Best eReader For Large Library Storage?

EppePKakke · 12-13-2010, 10:16 AM

It's time for me to graduate from reading my ebooks on my iPhone to a dedicated reader. I'm looking for something that will hold a lot of books. Anyone have any suggestions?

jocampo · 12-13-2010, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EppePKakke

It's time for me to graduate from reading my ebooks on my iPhone to a dedicated reader. I'm looking for something that will hold a lot of books. Anyone have any suggestions?

-What kind of books do you like to read: novels, PDFs, technical documents, comics
-How long your reading sessions are
-What's your budget
-Do you need wifi or can live without it
-Are you in USA or in a different country

jbcohen · 12-13-2010, 11:23 AM

In my humble opinion if you have an extreemly large library, like I do, the reader is not really relevant what is relevant is how you go about storing the ebooks that you have purchased no matter what format and for what ereader you have. My suggestion is to run out to your local electronics store and buy a 1 1/2 Terabyte hard drive, which is what I have done for my extreemly large ereading library. All of the ebooks are placed on an electronic shelf on the hard drive. I do not think that the ereader makes any difference you will still run into the stroage problem no matter what ereader you have.

I would recommend you describe what your ideal ereader looks like - is it touch screen? Does it have wifi? Does it cost under $100? Does it read every format under the sun? What are your requirements for an ereader?

jocampo · 12-13-2010, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbcohen

In my humble opinion if you have an extreemly large library, like I do, the reader is not really relevant what is relevant is how you go about storing the ebooks that you have purchased no matter what format and for what ereader you have

Good point!

ProfCrash · 12-13-2010, 12:18 PM

And it depends on how you want to store your books.

The Kindle has 4 GB of memory which holds on average 3,500 books.

I don't know the storage limits of the Sony or Nook but they both have memory card slots so you can expand the storage space.

One of the things I like about my Kindle, and I think the other major bookstores that sell e-readers do this as well, is that I can read a book and remove it from my device. If I want to read it again I can reload it to my Kindle from Amazon for no charge.

Right now I have plenty of space left on my DXG, I have 400 or so books, so I don't worry about deleting anything from my DXG.

I would be more worried about how will I be able to organize my books on my device and where do I want to buy my books.

EppePKakke · 12-13-2010, 12:50 PM

Thanks for all your quick replies! I like the idea of having 4gb and I see on ebay there is a Kindle 1st generation with 4 that can also take an 8gb sd card. Buying this might offer a solution at a cheaper price. Is it worth a consideration? I have all kinds of ebooks / large and small and lots of mp3's.

ProfCrash · 12-13-2010, 12:54 PM

I love my K1 but I would not buy one today. The K3 WiFi is $139 which cannot be that much more then the K1. The screen on the K3 is far superior, the memory is far greater, the capabilities of the K3 are just superior to the K1. Heck, collections alone make the K3 a better choice.

I would strongly recommend using a regular MP3 player for your music. The MP3 player on the Kindle is bare bones.

jocampo · 12-13-2010, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EppePKakke

Thanks for all your quick replies! I like the idea of having 4gb and I see on ebay there is a Kindle 1st generation with 4 that can also take an 8gb sd card. Buying this might offer a solution at a cheaper price. Is it worth a consideration? I have all kinds of ebooks / large and small and lots of mp3's.

Honestly, how large is your large collection of books? For regular books, 4GB is a lot. Actually, available space is a bit less because the device itself needs space for firmware and operating system.

Let's do some math:

So let's say you have 3000MB with a Kindle 3. Average text book or novel is about 5MB, usually much less, but let's exaggerate here so you will have:

3000 / 5 = 600 books.

Do you really need to carry on such amount of books with you all the time?

Logseman · 12-13-2010, 01:34 PM

You must consider as well that the bigger the amount of books you have in your reader, the slower the processes related with your books will be.

BTW, jocampo, check the math there

EppePKakke · 12-13-2010, 01:40 PM

You've all given me a lot to think about. Maybe I don't need to put mp3's and so many books on it. I have a wireless network at home, is the 3g model worth the extra money. It doesn't seem like much for free 3g service. But I figure the only use I'd get out of it is surfing the internet when not near wifi spot.

jocampo · 12-13-2010, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Logseman

You must consider as well that the bigger the amount of books you have in your reader, the slower the processes related with your books will be.

BTW, jocampo, check the math there

Good point.

And thanks for the math catchup .. I think I need more coffee ... lol ...

JeremyR · 12-13-2010, 03:25 PM

If you have a large collection that you actually plan on reading, I don't think I would recommend a Kindle.

You can't really organize things very well, you only have collections that are just one folder deep.

So if you have a lot of books, you either end up with a lot of collections, or a lot of stuff in collections. Either way it's a pain to navigate as there is no way to quickly scroll through each page of items. I just hit 200 books on my K3 and it's gotten to be rather unwieldy. I can't imagine someone having 1000s.

I have no idea how other e-readers handle organizing books, but the Kindle is very barebones.

ProfCrash · 12-13-2010, 03:43 PM

I have 400 books and my collections make sense to me.

Reading

To Be Read Sci Fi
To Be Read History
To Be Read Non Fiction
To Be Read Literature
To Be Read Fantasy
Read Sci Fi
Read History
Read Non Fiction
Read Literature
Read Fantasy

there are many more but this is just one example of how to sort things.

