Hi! new prospective ebook reader buyer

[awesomevegan]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

It's pretty easy. Just email it to your Kindle's email and Amazon will deliver it via Whispernet converted. IF the file is mostly text you get a pretty nice convertion. However, it is in Landscape mode. Now, if you want to go to mobi or text there are hundreds of threads on converting PDFs on this forum.

BOb

Thanks Bob! There is plenty available on feedbooks and Amazon's store and here as well that I probably wont have to worry about converting anything for a LONG time!!! (hopefully!)

[ProDigit]

I would have waited a little until Kindle 2 gets released...
but then again, I went for the PRS-505 despite knowing the PRS-700 will be out in a couple of weeks!

Figured I could always sell the device later on, and with a little loss upgrade to a newer one.
Really the only major reason I didn't take the kindle is because of it's looks...
I really prefer the Sony there!
Also, the kindle needs lots of documents converted, but I downloaded a bunch of books from several sites, and really am not planning on buying anything,nor on up/downloading
all my books all over again.

I may almost say that a Kindle will repay when you buy lots of books!
Amazon on average has about 200.000 books for sale,with the average book costing below $10. Sony has about 52.000 books on sale, and sells them below $14,50/book on average.
So if you plan on buying at least 15 books you're indeed better off with a kindle.
Take that from a Sony 'fan' huh?

Because I'm mainly reading non-purchased books, I kept myself with the Sony, which I got for 240 shipping included. If ever I'd probably not buy more than 5 books before I'll upgrade to hopefully a reader with larger display that can read pdf's better.
At the moment current readers with greater than 800x600 pixels screen are a tad too high in price.

anyways,good luck with the Kindle.
It's not really that you can go wrong with either models.

Am I right in saying that all other models (BeBook, Iliad, ...) are more aimed for more technical people? Meaning there are more software projects going on with these readers, and the connection to an e-book store is less easy?
I mean, that may be just but an impression of mine...

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

I would have waited a little until Kindle 2 gets released...

You do realize this is probably at least 5 months away. Not sure what you consider "a little" in this case.

BOb

[ProDigit]

Hehe, who knows?
it's definitely not here before december, that's true..

[guyanonymous]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Hi Awesome Vegan!

I have the Ebookwise/Fictionwise EB-1150, and it is my baby. It's a heavier, clunkier, uglier baby, but I love it anyway. It's on sale right now for $10 off, so you can get it for $129.

I read in the dark, so the backlight was crucial to me. I also have very poor vision, and as long as I crank up the fonts to jumbo size, it is no more or less of a strain for me than any other reading medium. It also is ergonomically shaped, so it fits my hand well and so you don't notice that it weighs a pound, instead of the few ounces for the Sonys and things I saw at our Mobile Read picnic yesterday. Those Sonys are awesome!

The EB-1150 uses a touchscreen for menus and stuff, so it is very easy. You can download books in IMP format from eBookwise and here without having to change a thing. However, in order to see words more clearly, I download in PRC format and convert to IMP while selecting for the largest fonts.

It is very sturdy. I slip it into the little leatherlike envelope it came with and cram it into my purse.

If you are looking for a reading device and are considering the EB-1150, I can highly recommend it.

I agree 98%. I don't have a purse.

I love my ebookwise device. And contrary to earlier posts, it is the cheapest option out there. Here are the pluses that come to mind:

• A 64MB card, for me, holds ~100 books.
• Battery life for me works out to 15-18 hours or so. I use it on the lowest light setting 95% of the time.
• I adjust the brightness/contrast as a)the reader warms up (LCD screens) which happens out in the sun, or after reading for a few hours.
• You can use it as an emergency flashlight by setting it to the highest brightness!
• It's easy to read for a long time - never found it strained my eyes
• I recommend the ebookwise librarian software ($15 or so from the ebookwise.com site) for converting files, and managing stuff. I don't actually ever plug my device in to the computer, though. I just pop out the memory card and copy files to it.
• The ebookwise software works well for most conversions, though I sometimes come across an html or rtf file that has right-justification turned on and have to fix it.
• You can justify it if you thought you'd buy and read ... say 25 classics that you can find on project gutenberg.
• It recharges to about 75% in an hour...enough for a few hours reading in 20 minutes or so.
• it's cheap!
• it's durable - I don't actually use my case at all, and while that's resulted in a few scratches on the screen - it's always instantly at hand
• PDF's aren't a format that does well on this (there are ways to put jpgs on it, but not great) unless you can convert them to straight text
• I can't remember if you can flip the screen - I believe you can. I use it one handed with my left hand on the page-buttons
• you only have two-text size options, and you can get caught out on conversions of files sometimes if you don't double check the font size hasn't been set artificially small etc.
• it's a reader for text books, plain and simple and rocks at that task
• ok,....stopping now, but it bugs me this isn't a better known and understood machine

shutting up now.

