eReader/Tablet for Senior

gabby98 · 06-21-2013, 10:40 AM

Hi guys...wondering if you can help me...trying to find an eReader/Tablet (as inexpensive as possible) for my 90 year old grandmother.

Need something that she can read, but that also has the text-to-speech/read to me option for when her eyes get tired. Most of the books will be from my personal collection and probably not synced from B&N/Kindle cloud.

She seems to be slightly interested in a few games shes played on my aunt ipad and my android, so that option would be nice, but the text-to-speech is priority especially if it can remember her place regardless of whether she was manually reading or it was reading to her.

thanks all!

ForlornProvider · 06-21-2013, 01:33 PM

If your looking for e-readers with text to speech they're are many that can cater to this need.

( Amazon Kindle touch) it's $99 it also has a decent screen size of 6" inches and a storage capacity of 3000 books. but only has wifi capabilities so your grandmother has to be in the presence of a router or a mobile hotspot. This would be the most ideal if she wants to keep it in the house or if she doesn't get out much. Please keep in mind she must have a router or a mobile hotspot.

But..... if you want something with all around access where your grandma can be anywhere without being limited to a wi-fi connection or hotspot. I would recommend the 3g version which is around $40 more ($139) . same specs but with 3g of course ^_^.

although i never handled an (amazon kindle fire) before they are able to play games and other apps and such but you better be prepared to spend a hefty penny for it ( but $200 may not be expensive to you). it has text to speech and is app compatible and the screen is slightly bigger coming in at 7"inches

all of these come with cloud storage..if you didn't already know. I hope this helps you Gabby98!

P.S. pausing and resuming kindle touch's text to speech is as simple as tapping the top of the screen to bring up the Text-to-Speech options. so if she doesn't want to hear the narrator anymore she can pause it and play whenever she likes.

gabby98 · 06-23-2013, 12:54 AM

thanks...i never really considered a kindle cause i heard it was very difficult to transfer books to if they were not from amazon...i know Calibre rocks, but wasn't sure how well it got around that issue.

Melpomene · 06-23-2013, 02:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gabby98

thanks...i never really considered a kindle cause i heard it was very difficult to transfer books to if they were not from amazon...i know Calibre rocks, but wasn't sure how well it got around that issue.

Both Calibre and the Kindle product line handle this extremely easily. As long as the books that you're trying to transfer onto the Kindle don't have DRM encryption within them, it's the simple act of plugging your Kindle device into your computer, waiting for Calibre to recognise it, and then clicking the big "Send To Device" button which will appear. If your books are not already in the correct format for the Kindle (which takes the .mobi and .azw formats), Calibre will ask you for permission to 'convert' them automatically - you just need to accept!

gabby98 · 06-23-2013, 01:53 PM

Oh, OK....i had heard much worse horror stories about having to email the book to a special kindle email and waiting for their system to convert and download or deny the conversion etc.

we may have to take a look at that.

Does anyone know if kindle text to speech is only for some books or for any book?

ty

BookCat · 06-23-2013, 03:25 PM

It might be wise to post in the Kindle department of mobileread, as I've a feeling that Kindle have discontinued text-to-speech on its newer models, including the Kindle Touch. If you can get an older Kindle, I'm not sure which, that may have the text to speech option.

Also, you only need the wi-fi function when downloading books, which maybe you could do for your grandmother.

Be ware that Kindles don't accept epubs, so you will have to convert any epubs into mobi by using Calibre. I'm sure this will all be made much clearer by the Kindle users.

Rbneader · 06-23-2013, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BookCat

It might be wise to post in the Kindle department of mobileread, as I've a feeling that Kindle have discontinued text-to-speech on its newer models, including the Kindle Touch. If you can get an older Kindle, I'm not sure which, that may have the text to speech option.

Yes, only the Kindle Keyboard has text-to-speech now. Authors claimed that Amazon's TTS violated their copyright, so AFAIK none of the other Kindles do anymore. And I think the Kindle Keyboard was discontinued recently?

If you really need TTS, you should maybe focus on Android tablets. On tablets, you can install any reading program you want, so you can pick the one with necessary features. For example, FBReader has a free TTS addon.

gabby98 · 06-23-2013, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rbneader

Yes, only the Kindle Keyboard has text-to-speech now. Authors claimed that Amazon's TTS violated their copyright, so AFAIK none of the other Kindles do anymore. And I think the Kindle Keyboard was discontinued recently?

If you really need TTS, you should maybe focus on Android tablets. On tablets, you can install any reading program you want, so you can pick the one with necessary features. For example, FBReader has a free TTS addon.

OK...ty . tried fbreader once before but wasn't looking for that at the time, will look at again

Xanthe · 06-23-2013, 07:56 PM

You can put Cool Reader on a Nook HD or HD+ and it has a TTS option. Also, you can put a LibreVox app on those devices and download free audiobooks.

The Nook HD/HD+ are on sale now at B&N, and today QVC has the Nook HD+ 32GB as its Today's Special Value.

daffy4u · 06-23-2013, 08:07 PM

The Kindle Touch does have TTS (just tested mine).

JSWolf · 06-23-2013, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rbneader

Yes, only the Kindle Keyboard has text-to-speech now. Authors claimed that Amazon's TTS violated their copyright, so AFAIK none of the other Kindles do anymore. And I think the Kindle Keyboard was discontinued recently?

If you really need TTS, you should maybe focus on Android tablets. On tablets, you can install any reading program you want, so you can pick the one with necessary features. For example, FBReader has a free TTS addon.

But using FBReader for reading the eBook is a poor option as FBReader tends to ignore a lot of the CSS. It's just not worth the hassle.

JSWolf · 06-23-2013, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xanthe

You can put Cool Reader on a Nook HD or HD+ and it has a TTS option. Also, you can put a LibreVox app on those devices and download free audiobooks.

