eReader for the future?

[Reko]

Hi guys and gals,

I've been making some small expeditions into looking at what kind of an eReader would I want to have. I read a lot, thousands of pages per year and a lot of graphic novels as well.

We're moving soon, and looking at the shelfspace I would need to buy in order to keep my hobby feasible, we're talking about 15-20 meters of shelfspace so it's starting to be obvious that I either shed out some of my books through bookmooch (or such) before I get any new ones, or I freeze my collection and turn digital.

I already committed to iPad since I feel it'll be perfect for graphic novels. Mind you, I will miss the tactile feel of the pages and will probably buy physical books every now and then, but ebooks are the future.

The bigger problem I have is with what I will read the regular books with. I've compared an iPad and an Kindle and I can clearly see what the yahoo about eInk is about - it's a glorious thing to look at and read.

I order a lot of stuff from Amazon, so Kindle would be a no brainer, but also due to that I've noticed that my mother language is actually starting to suffer since I read so much in english. So I wouldn't want to commit into being a 100% Amazon customer and would like to have the possibility of reading epubs and other open file formats as well, since that is what the bookstores in my country will support at some point.

Also, I foresee that I will be having a pretty big load of books in the eReader, so my question is:

If you'd need an eBook reader that supports multiple formats, has a nice tactile interface to use it (I loved the Kindle's prev/next buttons since they are so big you don't really think about it when you turn pages) and allows for some fast and easy way to organize your books, what would you get?

I looked at Bebook Neo for a while, but coming off the forums I got the feeling that the manufacturer doesn't necessarily support it as much as it should and there were also all kinds of nasty errors being reported (connecting, screen response etc).

Overall, I feel a bit weird that Kindle is always ranked as the top ebook reader while it restricts you heavily in terms of where you get your books from. So could you say that Kindle is pretty US/UK-biased as a device?

Sorry for a long post and

[Logseman]

The USA is the biggest eReader and eBook market. Since the Kindle is the top dog there, it's logical that it gets all the media love, along with the iPad.

I'd recommend you a Pocketbook 360. It supports lots of formats, including the most popular ones (EPub, both with Adobe DRM and without, PDF, Mobi (without DRM), FB2, DOC, and so on), it has these big page turning buttons (they make an audible click, that must be said), and for organising books in open formats, the Calibre program is probably the best choice. It has a 5 inch screen, which allows for a great pocketability, and the g-sensor it has allows for comfortable reading no matter which position you take.

[Reko]

Cool. I looked some stuff from Youtube and it seemed pretty nice. Thanks!

Book organization wise, I was mostly thinking of how to organize the books that are on the device, ie. can I use Calibre to place them in, say, Genre-specific folders? I checked Calibre already during the weekend and it seemed nice, I'm just still a bit hazy about it's interaction with whatever reader.

I'll check more on Pocketbook.

[Ea]

I support the suggestion of Pocketbook 360. Personally I find it on the small side if this was to be your only e-book reader, but if you get an iPad you'll have a choice. Also the PB360 is a very light device and highly portable - it's a very good supplement to a larger device. I would suggest you consider the light silver/'ivory' one - I have the black, and while I love the 'retro' look of the design, I'd say the ivory colour will blend better with the screen colour and the let the device fade into the background of your attention.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Reko

Book organization wise, I was mostly thinking of how to organize the books that are on the device, ie. can I use Calibre to place them in, say, Genre-specific folders?

Yes.
The Pocketbook firmware uses a Folder-based Bookshelf that is mapped directly off the file system. It also provides a parallel "Favorites" system of shortcut-style links to files and Folders to help you flag books and organize those links separately from the files they point to.
People have used Calibre to create entire folder structures that then get replicated on the Pocketbook readers.
File management is a strength of the Pocketbook line as you can copy, move, rename, or delete files or folders locally from the bookshelf app. Similarly, you can create and manage the "Favorties" links locally.
Worth looking into.

