How did you choose your reader? - Page 2

aktarian · 06-03-2011, 04:46 PM

I set some parameters. At least 6'', eink, ePub and card expansion capability. Had my eyes on Nook but it doesn't ship out of US. So I browsed around a bit and narroed it down a bit. Then saw one in shop that fit my demands and bought it (Prestigio)

CWatkinsNash · 06-03-2011, 05:03 PM

Honestly, I chose Kindle because I had a big Amazon gift card that I got from credit card rewards points. I did notice that Amazon had readers from other companies for sale on their site, but since I was already happy with the Amazon ecosystem and their support, I decided to go ahead with the Kindle. The specs were good, and the price was right too. When possible, I prefer to buy gadgets directly from the company that will be providing support both during and after the return period.

By the time I did it, though, I already knew that I'd be able to liberate my old lit files and do pretty much anything else I needed to do in that realm, so I knew I wasn't actually chaining myself to anything in terms of store or format.

pidgeon92 · 06-03-2011, 05:15 PM

I wanted a Sony when they first introduced their original ereader, but I couldn't justify the prices they were charging in the Sony store. I wasn't much into reading public domain books at that time.

I justified buying my husband a $359 original Kindle because of the price difference between his paper delivery of the Wall Street Journal vs. the Amazon subscription price. That, and the fact that he travels extensively for business, and the newspapers piled up and he would't read the old ones.

I justified buying my K1 when Oprah had the $50 off promotion. That was $309 for my first Kindle, which I didn't use extensively until a few months after I got it. After that I was hooked, and haven't visited the library for books since.

I purchased my K2 when it was released, as I was doing tech support on Kindleboards. I purchased the K3 when it was released as well, and I still have both the K2 and K3.

I got an original Nook for Christmas once it was released, as I had some idea that they would offer lots of specials on ebooks, and I was rather quite wrong about that. My Nook is sadly neglected; I just don't like the user interface.

I picked up a Sony 300 last summer for reading library books, and I really liked it.... When I had an opportunity to get a used 950, I grabbed it, and gave my 300 to my MIL, who sadly still gets all of her reading from the library.

Greg Anos · 06-03-2011, 05:16 PM

I first heard about e-book readers in summer of 2006. I heard about the Cybook (gen 1) color LCD reader, with touchscreen. It was supposed to read just about any format. I sprang for the money and got one. Sort of an antediluvian iPAD/Android tablet. It did everything it claimed, but the battery only lasted about 3 hours and it weighed a Kilo.

So when the CyBook Gen 3 came out, I bought one of the first ones in the US. (Funny story - it was so new, I had the US Customs department telephone me to ask what it was? And how did you use it? Did it contain secure data? The only way I got them to release it was to tell them it was like a MP3 player, only for books and it didn't have any secure data. True story.) Got a leather cover with it. It didn't read many formats and had no folders. Yeech. The hardware was wonderful. With the leather cover only, it was (is) elegant. Still have it on a shelf.

At that point I stopped and decided what was important for an e-book reader for me. 1. Read any format. 2. Removable data chip. (CF or SD, didn't matter.) and 3. User replaceable battery. 4. Bi-stable screen (think e-ink).

So I looked on the market in late 2008, to find what met my specs. The only thing was the Hanlin V3 (BeBook/AZTAK). Bought one, worked just fine. (got the first one from BeBook, later bought a backup from AZTEK). By itself, it looks clunky and industrial. Put it in a nice cover, looks just fine. Buttons instead of touch screen? I've had both, coin flip as far as I'm concerned (each one has good features and bad features). Folder for navigation, no problem.

Heard about openinkpot, tried it, liked it, and still using it (version 2.2). (Thank you, Igorsky and the Team!)

With a user replacable, standard battery, I'll use it until the machines (both of them!) give up their ghosts. the only thing that would tempt me wuld be a mirasol based reader. (If they ever come into existence.)

No WiFi, no 3G/4G/nG. No hardware "calling home to mama" where I am or what's on my reader. When it finally dies, just pop out the chip and slap it into the other one. A 5 second file load. want to back up the library? Pop out the chip, slap it into the computer SD reader and drag and drop. Simplicity.

I notice that there are no readers like that on the market any more...

paola · 06-04-2011, 03:16 AM

I was already moving away from physical books, in the sense that due to space limitations I had substantially reduced my purchases, trying to get as many as I could from the library - having access to University libraries means that beside fiction, a lot of non-fiction books are available. The snag is that you only have them temporarily, and cannot consult them after returning.

