Which is the best eReader for library books?

[boswd]

Originally Posted by PatNY

Regardless, the point remains that there are some video/audio feeds that are best displayed via HDMI. There is no such comparable analogy with wi-fi vs. USB on an e-ink reader.

I just had to throw that in there

[dordale]

Plenty of opinions here--so I figure I'll offer mine as well.

I have both a Sony 650 and a nook wifi--I by far prefer the Sony. Don't get me wrong the nook is a great reader, but for my needs the Sony is superior. I don't miss the wifi at all when using my Sony. I load books from my computer at home--I use Calibre with both the Sony and the nook.

I find the Sony with the touchscreen much more intuitive and easy to use than the LCD touchscreen at the bottom of the nook. The Sony has the same size e-ink screen as the nook, but it is much lighter, smaller, and has much better battery life. IMO, the only down side to the Sony is the price--but for my needs and usage it's worth the premium price.

We recently purchased a Sony 350 for my 70yo mother in law who isn't tech savvy at all. And she loves it. She's an avid reader and has read quite a few books on it already. Now, we did pre-load a bunch of books on it for her, so she hasn't had to hook it up to her computer to transfer more books to it yet, but she is having no problem at all finding her way around on the device itself.

I think your best bet is to go to a store and try both the nook and the Sony. Then you can decide which device would work better for your wife.

Good luck!
dordale

[Care]

Originally Posted by Tinks

I think the original poster would probably benefit from wifi because he said he needs something that's easy to use. His wife may not buy books that cost money, but I bet she'll want to "buy" the free books that the store offers. With wifi on my K3, all I have to do is go to "menu" & select "wifi on" for the books I bought to download. It can't get much easier than that. If I had to choose between nook, and Sony, I'd go with the nook. On the Sony there's 3 things I don't care for: the price, the touchscreen, the no wifi(except on the outrageously expensive model). Also, on the nook, you can get free books from B&N, kobo, & Sony stores. With the Sony, you can't buy books from B&N.

That is a very good point about the free books. On the Nook when you hit Shop, if you enter 0.00 into the search all of the free books come up. There are flipping tons of them, and I admit you have to rifle through a lot to get to some good ones. But I have found some really great fantasy, romance, and fairy tale genres that were free (I read mostly fantasy so I haven't looked for others but I know they have tons). And if you enter 0.00 romance or 0.00 scifi, only the romance or scifi titles will show. Just warn her that a lot of the romance is smut. There is always an option to read the synopsis so you don't download something you don't want though.

It is true that if she didn't have wifi she probably wouldn't miss it, but I think in this case it could be something she would benefit from. Mind you I don't know her so I am just guessing.

[OtterBooks]

Regarding wireless..I have used the WiFi on my Kindle 3 for a total of 5 minutes, to register and to realize that the browser was a horrible joke, and have never turned it back on.

Wait that's not true. The other night I downloaded a free book via wifi just to try doing that once.

[ProfCrash]

Have you ever even owned a device with a touch screen? I'm guessing no.

I have. Many devices today are touch screen. I don't like them. I don't like fingerprints on my screens and I tend to find them annoying in general. It is a personal preference. And I am in my 30's.

And buying using wireless is not mean buying on an impulse. My Mother and I share an account. She does not have my password for my Amazon account so she cannot log onto Amazon and buy books through their store. She buys using the Wireless.

I don't use the browser so I have no idea how it works. I do know people who use it. (shrugs)

[doreenjoy]

I haven't used the latest Nook, but I prefer the Sony. I find the integration with the library to be pretty seamles.s

[PatNY]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I have. Many devices today are touch screen. I don't like them. I don't like fingerprints on my screens and I tend to find them annoying in general. It is a personal preference. And I am in my 30's.

And buying using wireless is not mean buying on an impulse. My Mother and I share an account. She does not have my password for my Amazon account so she cannot log onto Amazon and buy books through their store. She buys using the Wireless.

I don't use the browser so I have no idea how it works. I do know people who use it. (shrugs)

Perhaps it was a device with a resistive touchscreen? And not the more fluid touchscreens that the iPads/iPhones and Sony readers have?

