Shopping for an eReader for Christmas..which do you like?

merryweather · Joined: 27 May 2010 Posts: 531 Location: Encinitas, CA

Inspired by iluvarake's thread... Smile

We are thinking about getting a Kindle for my 13 year old for Christmas--it's the only thing on her Christmas list. She carries stacks of books around with her everywhere she goes--I figure this would be a more streamlined way for her to keep her reading organized. I would love a Kindle myself, but I get most of my books from the UBS and it's more economical for me to do it that way (for now! I may get sucked in if we get one for my daughter.)

Anyway, any opinions on whether the Kindle is really the best? The internet is full of reviews on all the gadgets out there (Dear Author has a good many helpful articles) but I wanted to know what y'all think.
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For the first time in her life, she saw exactly what she’d thrown away when she decided to have him by means fair or foul……that she’d not saved him but wronged him by consigning to him all the ability of a box turtle to make his own choices. ~Gigi

baseballmom5 · Joined: 27 Nov 2007 Posts: 159 Location: Sunny Florida

Hi merryweather! I have owned the Sony 505 for about 2 years and am very happy with it. What I like most about it is that my libary has a huge selections of books that you can borrow for the ereader. I do not know if the Kindle has that ability, I would find out that answer to that if it's a dealbreaker! I bought the Sony 300 for my 11 year, she is a big reader too and is going to freak out Christmas morning. I got on ebay for $76!
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www.cindyreadsromance.blogspot.com

MMcA · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 625

I love my Sony 505 more as an object - just feels nicer to read from - but in practice I've abandoned it for my Kindle. However, at least part of the attraction of the Kindle is the immediacy of the whole thing - that I can buy books from the device and start reading right away, and without that (I'm imagining that you're buying the books so she can't order on a whim) it'd be a closer call.
But I think, on balance, I'd still choose the Kindle if I was buying one for my daughter.

baseballmom5 · Joined: 27 Nov 2007 Posts: 159 Location: Sunny Florida

I meant library!
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merryweather · Joined: 27 May 2010 Posts: 531 Location: Encinitas, CA

Yes, that's one of the reasons I'm wondering about the Kindle--I don't think you can get the ebooks from the library with it. We are big library people, so I would be very sad if we couldn't utilize their books on a device. But if a Kindle is just so much more user friendly....that's the dilemma.
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For the first time in her life, she saw exactly what she’d thrown away when she decided to have him by means fair or foul……that she’d not saved him but wronged him by consigning to him all the ability of a box turtle to make his own choices. ~Gigi

baseballmom5 · Joined: 27 Nov 2007 Posts: 159 Location: Sunny Florida

Tough Choice, I know. I have friends that love their Kindle and am going to suggest my dad to buy one for my mom this year because it's so user friendly. My daughter is used to my ereader so I think she'll do great with one! Good luck!
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www.cindyreadsromance.blogspot.com

Linda in sw va · Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 4708

What I did is order both, and returned the one I did not choose, though I realize that method is not for everyone! lol

I chose the Nook over the Kindle because it's ability to read epub, which gives you more choices in which to shop. I can buy books from B&N, Sony and Kobo, plus check them out from my library (most use Adobe's DRM'd eupb format) and read them on the Nook. Amazon will tell you that you can shop for books from other stores but you will see in the fine print that that's non-protected mobi and pdf's. Most mainstream authors use DRM, so their books are not in that unprotected format.

If you purchase a Kindle you can plan on getting most of your library from Amazon and having to stick with Amazon should you chose to purchase another ereader, since the Kindle uses it's own proprietary format. Now, I'm not saying that's such a bad thing, they do have an excellent selection and the Kindle is a terrific ereader as well.

I also prefer the color LCD screen at the bottom of the Nook, because I don't want to give up my pretty book covers. Also if you have a B&N close by they have treat tie-ins to their stores. You can read any book free for an hour in store, come back the next day and pick up where you left off reading another hour. This is a better way to 'try before you buy' than the small samples they send. They also put coupons on there for free café freebies, this past Saturday my daughter and I sat down in there and got a free smoothie each, they've also featured free coffee, discount coupons and free little boxes of chocolate.

Just something to think about! I think the Nook is under appreciated because it is not promoted as strongly as the Kindle and came in later in the game.

Good luck with your decision!