In addition, after changing my glasses to once without anti radiation film, I find reading on my computer very tiring - and for work I read a lot of papers, hating the idea of printing them out.

I cannot remember how, but then I came across mobileread, and the two things came beautifuly together. The "famous comparison ereader matrix" was a godsend to narrow down my search, and so it was that I got my first large reader, and was happy as a bunny. So can go back to borrow books I am not sure of, buy the books that I want, carry my whole library with me, and work with my pdfs.

But this definitely ain't a paperback substitute, so I just had to get another superportable one - which now comes with me absolutely everywhere, and I' happy as two bunnies

@Ralph Sir Edward

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

2. Removable data chip. (CF or SD, didn't matter.)

ahem... what does "CF" stand for?

pidgeon92 · 06-04-2011, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paola

ahem... what does "CF" stand for?

Compact Flash.... Like this one:

EowynCarter · 06-04-2011, 11:52 AM

My sister had one e-reader (illiad).
Then, i saw an ad about the (at that time up-comming) sony prs-550. Mm, I really need to get on of these reader.

Option number one, the sony was quickly exluded. They still where using their own format, and there were very little book available in the sony format. The sony store being locked to us and the fnac had a really poor selection then.

So I got the one reader available in french stores at that time, the cybook gen 3.
I bit of a default choice, but i liked my gen3.

weatherwax · 06-04-2011, 12:19 PM

It was a spontaneous purchase during a shopping trip and they only had Sonys in the store.
These days there is a much wider selection in some stores but I'd still buy a Sony.

AlbertaCowboy · 06-04-2011, 12:36 PM

I wanted a Kindle in the worst way back in 2008. The mere thought of having a Star Trek-esque pad with a million and a half books on it made me salivate! No more heavy hardbacks! No more small print! No musty booky smells in my basement!
Then came the kicker: Not available in Canada.
Not knowing anything about setting up US accounts and such, as well as being under the impression that the K1 would not side load anything, I gave up on the idea.
I started doing some interweb research on the Kindle, and eventually found a press release of Sony's, who were introducing the PRS-505 in Canada a week from the day I found the release. I immediately phoned up my local Sony Store, put a hold on a silver one + case + AC adapter all sight unseen. Cost was about $360.
After discovering Calibre, BookDesigner (and HarryT who deserves inordinate amounts of praise for his BD tutorial) and all the wonderful folks here at MobileRead, I've never looked back.
Up here in The Great White North, the only eReader one could buy was a Sony 505. Since '08, the Kindle 2, Kindle DX, Kindle 3, Kobo, Kobo WiFi, Kobo Touch, Pandigital Novel, AluraTek Libre, Sony PRS 600, 300, 700, 350 & 650 have become available. I am still amazed at the selection of units now available after only a couple of years.
I will continue to buy Sonys as long as they improve design, (ie from the 505 to the 650), but it's nice to see that there are less expensive choices available out there now.

anabolina · 06-05-2011, 12:32 AM

I do love this topic and seeing how others have developed their reading habits, :-)

I started reading ebooks with my laptop before deciding to get something more portable in 2006. We had some Rocketbook ereaders in a closet at work and while I could figure them out, they did inspire me to make sure the mp3 player I was shopping for read txt files. I started with the Creative Zen Vision M which was an awesome device for music and decent for videos, but not a really decent txt reader.

It lasted 6 months before being replaced by a Cowon D2 I still miss that Cowon D2 and it lasted 3 years, give or take, before it's end in Feb of 2010(RIP little mp3 player). It has a surprisingly decent text viewer with options to chage font size and color and background color. You could navigate to a specific page if you wanted or flip through pages. It remembered the place you were in the document if you closed it and you could bookmark your place within the document. All in all, I was really happy with it despite the 2.5 inch screen and really bad video playback. I miss the music UI :-(

The eink/dedicated reader resistance lasted awhile longer so I bought the Archos 5 IT and then a Behold 2 phone each with the intent of using the ereading capabilities in addtion to everything else the devices did.

It wasn't until the 350 went on sale in January and I was planning a cruise for December of this year that I finally took the plunge and back a dedicated ebook reader. It's certainly paid for itself. I wanted something touchscreen(because the only non-touch screen electronics I use is my computer), support library ebooks, and read txt, epub, and pdf. The Sony was and is perfect, if a bit small, that's why I'm picking up a 950 on Tuesday. Ya'll can totally tell that I'm counting the hours right?

