Newbie - Need Help Deciding

[DonnaIam]

In the near future I am going to purchase an e-book device. I have researched and researched and still remain uncertain. In my opinion $400 is a lot of money and I don't want to make a huge mistake.

I've read a lot posts on this forum and I remain confused

Even if this leads to some hotly debated replys, I really want you opinion. Would you please answer the questions below and feel free to add what you want. I'm not a techie; I just want the best for my money and have the ability to choose what I download - I might need other requirements but since I don't own one don't know what they might be.

Please let me know what e-book device you have.
Tell me the pros.
Tell me the cons.
If you were going to purchase a new one, which one would you choose and why.
If money were no object, which one would you choose and why.

[HarryT]

Forget the eBook device - that's the last thing you should be considering.

Questions you need to ask yourself:

What type of content are you primarily interested in reading?

Then look around at all the various eBook stores and decide which ones you prefer, and what formats they offer.

This will generally point you towards a device or a small group of devices. You're "putting the cart before the horse" in looking at the device first - it's the content that's the important thing. All the eInk devices on the market are very nice to use.

[DonnaIam]

I didn't know it made a difference as to what I read. I read novels for pleasure. Is this what you are asking?
What device do you currently use and what do you read?
I currently have an iPhone 3G but only listen to audio books.
Thanks for the reply.

[BookishDreamer]

I've been using a Sony 505 for the past year. I primarily read free public domain novels in PDF or LRF format. I very rarely purchase ebooks but I have purchased a handful from Sony. I don't read many new releases or modern bestsellers. I don't like to fidget with file conversion (do enough of that kind of thing at work) but I will use Calibre to make my own LRF documents. For my purposes, I wanted a basic device with a good battery life for reading 2-3 hours at a time. I wanted something compact enough to fit into my purse and unobtrusive enough to use in restaurants without looking like I just plopped down a laptop next to my plate. I've been very happy with my 505.

If I had to replace my 505 (and couldn't get another 505), I'd probably buy the 700 simply because it's the same size and style and I wouldn't have to worry about converting my existing ebooks. I probably would never use the reading light, annotation or highlighting functions of the 700 and I'd miss the conveniently placed page turn buttons and the display clarity of the 505.

One of the reasons people ask about your reading preferences is that not all ebookstores have the same content or formats. For instance, the Sony bookstore has the right format for my 505 but not all of the books in a series I want to read. I found the rest of the books at another bookstore in a different format. I don't want to deal with converting those books to the format I need/want, so I probably won't buy those books. If you pick an ebook device that uses a specific set of formats but you can't find books in that format and you don't want to do file conversion, then you've probably picked the wrong device for your reading habits. We don't want to see that happen to you.

Have you had a chance to play with any of the ebook devices? Seen anyone using one? I think some of our Texas members are trying to plan a meetup in a couple of months but you might not want to wait that long.

Dreamer

[Andybaby]

I have the PRS-700. I Love its Toucscreen and its Light. Some Complain of glare, i dont have a problem reading on it though.

kindle is good except its a little large. thats its only pitfall.

[desertgrandma]

I have the Kindle.

I love the built in dictionary, just a touch of a button and I can look up a word.

I love the adjustable font.

I love the ability to download a book anywhere I am, using the whispernet feature. Check the availability map on the Kindles home page to see if you would be able to use it.

I love being able to download the mobile catalogs from here, Mobileread, and Feedbooks.com, and download from there anywhere I am.

You will hear complaints about how the buttons are n the wrong places, no backlight, etc. These are all non-issues for me. I can hold it comfortably, read in any position, and the e-ink screen is like reading a paper book. No eye strain!.

what don't I like about it? There isn't anything I don't like about it. Truly. But thats just me. Amazon has a free 30 day refund policy, so if you did order it and didn't like it, you aren't stuck with it.

Good luck with whichever you choose.

[desertgrandma]

there is a book reader 'get together on this post. Maybe you could attend and try all of them that are there. I will vouch for those attending!

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35450

[lilac_jive]

I have the Sony PRS-505.

I really really love it. I primarily read fiction (romance, classics, etc). I find it is perfect for me because I don't need all of the bells and whistles (wifi, touch screen, etc), just something that shows the page. There is nothing I have a problem with on my device.

That is the most amazing thing about these devices, there is almost one for every person.

[Sydney's Mom]

I have a kindle. I like it because of the kindle store, whispernet, and mostly being able to read samples before I buy. I have decided not to buy a number of books, that easily saved me $100.

It goes in the front compartment of my briefcase every day. I love it. Debra

[Alisa]

I also have a Kindle. For me, the main advantages were as follows:

Content Availability: I read a lot of new releases and their prices are generally a bit lower than the other stores. Most new releases are $9.99.

Search: I can search the files on my device. You would think this would not be an uncommon feature, but it is. Not only is it handy when I'm looking for a passage in a book or searching a technical document, I also use it to search my recipes for a given ingredient. With Whispernet, you also have Web and Wikipedia search.

