E-Reader Model Recs?

[sakon76]

It may seem an odd juxtaposition to my last "waah, probably cannot afford cons!" post, or perhaps related to it in a way, both being about financial matters, but I am wrestling with indecision on a matter.

I'm beginning to consider getting a Kindle or Nook or something. Mostly so that I can read Walt's books.

(Me pimping: Walter J. Golden is one of my former classmates in my novel-writing class. After taking Maralys' course for something like fifteen years, he finally stopped last term, feeling that he was no longer getting as much out of it. He's got four e-books published, and from the parts of them I read/edited in class, I WANT to read the rest! He's a really good writer, and does both real world suspense stuff and fantasy writing. So if you're inclined to take my opinion as good, and have a few bucks to drop on e-books, go look up him and his work.)

Anyone who has any of these mysterious e-reading devices, can you give me thoughts on the one you have? Pluses, minuses, would you buy again or not, etc?

It'll be awfully expensive to get an e-reader just to read Walt's books, though, so I'm also trying to find some other use for one. Wonderful Husband has suggested I could download fanfic onto one to read at the gym... can't read paper books there because my hands get all sweaty and I'd have to break the spines anyway to get them to stay open.

Comments

[hoshikage.livejournal.com]

I actually just got a Kindle Touch and I can bring it to ALA if you want to try playing with it. :)

[fallenkitsune.livejournal.com]

I have a Literati which you can find on ebay for under $100 usually. Its a color reader with a 7 inch screen that takes a usb card up to 8 gig and you can hook it up to your computer to load it with ebooks. It only lets you read epubs and pdfs but with my mac i've begun making epubs of my favorite fanfiction to put on it. Oh that reminds me, do you mind if i make an epub of your fanfics to put on it? I really like your fanfics and it would give me something nice to read.
Back to the good, bad and ebook. My Literati has a backlight feature so you can read it at night without a light on, its a nice feature. Sadly it drains the battery quick. To be honest if i had the extra money i'd get myself a Kindle just so i know the battery would last longer. Bad thing about my Literati is that the system it uses is prone to glitching, my first Literati had a massive failure after less a than a months use.
But an ebook reader helps cut down on my spending habits when it comes to books as a lot of sites have places where you can download the books for free. I can point you in that direction if you'd like.
So i hope my trials with my ereader help you figure out if you want one.

[flybystardancer.livejournal.com]

My Dad has a Kindle... I just use a kindle app on my iPod. lol The app (and most of the books I have on it!) is free. The app is wonderful for a free thing, and I can't really speak as to the rest.

[tiamat1972.livejournal.com]

I have a Kobo which is really nice. I don't think the model matters as much as if you can add pdf files or how easy it is to get books. Mine can add ebooks from any source (epub format) or pdf files or even rtf files. I'm planning on adding some of the longer fanfics to it for rereading and some of my fics for reference when writing. I can even add pictures (only downside is its B&W but there is a color Kobo out now).

[mremre.livejournal.com]

I too use my ereader for 98% fanfic reading, so price, tags/catalogs and formats were my defining characteristics. Now that many fanfic sites have an ebook download option (<3 AO3) or there are 'app' options (fanfictiondownloader, squeebook), the format issue is not a big deal anymore.

You have to decide what you want it to be able to do. If you want to be able to go to archiveofourown anyplace/anytime, then you need a wifi or 3G-enabled reader. Do you want folders/tags/some cataloging system other than title/author alpha? Do you need external storage on SD cards or the cloud? Do you want to manage your reading without hooking it up to your computer? Do you want colorful illustrations (eInk need not apply =), children's books, audiobooks? Are you looking for a dedicated reading device or a mishmash tablet-that-can-read device?

The cheapest eInk Nook and Kindle are about even in pricing ($99 vs $79) depending on the feature set, so it might come down to where you actually buy stuff as you are buying into the ecosystem as well. I don't know if it is worth it at this point to go for one of the other brands because of the feature/pricepoint. I know some care about modding and custom ROMs but I just wanted to read fanfic!!

