Best E-Reader for bed-bound arthritis sufferer?

[tracings]

Quite a few responses here, so this may already have been mentioned, but Listening Books is a UK organization that provides audiobook library service by mail and internet to physically disabled readers: http://www.listening-books.org.uk/why-join.aspx. This American was surprised that there's an annual fee, (similar US services are free), and you'll need to choose whether to borrow a player from the organization (for a fee) or purchase one. The mail option is one that works for a lot of folks without computer access here in the US. An added bonus is the ability to call the library and speak to a real live human being about your next reading selection.

The books are in MP3 format, so will play on a variety of players, though the ones by mail appear to come on CD. I'm US-based, so I don't know more than what the website mentions, but you can contact Listening Books at 020 7407 9417 or by email at info@listening-books.org.uk for more details.

Of course, the appropriateness of this depends on whether your friend is interested in audiobooks. However, if she is interested in audiobooks, you might look into purchasing the BookSense XT, which can be controlled by VOICE RECOGNITION. It will play MP3s, along with DAISY (a special international standard for digital talking books for the print disabled), as well as txt, rtf, doc and html files (using synthetic speech). The device uses SD cards, which you could load up and mail to your friend since she's unable to access the net. I'm pretty sure they sell to the UK, as the company did an event with the Royal National Institute for the Blind in 2010. You can take a peek at the BookSense XT here: http://www.hims-inc.com/products/booksense-xt.

[LuvReadin]

Originally Posted by rwillmer

So I've come up with a no-tech solution. If it works, then we'll buy another Kobo Touch and tie it to the same account.

So the plan is that when he gets near the end of the book, one of the local family will tell us and I'll load the next set of new books onto the 2nd ereader, and post it down with a pre-paid envelope so the lovely people in the care home can send back the other one.

That's quite a clever idea, but wouldn't it be easier (and cheaper!) to just buy two SD cards, and swap those over instead? And obviously, you could preload the actual ereader with several hundred free books into the memory - I'm sure your FIL would enjoy many of the Project Gutenberg books.

[LuvReadin]

Originally Posted by Carnyx

- she's far enough away that me downloading books onto a card and taking them round, while possible, would introduce a delay I was hoping to avoid if possible

Related to my previous post, if you do find 3G/wireless isn't a possibility, buying several books at once and taking them round on a card might be feasible if she's got plenty of other (poss free) books on the device to read.

[Carnyx]

Originally Posted by tracings

Quite a few responses here, so this may already have been mentioned, but Listening Books is a UK organization that provides audiobook library service by mail and internet to physically disabled readers: http://www.listening-books.org.uk/why-join.aspx. This American was surprised that there's an annual fee, (similar US services are free), and you'll need to choose whether to borrow a player from the organization (for a fee) or purchase one. The mail option is one that works for a lot of folks without computer access here in the US. An added bonus is the ability to call the library and speak to a real live human being about your next reading selection.

The books are in MP3 format, so will play on a variety of players, though the ones by mail appear to come on CD. I'm US-based, so I don't know more than what the website mentions, but you can contact Listening Books at 020 7407 9417 or by email at info@listening-books.org.uk for more details.

Of course, the appropriateness of this depends on whether your friend is interested in audiobooks. However, if she is interested in audiobooks, you might look into purchasing the BookSense XT, which can be controlled by VOICE RECOGNITION. It will play MP3s, along with DAISY (a special international standard for digital talking books for the print disabled), as well as txt, rtf, doc and html files (using synthetic speech). The device uses SD cards, which you could load up and mail to your friend since she's unable to access the net. I'm pretty sure they sell to the UK, as the company did an event with the Royal National Institute for the Blind in 2010. You can take a peek at the BookSense XT here: http://www.hims-inc.com/products/booksense-xt.

Thanks for the reply Tracings,
Great reply. Good call on Booksense audio book player. I'd got audio books earmarked as a fallback if an E-Reader isn't an option. That device looks ideal with the voice recognition feature. Have made a note of the URL for future reference.
I didn't realise there was an audio book library either so I've also made a note of that. The annual fee doesn't surprise me though - we dont get too much laid on by the government in the UK these days I'm afraid.
Thank you so much for taking the time,
David.

