AAR

[Linda in sw va]

[Mark]

I got the first (model 500) Sony Reader in 2006, and have since bought 3 more Sony Readers (a 505, a 700 & a 600). The 500 was lost in a fire, but I share the remaining Readers with two siblings living in the same metropolitan area. My brother uses the 505, my sister uses the 700, and I use the 600. The Sony device policy has a limit of 6 devices for all their DRM-locked files, so I am able to keep my computer and all 3 Readers updated with all the ebooks I buy or download. (Several hundred loaded ebooks are free, from the Baen Free Library and other sources.)
The 700 & 600 are both touch-screen models, with a virtual keypad and a virtual keyboard if you need to type anything. The 600 also includes a resident dictionary called up by double-tapping on any word on the screen. It isn't unabridged, but it's not bad.

[Mark]

[Continuation of post split to get past CGI timeout error.]
Since I buy the ebooks once to load on all 3 Readers, I have no need for the Amazon wireless buying. I keep the master copies of all ebooks on my computer. Since the Reader resident memory would only hold a few hundred ebooks, I load the ebooks on Memory Stick cards for all 3 Readers. I estimate that the 8 GB cards I use should hold 10,000+ ebooks, more than the Reader software is likely to handle. (The PC software and sorts on the Reader both slow down as the number of loaded ebooks increases.)
If you will be sharing ebooks with someone in the same household or someone you see often, a similar setup is worth considering.
The drawback of the Reader is that there are still some titles that don't show up in epub format and some titles that would be cheaper from Amazon.

[merryweather]

[hannahi]

[MMcA]

The Harry Potter books were one of the first I looked for when I got an ereader. Don't see the logic of not releasing them in that format. I suppose it's an historic thing: at the height of the HP frenzy you can see that people might have pirated the books as soon as they were released - but now the books are widely available in libraries and UBS, doesn't seem to make sense not to sell them to the consumer in any format they like.

I've already got three copies of book 7 (we couldn't decide who'd get to read it first) so they're never going to sell me another print version - but if they had a reasonably priced eversion, I probably would buy that.

[ChrisReader]

I have a Kindle and love it -but I also use my ipad a large amount of time because it is

1.) backlit so I can read in bed and not need a light
2.) capable of doing most of the things a laptop can and
3.) with the advent of Bluefire it can read almost every protected format (including library books) with the applications for Kindle, Nook, Borders, Ibooks all free and usable on the ipad.

If someone asked me what the most versatile and robust "reader" is I would say an ipad, itouch etc. However for a lot of people price is a HUGE issue and some people have a tough time reading on a device that is backlit. (I used to read on my itouch without any strain but everyone's eyes are different.)

What I think the Kindle's best features are:

1.) Ease of use/Customer service - people who have tried all the readers say it is the easiest to use with one-click buying (which Amazon patented) and has by far the best customer service. I can attest to this- when I had to contact them I got a call back within a minute- no exaggeration. They sent me a replacement for my frozen Kindle on that phone call before I had even mailed the broken one back.

2.) Price- I have compared the cost of various ebooks and Amazon always seems to have the best prices. Their eharlequin/Mira books are cheaper than buying them from eharlequin itself. I saw another review that said Amazon is on average 11% cheaper than its competitors.

3.) Selection- they have the largest selection bar none. It is also my personal opinion that they seem to have the most free books and a lot of "get them quick" specials that are not advertised. For example when Elizabeth Hoyt released a new book a few months ago a number of her backlist were on special for only $1.99 each - a savings of $5 or $6 each. I've recently downloaded two free Zoe Archer books (new ones) and a Dee Henderson one. I have a ton of other free ones I have downloaded over the past several months.

4.) Accessibility- I have a Kindle plus apps on my laptop, ipad, itouch and Android cell phone. I can start a book on my cell phone in the waiting room of a Dr.'s Office and finish it at home on my ipad where it will open to the page I left off at.

5.) Longevity- the Kindle has been around the longest, has had three versions so far to "get the bugs out," has the longest battery life, and of all the business selling their readers (apart from Sony I would say) has the best chance of being around in the long run. Plus they were among the pioneers of the ebooks and are very committed to fostering ebooks and have tried to discount aggressively despite Agency Five's chokehold.