Caveat: I have had a Sony PRS505 ereader for nearly 4 years now. I'm currently waiting on my Kindle Touch to see if I am willing to change over. I love my Sony's SD card and comprehensive tag system, but I want to try being able to manage my library without physical cables AND surf the web for fanfic without sitting down to an LCD screen, plus the Kindle is lighter than my Sony's solid metal construction. Since the Kindle gives me 4GB onboard and 5GB of cloud storage, I can live without the SD card. I figure if I decide I hate the touchscreen too much, I can still return the Kindle. If ONLY it still had physical page up/down buttons! (Bezos, are you listening to me?? it's not like there isn't space for 2 little buttons on that frame!)

And... I've hijacked your thread. LOL. Check out mobileread.com forums for comparisons and so forth. But the best thing you can do is list down the featureset YOU want and go from there. Generally, if the ebook is not DRMd, you can easily convert it into a format your reader will accept. (aka, a Kindle-edition will only read on a Kindle and a Nook Book will only read on a Nook, but everything else is fair game.) Get to know calibre, because that is the only ebook management software you need.

And welcome to the eInk side!

[mmouse15.livejournal.com]

mremre did a bang-up job of telling you what to look for, so all I will say is that I also have the Sony. I started with a PRS500 and when the screen died (and wanted $300 to fix), I replaced it with the PRS300. I only read fanfiction on it, but I flat out love the Sony interface, the fact that I can use Word's old *.doc format or *.rtf to get my fanfiction on it, and how light and portable it is. I'm going to second the recommendation for Calibre, which is a fabulous ebook library manager.

Best Buy now has a ereader section with a wide range of the various ereaders so you can compare and contrast them; it would be worth your time to stop in there and do a comparison (there are other stores that have that kind of display, but Best Buy's is the biggest I've seen).

Also, I'll tell you one of my quirks. When I'm writing and I get stuck on one of my stories, I'll load it to the ereader and read through it, and somehow by stepping away from the computer and reading the story in more of a book format I've been able to break my writer's blocks and keep going on the story. It's weird, but it works really well for how my brain puts things together.

Also, whichever you end up with, you will like it. My SIL borrowed a Sony, loved it, bought a Nook anyway because the Sony she wanted was out of stock, and loves the Nook. You adapt to what you get as long as it has the features you want. Another SIL has a Kindle and loves how it works.

[spiderlove.livejournal.com]

Can you just download ebooks and read them on the computer? Since I mostly read classic lit and smutty fanfics I just rip txt files into jpegs and read them on my PSP for free. But e-readers are getting a lot cheaper nowadays...

[toothycat]

Serge got me a Kindle, and it's very easy to read on. I use it for reading stuff I can't get as a book (like Queen's Choice), and also as a Bible since it weighs considerably less than the average paper version ;) But I don't read on the computer, which is why I took so long to finish QC. I do have published books on it but somehow the paper ones I have on my to-read pile feel more urgent - not sure why. It is extremely pleasant to know I always have several books with me, though.

It's also very useful for keeping my comics on for reference when I'm drawing new chapters, and for keeping story plans on so I can thumbnail anywhere (printing them out is tree-costly). But that might not be such a draw for you ;)

The other draw is that my kindle model comes with free 3G anywhere in the world, which has already been useful but isn't really the point of the device..

[sandpanther.livejournal.com]

If you don't care about portability and are willing to read sitting at your PC, there are a variety of e-reader applications available for Windows. I know the Kindle's app can be found here, though there are a variety of other apps available as well.

That said, it is nice having a variety of books available at one time for less than the weight of a single paperback (and, typically, smaller), particularly for things like long plane rides or lines at SDCC. Cost vs. convenience. E-books can frequently be a bit cheaper than the paper version, which ended up being one of the points that convinced me to get a Kindle. (That, and I love the idea of being able to pick up one device to move the majority of my library.)