[Carnyx]

Originally Posted by LuvReadin

Related to my previous post, if you do find 3G/wireless isn't a possibility, buying several books at once and taking them round on a card might be feasible if she's got plenty of other (poss free) books on the device to read.

Yes that's a good idea. I'll try and get her the free books to begin with anyway, but if 3G doesn't work for any reason, then I'll encourage her to keep a wishlist of new books. Then I'll get her a few new books at a time via an SD card like you suggested.
Thanks,
David.

[speakingtohe]

Chiming in once again.

If 3G doesn't work or unavailable.

If home is in an urban area with WiFi hotspots someone could take reader to hotspot and sync to Amazon to load books. Books can be emailed to kindle account, and/or purchased from Amazon if you get a kindle.

If a Sony, as others have suggested, then for PRS-t1 an SD card could be mailed and swapped by carer. The smallest SD card will hold at least 1000 books.

As ebooks can be viewed on computer, you might look at the deals and freebies section or the ebook section of the mobileread forums and download a few if time permits.

Helen

[Carnyx]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Chiming in once again.

If 3G doesn't work or unavailable.

If home is in an urban area with WiFi hotspots someone could take reader to hotspot and sync to Amazon to load books. Books can be emailed to kindle account, and/or purchased from Amazon if you get a kindle.

If a Sony, as others have suggested, then for PRS-t1 an SD card could be mailed and swapped by carer. The smallest SD card will hold at least 1000 books.

As ebooks can be viewed on computer, you might look at the deals and freebies section or the ebook section of the mobileread forums and download a few if time permits.

Helen

Yeah fair point - I don't have to wait to get the reader to download the free books. I'll take a look after this ... so much to remember, such a disorganised brain.
I really hope the 3G works, but the WiFi is a good idea if not.
Yes, the SD card is a definite fallback option should the 3G etc not work, and I'd be prepared to do the legwork on that.
Thanks Helen,
David.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by Carnyx

I'd got audio books earmarked as a fallback if an E-Reader isn't an option.

Before you commit to audio books, do try them for yourself. And if possible provide the lady with a temporary loaner device (an old portable CD player would do) with a bunch of mp3s or even a burnt(*) CD. There are lots of stuff available to try something out. Like that LibriVox (with 4600 recordings) that was mentioned earlier or some good quality BBC4 programs available for download.

For me personally, an audio book is very different from an "ordinary" (letters on paper or e-ink screen) book. With an Audio book you can't regulate speed and you have to commit 100% to listening, otherwise you risk missing an important part of the story. With an ordinary book you set your own tempo and can take as many breaks as you wish. So for me an audio book is very tiring. This might be caused by fact I am not native English speaker - English is actually my third language. I have also tried a few e-books in my mother language (there are very few available) or my second language, and they are a little bit better, but still I *very* much prefer the ordinary book.

Obviously some people have different attitude towards books, so you really should try before commiting to either option.

Plus, many e-book readers, such as Kindle 3 support also audio books if the lady wants a bit of variety.


(*) this being Mobileread ;-), I mean a CD burnt from legally obtained mp3, where license allows that. We can't have an old, bed-bound arthritis patient listen to illegally burned CD with some audio-book program that was broadcast by BBC4 a few years ago, can we? ;-)

[Carnyx]

Originally Posted by kacir

Before you commit to audio books, do try them for yourself. And if possible provide the lady with a temporary loaner device (an old portable CD player would do) with a bunch of mp3s or even a burnt(*) CD. There are lots of stuff available to try something out. Like that LibriVox (with 4600 recordings) that was mentioned earlier or some good quality BBC4 programs available for download.

Sure - I could always pick up a cheap MP3 player first and load some onto that. Where are the BBC4 programmes available?

For me personally, an audio book is very different from an "ordinary" (letters on paper or e-ink screen) book. With an Audio book you can't regulate speed and you have to commit 100% to listening, otherwise you risk missing an important part of the story. With an ordinary book you set your own tempo and can take as many breaks as you wish. So for me an audio book is very tiring. This might be caused by fact I am not native English speaker - English is actually my third language. I have also tried a few e-books in my mother language (there are very few available) or my second language, and they are a little bit better, but still I *very* much prefer the ordinary book.
Obviously some people have different attitude towards books, so you really should try before commiting to either option.