You know, it seems like more people got started reading ebooks with a dedicated ereader than I would have expected. I knew a lot of people years ago who read books on their pda or computer before moving on to more modern devices.

speedlever · 06-05-2011, 07:57 AM

Being a gadget guy, I was surprised that the EBR bug didn't strike me until I was shopping for a Christmas gift for my 13 yo daughter last year. I started out looking at the Nook, but soon discovered my personal preference for a physical KB over a virtual one, learned that library lending was not available for the Kindle (at that time), learned about the various formats, and subsequently learned how to overcome the shortcomings of the Kindle by using calibre and plug-ins.

I can't keep my daughter supplied in books for her K3. Otoh, my K3 is stuffed with enough books to last me for years.

paola · 06-05-2011, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

Compact Flash.... Like this one:

thank you

!

Historiann · 06-05-2011, 05:39 PM

I loved the idea of a compact device to carry lots of books when I travel so last summer spent a lot of time researching--but in the end didn't buy b/c I don't travel that much--only a few times a year--and thus considered an e-reader a luxury; I figured I'd still prefer dead tree products at home. From the research, though, I concluded that I should get either a kindle or nook for the instant gratification factor and decided that when prices got down to around $100 for either one, I would buy. Last week B&N was selling nook classic for $99 on ebay (in anticipation of the new simple touch) so I bought. So far I love it--so much so, in fact, that I expect to use it a lot even when I'm not traveling.

Historiann · 06-05-2011, 05:39 PM

PS Forgot to say thanks to all the folks who post on these forums. I learned a lot and picked up much useful information while lurking. Thank you!

ardeegee · 06-05-2011, 06:21 PM

Well-- I've been on a very tight budget the last several years, not much room to spend lots on gadgets. I had been reading ebooks on old PDAs bought from ebay (some as cheap as $5.00 each.) I had been wanting some way to be able to read something more advanced than plain text on a tiny screen away from the computer, and even experimented with using a $20 digital photo frame I bought somewhere as an ebook reader (not a good experience.) So when in 2009 Sony came out with an eink reader for only $200 (the PRS-300, the first one to break that price barrier) I spent days thinking about splurging and ordering one, but didn't come to a decision. Then, while doing some yard work, I was attacked by a swarm of yellowjackets. While standing in the check-out line at Wal-Mart buying some antihistamine pills, burning all over, I decided that life is too damn short and came home and ordered my PRS-300.

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06-03-2011, 04:46 PM	#16
aktarian Member Posts: 17 Karma: 3456 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Prestigio PER3162b	I set some parameters. At least 6'', eink, ePub and card expansion capability. Had my eyes on Nook but it doesn't ship out of US. So I browsed around a bit and narroed it down a bit. Then saw one in shop that fit my demands and bought it (Prestigio)

06-03-2011, 05:03 PM	#17
CWatkinsNash IOC Chief Archivist Posts: 3,950 Karma: 53868218 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Fruitland Park, FL, USA Device: Meebook M7, Paperwhite 2021, Fire HD 8+, Fire HD 10+, Lenovo Tab P12	Honestly, I chose Kindle because I had a big Amazon gift card that I got from credit card rewards points. I did notice that Amazon had readers from other companies for sale on their site, but since I was already happy with the Amazon ecosystem and their support, I decided to go ahead with the Kindle. The specs were good, and the price was right too. When possible, I prefer to buy gadgets directly from the company that will be providing support both during and after the return period. By the time I did it, though, I already knew that I'd be able to liberate my old lit files and do pretty much anything else I needed to do in that realm, so I knew I wasn't actually chaining myself to anything in terms of store or format.

06-03-2011, 05:15 PM	#18
pidgeon92 Wizard Posts: 3,144 Karma: 8426142 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Chicago, IL Device: Kindle PW2, Kindle Voyage, Kindle DXG, Boox M90, Kobo Aura HD	I wanted a Sony when they first introduced their original ereader, but I couldn't justify the prices they were charging in the Sony store. I wasn't much into reading public domain books at that time. I justified buying my husband a $359 original Kindle because of the price difference between his paper delivery of the Wall Street Journal vs. the Amazon subscription price. That, and the fact that he travels extensively for business, and the newspapers piled up and he would't read the old ones. I justified buying my K1 when Oprah had the $50 off promotion. That was $309 for my first Kindle, which I didn't use extensively until a few months after I got it. After that I was hooked, and haven't visited the library for books since. I purchased my K2 when it was released, as I was doing tech support on Kindleboards. I purchased the K3 when it was released as well, and I still have both the K2 and K3. I got an original Nook for Christmas once it was released, as I had some idea that they would offer lots of specials on ebooks, and I was rather quite wrong about that. My Nook is sadly neglected; I just don't like the user interface. I picked up a Sony 300 last summer for reading library books, and I really liked it.... When I had an opportunity to get a used 950, I grabbed it, and gave my 300 to my MIL, who sadly still gets all of her reading from the library.