Downsides: Does not read Adobe e-pub which thanks to Overdrive is the standard for library books so no library book borrowing on the Kindle. This used to bother me a lot until Bluefire allowed me to read them on the ipad.

Currently does not allow sharing-BUT announced recently that it soon will.

Doesn't use any color- I have an ipad and itouch which does show the covers in color so it doesn't bother me. Plus, unless you are on an ipad or color reader no book content shows in color so you are only missing seeing the cover graphic (which a lot of ebooks have neglected to even have.) However some people really feel the loss of the color cover graphic.

[merryweather]

Yes, I wish the ipad were less expensive--heck, I'd get one for everyone in the family if I could afford it.

You make a strong argument for the Kindle, Chris. I don't care about the b&w aspect--the cover is the last of my concerns. But the no-library borrowing thing really bugs! Still thinking and reading about our options.
_________________
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

[Linda in sw va]

[library addict]

The new line of Sony readers are all $30 off at the Sony site until Nov 27th. They are also $30 off at Borders, Amazon, etc.

As for Black Friday sales, the one I've seen so far Wal-Mart will have the Sony 300 for $99.

Best Buy will have the wi-fi Nook for $99.

The 7" Augen Color eReader will be $69 at Menards, but I haven't researched much about the specs on it because it isn't eInk and I really want an eInk device.

[CD]

Well, I'd recommend the Sony/Nook/Cybook or any epub reader simply because you have a choice of where to shop. With the Kindle and its proprietary format, it's Amazon and only Amazon forever and ever, amen. Once you purchase ebooks in the Kindle format, only a Kindle will read them. This means that you can't switch devices in a few years when your Kindle (like all electronic gadgets these days) goes kaputt.

Also, it's easier to get around geographic restrictions - this is a big issue if you're a romance reader outside the US. On a greyer note, it's also easier to strip off the DRM from epubs which is handy if you want to backup your books and read them in whatever format you like.
_________________
"Socialism to help sick people - bad.
Socialism to help billionaires - good."

[willaful]

My husband just got a Kindle and honestly, I like my iPod touch better. How do the other ereaders compare, size wise? I think I'd like something smaller than the kindle but larger than the iPod.
_________________
"I say, don't read the classics -- try to discover your own classics; every life has its own." -- Rudolf Flesch, _How to Make Sense_

[Mark]

About battery life, it has gone down on my Sony Reader since I first bought it, but it's hard to quantify. On an e-ink device like the Reader the usual figures rate the number of page updates you should get out of a battery charge, so the number of books that covers depends on how long the books are and what font size option you use when reading. With short books and a small font setting, you might get several books in the same number of pages as a long book read using the large or extra-large font setting.
The other confounding factors are Reader activities other than page updates. There is an internal timer constantly running to support the screen-blanking logic (the Reader screen blanks if left idle for an hour) and the deeper shutdown logic (the Reader fully powers down if left idle for several days, so next start after that is a full reboot). I have found that a few days of that background activity drains as much as reading a book. The other big battery drain is the sync & sort the Reader does when I add new ebooks (usually at least once a week). With my current count of ebooks loaded (2,426 after the last update of the 600 Reader), this can easily drain half of a battery charge.

[Mark]

The Sony Reader comes with only a few free ebooks preloaded, plus several excerpts. I have downloaded hundreds of (legal) free ebooks from various sites. In terms of sharing, it works for me and my siblings because we all read both romances and F&SF.
One quick correction on a post above: the Sony Reader was around a year or two before the Kindle.

[JaneO]

My husband got a Kindle as a gift a few months ago. I have probably used it more than he has, but neither of us is crazy about it.
He uses it as a more comfortable way to read lengthy articles he downloads from the internet.
I use it for out-of-print, out-of-copyright books that my library doesn't have and that I would like to use for research.
I haven't actually bought any books for it, and my husband has bought one — a fairly esoteric tome that was $30+ for the Kindle and $140+ for a hardcover copy.
The Kindle has its uses, especially if you do a lot of traveling or find yourself with nothing to read and it's three o'clock in the morning and you can't sleep, but both of us would infinitely prefer to read a physical dead-tree book.
If this one died, I wouldn't buy another.