ebook reader

[lovely1lynn]

I am wanting to buy an ebook reader for mothers day, but have no idea on what is a good one or what to look for, or even what is a good price.

Any suggestions is greatly appreciated.

[Diddley]

I absolutely LOVE my Kindle. I bought it for myself for Christmas, and I can't put it down! There's always free books on the Kindleboards. And its so light and easy. Love love love it!

[ladydarcie]

I have the Panidigital ereader from Costco. I believe it was about $150.00 and I adore it. I especially like that it is in colour and connects to the Net via Wifi.

[BobSagget]

kindle

[Midnightly]

sony ereader! by far the best! you can load books from any source onto it (even fanfiction!) long lasting battery, e-ink technology i've had one for a year and would never trade it in for another type of ereader (and i've played with a few other types)

i've heard a negative about kindle that if they want they can take back items you purchase (for example you buy a book/paper and a story is recalled or there's an error they can take it back from you) i didn't like the idea that a company had access to my book selections and could do that (expecially since i download all my books the same way i download music and movies or through my library)

[Bubbelinchen]

sony ereader..... the best!!!!! kindle and co suck.

example:

So is Sony a lame alternative? No – it’s a better alternative. It supports more formats, and gives me the choice of more stores. The only advantage the Kindle has is convenience, and if you’re outside of wireless range that evaporates into nothing.

[mhk]

Do any of these have a backlight?

[Midnightly]

mhk sony doesnt' have a backlight and neither does the kindle if i have it right they use a technology called e-ink, which 1 is much easier on the eyes/causes less eye strain (imagine reading off a computer screen for 4hours.. it really does make the eyes water-trust me i've done it lol) 2 it extends the life of the battery they produce no light what so ever (it really is like reading off paper ) the sony is also very light and can fit in most purses (i've made my mom a e-reader convert! if you would have asked her last year she would have said heck no) i've found my ereader is one of my best investments i've made.. i no longer wait for books at the library (i can download almost anything just days after it's been released, i can share my books via net with friends, i no longer have to plan out my reading by holds list or how much i can carry when i go out of town)

[mhk]

Thanks Midnightly - so a few more questions then - how much do they run at, where can you buy them, and does it cost to download books or are some of them free and some you have to pay for? I love to read and this would be a great present from me to me Thank you

My daughter has a kindle but she just got it and has gone off on vacation to Spain, so I have not had a chance to have a look at it. She loves it. Some of her friends have the Kobo from Chapters and seem to like that one too.

I like the Sony idea though....

[Midnightly]

the sony is slightly more expensive.. they have a few different sizes.. personally i like the 6 inch screen (i find the 5 a tad bit small) i bought mine slightly over a year ago (my mom got her's for christmas) so i'm not too sure the most recent prices of them (around the 200 mark i want to say).. like a PVR they arn't the cheapest thing out there BUT once you have one you'll wonder how you ever lived without it lol

i have never paid for a book... ever.... my local library has a nice selection of ebooks... but for the most part i download books on the same sites i download music and movies (if you download music you can just type in ebook and you will get huge folders full of ebooks) "epub" is the most commonly used format..

the thing i love about having an ereader is space! by not having tobuy books i no longer have a bookshelf full of books i've read once or twice and now just sitting there taking up space

[BobSagget]

I have the kindle it's great. I also own the Lighted Kindle Case that has a built in LED light if you want to read in the dark. The light draws it power right from the Kindle itself so no external power needed.

I have the 3G+Wifi one. So if I don't have wireless on I can access the internet still using 3G. It's not super fast but it'll work in a pinch. I can check my email on it if I want to, or do a search on google.

With wifi turned off the Kindle charge lasts like 3-4 weeks on average for me.

I don't pay for books from Amazon.com. The Kindle can read .MOBI format so all I do is download books in mobi format or books in EPUB/PDF format and have them auto converted to MOBI for the kindle.

I also love being able to transfer books to my kindle through wireless.
Basically when you get your Kindle you get a kindle email address too that you can send documents/books to (free if you are on wifi).

So whenever I download a new book and I want to put it on my Kindle I just send the book to [email protected] (not my real one, i made it up to use as an example).

The best piece of software I would recommend for your e-reader, whatever one you choose to go with, is something called "Calibre". It's an amazing program that will catalog your ebooks, download covers, information, reviews, etc for any ebook you load into it.

It also does conversions for you. So if you own a book in EPUB or PDF format but your ereader needs to be MOBI (kindle). You just simply right-click on the book in Calibre and click on Convert and select Mobi. It will convert the book for you in less than a minute (usually 20 seconds or less in my case).
It also has a built in email program so I can email books right from Calibre to my Kindle device.

Here's the Calibre program:
http://calibre-ebook.com/

Edit: I should also add more reasons to love the Kindle.
It has built in text to speech. If you are in the car and want to read your book you can turn on text to speech and the book will be read to you in either a man or woman's voice (you can choose).
You also have a built in dictionary so any time you are reading a book and a word you do not know pops up you can quickly highlight it and the dictionary automatically gives you the definition.
Oh ya can't forget the built in keyboard too. It's handy for taking notes if you need to.

It also has a built in MP3 player. You can playback through the built in speakers or by plugging in a set of headphones.

Can't really tell cause of the flash but this is my kindle accessing this thread over free 3G network (that thing in the top right corner you cant really see is the built in light on the case. The flash of the camera takes away from the brightness of the LED light.
Click for original size:

[Midnightly]

i also use the calibre program.. i know i've raved about it a number of times on this site and another.. a friend suggested it to me and i'll tell anyone who has an ereader to use that program (it's free to download) over the program that comes with the reader.. it's simple and easy to use (even my mom figured it out in minutes rather tiredly after fighting with the program that came with her reader) very user friendly, keeps all your books organized by title or author, it will tell you what you've currently got on your machine when you link your machine up to your computer and will give you all sorts of info on the books when you have them uploaded into the program

[GrUvGrL]

Just a thought.... I don't know if it matters, but I was just looking at getting a cheap one cause I saw Walmart has a ebook reader on sale for something like 80 bucks!!

I know, i know quality over quantity, but I read enough during work, this for me is just a ocassional thing or for vacation.

[mhk]

Thanks BobSagget and Midnightly! You really know your ereaders!!

[snafu0]

I just got a Panidigital ereader this morning. Future shop has them on for 149.99, I PM Bestbuy at 129.99 and got the 10% off. So far, compared to the Archos I have access to it is smaller, easier to handle and quicker to browse. As it has only been about an hr or so I don't know much else but so far I am pretty impressed.