06-03-2011, 05:16 PM	#19
Greg Anos Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,248 Karma: 35000000 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Pocketbook	I first heard about e-book readers in summer of 2006. I heard about the Cybook (gen 1) color LCD reader, with touchscreen. It was supposed to read just about any format. I sprang for the money and got one. Sort of an antediluvian iPAD/Android tablet. It did everything it claimed, but the battery only lasted about 3 hours and it weighed a Kilo. So when the CyBook Gen 3 came out, I bought one of the first ones in the US. (Funny story - it was so new, I had the US Customs department telephone me to ask what it was? And how did you use it? Did it contain secure data? The only way I got them to release it was to tell them it was like a MP3 player, only for books and it didn't have any secure data. True story.) Got a leather cover with it. It didn't read many formats and had no folders. Yeech. The hardware was wonderful. With the leather cover only, it was (is) elegant. Still have it on a shelf. At that point I stopped and decided what was important for an e-book reader for me. 1. Read any format. 2. Removable data chip. (CF or SD, didn't matter.) and 3. User replaceable battery. 4. Bi-stable screen (think e-ink). So I looked on the market in late 2008, to find what met my specs. The only thing was the Hanlin V3 (BeBook/AZTAK). Bought one, worked just fine. (got the first one from BeBook, later bought a backup from AZTEK). By itself, it looks clunky and industrial. Put it in a nice cover, looks just fine. Buttons instead of touch screen? I've had both, coin flip as far as I'm concerned (each one has good features and bad features). Folder for navigation, no problem. Heard about openinkpot, tried it, liked it, and still using it (version 2.2). (Thank you, Igorsky and the Team!) With a user replacable, standard battery, I'll use it until the machines (both of them!) give up their ghosts. the only thing that would tempt me wuld be a mirasol based reader. (If they ever come into existence.) No WiFi, no 3G/4G/nG. No hardware "calling home to mama" where I am or what's on my reader. When it finally dies, just pop out the chip and slap it into the other one. A 5 second file load. want to back up the library? Pop out the chip, slap it into the computer SD reader and drag and drop. Simplicity. I notice that there are no readers like that on the market any more...

06-04-2011, 11:52 AM	#22
EowynCarter Wizard Posts: 4,332 Karma: 4000000 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Paris Device: Cybooks; Sony PRS-T1	My sister had one e-reader (illiad). Then, i saw an ad about the (at that time up-comming) sony prs-550. Mm, I really need to get on of these reader. Option number one, the sony was quickly exluded. They still where using their own format, and there were very little book available in the sony format. The sony store being locked to us and the fnac had a really poor selection then. So I got the one reader available in french stores at that time, the cybook gen 3. I bit of a default choice, but i liked my gen3.

06-04-2011, 12:19 PM	#23
weatherwax Guru Posts: 904 Karma: 5921577 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: South of Germany Device: PRS650 (red), Kindle PW2, Galaxy Note 8	It was a spontaneous purchase during a shopping trip and they only had Sonys in the store. These days there is a much wider selection in some stores but I'd still buy a Sony.

06-04-2011, 12:36 PM	#24
AlbertaCowboy Guru Posts: 819 Karma: 171672846 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Alberta, Canada Device: PRS-350, PRS-650, iPhone 6, NVIDIA Shield K1	I wanted a Kindle in the worst way back in 2008. The mere thought of having a Star Trek-esque pad with a million and a half books on it made me salivate! No more heavy hardbacks! No more small print! No musty booky smells in my basement! Then came the kicker: Not available in Canada. Not knowing anything about setting up US accounts and such, as well as being under the impression that the K1 would not side load anything, I gave up on the idea. I started doing some interweb research on the Kindle, and eventually found a press release of Sony's, who were introducing the PRS-505 in Canada a week from the day I found the release. I immediately phoned up my local Sony Store, put a hold on a silver one + case + AC adapter all sight unseen. Cost was about $360. After discovering Calibre, BookDesigner (and HarryT who deserves inordinate amounts of praise for his BD tutorial) and all the wonderful folks here at MobileRead, I've never looked back. Up here in The Great White North, the only eReader one could buy was a Sony 505. Since '08, the Kindle 2, Kindle DX, Kindle 3, Kobo, Kobo WiFi, Kobo Touch, Pandigital Novel, AluraTek Libre, Sony PRS 600, 300, 700, 350 & 650 have become available. I am still amazed at the selection of units now available after only a couple of years. I will continue to buy Sonys as long as they improve design, (ie from the 505 to the 650), but it's nice to see that there are less expensive choices available out there now.

