle, B&N, and Borders ebooks on a nice color screen that fits the hand like a (hefty) paperback. I had to hold the P1610 on a lapdesk for the hours of reading a book right through.

Now I am hooked, and there are loads of free out-of-copyright books from gutenberg.org, and even Amazon/Borders/B&N, plus their many ebooks that are not flashy bestsellers for $5 down to 50 cents (even less), so it can be inexpensive fun, and no more books stacking up in the house to get musty, and give/throw away (or pack up for moving) some years later.

There are reader-friendly publishers like O'Reilly who make it a point to sell their ebooks without restrictive DRM encryption to give you a choice of readers (although it ain't hard to "get out of the way" anyway, but I do not advocate that for piracy, just for choice of MY reader for MY copies - like real books).

For me, the books I have on my Kobo actually cost less than the paperbacks much less the hardcovers that I often buy. Looking at my book purchases in the last year, the problem is that I find myself buying both an electronic version and a paper version. Though some items such as the Grantville Gazette series ebook form is the only way to go -- up to volume 32 in electronic and 5 in paper.

Hmmm... quick calculation using the cost of paperback compared to ebook says my Kobo is more than paid for. This might depend on the publishers whose books you read. Some such as Baen have priced their ebooks lower than their paperbacks while others charge more for the ebook than for the paperback (and in one memorable case, the hardcover).

In the case of one book I picked up for my daughter, (Patricia Wredes' "A Matter of Magic", the trade paperback cost here was $13.71 (plus taxes) while the ebook was $7.69 (plus taxes). Since she enjoyed reading my old copies of "Mairelon the Magician" and "Magician's Ward", the combined version made a nice minor gift.

Odd to find yourself living the comments of a character in an old science fiction story where some people just prefer the feel of a real book.

Apart from the kindle, I haven't seen one that doesn't suffer from glare or other eye-fatiguing artifacts that make long reading sessions unpleasant. I also haven't found an ereader that is quite as navigable as a paper book (though it really wouldn't be that difficult to create an interface:dual screens, velocity measured flicks to control the speed of page flipping., and a position bar one could touch to open to a relative position in the book...
But apart from that, the DRM aspect is one I can't get over. Trusting someone else's server to remember what I own, having to pick the right device(s) for the title(s) I wish to read...
In part it is my upbringing I suppose, books were revered, cared for, passed down. Having the ability to protect the content taken from me, and placed in the hands of a corporate entity, whose owners and values are unknown and ever-changing...just doesn't seem right somehow.

The prices are enough to tell me I'm still not interested, regardless of the details.

My upbringing was like yours, in its reverence for books...and I haven't lost any of that. If a book is truly important to me, if it changed my life somehow, I have a physical, preferably hardback, copy of that book. I don't care if it means buying the books twice, or even three times (one of my favorites is out of print, so I have a first edition hardback and a paperback). I bought a recent release in Kindle, and will be buying the hardback as soon as I can get a nice copy used. I bought and enjoyed all three of Stieg Larssen's "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" trilogy on the Kindle, but I doubt I'll spend the money to get physical copies.

I think my take on this is that the convenience offered by my Kindle trumps the DRM. Nothing about buying (or licensing) an ebook for my Kindle prevents me from also buying a copy of the book in paper and doing whatever with it. It isn't an either/or proposition. If it's that critical to my happiness as a reader, I'll get it both ways, and not regret the money spent.

You know, I don't think I am ready to ditch paper. Having a real book is a simple joy. Now, if there was an inexpensive way to get the daily paper (of a smaller town), perhaps I would get a reader for everything besides books.

Four critical pieces of information are glaringly absent from this article.

1. EULA--anyone who reads the Kindle's EULA and has ANY concerns about intellectual property and privacy would run the other way.

2. The iPad and e-readers are apples and oranges. E-ink technology, for a serious reader, is far superior to anything else. It is easy on the eyes and for a voracious five books at a time reader like me, an amazingly liberating experience. ANd the Nook interface is, I find, very intuitive and very easy to use with one hand. The alleged lag is seriously overstated. How long does it take to turn the page on a paper book!?

3. Accessibility. For a person with visual impairment, the--ug--Kindle or iPad are the best choices, with excellent text-to-speech capabilities.

4. Calibre, a FOSS program, opens up ALL e-readers to EVERY format. Get it--and the whole world of digital books, including millions of free classics (and not so classic) works is yours.

Well, I have plenty of concerns with privacy and intellectual property, and I'm not running away from my Kindle. Yes, there are concerns there. I'm simply not put off by them.

first:
The premier e-reading device is the Apple iPad, for two reasons:
and then:
If you just want to read books, there are better options.

If you do a survey on E-READERS, this is a strange combination inside one paragraph, to say the least....

And you forget to mention that the IPAD (and other devices in this list) are using LCD screens, which are unreadable in bright sunlight, while the E-Ink devices get better then.
And you forget to mention that dedicated E-Readers with E-Ink technology can last some 8000 page turns, while LCD based systems last a maximum of maybe 10 hours.. I have a BeBook One (not mentioned in your list, but according to a Dutch consumer magazine the best E-Reader to date), I don't even care to switch it off.

If you want to make a list of E-Readers, mention E-Readers and not tablet devices (or even a phone). You might just as well mention netbooks then...
Dedicated E-Readers have great advantages (i.e. battery life and readability) compared to multi-function devices. If someone wants to buy an E-Reader, I guess he/she does this to read E-Books...

My wife has one, it has e-reader on one side and android tablet on the other side. It is really pretty awesome. She doesn't go anywhere without it.