Advice on E-book reader (not FF)

[Morneb]

Hi guys.

I want to buy my wife a e-book reader and have been looking at the Kindle by Amazon. These devices are not really available in SA yet, so it is hard to compare the different brands and makes. Anyone own one of these devices, and any comments good or bad on them? Any other brands you would recommend?

Any recommendations where to buy one?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Morne

[PanFisher]

I am not real impressed with e-book readers at the moment. There are no standard formats. So one e-book reader will not read a book from a competitor.

I looked around then decided to go with a Netbook. I have to have 6 different e-book reading software programs on it to read all the different book formats . Fortunately each e-book reading software is a free download.

The advantage is with wireless I have my e-mail and other options available with me at all times. The disadvantage is battery life is not near what an e-book reader may be, however I find the 3 1/2 hour battery life on my Netbook to be adequate.

The Kindle does get high rankings - just remember it locks you down to purchasing all your e-books from Amazon.

[Normand]

The Kindle does get high rankings - just remember it locks you down to purchasing all your e-books from Amazon.

but the amazon website states

"More than 360,000 books, newspapers, magazines, and blogs available available, including more than 101 of 112 current New York Times? Best Sellers."

thats a lot of reading!

yes it would be nice to have a single standard so you could buy from whoever you want.

[black_co]

Format is not really a problem. There are conversion programs out there to change the format. I read ebooks on my smartphone so that is another option.

My phone is Android based and the ebook reader I use is Aldiko, free download from the Android Market. The converter I use to get them to the .epub format is Calibre, another free download for your PC.

My last phone was Windows Mobile based and I used Mobipocket on it, free download, and Mobisoft has a converter to get the books to .prc format.

[branhap]

We have a Kindle and my wife likes it a lot. I like it because it's not back lit, making it easier on the eyes and such compared to a computer.

The compatibility issue is annoying. For once, I actually wish more would have went with the Sony way which was open source, open standard. (B&N, Best Buy).

Regardless, if they ever do change the standard, it would be an upgrade in the reader so I'm not worried about it turning into a brick.

Lastly, we found that based on how much cheaper kindle books are, we would see a Return in savings by having the kindle in just under 40 books. Not bad for a couple who probably read about 50 books a year.

[Marco]

So far I purchased the Kindle ( larger format) from Amazon. Should be delivered anyday now. I have NO clue as to potential drawbacks but am relying on WHERE I bought it to resolve issues.


Mark

[TyroneFly]

For those with an ebook, what kind of battery life are you getting? If portability an issue? What I mean is it kind of awkward to carry around do to its size?

[branhap]

Battery life is very good, especially if you turn off the wireless when you are just reading. Our book has been on week long trips and never needed a recharge. My wife probably spends anywhere from 1-3 hours per night reading, and it needs a charge maybe once a week at most.

It's thin... maybe a 1/4" thick. In the case that we bought (belkin) it comes out to be about 3/4" thick. Overall, much easier to carry around than a real book!

Paul

[Bass_Bug]

Lastly, we found that based on how much cheaper kindle books are, we would see a Return in savings by having the kindle in just under 40 books. Not bad for a couple who probably read about 50 books a year.

I read on average a book per week as well, but I'm a regular patron at my local library. If I find a book I like and want, I'll buy a copy of the book, then I own that book. ebooks are only licensed, you don't own that ebook and you're limited what you can do with it, and the license can be revoked (and teh file deleted) if you violate the license agreement. There have already been lawsuits over this (and Amazon has lost). These readers are still way too young in their infancy for me.

What gets me is that the authors expect the full retail price for their ebook that the hard copy would sell for. Whereas an author typically gets way less than half of a hard copy retail. (a big portion of retail goes toward printing and distribution.)

I'll think about one when there is a standard format that is not locked into only one distributor.

[Mojo]

Here's an article that a writer for the local fishwrap wrote.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_13996114
Also, it seems that Apple is going to get into the business pretty soon.