Quote:
Originally Posted by jbcohen
A lot of forum members have multiple readers from different brands. My question is why do you have multiple readers? What is the advantage of having multiple readers vs having just one reader?
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I guess I like collecting things ... Actually it worked out like this. I wanted an eReader, bought a Nook Simple Touch at Best Buy because I wanted to help out the "little guy" (Barnes & Noble). That one cost $79 on sale in November of 2011 (I didn't open it until Christmas). After I had been using it exclusively for over a year, I got it in my head to try publishing eBooks (never went anywhere). I decided that, to make sure "my book" displayed correctly, I should find a Kindle. A pawn shop had a Kindle Touch for $45. I talked them down to $35 -- and, though I liked Amazon's infrastructure, I thought the type on the Touch was too light. So I gave the Touch to my brother and went back to the pawn shop and picked up an all but brand-new (including box) K4B for $45 (I think I talked them down from $50). This turned out to be my favorite reader -- I've read more books on the K4 than on any other eReader. But, of course, I wasn't finished. I decided I "needed" to know what a Sony Reader was like, so picked up a refurbished PRS-300 for about $20 on eBay. I liked the build, etc., but never really liked the screen or software, even though I did load some add-on software (I could look up the name). It didn't get much use -- it was sold for a few months later for about what I paid for it. Meanwhile I had also picked a Kobo for about $20 (I think the original WiFi version). I didn't like the fonts, too light and though I enjoyed playing with it a little, I ended up not using it. Meanwhile my brother had bought one because ... well, I had one. I think they're both still sitting at my brother's house in storage somewhere. We should dig them out, charge them up and sell them or give them away. After that, I picked up a NST for $30 or $35 for my Dad off CraigsList and sent that to him. He refuses to use WiFi so all the books are side-loaded on it. Meanwhile my brother decided that his mother-in-law needed a refurbished Kindle Touch 3G since she travels a lot and likes to read (she loves it). Once they got that, his wife and a couple of his daughter's wanted Kindles (they liked the Touches), so he got a couple off eBay, and I picked up a Kindle Touch with 3G and lighted case for $45 off CraigsList for him. (I just found it, he bought it.) And that's where everything settled for a bit ... until I found another local pawn shop "clearing out" 3G Kindle Keyboard's for $15 each (three of them). I held on to one of those for awhile ... my brother, who had given away his Touch to one of his daughters, got one and one (that was, alas, blacklisted) went to my Dad. Again he will not use WiFi. I did call Amazon on the blacklisted unit and all they told me to do was "get my money back by returning it to the pawn shop." I figured it was worth more to my Dad. I played with my Kindle Keyboard for awhile but finally ended up selling it as part of my "eReader Purge." Meanwhile, on another trip to the pawn shop that had the Kindle Keyboards, I found three Kindles on sale for $5 each. Two Kindle K4Silvers and one 3G Touch (beaten up). All three could be registered (tested that before I left the pawn shop this time). One of the K4s had an Amazon OEM case. That one went to my son -- the only son who had any interest in an eReader. He still has it. The other K4 (after fitting it with a new case) was sold on eBay. The 3G Touch (mark on the screen and scratches on the bezel) is still with me. It's currently my second Kindle. I bought a new non-lighted OEM Amazon case for it on eBay for $5, but decided I wanted a lighted case. But I couldn't find a cheap one, so I went to CraigsList, found a Kindle Touch (non 3G) in good condition, with a lighted case for $45. My plan was to swap cases and sell the Kindle Touch with the OEM non-lit case and figured I would get my lit case for free. (Which is basically what I did -- after playing with the 2nd Touch for a couple months.) I even contemplated replacing the screen and bezel on my 3G Touch with parts from the new Touch, but decided it wasn't worth the work and -- more importantly -- the it wasn't worth taking the chance of screwing up two good Kindle Touches. I forgot to mention my first NST Glowlight. I found one in a pawnshop for $30 and tried it out for a while. Didn't like the screen, so sold it on eBay, and replaced it with a second (back-up) Nook Simple Touch w/o Glowlight. Decided it wasn't worth it to have two exact same readers, so sold that one in the "eReader Purge." So, a little after the Kindle Touch on CraigsList, I saw the Sony PRS-T2 on sale for under $30 Tiger Direct, picked up one ... then, because I was sure I could give one away, picked up another one -- no one wanted it, so it was also sold in the "eReader Purge." And, when Amazon had the K4B on sale for $49 and was offering, five monthly payments, I picked that one up as a spare. It never got opened and was sold in the "eReader Purge." When I found out Amazon wasn't going to sell K4Bs anymore, I started touring the pawn shops looking for a backup, but couldn't find one, but did find another NST Glowlight for $20 (on half price sale). I picked that one up and have found that either my eyes are now more tolerant or the screen is a bit better than the original Glowlight, and it's getting a lot of my use. Decided that I could solve the "murky screen" issue by simply leaving the front-light on during the day -- and that -- BIG BREATH -- is why I've had (have) so many eReaders. I'm still inactively looking for a Kobo Touch and/or Glo (not that I've come to terms with the Nook Simple Touch w/ Glowlight). But there's no big hurry. And I may change my mind before I ever get one.
So I'm now at five eReaders. A K4B, a Kindle Touch 3G, a Nook Simple Touch, and a NST with Glowlight, and the Sony PRS-T2. I've bought cases for every eReader (except one) that has gone through my hands (unless they already had a case). I don't think I paid much more than $5 for any of the cases (all on clearance at Staples, Office Depot, or on eBay). I own a few E-Luminator lights, but they're currently not getting much use, and none of them cost more than $5. (Yes, I'm cheap.)
The five eReaders I own now cost me a total of $179 (plus tax and about $5 each for cases). I more than broke even on the ones I gave away or sold. I don't know if or how long I'll keep the ones I currently own. If I don't use them on a regular basis, or find that I'm just basically charging them up, I'll probably sell them or give them away to family members. The original NST, K4B, and Touch will probably stay -- the Touch has nice features and I can get books if I travel with it -- and with the non-root font hack, I've got a decent font on it. I've already become attached to the NST with Glowlight (I've read about five books on it in the week I've owned it). And I like the fact that the T2 allows me to borrow library books directly -- but I really don't know how much I'll use that feature.
Sorry to ramble. But that's my story and, I guess, I'm sticking to it. I don't know now if I care about a K4B back-up now (that was kind of a knee-jerk reaction) and, honestly, with my postive NST w/ Glowlight experience, I may be looking at a Paperwhite in the future.
All these eReaders came after November, 2011. Oh, and I forgot to mention a Sony PRS-600 that I got for $15 at a pawn shop and sold for about $20. It was nice and solid, but I didn't like the screen glare. The person who bought it -- in Houston -- was very happy with it (it was like new).
(And the rambling continues ...)