Best Library?

[Davet]

Ok, I AM goingto get an ereader by the end of the year. The only thing I have left to know before I make my decision is:
Which ereader has the best library/collection setup?

I know the 1.5 update helped the nook, but not really sure how much...So I would appreciate this forums expertise in helping me choose.

I don't really care about mp3 players, or web browsing etc. I would also prefer one under $200 if that helps.

Thanks
Dave

[polly]

The best setup really depends on user preference. The two choices that I'm aware of are collections and folders. Folders is just like it sounds. Your computer sees the reader as an external drive and you organize books to suit yourself. The plus is that things are exactly where you want them. The minus is that if you want to find the book in multiple folders, you have to have multiple copies.

With Collections, the books are grouped by metadata. If you use Calibre to manage your library, Calibre will use the tags and series information you give it to put books into collections. You might have the book in multiple places but they all point back to the same copy. The plus is that if you have good metadata and Calibre, this is all handled for you. The minus is that you can't select based on two separate tags at the same time. If you want to find a book that is historical fiction and a mystery, you have to look in historical fiction and try to identify the ones that are mystery books. I have readers that work both ways and I like both systems for different reasons.

I would suggest narrowing down to whether you want folders or collections and then looking at the readers that have your preferred organization. Also, look at the ergonomics of the reader. You have to turn the page a lot to read a book; if the controls are not in good places, that can become painful.

[Davet]

I think I would prefer collections. I read alot of series, and would try to group them by the series. I would also prefer that I could group them by the same "setting" (say I want to read some star wars or black library novels) that have different authors, but fall within that setting ( I assume thats possible?)
I have been using calibre to start getting the metadata set up, just waiting to convert my files to whatever format that the reader takes (95% are pdf's at the moment)

[polly]

Yes, a collection can contain books from different authors. Everything that you tag Star Wars will show up in the Star Wars collection. Calibre will put series books into a Collection in series order, so that the first book in the series is the top of the list. Just be aware that a book with four tags and series information will show up in five different collections on the reader.

[Davet]

I'm okay with them showing up in multiple places. But now the question is which ereader does the colections best? I'm kind of leaning towards the nook-the my shelves idea seems like it could be good...but a good idea does not always implement well.

[polly]

i only looked at the Nook when it first came out. Back then, the cover flow only worked for books purchased from B&N, the menus were horrible and there was no way to organize books on the device. You'd have to play with one that had the latest firmware to see what you think, but make certain that the bookshelf etc. will apply to sideloaded (not from B&N) as well. Personally, i don't like the way that the Nook and Kindle try to protect me from myself and guide me to their stores, but that's just me.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by polly

i only looked at the Nook when it first came out. Back then, the cover flow only worked for books purchased from B&N, the menus were horrible and there was no way to organize books on the device. You'd have to play with one that had the latest firmware to see what you think, but make certain that the bookshelf etc. will apply to sideloaded (not from B&N) as well. Personally, i don't like the way that the Nook and Kindle try to protect me from myself and guide me to their stores, but that's just me.

the nook supports ePub and you aren't tied into only buying from Bn's bookstore.

Sure it uses it's own bookstore as a platform but why wouldn't it? just as the Kobo uses it's own as does Sony etc. Though it is great to be able to go out and shop around the latest deals and bargains and of course the library but there is something to be said about having a home base. And BN has one of the best home base's IMHO.

[Davet]

I know that whichever I buy that I'm always gonna be nudged in the direction of their store. I'm fine with that. I just want a decent reader. I'm not opposed to any particular brand....I just need it to be under that $200 mark...

[ProfCrash]

You are not tied to any of the bookstores no matter what device you buy.

I have not read any reviews of the Nook's new book shelf feature.

I know the Kindle allows collections which you can build and control. It allows you to sort all of your books, not just the ones bought from Amazon. And the K3 can be purchased for $189 for the 3G and Wifi option or $139 for the WiFi only option.

[Care]

I have a Nook and I love the way I have my books organized. I haven't used the My Shelves though as I already had my books sorted into collections and wanted to keep it the way it was. I have my nook rooted and I use tags. LOVE IT. I have over 25 collections now and they are super easy to navigate on the lcd menu since you can scroll through super fast. I don't use the series names for collections as I would have a million, lol, but I edit the book title to always have the series name first, then place number in the series, then title (example: Harry Potter 01 - Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone). That way all of my series show up alphabetically and in the proper order.

The Kindle does collections so that would fit your needs as well. It is probably similar to the Nooks Shelves. If you did go with a Kindle, I would still do what I suggested above with changing the title to have the series name and number come first. That would help to keep your collections from getting so big they take forever to sort through.

[DuncanWatson]

I have a rooted NOOK and a stock NOOKColor. The shelves feature is great on both and support both B&N books and sideloaded content. It is basically a collection implementation with a different name.

I really like the NOOKColor as it is lightning fast and really a joy to use. My old NOOK is now in use by my wife. I buy books from multiple DRM storefronts including B&Ns, Sony's and some of the smaller ones. I have played with buying books that are published first in other countries and not yet released in the US due to geo restrictions and managed the task.

Overall I feel the NOOKColor is the best HW platform and SW platform out there right now. I love what they did with the latest SW release.

[Leep]

Once you get a bunch of ebooks, your best bet is to keep them on Calibre on your computer and then keep just those you'll be reading in the near future on your ereader. Otherwise you're scrolling through pages and pages of books.

I have a kindle and also like to read authors in chronological order. Calibre will actually make a book that you can put on your ereader detailing series as as well as a synopsis of each book. Since most of my "collections" are authors, that book is the first book in each collection so I can alway know which book to read next.

cheers