GA Russell · 12-13-2010, 03:58 PM

EPK, I recommend that you give serious thought to those readers that use SD cards.

For my jetBook Lite, I keep
1) one copy of every book on my hard drive as backup;
2) one copy of every unread book on my SD card; and
3) one copy of every read book on my hard drive in their own "read 2010" file.

EppePKakke · 12-13-2010, 05:11 PM

Thanks for all the comments! If having lots of books slows down the reader getting one with a sd slot makes sense to me. Putting different categories of books on their own cards and switching as needed might be a good plan. That's might work if it is easy to access the sd slot.

12-13-2010, 10:16 AM	#1
EppePKakke Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: iPhone	Best eReader For Large Library Storage? It's time for me to graduate from reading my ebooks on my iPhone to a dedicated reader. I'm looking for something that will hold a lot of books. Anyone have any suggestions?

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12-13-2010, 11:23 AM	#3
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,025 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Piper College Device: Samsung A21	In my humble opinion if you have an extreemly large library, like I do, the reader is not really relevant what is relevant is how you go about storing the ebooks that you have purchased no matter what format and for what ereader you have. My suggestion is to run out to your local electronics store and buy a 1 1/2 Terabyte hard drive, which is what I have done for my extreemly large ereading library. All of the ebooks are placed on an electronic shelf on the hard drive. I do not think that the ereader makes any difference you will still run into the stroage problem no matter what ereader you have. I would recommend you describe what your ideal ereader looks like - is it touch screen? Does it have wifi? Does it cost under $100? Does it read every format under the sun? What are your requirements for an ereader?

12-13-2010, 12:18 PM	#5
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	And it depends on how you want to store your books. The Kindle has 4 GB of memory which holds on average 3,500 books. I don't know the storage limits of the Sony or Nook but they both have memory card slots so you can expand the storage space. One of the things I like about my Kindle, and I think the other major bookstores that sell e-readers do this as well, is that I can read a book and remove it from my device. If I want to read it again I can reload it to my Kindle from Amazon for no charge. Right now I have plenty of space left on my DXG, I have 400 or so books, so I don't worry about deleting anything from my DXG. I would be more worried about how will I be able to organize my books on my device and where do I want to buy my books.

12-13-2010, 12:50 PM	#6
EppePKakke Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: iPhone	Thanks for all your quick replies! I like the idea of having 4gb and I see on ebay there is a Kindle 1st generation with 4 that can also take an 8gb sd card. Buying this might offer a solution at a cheaper price. Is it worth a consideration? I have all kinds of ebooks / large and small and lots of mp3's.

12-13-2010, 12:54 PM	#7
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	I love my K1 but I would not buy one today. The K3 WiFi is $139 which cannot be that much more then the K1. The screen on the K3 is far superior, the memory is far greater, the capabilities of the K3 are just superior to the K1. Heck, collections alone make the K3 a better choice. I would strongly recommend using a regular MP3 player for your music. The MP3 player on the Kindle is bare bones.

12-13-2010, 01:34 PM	#9
Logseman Orisa Posts: 1,999 Karma: 1035571 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Ireland Device: Onyx Poke 5	You must consider as well that the bigger the amount of books you have in your reader, the slower the processes related with your books will be. BTW, jocampo, check the math there

12-13-2010, 01:40 PM	#10
EppePKakke Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: iPhone	You've all given me a lot to think about. Maybe I don't need to put mp3's and so many books on it. I have a wireless network at home, is the 3g model worth the extra money. It doesn't seem like much for free 3g service. But I figure the only use I'd get out of it is surfing the internet when not near wifi spot.

12-13-2010, 03:25 PM	#12
JeremyR Guru Posts: 973 Karma: 2458402 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: St. Louis Device: Kindle Keyboard, Nook HD+	If you have a large collection that you actually plan on reading, I don't think I would recommend a Kindle. You can't really organize things very well, you only have collections that are just one folder deep. So if you have a lot of books, you either end up with a lot of collections, or a lot of stuff in collections. Either way it's a pain to navigate as there is no way to quickly scroll through each page of items. I just hit 200 books on my K3 and it's gotten to be rather unwieldy. I can't imagine someone having 1000s. I have no idea how other e-readers handle organizing books, but the Kindle is very barebones.

12-13-2010, 03:43 PM	#13
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	I have 400 books and my collections make sense to me. Reading To Be Read Sci Fi To Be Read History To Be Read Non Fiction To Be Read Literature To Be Read Fantasy Read Sci Fi Read History Read Non Fiction Read Literature Read Fantasy there are many more but this is just one example of how to sort things.

12-13-2010, 03:58 PM	#14
GA Russell Montreal wins Grey Cup! Posts: 7,583 Karma: 31484197 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Raleigh, NC Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite	EPK, I recommend that you give serious thought to those readers that use SD cards. For my jetBook Lite, I keep 1) one copy of every book on my hard drive as backup; 2) one copy of every unread book on my SD card; and 3) one copy of every read book on my hard drive in their own "read 2010" file.

12-13-2010, 05:11 PM	#15
EppePKakke Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: iPhone	Thanks for all the comments! If having lots of books slows down the reader getting one with a sd slot makes sense to me. Putting different categories of books on their own cards and switching as needed might be a good plan. That's might work if it is easy to access the sd slot.