book reader

[newme]

Hello
As the title says anyone have recomondations for e book readers? . I assume kindle is the leader but dont know anyone who uses them.My daughter reads a lot of books so thought it might be a nice gift.Any negative comments on ebooks?

Thanks

[David M]

Barnes and Noble is coming out with a color Nook for $250. I'm looking forward to reading the reviews after it comes out. It will have built in Wi-Fi.

NOOKcolor - The Ultimate Reading Experience - Barnes*&*Noble

With e-books you want to make sure there is a large inventory of books and magazines available to download. I would imagine there is a comparison somewhere.

[Nuclear Krusader]

iPad?

[newme]

Thanks for the replies, most reviews favour the barnes and noble nook, I would imagine they would have a good library as well.I was considering the ipad but is a little more than i wanted to spend.Maybe for myself ,christmas present Thanks again

[David M]

For reading, also consider that some people prefer a lit background and others an unlit background.

I have heard some say that just for reading that the iPad is too big and heavy. I would love to have an iPad for other things though.

[newme]

Yes i was watching a program where someone had used the kindle and ipad as a comparison and preferred the kindle for that very reason.

[pam123]

I've had an ebook reader since 2008 they're great and yes I want an iPad also.

Now that the price of Kindles has dropped to $189 it would be very tempting and frankly, for pure text reading, the iPad is overkill.

I suggest a brief experiment, download various software readers to the PC (They're free) and buy a few short pieces from various on line ebook stores (If you've got an iPhone or Touch get the iBook app as well and download free stuff from Gutenberg for this test.).
Then buy the hardware that you're happiest with that supports the reading software you liked the best.

edit : I forgot to add that short pieces run from .75 to $1.25 so as long as you don't buy the current equivalent of War & Peace over and over this shouldn't run you more than $5, less really if you just get samples whenever possible.

[glc]

Check out the readers at Borders too. I'm sure if you went into the store you could get a demo.

You can get the latest generation (wi-fi only) from Amazon for $139, the 3g plus wi-fi is $189 as pam123 stated. I bought my wife the first generation and she loved it, getting her the new 3g plus wi-fi for xmas this year. I figured I'm always upgrading my computer so I'd upgrade her Kindle.

[Statica]

IMO, as a book reader, the ipad is pathetic (as well as for surfing .. email ..and anything else .. but thats a different story)... and it's been a pricey experience to learn that.

The biggest, most compelling reason to choosing the ipad as an ebook reader is the ability to use other stores and their apps; rather than just being limited to books that a particular vendor is going to sell you.

For example, I spend 100s of $ a month on books on my Ipad .. but I do it all on the Kindle app/Amazon. I find the books at iBooks etc, frequently overpriced, or just plain not available... so much so that I find it easier to just buy it off Amazon than to tediously comparison shop through Itunes. I find Amazon's store having way better features than anything the Ipad has to offer... including the ability to read the same book on any device that I own (as in, the same book could be read on my Ipad or PC or blackberry or any other smartphone .. with the ability to sync what I've read, and where).
Ibooks, functionally is a PoS .. a pretty looking PoS .. the only good thing that I've got to say about it is that it isn't as buggy, crash prone or functionally crippled as the built in Apple apps (Safari on the Ipad has been a pricey realization, that I dont even have access to the famed Steve Jobs walled-garden, but just some walled-shrubbery; the garden might be very HTML5 pretty .. but my Ipad cant scale the walls (both due to software and hardware limitations) to make it there; much less the rest of the Internet-arboretum). As for the weight as an ebook reader, I've not found that as an issue.

Please note that I have no experience with B&N, as we dont have them in Canada.
If the fundamental purpose is a good ebook reader, then one of the first things is to see what works better as an ebook library .. selection and price; and maybe that will lead you into a better decision.

---

This is definitely off topic, but we've actually found the perfect use for the Ipad at home ..
(a) Leave it on the kitchen table in the morning .. provides quick access to restaurant menus to order take-out over the weekday .. beats the crap out of a laptop reboot time. The downside is that 99% of restaurants either use Flash or Javascript or AJAX or something 2010 .. most of which the Ipad either says "huh" or "uhoh .. I'm trying, I really, really am!" .. thank goodness for Google's cache of websites or the ability to get into the menu page without going through other feature laden pages.
(b) Take upstairs to read books on the Amazon's Kindle app

[David M]

Originally Posted by Statica The downside is that 99% of restaurants either use Flash or Javascript or AJAX or something 2010 .. most of which the Ipad either says "huh" or "uhoh .. I'm trying, I really, really am!" .. thank goodness for Google's cache of websites or the ability to get into the menu page without going through other feature laden pages.

Interesting. I am having a website designed. Should I avoid Flash and Javascript? I don't want Apple product users to not be able to view it as designed.

[Nuclear Krusader]

I don't think Javascript is avoidable. I'd stay out of Flash unless you want a flashy site. Also note that developers charge more for flash websites.

[Statica]

Originally Posted by David M Interesting. I am having a website designed. Should I avoid Flash and Javascript? I don't want Apple product users to not be able to view it as designed.

David .. you've got PM.

newme .. Sorry about causing this thread to get off the tracks a bit.

[juppy]

The only ebook reader I've used (briefly) is the Kindle. My neighbor got one of the $139 ones through Amazon and she had me come up and help her get the wi-fi part set up so she could download books. It was really quite easy to read, even not having a backlight. Kinda like looking at a normal digital watch, just that black on gray look. And what little bit I looked at their book selection, it seemed quite extensive so I doubt "book shortage" would be a problem with that one. I've heard of others using the ipad as a reader, but for me, I think the Kindle would be much easier on the eyes over a long period of reading, because I didn't find it hard to see the words on the screen at all.

[newme]

Thank you all for the comments.Ended up going into washington Barnes and Noble picked up the nook for my daughter. It was not available in canada. Paid quite a bit more than the competitors, but what ive seen so far im impressed. Thanks again and Merry Christmas to everyone.

[Statica]

Gets better .. Now you get to convince her to root it and turn it into a full fledged tablet computer and just a book reader ..Android Honeycomb 'preview' ported to Nook Color | Crave - CNET