06-05-2011, 12:32 AM	#25
anabolina Groupie Posts: 155 Karma: 429002 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Great State of Texas Device: Current: tablet, kindle paperwhite, onyx boox t68. Past: Sony, nook	I do love this topic and seeing how others have developed their reading habits, :-) I started reading ebooks with my laptop before deciding to get something more portable in 2006. We had some Rocketbook ereaders in a closet at work and while I could figure them out, they did inspire me to make sure the mp3 player I was shopping for read txt files. I started with the Creative Zen Vision M which was an awesome device for music and decent for videos, but not a really decent txt reader. It lasted 6 months before being replaced by a Cowon D2 I still miss that Cowon D2 and it lasted 3 years, give or take, before it's end in Feb of 2010(RIP little mp3 player). It has a surprisingly decent text viewer with options to chage font size and color and background color. You could navigate to a specific page if you wanted or flip through pages. It remembered the place you were in the document if you closed it and you could bookmark your place within the document. All in all, I was really happy with it despite the 2.5 inch screen and really bad video playback. I miss the music UI :-( The eink/dedicated reader resistance lasted awhile longer so I bought the Archos 5 IT and then a Behold 2 phone each with the intent of using the ereading capabilities in addtion to everything else the devices did. It wasn't until the 350 went on sale in January and I was planning a cruise for December of this year that I finally took the plunge and back a dedicated ebook reader. It's certainly paid for itself. I wanted something touchscreen(because the only non-touch screen electronics I use is my computer), support library ebooks, and read txt, epub, and pdf. The Sony was and is perfect, if a bit small, that's why I'm picking up a 950 on Tuesday. Ya'll can totally tell that I'm counting the hours right? You know, it seems like more people got started reading ebooks with a dedicated ereader than I would have expected. I knew a lot of people years ago who read books on their pda or computer before moving on to more modern devices.

06-05-2011, 07:57 AM	#26
speedlever Fanatic Posts: 592 Karma: 138200 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: NC, USA Device: PW2014, PW2012, iPad Pro	Being a gadget guy, I was surprised that the EBR bug didn't strike me until I was shopping for a Christmas gift for my 13 yo daughter last year. I started out looking at the Nook, but soon discovered my personal preference for a physical KB over a virtual one, learned that library lending was not available for the Kindle (at that time), learned about the various formats, and subsequently learned how to overcome the shortcomings of the Kindle by using calibre and plug-ins. I can't keep my daughter supplied in books for her K3. Otoh, my K3 is stuffed with enough books to last me for years.

06-05-2011, 05:39 PM	#28
Historiann Connoisseur Posts: 76 Karma: 532702 Join Date: May 2010 Location: USA Device: Kindle PW	I loved the idea of a compact device to carry lots of books when I travel so last summer spent a lot of time researching--but in the end didn't buy b/c I don't travel that much--only a few times a year--and thus considered an e-reader a luxury; I figured I'd still prefer dead tree products at home. From the research, though, I concluded that I should get either a kindle or nook for the instant gratification factor and decided that when prices got down to around $100 for either one, I would buy. Last week B&N was selling nook classic for $99 on ebay (in anticipation of the new simple touch) so I bought. So far I love it--so much so, in fact, that I expect to use it a lot even when I'm not traveling.

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06-05-2011, 06:21 PM	#30
ardeegee Maratus speciosus butt Posts: 3,292 Karma: 1162698 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-350	Well-- I've been on a very tight budget the last several years, not much room to spend lots on gadgets. I had been reading ebooks on old PDAs bought from ebay (some as cheap as $5.00 each.) I had been wanting some way to be able to read something more advanced than plain text on a tiny screen away from the computer, and even experimented with using a $20 digital photo frame I bought somewhere as an ebook reader (not a good experience.) So when in 2009 Sony came out with an eink reader for only $200 (the PRS-300, the first one to break that price barrier) I spent days thinking about splurging and ordering one, but didn't come to a decision. Then, while doing some yard work, I was attacked by a swarm of yellowjackets. While standing in the check-out line at Wal-Mart buying some antihistamine pills, burning all over, I decided that life is too damn short and came home and ordered my PRS-300.