e-book reader wars

[firecat]

First I was waiting for the iPad. It's compelling but heavier than I want in an e-book reader. But after carrying one around for a week I now feel like I'm missing something when I don't have an e-book reader to pull out of my bag when I am waiting for something.*

Then I was getting ready to buy a kobo from Borders because piranha said it was pretty good, and it was only $150, which was cheaper than any other e-book reader I'd seen.

Now Barnes & Noble's nook is $150 and comes with Wi-Fi. On the other hand, its apps look less appealing than the i[Thing] apps.

Speaking of i[Thing]s, the iPhone 4 has a much higher resolution screen. I don't want an iPhone but maybe the higher resolution screen will come to the iPod Touch before too long.


*Come to think of it, a book might serve this purpose.

Comments

[snippy]

I got a Nook last weekend (early birthday present) and so far I'm really enjoying it. You can load PDFs from your computer, Google Books stuff, plus Oregon has a library e-book loan service; it uses 3G (cell phones) and WiFi.

[firecat]

Yay birthday present! Does the nook let you zoom the images in PDFs? (i.e., can I use it to store my knitting charts?)

[snippy]

I will check and let you know!

[snippy]

The answer is YES! I printed some fanfic to PDF, sideloaded it onto my nook, and opened it. I can change the font size!

[firecat]

Thanks! Do you know if it can zoom images too? Some PDF readers can zoom text but not images.

(If you want I can send you a PDF to try.)

[snippy]

I don't think it can zoom images. :( I only see an option for text size.

[apis_mellifera]

I suspect I'm going to have no choice but to get an e-reader eventually--a lot of publishers seem to be exploring them for review copies and I've been having more and more issues with getting copies of things in time over the last year or so. I know part of that is because publishers simply aren't printing as many ARCs as they used to, but I don't think that's all of it.

Also, a lot of backlist books I'd like to read aren't available in my local brick and mortar bookstores, the library doesn't have them, and I have this thing where if I want to read an Aaron Elkins book, I want to read it right now. So maybe I shouldn't get an e-reader, if only to save my bank account...

[firecat]

Sounds like you have better reasons to get an e-reader than I do. :)

[apis_mellifera]

It's sort of a marginal case at this point--I have an e-reader program on my phone that actually works reasonably well--I converted a PDF from a publisher into an epub file and was able to get it into the e-reader with minimal difficulty (I have an Android phone and the program I have is Aldiko--the Kobo Android app doesn't yet allow you to provide your own files for reading) and reading it was, surprisingly, not that bad. Better than trying to read a book on my computer, which always gives me a terrible crick in my neck and since the internet is RIGHT THERE, I have a hard time concentrating.

[sineala]

I really love my Kindle to teeny bits and pieces; I was unimpressed with the nook when I played with one in store, but I understand there were some issues with early models.

You can play with the Kindles at most Target stores now, I think, in case you wanted to see them both before deciding. The Kindles don't support library ebooks officially -- they, um, unofficially can read them, with a couple of scripts to get the device number off the Kindle -- if that's a consideration. But the Kindle does have Text To Speech, which is fun.

Though, really, they're probably similar enough that you'd be happy with either. E-ink ebook readers are so awesome.

[firecat]

So far I haven't wanted a Kindle because I don't much like Amazon. But if I'm willing to consider a reader associated with another online bookstore, I should probably let go of that prejudice.

[sineala]

You're not actually locked into Amazon; in addition to the usual stuff at Gutenberg and Feedbooks and maybe Google's stuff (the PDFs at least will work) you can buy from anywhere that supports DRM-free .mobi or .prc files. (I think in practice this is Smashwords, smaller publishers like Baen, and maybe Fictionwise.) On the other hand, a lot of the spiffiness comes with buying from Amazon, so I see your point.

[firecat]

Thanks!

[elainegrey]

"*Come to think of it, a book might serve this purpose." Lols!

I read plenty of novels on my Palm Treo; i will probably give the reading on the EVO a try. I recognize the smaller device isn't right for everyone, but the bloody monthly fee for Christine's & my plan is a nook a month, apparently.

[adrian_turtle]

I really loved reading ebooks on a Palm Pilot, partly because I could use the same device for audiobooks. An old Palm Pilot from Ebay was only $200, when I got it, and I wasn't paying for phone or data service, so it was just the 1-time cost.

When that broke, I got a Blackberry. It's also good for both ebooks and audiobooks. (It only does audio in one ear, so it's not as good for music...but that might make it safer for pedestrian use.) It's even lighter than the Palm, and I found that I don't mind the smaller screen. It has a much longer battery life, and is MUCH more able to survive being dropped, which are tremendous advantages for my lifestyle. Not being able to scroll is problematic. I'm not sure yet if it's too much of a problem, or if I want to get phone and data service for the thing, and make it the only device I need to carry.

[firecat]

and make it the only device I need to carry.

Yeah, so far you can either get one device that does everything badly, or multiple devices that do everything well, but managing multiple devices (charging them, remembering to use them, deciding which ones to bring) is a hassle.

[firecat]

Well I mean really. It's not as if I need an electronic device to read books. Yay Johannes Gutenberg!

(I just want it because all the cool kids have one.)

The 6-nooks-a-year monthly fee is why I don't want an iPhone.

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

I love my Nook. I appreciate that I can loan my books to other people with a Nook, or the Nook reader software.

One big advantage of an iPad is the Nook software (and I think there's Kindle software, too) can be loaded and you can read Nook e-books.

[firecat]

I didn't know you could loan books with a nook. Cool!

[ckd]

If you can hold out for a little while longer, the iPod touch updates (to match the June iPhone in general speed/hardware, though without phone/camera/etc) have historically been in September.

[firecat]

Yeah, I think I will try to hold out until the Giftmas season product announcements kick in.

[mamatiger.livejournal.com]

I keep looking at those things, but I'm not sure I want to spend the money. However! My Droid Incredible has an ebook app, and I read Cory Doctorow's "I, Robot" on it. So that will tide me over until the price wars drive the costs down nice and low...

(Hope your kitty gets well soon!)

[mama-hogswatch.livejournal.com]

DOes the droid's ebook app read prc files, out of curiosity? (I know amazon is working on a kindle app for the droid).

[mamatiger.livejournal.com]

Hm, let me look. The one I have now is called "Aldiko" and only does the .pub files. It connects to its own version of an e-book store though, where you can download all the available free books.

[firecat]

Yay! (Thanks!)

[kitrona.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you know offhand, but what's the situation with DRMs for the Nook and the kobo? Like, can you read unlocked or un-DRMed books on either or both? And what formats does it support?

I'm looking for a replacement for my iPAQ... it's small and kind of annoying in that it won't read all formats easily. For instance, with a PDF, I have to continually scroll the screen horizontally, which doesn't work very well.

[kitrona.livejournal.com]

Never mind, I just did my own research (gasp!). :) Looks like the nook has more file formats it accepts by a whopping one, but I guess I can get a program to convert the ebooks I have. (All 5000+? Not at the same time, of course.)

[firecat]

5000! Wow. I have about 100. (But I'm not including the knitting patterns...)

[kitrona.livejournal.com]

I get them from a sharing community and various torrents (shhh!) :P