At any rate, you brought up a good point about your mother. My mom is allergic to technology, as are many older people. So, if she wanted a reader I would get her one with wi-fi as it would allow me to set up an online buying account for her and she wouldn't have to use a computer. I don't live in the same city as her, so I couldn't just bop over and sideload books for her whenever she needed them. However, she does have arthritis in her hands, so I think I'd recommend wi-fi with a touchscreen for easier navigation. I'd suggest either the PRS-950 or the Nook Color, if the shorter battery life or reading LCD screens don't bother her (it doesn't bother me).

[PatNY]

Originally Posted by Care

That is a very good point about the free books. On the Nook when you hit Shop, if you enter 0.00 into the search all of the free books come up. There are flipping tons of them, and I admit you have to rifle through a lot to get to some good ones.

Barnes & Noble does have the best free books IMO. Specifically their B&N Classics series which they offer for free for limited periods of time throughout the year . They are all so professionally proofread and beautifully formatted epubs with lots of extra bonus content. However, if you are not adverse to liberating books, you can enjoy these same books on any device.

[doreenjoy]

Why is wanting a touchscreen subjective, but wanting wireless isn't? It's all subjective.

And call me a sucker, but I'll pay more for a sexy-looking device every time. Once when I pulled out my K1, someone asked me if it was a Brother label maker.

[doreenjoy]

Originally Posted by PatNY

Barnes & Noble does have the best free books IMO. Specifically their B&N Classics series which they offer for free for limited periods of time throughout the year . They are all so professionally proofread and beautifully formatted epubs with lots of extra bonus content. However, if you are not adverse to liberating books, you can enjoy these same books on any device.

I have to disagree on the quality of B&N books. I have yet to read a B&N title that had italics. Drives me nuts in some books, particularly those with a lot of internal character thought.

[jehane]

Given that the stated primary purpose is to read library books, I would say that all this discussion of wifi is irrelevant to the OP. What he (and she) should be considering is what features she *is* likely to use (touchscreen is the most obvious difference), and how important design is to her. I prefer the clean lines of the Sony over the Nook, although had the Kobo been out where and when I was looking, it would have been a close shave. The best thing, given they are in the US and have easy access, would be for them to visit a store, Best Buy or whichever, that stocks a few different brands and get a feel for the physical object.

My primary use of my Sony is reading free material, whether it's from Gutenberg or other PD, the occasional contemporary freebie, or my library. While I would consider myself tech-savvy, I generally don't fiddle with stuff just because I feel like it. I find ADE and the sony library easy to use and haven't yet felt the need for Calibre.

[PatNY]

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

I have to disagree on the quality of B&N books. I have yet to read a B&N title that had italics. Drives me nuts in some books, particularly those with a lot of internal character thought.

Both Pride & Prejudice and Persuasion by Austen have italics in the B&N Classics versions I have. They are inside the formal chapters, used for emphasis of text. Both versions were downloaded this past year.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by PatNY

Both Pride & Prejudice and Persuasion by Austen have italics in the B&N Classics versions I have. They are inside the formal chapters, used for emphasis of text. Both versions were downloaded this past year.

that new classic editions from Barnes and Nobe that started during the summer is fantastic. I guess that's something we can agree on They just did the Scarlet Letter, which was offered for free.

They do, do a wonderful job with the out of copyright classics.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by boswd

that new classic editions they started during the summer is fantastic. I guess that's something we can agree on They just did the Scarlet Letter, which was offered for free.

They do, do a wonderful job with the out of copyright classics.

I like them. I have over 100 of them, and all for free.

[LoneTech]

Yes, Project Gutenberg do a wonderful job with the out of copyright classics. Pride and Prejudice does have italics. The Scarlet Letter was added with illustrations over two years ago, without illustrations back in 1992.

I understand a lot of ebook readers ship with a sample of PG books, and all of the ebook stores seem to copy a few too. There might be added value, like forewords, commentary or illustrations, but the availability of classics is not a big differentiator IMHO.