Quote:
Originally Posted by GlenBarrington
To me, weight is a red herring argument. NO reader is exactly heavy! I think physical dimensions are the real test of portability. Can you put ANY of them in a pocket? No.
The only one that comes close is the Sony PRS-350, and even that is something of a portability compromise in terms of features and size.
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I know that I started hitting the softball 25-50 yards further when I dropped from a 28 ounce bat to a 26 ounce bat. Same bat, same company, some model, the only difference was the weight. I do some light weight lifting at the gym and swim on a regular basis. Those 2 ounces allowed me to get around on the ball faster, I had been hitting to right a fair amount and suddenly was hitting to left, and with more power.
For someone with wrist problems or hand problems the few ounces saved in an e-reader could very well mean more reading time without discomfort.
To answer the question asked by the OP: The Kindle could handle EPub books but it won't. Jeff Bezos has made that very clear. Amazon is not going to work to make EPub available for the Kindle.
Library books can be placed on the Kindle if you are willing to strip the DRM and convert the library book. There will be people who chime in and say this is illegal, that is currently being debated in the courts, or ethically wrong, I would say that if it is legal then it is not ethically wrong. There is even a way of doing it that keeps the library data on it so that the book comes off your Kindle at the right time. I have never done this so I can't tell you how. I know a google search will help you find that info.
Personally I think it is silly that Overdrive is focused on EPub books. With the number of Kindles available in the US, I would think that they would diversify and make both versions available. And now we have all the EPub lovers who will jump in and complain about Amazon not allowing EPub on its reader.
Given the current situation, the Nook is going to be your best bet for a lighter reader, that is inexpensivly priced, and can read library books without having to jump through hoops.
The Kindle is a great option if you are willing to jump through hoops. It has the same access to free books that are out of copywrite and Amazon has a large number of free books available at its book store. The library will be trickier and you need to decide how comfortable you are with stripping DRM's both ethically and technologically.