Is Wifi a deal-breaker for you?

[elcreative]

Wrong... a charge cycle is from 0-100% and it doesn't matter how you do it e.g. 50% to 100% = half charge cycle, do it again and that'll be one in total... For more info on correct usage of Lithium polymer batteries, try google for tech specs or read the battery/charging threads here.

The batteries do have a limited number of charge cycles of around 300-400 plus and this roughly works out to around 5-8 years of usage regardless of how incremental your charging...

Originally Posted by speedlever

Being aware that lithium polymer batteries have a finite number of charge cycles before battery life becomes affected, I much prefer to use wifi vs hooking up to the computer via USB and taking up a charge cycle, no matter how brief, just to sideload a book.

[cfrizz]

I don't really care one way or the other. I'll have it when I finally get a tablet. But I don't need it for my reader, I purchase everything via my pc & side load it. I wouldn't be bother downloading anything from my tablet. I'd rather have it on my pc.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rhadin

Harry, why would anyone want more than one dedicated reading device?

So that one can take advantage of both Kindle and ePub books. Also, the "pocket" form factor of the PRS-350 is very nice when you're "out and about".

My comment about "why would anyone want only one" was very much tongue in cheek, but there really are benefits to having multiple devices, should one have the desire (and the means) to do so.

A friend of mine, having seen my Kindle, recently bought his 85 year old mother one for Christmas and she absolutely loves it. She wouldn't have a clue about using a PC, but she can easily manage to buy books on the Kindle. It couldn't be easier.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I find the 3G extremely useful on my Kindle for buying books - so very much easier than the horrible, horrible Sony eBook Library software. However, I also have a Sony PRS-350 with no WiFi or 3G, and use that extensively for reading ePub books. If it was my one and only reading device (but why would anyone only have one?), I'd certainly stick with the 3G Kindle.

I never even installed the sony software... And I told my mother not to install it either. So, that's not a requirement for buying books at all!

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

For a Kindle it would be likely to be more expensive without the wifi because Amazon would know that its target audience wasn't really interested in buying ebooks from Amazon. Like with games consoles or inkjet printers, the cost of the hardware is heavily subsidised against expected future software sales.

Ok, let's rephrase: I'd buy the cheapest, if it has wifi, ok, if it hasn't, also ok.

Originally Posted by rhadin

Harry, why would anyone want more than one dedicated reading device? I only read on one device at a time and see no reason why I need spend hundreds of dollars to have multiple dedicated devices that all do the same thing.

I admit I'm a bit behind the times. I don't own an iPad, an iPhone, or an iPod. I don't own a portable MP3 player or a smart phone. I don't read for pleasure on my PC (it's a reading for work only device) and I don't use apps to let me read on anything anywhere anytime. Rather, I take my Sony 950 with me everywhere. Other than the desire to own more than one dedicated device, I don't see either the need to do so or the logic in doing so.

Originally Posted by HarryT

So that one can take advantage of both Kindle and ePub books. Also, the "pocket" form factor of the PRS-350 is very nice when you're "out and about".

One reason I have multiple devices as well. Another reason is that I still haven't found the perfect-for-every-situation device. But my devices together do perfectly. (E-ink for long battery life and perfect outside reading experience, LCD for bedtime (dark bedroom) reading. And a smaller device for portability.

Originally Posted by HarryT

A friend of mine, having seen my Kindle, recently bought his 85 year old mother one for Christmas and she absolutely loves it. She wouldn't have a clue about using a PC, but she can easily manage to buy books on the Kindle. It couldn't be easier.

Oh, it has it uses, most certainly. But only if you can connect to the bookstore of your choice. I talked my mother out of the K3, simply because you're almost fixed to Amazon. And she doesn't read English.

[pagansoul]

All three of my readers are WiFi and I don't use the 3G on my iPad. If/When I get another iPad it will be the Wifi only iPad2. It's nice using my Kindle3 to pickup a book off Amazon anytime but I don't really need it.

[speedlever]

Originally Posted by elcreative

Wrong... a charge cycle is from 0-100% and it doesn't matter how you do it e.g. 50% to 100% = half charge cycle, do it again and that'll be one in total... For more info on correct usage of Lithium polymer batteries, try google for tech specs or read the battery/charging threads here.

The batteries do have a limited number of charge cycles of around 300-400 plus and this roughly works out to around 5-8 years of usage regardless of how incremental your charging...

Thanks for the correction and education. I'll stick with the convenience factor for wifi then.

I haven't seen the charging threads here. I'll have to take a look.

[Giggleton]

Battery life is important

But I wonder what the costs would be for a device with 3G connection and no hard drive that could access cloud data. I expect battery drain but maybe intermittent 3G with books stored in RAM?

