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Originally Posted by Elfwreck
You should ignore the lock-in attempts and evaluate Kindle & Nook as devices, rather than as adverts/promotions for proprietary lock-in companies. They really can be used for a lot more content than Amazon or B&N would like. (That said, I don't want a Kindle because epub is a more versatile format than .mobi, and I don't like the extra size the keyboard brings; I don't want a Nook because the extra size & battery drain of the non-e-ink screen part, and because its support for sideloaded books--the ones not bought from their store--is shaky.)
No ebook reader connects easily-and-simply to non-DRM stores, but books from non-DRM stores can be used on ANY e-reader. Kindle is worst for lock-in; DRM'd books from Amazon can't be read on non-Kindle (dedicated) ereaders, and you can't buy DRM'd ebooks from anywhere else & read them on the Kindle. (Without stripping the DRM. Which, I suspect, is not going to be something you fret about, but that doesn't mean you want the hassles.)
I suggest dropping this requirement. Not that I have anything specific in mind, but if you like (love) reading, and you find the device that has the features you want, pay *whatever* it costs. It'll be worth it. Don't settle for not-quite-right in order to save $25. |
Thanks for the store links. I will look into those.
Why are those shaky reasons? I'll come back to this at the end...
I'm sure it must be nice to not have to consider budget when purchasing things, but unfortunately I'm not really there, as a full-time student. I can't simply "drop that requirement."
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Kindle, Nook & Sony 950 are the only ones I know that have internet at all. (I could be wrong, in which case I'm sure someone will step in & correct me.)
E-ink on a 6" screen is not good for web browsing--you can check your mail, look up things at wikipedia, read text-heavy sites... but the multimedia support is pretty much nil, and the slow refresh speed means you can't (effectively) do chat or compose long messages.
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The Kobo looks to have wifi. Although since it's been pointed out to me that I won't be able to load the readings from my school website on the reader, I'm now not as concerned about internet capability at all. I mostly wanted it for that. Side-loading it off my netbook should take all of 30 seconds.
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An e-reader is *not* going to be a good web-browser; non-US support is secondary to that.
Those are options you can arrange for yourself with the right software; Calibre (and possibly other things) can set up subscriptions of RSS feeds, and magazines can be bought from several ebook stores. If it's not a big important feature, I'd suggest skipping it while you look for what is important, and then figure out how much news/mags you can get later.
Everything that has wireless internet has a way to shut it off. Nothing but the Kindle has free 3G. (Sony has it--but only to connect to their store.)
Touchscreens are trendy; more e-readers are getting them. I prefer buttons on the side, not a keyboard, but I'm not looking for internet or note-taking ability.
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Touch screens are also a lot kinder on your hands when you tend to run them ragged from writing too much - I've had something with touch capability for years because it's just so much easier on my hands. It's also neat and more intuitive to use to me, but my hands really do prefer it.
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The Sonys support .epub, .pdf, .rtf and .txt.
Nook supports .epub and .pdf.
Kindle: .mobi/.prc, .pdf and .txt.
Jinke ereaders (multiple brand names): .epub, .pdf (those two can do ADE DRM), .mobi... and claims to support .doc, .html, .txt and .fb2, but the one I have, those are all badly supported. (Anything that hyphenates the word "years" is not what I call format support.)
I b'lieve most of them have a Linux kernel. You might look into the Open Inkpot project, which is open source firmware for the Jinke readers.
Can't browse the internet on a Kobo; you can only access their store.
Won't work. Most don't have download, don't support javascript & other in-browser special displays. You'd have to download the documents on a computer & then sideload them to the ereader.
And PDF support ranges from "mediocre" to "atrocious" on all ereaders; this is mostly because of how the PDFs are made. (My PDFs work beautifully on my ereaders... because I make them with pages sized for 6" screens.)
If you intend to read a lot of PDFs for academic/research, you need a larger screen, like the Kindle DX; trying to read letter-sized PDFs on a 6" screen is a recipe for madness. You can do a few of them, but you're really not going to want that as a permanent method.
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I've been reading a Sony PRS-505 for a few years, and recently mostly-switched to a Pocket EZ-Reader, with a smaller screen. I read *constantly.* If you're going to have a netbook with you most of the time, you don't need wireless support on your ereader.
Worth noting:
1) No e-reader is really good for academic support. The navigation software doesn't support flipping back & forth between multiple books or chapter sections; the bookmarking/annotation options are rudimentary; display of PDFs is, charitably, limited. E-readers are designed for leisure reading, and they're incredible for that; using them for anything else takes creativity and causes frustration.
2) You haven't mentioned storage capacity. While it mostly doesn't matter (the idea of anyone *needing* an 8gb memory card for ebooks is ridiculous), it's worth being aware of while you're looking at what's available. Some readers support cards; some don't.
3) Most people who like reading, like whatever ereader they decide on. The joys of OMG 200 BOOKS IN MY POCKET ALL THE TIME outweigh whatever annoying idiosyncrasies they've wound up getting. They have pros and cons, but those are less important than "how important is it to you, to always have a book at hand?"
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The extra readings I have online are fairly short - 10-20 page PoliSci readings. I figure it should be ok for that, though I understand e-readers aren't ready for full academic texts yet. But they should be ok for that, yeah?
I am not hugely worried about storage capacity. I can't ever seen myself filling up much more than a gig, and if I did, I wouldn't be keeping it all on my e-reader simultaneously anyway. I have been keeping an eye out for microSD compatibility, though. That would be nice to have, especially if it's one of those that has very small internal memory.
Just a quick note to everyone. I say this in the nicest way possible, because I've seen this before on other specialty item forums and I know it's always with the best of intent.
But please don't tell me that my needs and my ethics don't matter, if they happen to disqualify the product you like. It doesn't mean I'm insulting your e-reader. It just means that's not what I want. Or maybe not what I can responsibly afford. Or not what is physically viable for me to use. Or not what I feel ethically ok about as an artist.
I don't like feeling like I have to justify everything on my list. The only person I should have to justify it to is me. I'm not coming down on anyone else's choices. They're just not my choices.