Linda
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"The Bookshop has a thousand books, all colors, hues and tinges, and every cover is a door that turns on magic hinges." ~ Nancy Byrd Turner

library addict · Joined: 06 Dec 2008 Posts: 1237

After researching eReaders for over a year, I will be getting the new Sony Touch for myself for Christmas. That is because I do not care about wifi connection/instant downloading. And I wanted a reader I could sideload all of the ebooks I already own to. I used Calibre to convert all my LIT books to ePub. Plus the PDF files I have since PDF doesn't convert as well to other formats (at least in my experience).

I like the Sony's ability to use memory cards.

I didn't want to be tied to Amazon. I also don't like the idea they can go in and remove books from the device (as they did with 1984). And from a purely shallow standpoint, I don't like the look of the keyboard on the Kindle.

You can check with your library or overdrive (I think that is what it's called) to see if your local library lends e books or not.

There is no wrong choice. It really depends on the library option and where you want to shop for books. And if wifi/instant downloading is something you want/need.

If you have a Best Buy near you, they supposedly carry the Nook, Kindle, and Sony (but my local one didn't have the new Sonys in stock). Also Borders carries a bunch of eReaders (but not the Kindle). I would recommend going and seeing them in person before making a final decision. That way you can get an idea of how they feel.

sssspro · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 531

Anyone ever heard of the Pandigital 7"?

I am looking. I have the Sony and love it, but its falling apart (my 3rd reader in 6 years.... I guess they only last about 2 years).

I found this one on sale at Macy's for $129....

It reads .epub and .pdf which is enough for me. It has all the gidgets and gadgets that the other have (which I don't need), including connectivity.

The screen seems big and it has 2G internal memory with a SD drive.

Anyone hear anything about this one?

Here's the link (this is the manufacturers website so the price is $199

http://pandigital.net/search.asp?Mode=Product&TypeID=43&ProductID=393

Thoughts anyone?

PWNN · Joined: 11 Apr 2010 Posts: 827

I've heard the Pandigital is slow using it's own software but much better when hacked (easy since it's an Android tablet) used to run aps (from Amazon, B&N, Kobo, etc). And I've heard it's better than some of the generic ones sold by Wallmart etc. The prices are also dropping no doubt do the Nook Color and the other new tablets on the market.

Here are a couple of reviews with some buyer responses:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20005624-1.html

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/587584/review/novel.html

If you're in the market for a more dedicated e-ink e-reader Best Buy is supposedly selling the Nook on Black Friday for $99. It's also currently selling a refurbished WiFi model (with the same 1 yr warranty as new) for $99 and the WiFi/3G for $119 at several stores including Buy.com and their own Ebay store.

Black Friday will no doubt yield sales on tons of other e-readers/tablets
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merryweather · Joined: 27 May 2010 Posts: 531 Location: Encinitas, CA

I have a Best Buy in my neighborhood--I should go try out the Nook and the Sony one and see what they are like--if the Nook does go on sale for $99.00 that would be a great deal.

Thanks so much for all the feedback!
_________________
For the first time in her life, she saw exactly what she’d thrown away when she decided to have him by means fair or foul……that she’d not saved him but wronged him by consigning to him all the ability of a box turtle to make his own choices. ~Gigi

library addict · Joined: 06 Dec 2008 Posts: 1237

Also, if your local library doesn't have ebooks, you can join the Philadelphia Library for a $15 annual fee through their out-of-state resident program.

Linda in sw va · Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 4708

sssspro · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 531

Wow, thanks for the Black Friday rumor updates!

That's reasonable.

Another question for you ladies...which I haven't found the answer to yet....

Does anyone know battery life on these?

My Sony 550 started at 6 BOOKS (I could read six full length books before a charge), and now I barely get 1 1/2, The Sony being an Ink reader I know gets more battery life, but does anyone have a chart somewhere showing battery life (at least on the new reader)?

When I had my Palm Tungsten E, it was back lit, and I knew I was lucky for 1 or 2 books a charge (and at the end it wouldn't hold a charge at all).

I'm curious about the back lit devices....color nook, cruzer, pandidgital etc. I assume (which might be wrong), that all the e-inks have a fairly long battery life like my original Palm/Sony.....of course you know what they say about assumptions.......

PWNN · Joined: 11 Apr 2010 Posts: 827

Ipad supposedly gets 10 hours without a charge and the new Color Nook 8 hours. It's less if the Wifi is on as it is for e-ink devices.

Kindle 3 can now supposedly go for 30 days or 2 weeks if WiFi is on. Here's a comparative list pre Kindle 3

http://www.best-ereaders.com/2010/05/10/battery-life-of-ereaders-which-one-lasts-the-longest/

This a good site for Black Friday deals (but there are plenty out there)

http://www.blackfridayonline.com/
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"My safe word is monkey"