On the Kindle side:
The Kindle does *not* restrict where you get ebooks from; it restricts where you an get *DRM-ed* ebooks from.
*Big* difference.
You can get DRM-free ebooks from many alternate bookstores/vendors and either sideload them via USB (like any unconnected ebook reader) or you can use Calibre to wirelessly send them to your Kindle (for free if you use the WiFi) and some vendors will email your purchased files to your Kindle wirelessly (free if you're using wifi, for a small fee to Amazon if over 3G). Many have webpages optimized for the Kindle browser so you can use the Kindle to buy from them and then get the files transfered over, all without having to use a computer.
And Amazon has done nothing to prevent this; if anything, they have simplified the 3G email transfer fees.
Also, there is a simple process that allows Mobi-format library ebooks to be read on Kindles. It's not quite trivial but it is reported to work quite well for some people.

Both the Kindle and the Pocketbooks are good readers; they are just aimed at slightly different audiences with different needs.

You need to figure out which is the better fit for *your* needs.
A good place to start is by deciding, upfront, where you intend to *buy* your DRM'ed ebooks, if from Amazon's ebookstore, from DRM-free publishers and vendors, from Apple's iBooks, B&N (if applicable), or from on of the Adobe ADEPT shops.
Settle that first and the rest of the choices will be easier.

[bill_mchale]

Just a thought, but the nook might be worth looking into as well. It supports epub, ereader and PDF, and supports both ADE DRM and B&N's own DRM. The advantage of this over the Kindle is that you are not limited to one store for your DRM content. I got my first good look at one yesterday, and other than being a slightly heavy reader (compared to my wife's metal cased Sony 505!), I could see little reason to prefer a Kindle.

--
Bill

[GA Russell]

Welcome Reko!

No one here has ever said anything bad about the PocketBook 360. It might be the perfect choice for you.

However, the situation is changing rapidly, and I suggest that you at least consider the jetBook Lite because it will fit your needs in the short term and is so inexpensive. Newegg often has it on sale, two weeks ago for $69.99. Its reflective TFT screen is well liked by those of us who have one.

The jetBook Lite has few bells and whistles, but it will read many formats including ePub and Mobi. With the prices coming down the way they are, who knows what you will be able to buy in a couple of years' time?

[Reko]

Thanks for some good suggestions Pocketbook 360 looks really nice and I was almost about to order it, but I'll hold off for a while. I'll borrow a friend's Kindle and see how it copes with different file formats.

Since it reads a few other formats alongside it's own and Calibre seems to be a beast in converting formats, it could be that with Kindle, I could still be able to read stuff from local bookstores once they start cranking out ebooks.

But if that fails, I'll prolly buy the Pocketbook 360.

Granted, you can see the whole ebook thing is just starting to wind into a gear. Loads of readers, file formats, DRMs, non-DRMs, good readers, bad readers and whatever the future holds

[Ea]

If you are able to get the books you want to read in a format the Kindle can use - and you are comfortable with using the Kindle - then I'd recommend it as well. I've owned 7 different devices, and it's been the overall most stable of them all - to very high degree it just works. The PB360 on the other hand is very costumisable, which is also very nice.

[comma]

Not a lot of mention here about the NOOK, which I think is a very good option. The page turning is decently quick, you can read epub on it and so far I haven't had issues with it

[Dulin's Books]

take a look at the new PocketBook models announced today. the 360 continues along with the new models

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95359

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

take a look at the new PocketBook models announced today. the 360 continues along with the new models

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95359

The new PB Models inherit the same basic software platform as the PB360, just as the Kindle family shares theirs, so they'll hit the ground with known features and options.
Too bad they didn't also inherit the 360 ergonomic design; those bezels...I dunno...

[Reko]

FYI, I went with a Kindle Friend was willing to part with his older model so he could order the new one. I tried it out couple of times, tested the epub->mobi conversion of Calibre and it all seemed to work pretty nicely.

My major source for books anyway is Amazon, so I can't really skip that part of my hobby. We'll see what happens once some native ebook stores start popping up and what format they go with.

Then again, after trying the Kindle out at work and now trying it at home, I do get some interesting errors during the conversion (http://bugs.calibre-ebook.com/ticket/6598), but that's not really for this topic :-)