E-book readers - your opinions? - Page 3

Garp · 28-06-2010, 10:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by volospian

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.

Just wait. Amazon and Barnes & Noble have just started a price war with their Kindle and Nook respectively. The Nook came down in price last week and Amazon quickly slashed the price of the kindle to $189 to remain competitive. Hopefully it'll start to have a knock on effect on markets outside of the US too.

Rich_L · 28-06-2010, 10:36

That sounds just about perfect for your requirements, I'd consider the same if on a long trip or suchlike - as it is I'm finding that the Santa Barbara library system is really quite impressive so for about the first time since Uni I'm actually using a library - my problem is that I read so fast (I think I read all 3 Dan Brown books out at the time DVC, A&D, DF, on my flight to the US once lol) I find it hard to justify paying full price for a book so either pick them up in second-hand stores or car boot sales or as I'm now using the library.

volospian · 28-06-2010, 13:58

What's the availability of eBooks like? Do they all support a common protocol, or do they have to be device specific?

Rich_L · 28-06-2010, 18:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garp

Just wait. Amazon and Barnes & Noble have just started a price war with their Kindle and Nook respectively. The Nook came down in price last week and Amazon quickly slashed the price of the kindle to $189 to remain competitive. Hopefully it'll start to have a knock on effect on markets outside of the US too.

I think they're missing a trick really, it would be awesome if they introduced a form of subscription model which could subsidise the e-reader too - imagine 'unlimited books' for $40 a month with a free e-reader or something, that'd be awesome

Garp · 28-06-2010, 19:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich_L

I think they're missing a trick really, it would be awesome if they introduced a form of subscription model which could subsidise the e-reader too - imagine 'unlimited books' for $40 a month with a free e-reader or something, that'd be awesome

It was pointed out that the NYT would save money by providing its subscribers with Kindles instead of printing, provided the subscribers were subscribed for more than 2 years I think it was. It seems highly logical to me to do that, just like folks do with mobile phones, stick it in with a pro-rata early termination figure. They'd save money and get to appear pioneering.

Pumpkinstew · 29-06-2010, 21:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by volospian

What's the availability of eBooks like? Do they all support a common protocol, or do they have to be device specific?

Amazon will try to lock you into a proprietary format I think, but elsewhere the epub format is pretty popular.
Then there's PDF and txt which are resource intensive and a bit short on formatting options.

bam · 30-06-2010, 13:46

I picked up a Sony PRS-505 about 2.5 years ago from the US, back when it was 2:1 $:£, for $270, at the time I was travelling weekly and spending 3+ nights away from home, I can honestly say it was invaluable. I had a small library at my finger tips in something the size of a paperback with a battery life measured in weeks.
I really like the screen and the flicker when changing pages doesn't bother me at all, after a while you get used to how long it will take to change page just like you get your finger into the next page when reading a normal book.
Having used an iPad too if my main requirement was a device to read books on I would still buy an eInk based device.

Burble · 11-08-2010, 08:27

I'm falling out of love with my eBook reader in a big way.

A recent firmware update has meant that the damned thing is displaying text incorrectly. For example, in a book I just finished reading the word 'smile' would always be displayed as 'sirrle' which was a bit annoying but not a problem as such because it was easy to work out the word based on the context it was used in.

It's definitely the reader at fault because if I open the book on my laptop it is spelt correctly. At first this was a bit annoying, but now it's driving me nuts! I've had to re-read large chunks of a book because I've not been able to work out what the word is.

The other problem is that if I don't exit the book by going back to the books menu, it'll lose my place when either I shut down the reader or it shuts down automatically. That coupled with the slow refresh rate of e-ink screens makes it really frustrating and time consuming to find your place again.

I've been messing about with firmware downgrades but so far haven't managed to get it working. I resorted yesterday to opening the firmware in a hex editor and changing the version number of the older firmware to a higher number but it errors when doing the update saying there is a checksum error. The manufacturer has helpfully said that the reader is now discontinued as they've released a WiFi version.

Looks like I'll be getting myself a Kindle then.

Dymetrie · 11-08-2010, 08:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by karbon

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

Loved ebooks on my 3G and love them even more on my IP4.

It's so convenient to have a device which I can use, very easily, with one hand whilst on the tube (the other being used to hold on, of course

).

And if I get to the end of a chapter with only 5 minutes left before I have to get off then I can quickly switch over to a bit of Bejewelled 2 for the end of my journey!

Zirax · 15-09-2010, 13:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garp

It was pointed out that the NYT would save money by providing its subscribers with Kindles instead of printing, provided the subscribers were subscribed for more than 2 years I think it was. It seems highly logical to me to do that, just like folks do with mobile phones, stick it in with a pro-rata early termination figure. They'd save money and get to appear pioneering.

Well this has just hit my radar:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Daily-Te...4552975&sr=1-1

I'm more of a Times reader normally but they haven't sorted out a kindle version. Now a 3g version with the newspaper automatically sent to you in the morning really appeals. It'll save queuing in the newsagents in the morning. Not sure if it's for me yet as apparently the content isn't all there yet, but £10 a month is not bad pricing! I can see this becoming the future for newspapers though.

28-06-2010, 10:36	#22
Rich_L Dr Cocktapuss Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Seven Sizzles Posts: 1,044	That sounds just about perfect for your requirements, I'd consider the same if on a long trip or suchlike - as it is I'm finding that the Santa Barbara library system is really quite impressive so for about the first time since Uni I'm actually using a library - my problem is that I read so fast (I think I read all 3 Dan Brown books out at the time DVC, A&D, DF, on my flight to the US once lol) I find it hard to justify paying full price for a book so either pick them up in second-hand stores or car boot sales or as I'm now using the library. __________________

30-06-2010, 13:46	#27
bam Long Island Iced Tea Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 106	I picked up a Sony PRS-505 about 2.5 years ago from the US, back when it was 2:1 $:£, for $270, at the time I was travelling weekly and spending 3+ nights away from home, I can honestly say it was invaluable. I had a small library at my finger tips in something the size of a paperback with a battery life measured in weeks. I really like the screen and the flicker when changing pages doesn't bother me at all, after a while you get used to how long it will take to change page just like you get your finger into the next page when reading a normal book. Having used an iPad too if my main requirement was a device to read books on I would still buy an eInk based device. __________________ Oderint Dum Metuant

28-06-2010, 13:58	#23
volospian Vodka Martini Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 786	What's the availability of eBooks like? Do they all support a common protocol, or do they have to be device specific?

11-08-2010, 08:27	#28
Burble Rocket Fuel Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 7,826	I'm falling out of love with my eBook reader in a big way. A recent firmware update has meant that the damned thing is displaying text incorrectly. For example, in a book I just finished reading the word 'smile' would always be displayed as 'sirrle' which was a bit annoying but not a problem as such because it was easy to work out the word based on the context it was used in. It's definitely the reader at fault because if I open the book on my laptop it is spelt correctly. At first this was a bit annoying, but now it's driving me nuts! I've had to re-read large chunks of a book because I've not been able to work out what the word is. The other problem is that if I don't exit the book by going back to the books menu, it'll lose my place when either I shut down the reader or it shuts down automatically. That coupled with the slow refresh rate of e-ink screens makes it really frustrating and time consuming to find your place again. I've been messing about with firmware downgrades but so far haven't managed to get it working. I resorted yesterday to opening the firmware in a hex editor and changing the version number of the older firmware to a higher number but it errors when doing the update saying there is a checksum error. The manufacturer has helpfully said that the reader is now discontinued as they've released a WiFi version. Looks like I'll be getting myself a Kindle then.