Looking for inexpensive e-reader w/ good collection management

[flourish]

I've recently decided to buy an e-reader and have been researching different ones, but all of the choices are making it hard to decide. So I'm asking you kind folks for help.

What I want:
1. E-Ink screen that minimizes eyestrain. (I have bad eyesight and thus place reading materials within a few inches of my face, which causes eyestrain quickly.)
2. Inexpensive- under $150
3. Memory expansion- I plan on having as many books as possible, ie in the thousands.
4. Good collection management- I'd like to be able to categorize stories by author/genre/etc in easy to access folders. I don't want to have to scroll through all my books just to find the one I need.
5. Small form factor- Can be held in one hand and carried around; will fit in a large purse. I'm not really a fan of the larger physical keyboards because it seems like they add unnecessary bulk. If it's a well-designed keyboard I'll try it, but the Kindle keyboard and others like it just look ridiculously annoying.
6. Supports multiple formats/or will read books from various sources. I'm still sort of hazy on all the ins and outs of ebook formats, conversion, and so forth, but I know I'd like to be able to put fanfic from online on the e-reader.
7. Durable and/or available accessories to protect it from getting broken 8 seconds after purchase.

What I could care less about:
1. Wifi/3G
2. Music playback
3. Fancy branding
4. Apps/web browser/rooting capabilities
5. Pictures- I don't care if I can't see book covers. I just want to read text.

Thanks for the help.

[Torwan]

3, 5 and 6 speak against the Kindle. The Kindle is not able to expand its memory, it does have a small physical keyboard and it doesn't support ePUB. I'd bypass those and look for something else (I only own a Kindle, therefore I cannot recommend an alternative).

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Torwan

3, 5 and 6 speak against the Kindle. The Kindle is not able to expand its memory, it does have a small physical keyboard and it doesn't support ePUB. I'd bypass those and look for something else (I only own a Kindle, therefore I cannot recommend an alternative).

In spite of that, I'd still recommend actually trying a Kindle.
#3 is really a non-issue. Ebooks are small, and the Kindle memory is quite large enough to hold thousands of books.
#5 -- I think you need to use a keyboard a bit to decide you do or don't like it. I thought I would dislike it, and have come to prefer it.
#6 -- Format is a non-issue. I buy from whatever source I want, and convert to whatever format I need. If you choose an ePub reader, you need to convert Mobi files to use Mobi sources such as Amazon. If you choose a Kindle, you need to convert ePub files if you use ePub sources. To me, this is a wash.

On the whole question of collections and organizing your books, Kindle does reasonably well at it, and adding Calibre into the mix makes the cnversions easy and the organization of books and collections easy.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by CRussel

On the whole question of collections and organizing your books, Kindle does reasonably well at it, and adding Calibre into the mix makes the cnversions easy and the organization of books and collections easy.

The Kindle also has the best search facilities of any reader, bar none. Because it indexes all your books at the word level, you can do a "global" search across your entire book collection in seconds. This is EXTREMELY useful.

[Ron.]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The Kindle also has the best search facilities of any reader, bar none. Because it indexes all your books at the word level, you can do a "global" search across your entire book collection in seconds. This is EXTREMELY useful.

can you give an example of how that would be useful ? I'm not trying to be smart, just genuinely curious.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ron.

can you give an example of how that would be useful ? I'm not trying to be smart, just genuinely curious.

I have a considerable amount of reference material on my Kindle. Being able to do a global search for a particular word or phrase is much faster than having to open each document in turn and searching it, especially if you know you've got something, but you can't remember what file it's in.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I have a considerable amount of reference material on my Kindle. Being able to do a global search for a particular word or phrase is much faster than having to open each document in turn and searching it, especially if you know you've got something, but you can't remember what file it's in.

Exactly. I use it fairly regularly when looking for something I wrote on a subject, but I can't remember which book I put it in. And now I need to recreate it in the real world.

(I admit, not an everyday usage perhaps, but an indicator of how the feature works.)

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by flourish

What I want:
1. E-Ink screen that minimizes eyestrain. (I have bad eyesight and thus place reading materials within a few inches of my face, which causes eyestrain quickly.)
2. Inexpensive- under $150
3. Memory expansion- I plan on having as many books as possible, ie in the thousands.
4. Good collection management- I'd like to be able to categorize stories by author/genre/etc in easy to access folders. I don't want to have to scroll through all my books just to find the one I need.
5. Small form factor- Can be held in one hand and carried around; will fit in a large purse. I'm not really a fan of the larger physical keyboards because it seems like they add unnecessary bulk. If it's a well-designed keyboard I'll try it, but the Kindle keyboard and others like it just look ridiculously annoying.
6. Supports multiple formats/or will read books from various sources. I'm still sort of hazy on all the ins and outs of ebook formats, conversion, and so forth, but I know I'd like to be able to put fanfic from online on the e-reader.
7. Durable and/or available accessories to protect it from getting broken 8 seconds after purchase.

I think you just described the reader line Sony is about to get rid of, the PRSx50. They can do any of the things you said you want in an eReader.

I have a 950, the biggest one with a 7-inch screen. There is also a 650 and a 350. The 350 is the smallest, and seems to be very well loved by its owners in the Sony forum. The only one of your criteria that the Sony readers don't fit, is your price point, but you can start looking for bargains and deals.

Look fast though. We expect them to announce the new T1 readers here in a month or so.

