Already have iPad and smartphone, just want a back up for sunlight and my purse

[Terisa de morgan]

I've had a Gen3, an Opus, a PRS-350, a PRS-650 and a Kobo Touch (greedy me, I know) and, briefly, a pocketbook 360 and a Kobo First Generation. I carry my ereader with me almost all the time, in my purse (which is not very big) and I prefer the 350 a lot (I'm thinking about buying another one at ebay to keep it as a replacement).

[Wildgift]

I have the kobo, and it's really compact and works great, with a very attentive dev team with frequent updates.

[Pomtroll]

Originally Posted by LynnDC

Ok, I have cheap solution. My daughter had a sony 350 that she got in Nov. The screen broke without it having been dropped or subjected to pressure.

I had read that sony doesn't cover the screen damage. But I just called Sony and said I thought it gave out too easily for how new it was and for taking good care of it.

Now for $30 they will send a replacement. I'm sure it'll be a refurb, but that's better than nothing for the price.

I think I'll really like the 350 for purse purposes. It's crazy light.

Great solution! And I think you are going to love your Sony 350. It will probably be a silver one. I have both but love my pink the most. Do you have a cover for it? That is definitely a must. I have the Sony cover & use a hair band to keep it closed while in my purse. It goes with me everywhere.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

As Pomtroll mentioned, the Sony PRS-350 is a smaller basic reader (no touch screen, but very good quality hardware) and you can get a good price now if you can find it in a local store.

PRS-350 does have a touchscreen. It fits comfortably in my purse and can easily get lost in mom's shoulder bag. I think it's a very nice device to keep in tandem with the smartphone and iPad.

[faithbw]

Just agreeing with the others about the Sony 350. I actually keep it in the zip up compartment of my purse. I absolutely love it and it goes everywhere with me!

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by LynnDC

I'm reading mostly on my iPad. I find it easy to look at and love not needing to find a proper light source. But I don't want to always carry it with me. It gets heavy in my purse and I always stress about it being stolen if I leave it in the car.

Plus I like to sit outside and the glare is a pain.

So I want a back up reader. I do have an android smartphone but I don't want to use it significantly.

Lastly, I like the touch screen because I like to swipe to turn pages.

Oh, and I do lots of library books.

So, I think I am looking at - what? nook touch, sony, kobo touch
Any others? As just a back up reader should I maybe just go for price?

Just my 2 cents.

The iPad and Kindle 3 combo works wonderful for me!

I don't know where you live, but with Amazon whispersync, I can continue reading on my Kindle from exactly what I left on iPad. It also has landscape mode (Kindle 3) which is awesome for poetry or computer books.

No touchscreen though, but I don't personally find that a major issue, after all, is just a matter of clicking a button to turn pages, not a big deal for me.

Last but not least, I do really like Amazon's customer support. It's A++

[Tarana]

Either a 6 inch Kindle or a Simple Touch are great options for inexpensive. I bought the 6 inch just because I wanted something in my purse always that I wouldn't freak out over if stolen or broken. I bought it for about $50. Now you can get a Simple Touch for about $59 if you want a cheap touch screen. The 6 inch is slightly smaller and lighter with buttons. The Simple Touch is sturdier with touch screen. Both are wifi only, although I mostly sideload.

edited to add: OH NO!!! I did it again! I responded to an OLD THREAD! Maybe that guy will post that great photo again. Way better than a noodle thrashing.

[NickyWithNook]

Originally Posted by JoeD

There's something to be said about the kindle/iPad combination. Since the iPad has a kindle app you could seamlessly switch devices and have your books, pages and notes in sync on each.

Although that advantage might not apply to books you load from other stores, so if amazon isn't your usual store, it's not such a compelling feature

The Nook does this as well.

I think the Nook fits slightly better in the purse because it's shorter, but they're both pretty purse friendly, unless you have a really tiny purse.

[Tarana]

I bought a Kindle NT just to have something that I could read under most conditions and not have a lot of angst if it was lost, stolen or broken. If you want a touch screen, I would go for the Nook simple touch simply because that slightly rubbery covering makes it easier to hold and less likely to drop. You can get either one right now for roughly $60-70 or less depending on the deals of the day.