[awesomevegan]

Thanks everyone for your input. I chose to get the Kindle. I already ordered it. Won't get to play with it till Dec I doubt I will be rushing to upgrade when Kindle 2 comes out. I didn't upgrade to a newer iPod yet. It plays my music, and videos too. My Kindle will display my books, and will do many other things. It won't do them any less if a new one comes out. I believe I should be content with a Kindle 1.0 for quite some time!

[awesomevegan]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

I may almost say that a Kindle will repay when you buy lots of books!
Amazon on average has about 200.000 books for sale,with the average book costing below $10. Sony has about 52.000 books on sale, and sells them below $14,50/book on average.
So if you plan on buying at least 15 books you're indeed better off with a kindle.
Take that from a Sony 'fan' huh?

I plan to buy more than 15 books lol! (Just not all at once) It is great to know that the books are generally cheaper. I already knew it had a much larger selection.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by awesomevegan

Thanks everyone for your input. I chose to get the Kindle. I already ordered it. Won't get to play with it till Dec I doubt I will be rushing to upgrade when Kindle 2 comes out. I didn't upgrade to a newer iPod yet. It plays my music, and videos too. My Kindle will display my books, and will do many other things. It won't do them any less if a new one comes out. I believe I should be content with a Kindle 1.0 for quite some time!

Same here. I have a Gen4 iPod 20GB. I've already replaced the "non-replaceable" battery once. It sill does what I need. While the new once are sweet and have awesome battery life... I just don't need that much disk space. Perhaps when my second battery stops holding a charge I'll get a new iPod.

BOb

[ProDigit]

Yeah, It would be fun for a while if you could buy everything you wanted...
But sometimes you need to find ways to save some!

I think I might sell mine in the near future, and exchange it for a higher end model, mainly due to me owning a lot of pdf's.

[awesomevegan]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Same here. I have a Gen4 iPod 20GB. I've already replaced the "non-replaceable" battery once. It sill does what I need. While the new once are sweet and have awesome battery life... I just don't need that much disk space. Perhaps when my second battery stops holding a charge I'll get a new iPod.

BOb

I have a Gen5 60GB. I will never fill it... and thats with music, videos, podcasts, audiobooks... if it weren't for the podcasts, I wouldn't be over 5 gb. I have more room than I need. Luckily ebooks are small.

Between the classics and the gift cards, I can afford to read a lot. With all the Kindle 1 can do... why bother with a new one? It would have to be pretty darn special to have me consider an upgrade in less that a few years time.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by awesomevegan

Between the classics and the gift cards, I can afford to read a lot. With all the Kindle 1 can do... why bother with a new one? It would have to be pretty darn special to have me consider an upgrade in less that a few years time.

Agreed. I expect to get 5 years out of my Kindle. So I am no hurry to replace it. However, I do want a 10inchish size one which I would use for a totally different purpose.

BOb

[awesomevegan]

My mom let me have it early and I have been Kindleing since this afternoon! I LOVE IT so far!

Got 1 new book. Nightworld Book 1
Plus I have the Feedbooks Guide and plan to add the Mobileread guide.

Just wanted to update you all in case you were wondering!!!

[BookishDreamer]

Originally Posted by awesomevegan

My mom let me have it early and I have been Kindleing since this afternoon! I LOVE IT so far!

Got 1 new book. Nightworld Book 1
Plus I have the Feedbooks Guide and plan to add the Mobileread guide.

Just wanted to update you all in case you were wondering!!!

Did you give Mom an exuberant hug and lots of "thank you thank you thank you you're the best Mom ever" praise? Maybe as part of her Christmas present this year you should give her a "thank you for giving me the Kindle early" card.

Dreamer

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by awesomevegan

My mom let me have it early and I have been Kindleing since this afternoon! I LOVE IT so far!

Just wanted to update you all in case you were wondering!!!

Wow... that is great news. There is nothing else important going on today here in Florida... so I am glad for that info.

Seriously... read away... and we are here if you need any help or have any questions.

BOb

[awesomevegan]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Wow... that is great news. There is nothing else important going on today here in Florida... so I am glad for that info.

Seriously... read away... and we are here if you need any help or have any questions.

BOb

Thanks BOb! I am reading away... I love it so much! I have already read like 4 chapters in a book and checked out the Wiki and the kindle store. I have some public domains stashed for later... My mom thinks I am nuts because I said I am planning to attempt hard classics like War and Peace. Thats what the dictionary lookup is for right? (10 times a page probably) But hey I have always been a bit crazy (I like to think in a good way)