8+ Readers in comparison

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by kacir

...Wait until you see what they did to the good old Pages word processor on OSX.
They have dumbed it down to match the iOS version.
They did this with all iWork suite...

I've seen it!
It all (starting with Safari, ending with iWorks) looks kind of "unprofessional".
Not like tools of productivity, but toys.
Shiny and cheesy seems more important than efficient and "slim".
I kind of understand this for iPhone. If I look around, majority of users still doesn't seem to be corporate clients, but teenagers. To them, shiny gadgets may appeal and make for the main market share.
But on MacBook Air? I've always considered this a professional instrument, the travel companion of corporate road warriors.
I guess, next time I tell my clients: "I'd like to show you my presentation. Please put on your sunglasses, the new OS from Apple is a bit bright and shiny"...

Oh man, another annoyance:
When streaming movies via iTunes from my Mac mini, fan on my MacBook Air whirls like crazy and it gets real warm. I've changed nothing in my network, so it has to be something in Mavericks. Unbelievable! I've done this (streaming) in the past for hours without a single whisper from the fan!

I probably have to make a hard reset.
The entire iMail client is hardly usable.
Extremely slow.
Something not reacting for a few seconds when clicking an email.
Painful!

That's it!
I won't use that crappy MacBook Air anymore!
iMail is totally unusable.
I have no idea what's going on.
I can't imagine, this disastrous performance can be normal.
Something must have gone wrong with my update process.
Maybe I should have made a clean new install.
Anyway: iTunes and iMail, my 2 most used programs, both behave the same way:
Slow, obviously resource intensive as the fan starts rather quickly and the MacBook Air still gets quite warm, not productive anymore as I have to click here and there and often have problems to get the right program active...
Frustrating!

[mgmueller]

Just received my Paperwhite Gen2.
I'm a bit late to the game. I didn't want to order from the US and launch in Germany only was today.

As always, I've ordered the 3G version.
In another thread, someone stated "how can you call it 'free 3G'. It's not free, you pay € 60 for it".
I see it differently. For all the other tablets and such I know of, the 3G model has an uplift in this range. But this only covers the hardware costs. In "daily life" you then additionally have to pay for using the 3G.
With Kindle, you initially pay the fee. € 60 may seem hefty. But again: I see it differently. Not long (about 2009) ago, a reader was € 300. So I don't mind the € 190 for the 3G version of Paperwhite.
But after that initial payment, 3G is for free.
Anyway...

As always, I've edited my new Paperwhite in my Amazon account 2 months ago already.
So it comes configured correctly already. And yesterday, when seeing it in my library, I already deleted some titles: The user guides in the languages I don't need.
I don't like, that they put all the user guides in my library. I didn't buy them, I don't want them there. Please, put them in a separate folder "user guides". But okay, I can delete them.

Bummer: Initial reaction, when starting it for the first time: Shock!!
There's a starting screen with "bleeding edges". I didn't have any problems with my Paperwhite Gen1. But first thought now was: OMG, I hope my screen is fine.
Clicking this start screen away of course solves the problem. No "bleeding edges" now in the WiFi settings.
Still: Amazon, you should care more about my blood pressure. Please get rid of this startscreen.

As in Gen1, you can't turn off the light in Gen2.
Some criticise this and favor Kobo Aura HD. I'm not that fond of the off feature in Kobo. When starting, I always manually have to turn it on again. I always struggle a bit, to turn it on in bed (in the dark) and find the on switch.
Paperwhite's light is on automatically, I prefer that. But of course I see the pros and cons, no real issue either way.

I've got no issues with my screen.
As with Gen1, I like the design. Looks and feels "valuable".
Now downloading my library.
Here's the only issue I have: Space available = 1.309MB.
Yes, that's enough for maybe 500 books.
But I've bought about 900 from Amazon and I would like to have them all. Not in the cloud, but on my reader.
Please, Amazon: Expand your portfolio and offer at least a 4GB model.
But okay, I can live with that.
I have 2 categories of "heavy" books: Dilbert and Garfield cartoons plus travel companions.
I only read the cartoons once (and have them on iBooks, Google Play Books and the likes in addition anyway) and only read the travel companions "on demand" (when planning the respective trip). My textbooks aren't that "heavy", so I probably can download them all.
And, thanks to the free 3G, I could download any title even without WiFi - on the train or whatever remote location.