You can also get a Sony 350 Silver ereader through Amazon for about $50.

[garylapointe]

Originally Posted by LynnDC

I'm reading mostly on my iPad. I find it easy to look at and love not needing to find a proper light source. But I don't want to always carry it with me. It gets heavy in my purse and I always stress about it being stolen if I leave it in the car.

Plus I like to sit outside and the glare is a pain.

Oh, and I do lots of library books.

I have an iPad, iPhone and Kindle Keyboard 3G. I run the Kindle App on the iPad/iPhone and all my books on the different readers stay synced the same page like magic. Even books I get from other sources that I send to my Kindle stay synced. I keep the Kindle for outdoor reading and use the iPad for indoors, I use the iPhone for book emergencies.

I think the using the library (if your library does this) for borrowing for the Kindle is way easier than the Nook. My library for kindle books you find the book and it redirects you to Amazon's site and it's just like buying, except you borrow. For the Nook I think you have to download it and use a USB cable and Adobe Digital Editions to authenticate and install it. But it all comes down to what your library has.

I generally use a site like Lendle.me to borrow books from strangers. Books are automatically returned after 2-3 weeks. You get 2 free borrows and from then on you get a borrow for every book you lend. It's great! I have more borrow credits than I can read!

So I'd recommend a Kindle. You clearly want a touch screen so I'd get that model...

I gave my Mom the first Kindle touch for christmas and it's great. Personally, I specifically have an older model Kindle. I wanted the older 3G model since you can go to any web site via cellular, the newer 3G models are very limited (Amazon and Wikipedia and one more I think). The older models actually display news digests differently and allow e-mailing of the digests, the new Kindles display it differently and you have to connect via USB. I obviously have geekier needs/desires in what I'm using it for, but that's why I have an old one.

Gary

FYI - I've elaborated on borrowing options and other free/cheap sources of kindle material in post #31 if you scroll down/go to the next page.

[NickyWithNook]

Once again, it isn't magic, and the Nook stays synched with the Nook apps on the iPad and iPhone too. That technology isn't that amazing or unusual. It's nice but I bet the Kobos do the same thing.

[garylapointe]

Originally Posted by NickyWithNook

Once again, it isn't magic, and the Nook stays synched with the Nook apps on the iPad and iPhone too. That technology isn't that amazing or unusual. It's nice but I bet the Kobos do the same thing.

Are you saying your Nook keeps EPUB books you get from OTHER sources like Gutenberg or purchased from non-DRM sites in sync between your iPad app and your Nook? I'd specifically mentioned that in my posting.

My friends with Nooks have told me no. Books they get from other sources do not stay synced. (I'm not sure about library checkout, but I'm not sure if those books can even be put on the app readers due to how difficult the Adobe software is).

I've posted this info to other places on the 'net and you're the first person to comment back that other devices do it, but you weren't specific about non-DRM books from other sources, can you please clarify.

It IS magical!
Gary

[soulfuldog]

I'm interested in your answer too NickyWithNook, because I am pretty sure that while it works on a Nook with books bought from B&N, the only way to sync books that are not bought direct from the relevant retailer is on the Kindle by emailing them to your Kindle's email account and therefore adding them to your Amazon cloud.

It really would be magic if the Nook could do the same...?

[garylapointe]

Originally Posted by l_macd

I'm interested in your answer too NickyWithNook, because I am pretty sure that while it works on a Nook with books bought from B&N, the only way to sync books that are not bought direct from the relevant retailer is on the Kindle by emailing them to your Kindle's email account and therefore adding them to your Amazon cloud.

I think it's the cloud where you send your MOBI books for Amazon that allows them to sync it. Since they have it in the cloud they can be sure the devices have the same book and keep on the same page.

If I dragged a book via USB it won't sync since it doesn't know about it. The USB is much more inconvenient, especially since I keep my Kindle in the car and I live on the 3rd floor.

It really is just as e-mailing it to your account. Some book sellers will even e-mail them for you! There is one time setup at Amazon to approve an e-mail address mail is allowed to send you books.

Gary

[NickyWithNook]

Oh! I misunderstood. I've never actually tried that but I will when I have time and I'll report back!