[elemenoP]

When I was researching readers, the lack of wifi on the Sonys did concern me. But then I figured out that library ebooks can't be loaded via wifi anyway. (at least at the time of my research they couldn't. Don't know if they can now.) And that was always going to be my primary source of books.

So I bit the bullet on a Sony and I couldn't be happier. I have 100 unread books on my reader and I'm not an impulsive book buyer (more like a slow hoarder), so I don't need the "buy anywhere, any time" perk.

But also, I'm good with computers, figuring out Calibre, Tools, all that. If my mother, for example, wanted to get a reader, I would recommend the Kindle so she wouldn't have to use her computer.

I do think that Sony's lack of wifi is a big problem for them. Not because wifi is actually necessary, but because it just *seems* lacking when you don't know much about readers (ie, you don't have one and are looking to buy one). I have to pay *more* for a reader that is *missing* something? It was tough to stomach for me, and I'm sure for lots of others as well.

eP

[cgk]

I do think that Sony's lack of wifi is a big problem for them. Not because wifi is actually necessary, but because it just *seems* lacking when you don't know much about readers (ie, you don't have one and are looking to buy one). I have to pay *more* for a reader that is *missing* something? It was tough to stomach for me, and I'm sure for lots of others as well.

Well that was part of it for me - my PRS600 has been used every day but to replace it with the new 650 would cost me £100 more than the Kindle and also there is no wifi included.

[DixieGal]

Yes, wifi is a deal breaker for me. I have the Ipad with wifi, but not 3G. Glad that I got the cheaper wifi-only, because for Christmas, I got the Verizon 4G mobile hotspot.

[Elfwreck]

I don't care about wifi at all. I buy very few ebooks, and only without DRM, which means the wifi that only connects to company stores is useless to me. (Worse than useless; can result in annoying surprise "upgrades" that change how my device works.)

The whole point of having enough memory to store hundreds of ebooks is that I don't need to take special steps to get a new one RIGHT NOW THIS MINUTE. I can load up a week's reading and a week's worth of alternates in case my mood shifts, and a handful of books I've been telling myself I'll read someday, and a few extras that sounded interesting, and some fanfic. I don't have to decide exactly what I'll read before I leave the house; I can carry enough options with me that I don't care about access to more while I'm out.

OTOH, my daughter has a Kindle and I can't pry her away from Fanfiction.net. The web browser is a nifty feature; wifi for the purpose of buying ebooks is useless to me.

[bhartman36]

Wifi isn't a deal-breaker for me. If I found a device w/o Wifi that cost significantly less than the Kindle 3 Wifi, I might consider it, but I haven't seen anything w/ an eInk screen that costs less (that I'm aware of, anyway).

[Worldwalker]

It's not a deal-breaker per se, but I wouldn't pay extra for a device with WiFi, and I'd turn it off if I had it. Given the capability of Amazon, for example, to (at the very least) delete books from the Kindle, I'm leery of letting any vendor have unmonitored, uncontrolled access to my device. As there's no reason to believe "off" really means "off" from a device point of view, I'd be far more comfortable not having it at all.

I don't buy DRM-locked ebooks, so the capability for impulse purchases isn't an issue for me (which is also probably better for my wallet). My Sony 505 contains a couple of thousand public domain books, plus an assortment purchased from places like Baen, so I'm never lacking in something to read. They all go through my computer anyway for metadata editing, collection assignment, etc., and then calibre takes care of loading the ones I need (I also tend to buy books that don't work well on my Reader, like some of the O'Reilly PDFs).

So ... I would only buy an ebook reader with WiFi or 3G if 1) my 505 failed, 2) I was unable to replace it with a similar unit, and 3) I could be fairly sure that a company is not monitoring my reading, approving my books, etc. I bought the 505 because it was exactly what I needed, and the availability of devices that do other things doesn't make it any less exactly what I needed.

also: what Elfwreck said.

[speedlever]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

When I was researching readers, the lack of wifi on the Sonys did concern me. But then I figured out that library ebooks can't be loaded via wifi anyway. (at least at the time of my research they couldn't. Don't know if they can now.) And that was always going to be my primary source of books.

snip

I load library books via wifi with no issues.

But I suspect that's a workflow decision that I employ moreso than the issue you speak of... which I assume is the initial d/l.

Edit: out of curiosity, has the library in fact been the primary source of ebooks for you? I thought that was going to be very important to me too, but in practice, it's been a moot point and very few books I've read have come from the library.

[sakura-panda]

Wi-fi for me is not a deal breaker; it is a nice-to-have. I wouldn't base my purchase on whether or not a reader had one.

I also resisted considering the Kindle until a non-3G version was available.