E-book readers - your opinions?

[karbon]

iphone 3gs is far far too wee. ill update when i get an iphone 4 with a better display.

[Garp]

I've pretty much completely switched over to FBReader on my Nexus One (and my N810 before that).

It does take a little getting used to reading on an LCD, but I found that switching it over to white text on a black background gets rid of any eyestrain problems and reading is a joy.

Yes I love the tactile aspect of books, yes I miss it, but I do have to be pragmatic. Books can be a PITA, take up a lot of space and are heavy.

[Stan_Lite]

Originally Posted by Pebs

I adore the physical presence of books,

Originally Posted by Garp

Yes I love the tactile aspect of books, yes I miss it, but I do have to be pragmatic. Books can be a PITA, take up a lot of space and are heavy.

Given the choice, I'd rather have a 'real' book any time as well and I'll still be reading paper books when I'm at home for the most part but the Reader is a practical and convenient solution to the issue of having to lug around heavy books when I go to work.

[Pebs]

Given the choice of nothing to read or the reader, it's a no brainer really. Glad it's keeping you sane

[Kitten]

Originally Posted by Pebs

I'm lucky in that I have no need for one. I adore the physical presence of books, reading is a huge part of my mental wellbeing (drama much?!). I've had access to the afore mentioned reader and while it does exactly what it says on the tin it left me wanting.

God I sound nuts don't I. I'm lost without books, it's really that simple.

Not all all, I agree 100%. Then again, maybe I'm nuts too

[Stan_Lite]

I wouldn't say I'd be completely lost without a book to read but I would miss it a lot - especially at bed time. I like to read at least one paragraph before I go to sleep - no matter how tired or pished I am. I'm not as hardcore in terms of volume of reading as a lot of you guys but I do like a good read.

Actually, having had a think about it, if I was told I had to either give up reading or whisky, the whisky would be history

[Pumpkinstew]

I had a Sony PRS-300 to play around with at work and wasn't very impressed.

As a way of easily storing lots of books it works but as a reader I had a lot of issues with the screen. Firstly it wasn't black and white it was grey and a darker grey, so although the reolution may have been the dogs danglies the contrast was rubbish.
Secondly it 'blinked' whenever I turned a page (the on pixels went off and vice versa) which would annoy the hell out of me if I had to turn more than few pages. Lastly the anti glare wasn't very effective making it hard to use outdoors or even under fluorescent lighting.

Your's is obviously a newer model, so maybe things have improved.

[Burble]

Originally Posted by leowyatt

The one Burble's got is very nice

It is indeed It's an iRiver Story and I think it's fantastic.

As much as I like physically having a book in my hands, it just isn't practical to take a stack of books when I'm travelling and the iRiver solves that perfectly.

One of my colleagues here (in Frankfurt) has an iPad and I tried the Kindle app earlier - I still don't like reading books off of LCD screens. Never have and quite probably never will. The eInk screen on the iRiver is perfect though, sure, it takes a couple of seconds to refresh but I don't get sore eyes after reading it for a few hours like I do with an LCD screen.

Battery life is a big thing for me too, an iPad with it's 8 (or whatever) hour battery life wouldn't be good enough, I don't want to find the reader running out of charge part way through a flight. I bought the iRiver in December (I think) and I have only charged it once - it's still on that same charge and the battery is showing 1 out of 3 bars remaining.

[volospian]

Stan,

Carrying on from the books thread, I can see exactly why you'd want one, and I was impressed with the one I had a look at, but I'm not sure I travel enough to warrant spending that amount of cash on a reader.... If they were maybe sub-£100 I could see myself seriously considering one, but for now, my needs just don't justify the expense.

Although the wife would love me to buy one, so she could throw out all the lovely paper books taking up space and getting dusty in my "office", lol

[Stan_Lite]

Originally Posted by volospian

Stan,

Carrying on from the books thread, I can see exactly why you'd want one, and I was impressed with the one I had a look at, but I'm not sure I travel enough to warrant spending that amount of cash on a reader.... If they were maybe sub-£100 I could see myself seriously considering one, but for now, my needs just don't justify the expense.

Although the wife would love me to buy one, so she could throw out all the lovely paper books taking up space and getting dusty in my "office", lol

I must confess, I balked a bit at the cost and was hoping a decent one would come in at a lower price but, after waiting for several months, I decided the outlay was justified and bit the bullet. I wish they were cheaper but needs must.