[flourish]

Thanks everyone for the informative replies. I've checked out the Kindle before in person, but I'll give it another go to see if my opinion about the keyboard can be swayed with more testing.

ScalyFreak, do you have any experience with the Sony PRS-300? I'm trying to find out more about the font sizing options and have been unable to find any pics or video showing how the different font sizes vary in number of lines per screen and size. I'm leaning more towards this e-reader because I found a good deal on this model.

[Kai Winters]

I use the 300 and like it quite a bit. It replaces an older model (forgot which one) that was larger but just as easy to use.
I love its' size. It is as close to a pocket reader as you can get.
It has 3 font sizes...sm, med and large. They work well but using large with its' small screen size makes for many, many, many page turnings depending on the ebooks initial font size.
I do like the newer 350 model compared to my 300 based solely on its' smaller size and somewhat lighter in weight. The screen size is the same and seems to turn pages much faster.

Overall I'm very happy with my 300 but if the price is right I would buy the 350 and can't wait for a hands on with the new T1...

[ProfCrash]

Honestly, it comes down to personal preference. Go to a Best Buy or Staples and play with the different devices. Buy the one that you feel most comfortable with. They are all good quality devices, that hold alarge number of books, have good battery life, and have a ton of books available for them.

I have three Kindles and love them all. Amazon is making an announcement this week and that could include the K4 with a touch screen. We will know Wednesday.

What I want:
1. E-Ink screen that minimizes eyestrain. (I have bad eyesight and thus place reading materials within a few inches of my face, which causes eyestrain quickly.)

All of the major e-readers have an e-ink option and all have the PEarl screen.

2. Inexpensive- under $150

You can get a Kindle WiFi for $114 in the US.

3. Memory expansion- I plan on having as many books as possible, ie in the thousands.

The Kindle can hold 3,500 books without expanding memory. That more then meets the requirement of holding thousands of books on a device. The Nook and Sony have memory card slots. You are more likely to need the memory card for a Nook because the vast majority of memory is set aside for books from BN.

4. Good collection management- I'd like to be able to categorize stories by author/genre/etc in easy to access folders. I don't want to have to scroll through all my books just to find the one I need.

All of the e-readers have this. I have a series of collections on my Kindles that work very nicely. Books can be placed in multiple collections to make finding them easier.

5. Small form factor- Can be held in one hand and carried around; will fit in a large purse. I'm not really a fan of the larger physical keyboards because it seems like they add unnecessary bulk. If it's a well-designed keyboard I'll try it, but the Kindle keyboard and others like it just look ridiculously annoying.

All of the e-readers are going to fit in a large purse and can be held in one hand. The K3 fits easily in a medium size purse, so no problem with a large purse. I hold my K3 with one hand. Heck, I hold my DXG with one hand. I happen to like the keyboard but that is a personal thing. My point is that the keyboard does not make the K3 so heavy or klunky you need two hands.

6. Supports multiple formats/or will read books from various sources. I'm still sort of hazy on all the ins and outs of ebook formats, conversion, and so forth, but I know I'd like to be able to put fanfic from online on the e-reader.

Format does not matter. The Amazon ebook sotre carries over a million titles, youc an down load free books from websites such as Mobile Reads in Kindle format, you can check out library books with a Kindle, and there are a decent number of smaller book stores that sell Mobi books without DRM. So the lack of EPub is not a problem for the Kindle. There are more stores that sell EPub books but for the most part, there are the same number of titles available in Mobi as in EPub and they are priced the same in the US.


7. Durable and/or available accessories to protect it from getting broken 8 seconds after purchase.

All of the major e-readers are going to be fine. A protective cover will help and you can even get covers with lights for reading in darker places. I have not heard of any of the e-readers on the market having problems with breaking too fast. I have a K1 that still works fine. Plenty of Nook Classics and Sony 505s are running around.

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by flourish

ScalyFreak, do you have any experience with the Sony PRS-300? I'm trying to find out more about the font sizing options and have been unable to find any pics or video showing how the different font sizes vary in number of lines per screen and size. I'm leaning more towards this e-reader because I found a good deal on this model.

The 950 is the only Sony reader I have any experience with, unfortunately. If you ask in the Sony forum though, there are lots of 300 owners there.

[Catlady]

Jetbook Lite. Only thing it lacks in your list of requirements is the e-ink screen; it has a non-backlit LCD screen.

It can take up to a 32gb SDHC card. You can organize your books as you like, in folders and subfolders--I have mine by genre, author, and series.

Despite what folks are saying about not needing extra memory, I suggest that whatever reader you get, you DO get one with extra memory. In the year that I've had my reader, I've repeatedly had to buy bigger and bigger SD cards to accommodate all my books.

[flourish]

Catlady, how do you like the screen on the jetbook lite? I work with computers all day and the eyestrain from reading a lcd screen gets old quickly.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by flourish

Catlady, how do you like the screen on the jetbook lite? I work with computers all day and the eyestrain from reading a lcd screen gets old quickly.

The JBL screen is not backlit, so it is not like looking at a bright computer LCD display. I think it's very comfortable to read on.

One thing that happens with e-ink readers is that you get a flash on each page turn, which you don't get with an LCD screen. People with other readers say the flash isn't noticeable, and maybe you get used to it. For me, looking at the various devices in stores before I bought, it was an extreme annoyance and a major factor in my deciding to go with the JBL. If you look at YouTube, there are videos of side-by-side comparisons that illustrate the page flash.