MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Arthritis- need lightweight easy to use ereader

emellaich · 06-20-2009, 06:16 PM

jwallesar,

I believe that ereaders are wonderful -- I have been using various versions of them for ten years now. However, there are a few things that might influence your decision.

1) Lightweight: If you have arthritis, I'm not sure weight is your only concern. These things are basically big screens with frames around them. If you hold them one-handed then you end up "pinching" them by the side or bottom of the frame in order to hold them -- since you don't want your fingers on the actual screen. I'm not sure that this pinching grasp would be that comfortable for someone who has arthritis in their hands. The simplest solution would be for you to use a two-handed grip. With such a grip all of the readers are light enough an will be comfortable for you.

2) Technology literacy. Where this comes in to play mostly is in the ease of getting books. If you want to keep things simple you will be limited to a few book sources that have built-in compatibility with your ereader. More on this in the paragraphs ahead.

3) Cost effective: the most cost effective source of books is Gutenberg, here on Mobileread, and certain independent book sellers, especially Baen.com. Gutenberg and Mobileread offer over 100,000 free books, but they are generally classics (ie mostly written before 1923). Baen.com is an excellent book source for free and low cost books, but it specializes in Science Fiction and Fantasy and has fewer books 500 to 1,000?

Another source is your library. Some libraries 'loan' electronic books. I understand that if your library doesn't, you can get a guest membership to the NY Metro Public library for about $100 per year. My understanding is that reading these books is somewhat easy on the Sony (depending on the library's format), but takes much more work for some other readers.

Now that we have gone through the sources of free books, we get to the purchased books. If you want current releases of popular books you will need to purchase them. These books not only cost money but they have special 'protection' features that will tie them to your reader so that you can't give them away to all of your friends. Because of this, you will need to buy them from a store that supports the type of reader you buy.

If you want to keep things technically simple, my opinion is that the Kindle is the way to go for purchased books. You can connect to the online store without using a computer. Alternatively, you can use the web to buy a book on Amazon, and it is automatically sent to your Kindle with no work on your part. The Amazon store also has one of the largest selections, and has some of the best prices -- most bestsellers are $9.99 with popular older books being less expensive. There is also a constant supply of promotional books for free or $0.99.

4) Eyesight: You don't mention anything about your eyesight. But, you do mention being a grandparent with arthritis. One of the great things about ebook readers is that they let you increase the font size to more readable levels. However, if you need very large sizes this will mean that you won't fit much text on the screen. If this is a concern for you, then you may want to consider a larger device so that it can fit more text. The only one that really fits the bill these days (if you are in the U.S.) is the Kindle DX. Personally, I am more of a Kindle 2 fan, but the DX is probably a good choice if you have eyesight limitations. The DX is relatively light, its still smaller than a sheet of paper and it weighs 1 pound 3 ounces; however it is definitely not a one-hand device for you.

All told, I would probably recommend a Kindle 2 or DX for you followed by a Sony.

5) Jetbook: I've never used one, but from the comments here it looks like a great device. However, for your purposes there are a couple things you need to be aware of:
a) It supports mainly non-protected files. Not always, but generally this means free stuff like Gutenberg. If you want to read popular books it may take a bit more technical adventuresomeness (is that a word?) -- this is the main reason I didn't recommend it.
b) If you do have eyesight problems you need to be aware that as a 5" device it will have the smallest screen. You will still be able to enlarge the font, but relatively few words will fit on the page.
c) I hear that Bed Bath & Beyond carries it for $250, and that you can use one of their 20% off coupons on it for a $200 price. It is probably cheaper at egghead.com ($170 on sale) but if you want to touch one you can go to Bed Bath & Beyond.

Finally, for all of these devices you will need a reading light. They don't 'shine' the way computer screens do, and there are real advantages to this. However, if you have older eyes you will find that they are quite difficult to read in normal room lighting.

Sorry for the novel, but I hope this is useful.