The Nook HD/HD+ are on sale now at B&N, and today QVC has the Nook HD+ 32GB as its Today's Special Value.

I find QVC's tablet prices too expensive. Better to buy from B&N.

JSWolf · 06-23-2013, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daffy4u

The Kindle Touch does have TTS (just tested mine).

It's the PW that did away with all audio.

lifer109 · 06-23-2013, 10:17 PM

Bought my mom a Kindle Fire HD a couple of months ago. She does read on it. Wanted her to use for Skype, which she should be able to do shortly. One thing about Android tablets vs a touch or simple ereader is that it can be much more complicated. Not really a good thing. For just reading get a simple reader.

Xanthe · 06-23-2013, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I find QVC's tablet prices too expensive. Better to buy from B&N.

The price today was $169 for the HD+ 32GB with two adapters, and 'a bunch of magazines and software programs. It was their one-day Special Value.

The extra adapter alone costs $25-29 so it was a good deal today.

06-21-2013, 10:40 AM	#1
gabby98 Wizard Posts: 1,751 Karma: 2667650 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Android, Nook Simple Touch, Nook Color, ..., Glo	eReader/Tablet for Senior Hi guys...wondering if you can help me...trying to find an eReader/Tablet (as inexpensive as possible) for my 90 year old grandmother. Need something that she can read, but that also has the text-to-speech/read to me option for when her eyes get tired. Most of the books will be from my personal collection and probably not synced from B&N/Kindle cloud. She seems to be slightly interested in a few games shes played on my aunt ipad and my android, so that option would be nice, but the text-to-speech is priority especially if it can remember her place regardless of whether she was manually reading or it was reading to her. thanks all!

06-21-2013, 01:33 PM	#2
ForlornProvider Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2013 Device: none	If your looking for e-readers with text to speech they're are many that can cater to this need. ( Amazon Kindle touch) it's $99 it also has a decent screen size of 6" inches and a storage capacity of 3000 books. but only has wifi capabilities so your grandmother has to be in the presence of a router or a mobile hotspot. This would be the most ideal if she wants to keep it in the house or if she doesn't get out much. Please keep in mind she must have a router or a mobile hotspot. But..... if you want something with all around access where your grandma can be anywhere without being limited to a wi-fi connection or hotspot. I would recommend the 3g version which is around $40 more ($139) . same specs but with 3g of course ^_^. although i never handled an (amazon kindle fire) before they are able to play games and other apps and such but you better be prepared to spend a hefty penny for it ( but $200 may not be expensive to you). it has text to speech and is app compatible and the screen is slightly bigger coming in at 7"inches all of these come with cloud storage..if you didn't already know. I hope this helps you Gabby98! P.S. pausing and resuming kindle touch's text to speech is as simple as tapping the top of the screen to bring up the Text-to-Speech options. so if she doesn't want to hear the narrator anymore she can pause it and play whenever she likes. Last edited by pdurrant; 01-12-2014 at 07:18 AM. Reason: sig image deleted. sigs not allowed in body text.

06-23-2013, 10:17 PM	#14
lifer109 Member Posts: 21 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2011 Device: kindle keyboard and now Nook HD+	Bachmann Spectrum 8-40CW Wide Cab Union Pacific 9375 Bought my mom a Kindle Fire HD a couple of months ago. She does read on it. Wanted her to use for Skype, which she should be able to do shortly. One thing about Android tablets vs a touch or simple ereader is that it can be much more complicated. Not really a good thing. For just reading get a simple reader.

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06-23-2013, 12:54 AM	#3
gabby98 Wizard Posts: 1,751 Karma: 2667650 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Android, Nook Simple Touch, Nook Color, ..., Glo	thanks...i never really considered a kindle cause i heard it was very difficult to transfer books to if they were not from amazon...i know Calibre rocks, but wasn't sure how well it got around that issue.

06-23-2013, 01:53 PM	#5
gabby98 Wizard Posts: 1,751 Karma: 2667650 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Android, Nook Simple Touch, Nook Color, ..., Glo	Oh, OK....i had heard much worse horror stories about having to email the book to a special kindle email and waiting for their system to convert and download or deny the conversion etc. we may have to take a look at that. Does anyone know if kindle text to speech is only for some books or for any book? ty

06-23-2013, 03:25 PM	#6
BookCat C L J Posts: 2,912 Karma: 21115458 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Birmingham UK Device: Sony e-reader 505, Kindle PW2, Kindle PW3, Kobo Libra2	It might be wise to post in the Kindle department of mobileread, as I've a feeling that Kindle have discontinued text-to-speech on its newer models, including the Kindle Touch. If you can get an older Kindle, I'm not sure which, that may have the text to speech option. Also, you only need the wi-fi function when downloading books, which maybe you could do for your grandmother. Be ware that Kindles don't accept epubs, so you will have to convert any epubs into mobi by using Calibre. I'm sure this will all be made much clearer by the Kindle users.

06-23-2013, 07:56 PM	#9
Xanthe Plan B Is Now In Force Posts: 1,894 Karma: 8086979 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Surebleak Device: Aluratek,Sony 350/T1,Pandigital,eBM 911,Nook HD/HD+,Fire HDX 7/8.9,PW2	You can put Cool Reader on a Nook HD or HD+ and it has a TTS option. Also, you can put a LibreVox app on those devices and download free audiobooks. The Nook HD/HD+ are on sale now at B&N, and today QVC has the Nook HD+ 32GB as its Today's Special Value.

06-23-2013, 08:07 PM	#10
daffy4u I'm Super Kindle-icious Posts: 6,734 Karma: 2434103 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis	The Kindle Touch does have TTS (just tested mine).