More maybe later on. But so far, I'm absolutely happy. Exactly what expected and hoped for.

Hey, great new feature (I think so, didn't see it before): When downloading, in the past the respective title shifted from "cloud" to "device". So, when clicking hundreds of titles for download, suddenly the one I wanted to click was replaced by the next one (as my library moved one title ahead, because another one at the beginning of the pipeline had been downloaded).
Now, the downloaded book simply gets a mark, but remains in place. So I conveniently can scroll thorough my entire library in a single place and calmly decide, what to mark for download. Nice!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Here's the only issue I have: Space available = 1.309MB.
Yes, that's enough for maybe 500 books.
But I've bought about 900 from Amazon and I would like to have them all. Not in the cloud, but on my reader.
Please, Amazon: Expand your portfolio and offer at least a 4GB model.
But okay, I can live with that.

For typical fiction books, you can store a lot more than 500. I currently have 794 books on my PW2, and it's about 70% full, so I could probably store a little over 1000. As you say later in your posts, though, some books (eg your Dilbert books) are very large. But for fiction, I don't have an issue with the storage space. 1000 books represents about 10 years of reading for me.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by HarryT

For typical fiction books, you can store a lot more than 500. I currently have 794 books on my PW2, and it's about 70% full, so I could probably store a little over 1000. As you say later in your posts, though, some books (eg your Dilbert books) are very large. But for fiction, I don't have an issue with the storage space. 1000 books represents about 10 years of reading for me.

My Gen1 was full after about 600 books.
Of my roundabout 900 books from Amazon, maybe 100 to 150 are "heavy" ones (50 to 100MB each, some even bigger).
But the rest are "normal" books.
Still, I couldn't download about 150 of them due to lack of storage.
Maybe 40% of my books are business books, self improvement and the likes.
Maybe they are more storage consuming than fiction books? Maybe a graph here and there?
Anyway. You're right of course. I need 2 or 3 days per book. So 100 wold be about my average per year. Taking 300 or even 500 (or even more) with me should be plenty. Still: I'm a collector. I enjoy scrolling through my entire library.
But, as described in the first post: Now the entire library, downloaded or still in the cloud, remains in one place.
In "cloud" I see them all: The downloaded ones with a mark. So I easily can scroll through my entire library and decide, what to delete (=send to the cloud) and what to download.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by HarryT

For typical fiction books, you can store a lot more than 500. I currently have 794 books on my PW2, and it's about 70% full, so I could probably store a little over 1000. As you say later in your posts, though, some books (eg your Dilbert books) are very large. But for fiction, I don't have an issue with the storage space. 1000 books represents about 10 years of reading for me.

I've downloaded 638 books and have 341MB left (= 74% full).
Meaning, I could download about 850 books in total.
Certainly enough, but with 4GB I could download my entire library, even (at least most of) the "heavy" books. I'd gladly pay an uplift of € 20 or maybe even € 50 for that...
BTW: I'm not missing the SD card, like some other users. I'm not a fan of spreading my books over different locations. At the very least then I'd like to be able to manage the storage.
On my Kobo Aura HD, the internal memory gets filled and then the rest goes to the SD card.
I'd prefer something as:
"Heavy stuff" (cartoons, travel copmanions) = SD card, "normal books" = internal memory.

[JerseyBiker]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Just received my Paperwhite Gen2.
I'm a bit late to the game. I didn't want to order from the US and launch in Germany only was today.

I see you are still adding to your collection. I thought I remember you saying you were not doing dedicated e-readers anymore. Anyway I ordered the new nook Glowlight which is scheduled for delivery today. I remember you had the nook classic high on your list way back in the days. Did you give up on Barnes and Noble?

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by JerseyBiker

I see you are still adding to your collection. I thought I remember you saying you were not doing dedicated e-readers anymore. Anyway I ordered the new nook Glowlight which is scheduled for delivery today. I remember you had the nook classic high on your list way back in the days. Did you give up on Barnes and Noble?

I'm rarely buying dedicated readers anymore.
Mainly I'm reading on 3 occasions:
a.) At night, in bed.
b.) In hotels, on a business trip or on vacation.
c.) On the train, usually my trips take between 3 and 6 hours.
With the exception of a.) (too bright), I always have a tablet with me anyway. So often the hassle of bringing a reader in addition simply isn't worth the effort.
But a year ago, with my first Paperwhite, I've re-discovered option a.)
So I bought Paperwhite Gen1, now replaced it with Paperwhite Gen2. And given my library of about 300 books in Kobo, I've bought the Kobo Aura HD as well.

