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mike_bike_kite · 05-20-2010, 03:10 PM

The post was more just a quick note on my experiences of trying to get a decent demo of an ereader, about trying to save a little money and then getting a parking ticket. I thought both shops I went to were very helpful but for one reason or another I couldn't see my own ebooks on the SD card.

I'm a geek and read a lot so one of these things fits the bill quite well but I can't do a simple "this is what I'd save" because I doubt if I'd buy that many ebooks though I do buy real books of the ebooks I've been impressed by. I just get a childish joy seeing all the books on the shelves which a listing can't replicate and as a child of the digital age generation I just find it difficult paying for data files (though I do fully understand implications of this).

How much I'm prepared to pay for the hardware is also difficult to say - I guess the cost price of a unit (even a feature rich unit) is somewhere around £40. Then add on the cost of software, marketing etc and a profit of course. I guess if borders can make a profit at selling a PRS-600 at $199 (£140) then ereaders are very over priced here in the UK (£245). But I guess, like anything, something is worth exactly what folks are prepared to pay for it.

I hadn't thought of importing from HK but it appears they don't get them there and each Chinese site I looked at looked so dodgy that I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. I've also tried importing things from the US before but the results were variable, sometimes taxed, sometimes not and a few times the item would just disappeared altogether.

I guess I'll just continue to keep my fingers crossed and hope the prices come down. Luckily I find the developments in the technology (hardware and software) quite interesting so I quite enjoy reading about them.

05-20-2010, 03:10 PM	#9
mike_bike_kite Digitally confused Posts: 500 Karma: 1500000 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: London, UK Device: KPW, K2i, Nexus 7 32gb, Kobo Mini	The post was more just a quick note on my experiences of trying to get a decent demo of an ereader, about trying to save a little money and then getting a parking ticket. I thought both shops I went to were very helpful but for one reason or another I couldn't see my own ebooks on the SD card. I'm a geek and read a lot so one of these things fits the bill quite well but I can't do a simple "this is what I'd save" because I doubt if I'd buy that many ebooks though I do buy real books of the ebooks I've been impressed by. I just get a childish joy seeing all the books on the shelves which a listing can't replicate and as a child of the digital age generation I just find it difficult paying for data files (though I do fully understand implications of this). How much I'm prepared to pay for the hardware is also difficult to say - I guess the cost price of a unit (even a feature rich unit) is somewhere around £40. Then add on the cost of software, marketing etc and a profit of course. I guess if borders can make a profit at selling a PRS-600 at $199 (£140) then ereaders are very over priced here in the UK (£245). But I guess, like anything, something is worth exactly what folks are prepared to pay for it. I hadn't thought of importing from HK but it appears they don't get them there and each Chinese site I looked at looked so dodgy that I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. I've also tried importing things from the US before but the results were variable, sometimes taxed, sometimes not and a few times the item would just disappeared altogether. I guess I'll just continue to keep my fingers crossed and hope the prices come down. Luckily I find the developments in the technology (hardware and software) quite interesting so I quite enjoy reading about them.