06-20-2009, 06:16 PM	#8
emellaich Wizard Posts: 1,101 Karma: 4388403 Join Date: Oct 2007 Device: Palm>Ebookman>IPaq>Axim>Cybook>Kndl2>IPAD>Kndl3SO>Voyager>Oasis	jwallesar, I believe that ereaders are wonderful -- I have been using various versions of them for ten years now. However, there are a few things that might influence your decision. 1) Lightweight: If you have arthritis, I'm not sure weight is your only concern. These things are basically big screens with frames around them. If you hold them one-handed then you end up "pinching" them by the side or bottom of the frame in order to hold them -- since you don't want your fingers on the actual screen. I'm not sure that this pinching grasp would be that comfortable for someone who has arthritis in their hands. The simplest solution would be for you to use a two-handed grip. With such a grip all of the readers are light enough an will be comfortable for you. 2) Technology literacy. Where this comes in to play mostly is in the ease of getting books. If you want to keep things simple you will be limited to a few book sources that have built-in compatibility with your ereader. More on this in the paragraphs ahead. 3) Cost effective: the most cost effective source of books is Gutenberg, here on Mobileread, and certain independent book sellers, especially Baen.com. Gutenberg and Mobileread offer over 100,000 free books, but they are generally classics (ie mostly written before 1923). Baen.com is an excellent book source for free and low cost books, but it specializes in Science Fiction and Fantasy and has fewer books 500 to 1,000? Another source is your library. Some libraries 'loan' electronic books. I understand that if your library doesn't, you can get a guest membership to the NY Metro Public library for about $100 per year. My understanding is that reading these books is somewhat easy on the Sony (depending on the library's format), but takes much more work for some other readers. Now that we have gone through the sources of free books, we get to the purchased books. If you want current releases of popular books you will need to purchase them. These books not only cost money but they have special 'protection' features that will tie them to your reader so that you can't give them away to all of your friends. Because of this, you will need to buy them from a store that supports the type of reader you buy. If you want to keep things technically simple, my opinion is that the Kindle is the way to go for purchased books. You can connect to the online store without using a computer. Alternatively, you can use the web to buy a book on Amazon, and it is automatically sent to your Kindle with no work on your part. The Amazon store also has one of the largest selections, and has some of the best prices -- most bestsellers are $9.99 with popular older books being less expensive. There is also a constant supply of promotional books for free or $0.99. 4) Eyesight: You don't mention anything about your eyesight. But, you do mention being a grandparent with arthritis. One of the great things about ebook readers is that they let you increase the font size to more readable levels. However, if you need very large sizes this will mean that you won't fit much text on the screen. If this is a concern for you, then you may want to consider a larger device so that it can fit more text. The only one that really fits the bill these days (if you are in the U.S.) is the Kindle DX. Personally, I am more of a Kindle 2 fan, but the DX is probably a good choice if you have eyesight limitations. The DX is relatively light, its still smaller than a sheet of paper and it weighs 1 pound 3 ounces; however it is definitely not a one-hand device for you. All told, I would probably recommend a Kindle 2 or DX for you followed by a Sony. 5) Jetbook: I've never used one, but from the comments here it looks like a great device. However, for your purposes there are a couple things you need to be aware of: a) It supports mainly non-protected files. Not always, but generally this means free stuff like Gutenberg. If you want to read popular books it may take a bit more technical adventuresomeness (is that a word?) -- this is the main reason I didn't recommend it. b) If you do have eyesight problems you need to be aware that as a 5" device it will have the smallest screen. You will still be able to enlarge the font, but relatively few words will fit on the page. c) I hear that Bed Bath & Beyond carries it for $250, and that you can use one of their 20% off coupons on it for a $200 price. It is probably cheaper at egghead.com ($170 on sale) but if you want to touch one you can go to Bed Bath & Beyond. Finally, for all of these devices you will need a reading light. They don't 'shine' the way computer screens do, and there are real advantages to this. However, if you have older eyes you will find that they are quite difficult to read in normal room lighting. Sorry for the novel, but I hope this is useful.