I thought about B&N, as I have about 300 books from them as well.
But:
a.) I've hated the Kobo HD. Build quality, in my eye, was an insolence (gaps between frame and housing). Kobo HD+ is okay, but quite frankly it doesn't really stand out for me, next to Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD.
b.) I have to order from the US (maybe I could get them from UK as well, didn't check recently). I would do so, if I really would want to have it. But for "one out of many", I'm not too fond of this process (warranty, taxes, shipment, ...).
c.) I like Amazon and their Kindles. I love the free 3G. And by far my biggest library (about 900 books) is from Amazon. Having Paperwhite, I rarely see myself using my Kobo Aura HD. Same would happen to B&N.

But you're right: I really did like the Nook classic. Back then, before the Graphite evolution, the best display in my opinion. And a very nice styling. And, quite contrary to my experience with Nook HD, build quality had been excellent.

I guess, from time to time I'll buy another dedicated reader: Flawless displays, great batteries, extremely lightweight and 6" is absolutely perfect for my demands.
But my focus definitely is on tablets. I simply love them as my "one for all" devices.
When "in the middle of nowhere" on a trip, I can solve all my "problems" with a tablet: Watching movies, reading books, in addition reading my 30GB of Zinio magazines or newspapers, playing some games, surfing the web, checking my emails, even briefly checking some business files, ...
I only take an additional reader with me for special reasons. For example, when intending to go to the beach (I want a small and not so expensive unit then).

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

<snip> And given my library of about 300 books in Kobo, I've bought the Kobo Aura HD as well.

I thought about B&N, as I have about 300 books from them as well.

Can I ask how when and how much did you win in the lottery?

BOb

[mgmueller]

Ups. double post...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Can I ask how when and how much did you win in the lottery?

BOb

Of course you can:
Never.
Nothing.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Can I ask how when and how much did you win in the lottery?

BOb

My wife would love to talk to you.
I always have been a collector.
Comics and books as a child. I still have about 8.000 comics in my attic.
(Financed by successful trading and working as a paperboy for years).
Later it was DVDs (about 600), now it's digital content:
12.208 TV episodes in iTunes
1.745 movies in iTunes
I know, this seems a lot. And if I calculate the amounts I've spent...
But: This all added up over years.
I'm buying ebooks since 2007 (Microsoft lit before since 2000).
I've got maybe 1.800 since 2007 in total. That's roughly € 18.000. In 7 years.
That's € 2.500 per year = € 200 per month. That's not "nothing".
But lots of people spend more on Restaurants. I spend maybe € 200 per months on Restaurants, and that's mostly business related (= taxable).
Meaning:
I spend a lot. Too much probably.
But if I compare to other hobbies, it's okay. Not modest probably, but okay.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Can I ask how when and how much did you win in the lottery?

BOb

BTW:
I have been in sales/consulting most of my 17 working years.
One of my bosses once said:
I want to have sales guys deeply in debt. Keeps them motivated...

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

My wife would love to talk to you.
I always have been a collector.

Just messin' with ya.

Alot of my "hobby" money seems to go toward college tuition, dorm rooms/rent, books, etc.

Although, most people would shake their head at my designer boardgame collection which is just over 100 right now... and it is a small one compared to some of my designer board game friends.

BOb

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Just messin' with ya.

Alot of my "hobby" money seems to go toward college tuition, dorm rooms/rent, books, etc.

Although, most people would shake their head at my designer boardgame collection which is just over 100 right now... and it is a small one compared to some of my designer board game friends.

BOb

I've just finished the book "5 things you should learn before you die".
At least 3 of those 5 points prove our way of living. "Carpe Diem" and such...
But one of course never should forget, that we (most of us in this forum) belong to the lucky 10%.
I'm part-time working in recruitment projects, as the German market really struggles to find enough specialists (engineers, MDs, ...). So I meet lots of candidates from India, China, Romania and so on. Most of those candidates don't think about reader #2 (not even about their first one), but how finance their education and get out.
Such experience gives all our "problems" a whole new perspective...

[peaceridge]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I'm rarely buying dedicated readers anymore. my focus definitely is on tablets.

So, what is your favorite tablet right now? PS I, too, switched to the PW for reading at night and outside in the bright light.