Dictionary Lookup: Another surprisingly rare feature. While I'm pretty good at figuring out the gist of a word from context, it's even better to get a full definition. Sometimes, even when I basically know a word, I get the feeling that the author is using it in a more nuanced way. I like that I can satisfy my curiosity without really breaking the rhythm of my reading, or disturbing the cat.

Free Samples: I always read the sample first. I used to buy a lot of books I didn't like enough to finish. Some I didn't even start. I would try to buy books ahead of time and guess what I would want to be reading. I'm fickle. Because I can download the full book within a minute of having finished the sample, I don't buy ahead. I buy what I want to read right now.

[GraceKrispy]

I have a PRS 505. I haven't played around with any other ebook readers. My husband did a lot of research and decided 505 would be best for my needs (it was a birthday gift).

What I love:

It's easy to use-- to me it feels just like holding a book. It's super easy to read, especially in bright light. It fits into my medium sized purse and can go anywhere I go. The cover fits great. I love how easy it is to use, how I can get books in a variety of formats. I am going through the ebooks at my public library like wildfire and it's so easy to do on the sony. I don't like to pay for books, so I love that I can easily get the 100 free classics from sony (I know there are other free books out there I can get, but I'm not ready to delve into that realm yet... baby steps for me! ) I love how easy it is to organize the books into collections. Although it's an extra step, I really like downloading it to the computer first. My husband accidentally deleted 2/3 of my collection from my ebook reader. It was super easy to re-download because it was either on the computer (saved) or in the sony store.

What I wish I had:

a dictionary where I could easily look up words-- that, I think, is the main advantage to the kindle, I wish I had a light, but I don't like backlit, so what I really want is to just get a booklight to have next to my bed (so I'm not really expecting my ebook reader to have that feature)

Honestly, I'm glad the choice was *not* mine. I was initially a little disappointed I didn't get a kindle from my husband. I had really only heard about that, and so that's what I thought I wanted. Now, after 2 months of using this and doing "after the fact" reading about both devices, I'm really really happy with my sony.

[pdurrant]

I have the CyBook Gen3

Pros:
Great Mobipocket support
Cheapest one available in the UK

Cons:
Doesn't have a good hibernate - if left permanently on it will drain its battery in 3-4 days. Auto power-off is available, but then requires 30+ seconds to startup.

I'd still buy a CyBook if I needed to replace this one.


However, in your situation, I'd get Stanza for my iPhone, and see how I liked reading off the iPhone first.

Originally Posted by DonnaIam

Please let me know what e-book device you have.
Tell me the pros.
Tell me the cons.
If you were going to purchase a new one, which one would you choose and why.
If money were no object, which one would you choose and why.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by GraceKrispy

What I wish I had:

a dictionary where I could easily look up words-- that, I think, is the main advantage to the kindle,

No, it's the main advantage of the CyBook. The Kindle has one built-in dictionary, for which there are no alternatives available. The CyBook has hundreds of commercial MobiPocket dictionaries available, and can also look up definitions in multiple dictionaries, something which the Kindle cannot do.

[GraceKrispy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, it's the main advantage of the CyBook. The Kindle has one built-in dictionary, for which there are no alternatives available. The CyBook has hundreds of commercial MobiPocket dictionaries available, and can also look up definitions in multiple dictionaries, something which the Kindle cannot do.

That's good to know, I really know nothing of the CyBook. I'm, admittedly, a total newbie to this techie world of books without trees (paper).

[rixte]

Originally Posted by DonnaIam

In the near future I am going to purchase an e-book device. I have researched and researched and still remain uncertain. In my opinion $400 is a lot of money and I don't want to make a huge mistake.

I've read a lot posts on this forum and I remain confused

Even if this leads to some hotly debated replys, I really want you opinion. Would you please answer the questions below and feel free to add what you want. I'm not a techie; I just want the best for my money and have the ability to choose what I download - I might need other requirements but since I don't own one don't know what they might be.

Please let me know what e-book device you have.
Tell me the pros.
Tell me the cons.
If you were going to purchase a new one, which one would you choose and why.
If money were no object, which one would you choose and why.

The good news is that I think no matter which one you go with, if you like the current state of e-ink (not everybody does), you'll be happy with any of the current crop.

They all really use the same screen and they're beautifully easy to read in direct sunlight and any regular reading light - and in light a little dimmer than a regular book, at least for me. Turning speed is quick and easy. The amount of content available isn't perfect yet, but it's increasing rapidly - I still buy a few books in physical forms, but it's becoming more and more rare.

The pro of the Kindle for me is the number of ways that it can sort files, even though the metadata isn't perfect. Also while some people find the buttons too large, I find them really convenient and easy to use. I like the wide range of content available, but I tend to buy from Fictionwise and convert over. But on the books that are extremely pricey at FW, I'll go Amazon.

The con is really the same across all of them - the difficulty of dealing with DRM and incompatible formats. Making the transition to Cybook and then from Cybook to Kindle was fairly easy, but I don't like feeling quasi-locked in.

Because of the backlog of books I have in mobi format, I'd go Kindle again if I went with a new device. But if I had any amount of money, I'd get at least one of each of them.