All good points - well if the E-Reader route fails, which I really hope it doesn't, then audio books are a great fallback option.
English isn't your first language? Wow - could have fooled me. You put us to shame with your level of English.

Plus, many e-book readers, such as Kindle 3 support also audio books if the lady wants a bit of variety.


(*) this being Mobileread ;-), I mean a CD burnt from legally obtained mp3, where license allows that. We can't have an old, bed-bound arthritis patient listen to illegally burned CD with some audio-book program that was broadcast by BBC4 a few years ago, can we? ;-)

Ha ha, no of course not!
Thanks Kacir,
David.

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by Carnyx

I didn't realise there was an audio book library either so I've also made a note of that. The annual fee doesn't surprise me though - we dont get too much laid on by the government in the UK these days I'm afraid.

It's possibly dependant on your local council, but I know my local library offers audio books (on CD) free of charge. I think there's a limit to 2 or 4 at a time (compared to 8 books), but it's only DVDs they charge for.

[LuvReadin]

Originally Posted by Carnyx

Thanks for the reply Tracings,
Great reply. Good call on Booksense audio book player. I'd got audio books earmarked as a fallback if an E-Reader isn't an option. That device looks ideal with the voice recognition feature. Have made a note of the URL for future reference.
I didn't realise there was an audio book library either so I've also made a note of that. The annual fee doesn't surprise me though - we dont get too much laid on by the government in the UK these days I'm afraid.
Thank you so much for taking the time,
David.

Ooh, just got beaten to the info re the library! It does seem to depend on the council, but worth asking - even when they do charge, it's usually quite small.

Also, it's worth keeping an eye out for offers - for instance, I got 7 John Le Carré books free in an offer advertised in one of the newspapers, and there was another similar offer with the Guardian. Moneysavingexpert usually posts them, so it's worth signing up for the weekly email. There's a 'free' MP3 player (£4.50 inc P&P, or £3.65 if you pick the cheaper option) in the Mail ATM: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/prmt...er-reader.html

[Carnyx]

Originally Posted by l_macd

It's possibly dependant on your local council, but I know my local library offers audio books (on CD) free of charge. I think there's a limit to 2 or 4 at a time (compared to 8 books), but it's only DVDs they charge for.

Thanks for the reply l_macd,
Yes I spoke to a guy at the local library and while they don't lend E-Readers, there is a "home library" that does audio books, so that will definitely be an option if that's the route we go down.
Thanks,
David.

[Carnyx]

Originally Posted by LuvReadin

You should be able to get audiobooks in your/her local library as well. Depending on the library, they may be free, or may have a small charge. Also, it's worth keeping an eye out for offers - for instance, I got 7 John Le Carré books free in an offer advertised in one of the newspapers, and there was another recent one withthe Guardian. Moneysavingexpert usually posts them, so it's worth signing up for the weekly email.

Yes, see above - this is definitely an option. Thanks for the tip - wondering what amazing offers I've missed on MSE over the years now!
Thanks,
David.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by Carnyx

Where are the BBC4 programmes available?

Over the years I noticed people posting links to various interesting dramatizations. I tried some of posts, it looks like the links expire , and of course, some stuff is only available when you browse form IP address in GB - which I do not understand, because I think there are quite a few expats that might be even more interested in this kind of programs than listeners living in Britain.

Try this address
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts

Tomorrow I will try to find that particular dramatization I have downloaded at work. I was hoping I could listen to this when doing the most repetitive and dull chores, but it didn't go well. I found out I have to concentrate on listening too much.

[Carnyx]

Originally Posted by kacir

Over the years I noticed people posting links to various interesting dramatizations. I tried some of posts, it looks like the links expire , and of course, some stuff is only available when you browse form IP address in GB - which I do not understand, because I think there are quite a few expats that might be even more interested in this kind of programs than listeners living in Britain.

Try this address
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts

Great stuff. Thanks for finding that link.

Tomorrow I will try to find that particular dramatization I have downloaded at work. I was hoping I could listen to this when doing the most repetitive and dull chores, but it didn't go well. I found out I have to concentrate on listening too much.

Ha ha - I know what you mean. I too tried listening to audio books at work but failed miserably - would either switch off from the book or from the work. Classical music or movie music was all I could listen to in the end.
Thanks Kacir,
David.