What is the advantage of having more than one ereader?

[sprise]

I decided to add a second reader when Amazon offered refurbished Kindles for $149 last week. Besides the price (which I considered reasonable for a secondary reader), I bought it so I could take advantage of Amazon's eBook pricing. Before I ordered the Kindle I dug out my current list of eBooks that I want to buy and did a price comparison between Amazon, Sony, Fictionwise and Books on Board. In all but one case, Amazon offered the eBooks at the lowest price. To me, the potential savings on eBooks was well worth the cost of the Kindle.

Stephanie

[katysax]

I have the Kindle 1 (well it's on permanent loan to my mother in law), the Kindle 2, the DX and the Sony PRS 505. I also have a Nokia N810 but I don't use it much and an iphone (which I occassionally use as an ebook reader). And of course there are the laptops and the netbooks.

I can usually come up with some reason to justify purchasing some new gadget. I read a lot. Since every book now physically looks the same, changing readers gives variety.

Somtimes DRMed books require a certain format. I use the Kindles for Amazon purchased content, but the Sony prs 505 works better for loans from my public library. Sometimes non-DRMed books look better in one format or another after conversion.

It helps that I have a job where I need to be familiar with just about every type of gadget and understand how it stores information.

[Dylrob]

Well my Saga is always with me and I like that it has a physical keyboard (and without the screen-flip-lag of my old HTC 6800), but the screen is small and hard to read outside and battery life with continuous use isn't great. I still occasionally use my 6800 as the screen is slightly larger and battery life is surprisingly decent sans wireless. Keeping them "synchronized" is a simple matter of swapping the microSD card. I would love to have a much larger device....say with around a 9-10" display... mainly for viewing formatted documents, but also because as I get tired it's hard for my eyes to focus on small text. Those same exhausted eyes also strain with the backlight, and I would love to read in sunlight too, so a nice reflective screen would be ideal.

[BookishMom]

My children and I read a lot, and they kept wanting to borrow my Kindle, so I passed my down K1 to them and got a K2 for myself. Now they fight over the K1, so I want to get a 3rd reader. That should be enough for now until my next one in line gets a little older.

I'd like to get a Sony this time because I'd like a reader that reads different formats, and because I won't have to convert library ebooks to work on it like I do for my Kindles. I may hold out to see that the new iRex 800 is like. If not, I'm going to try out the 600 and see how we like it.

[Onemack]

In my case, I bought the PRS 500 on Ebay not knowing much about ebookreaders other than the fact that i wanted one to take heaps of books on my first tour of Baghdad.
This was broken on my first leave by the baggage handling. So I bought a Bookeen Gen 3, this I used for next tour and found it to be slow to load, with a very clunky and randomly effective buttons.
So having purchased heaps of Mobipocket books by this stage I turned to buy an Iliad. Alas it was woeful, fast enough but the batteries lasted about as long as a candle in the wind, and the annotation features were impossible to master (at least for me).
Next step was a Sony PRS 505, brilliant, fast, long lasting battery, easy to use plenty of books available after they permitted ePub format.
I have now just bought a Sony PRS 300 because it is slightly smaller which is a feature that I can use in different situations, it is every bit as good as the 505.

So if anyone has a use for a Bookeen, or Iliad let me know, The Iliad is in fine condition, the Bookeen is as described above, and is well used. It still works fine (for a cybook anyway).

Cheers All

John

[Kent Walters]

I use my DR1000S for editing PDFs and reading tech documents. For that, nothing compares.

For just reading books, I use the Astak EZReader, it's handier size etc., makes it a joy, especially when I'm out and about.

I format my PDFs differently for each device, but I always have the same content on both (just so I don't find myself wishing I had brought the other). Otherwise, how you organize is, I guess, just how you want to do it; how do you organize your paper library?

BTW: Yours is not a stupid question; I have been asked the reason for having one (at all), and even, "Why read?" That makes you nearly a genius, in my book.

Take care,
Kent Walters

[mgmueller]

To me, eBooks and the respective readers simply are a hobby, I don't use them professionally (like for example some students are doing for their notes).
And I'm actually spending more time with deciding, which book to buy in which format and then porting it to the other readers, than I actually spend for reading.
And I buy way more books, then I'll be able to read in the given period of time. I read about 10 books per month, but on average I'm easily purchasing 50 eBooks per month.
To me, it's mainly about collecting eBooks (same for paper books. I've never thrown out a paper book after having read it.). And it's simply easier and more fun, when having more than 1 unit. Some eBooks you won't find in your reader's native format(s). Some file formats have significant disadvantages (for the moment, I prefer ePUB, before that I've bought lots of PDFs because of the thumbnail view in Windows and Mac).
And each reader has its advantages and disadvantages. I've got my favorite(s) for traveling. I've got my favorite(s) for reading in the bathtub or on the beach. I've got my favorite for reading on the couch....

[narbeauchamp]

I have purchased several readers,a few 505s,and a 700.I bought my 700 after my 505 broke.I ADORED my 505,it was superb.The 700 I like alot,but no where near as much as I liked the 505,the one thing I probably DO like is the touch screen and the light (great for night reading). Now I am actually about to consider purchasing an iTouch-and am suddenly seriously considering buying a Kindle. I don't think I can borrow books from public libraries on the Kindle (or maybe I just don't know how)...but I am most certainly a gadget person,and can almost always find a way or a reason to justify buying another gadget. Often,I still keep things on my profile (here and other boards) because I often then pass gadgets off to family members,but still remain responsible for upkeep etc....And on this board,I think most of us may be predisposed to having multiples....LOL

[PhishStyx]

Originally Posted by Kent Walters

I use my DR1000S for editing PDFs and reading tech documents. For that, nothing compares.

For just reading books, I use the Astak EZReader, it's handier size etc., makes it a joy, especially when I'm out and about.

I format my PDFs differently for each device, but I always have the same content on both (just so I don't find myself wishing I had brought the other). Otherwise, how you organize is, I guess, just how you want to do it; how do you organize your paper library?

BTW: Yours is not a stupid question; I have been asked the reason for having one (at all), and even, "Why read?" That makes you nearly a genius, in my book.

Take care,
Kent Walters

I use my 2 e-book readers (aka liseuses) very similarly to Kent, except that instead of an EZReader, I have a Kindle, and my DR 1000s is devoted primarily to rpg game books (which often have very complex formatting).

[sianon]

I have several devices, two BeBooks (which are currently used by my two daughters), an ancient Sony which is used by my sister, an Eco reader which I use as well as a Irex DR100 which I use for reading PDF'S and note taking for work and school. OH and the other reason fro so many, I am a gadget geek and can't resist.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by ahi

That battle was lost some time ago, JSWolf.

- Ahi

Yeah but you know Jon's favorite sport:


As far as the OP's question. I am beginning to convert my library to e-books and want both a back up and a better feel for different devices and their operation and formats.

[Boston]

I love my gadgets but fit somewhere in between "early-adopter" and "mainstream", preferring to wait until the technology does what I want at a cost I can justify.

An avid reader, I finally took the ebook reader plunge with the $100 off credit-card offer on the Kindle 1. I was hooked and found most of the criticism unwarranted. I eventually bought one for my mother so we could share books again. She lover hers. Other than a built-in light (without display deterioration) and support for more DRM formats, I couldn't imagine what feature would cause me to want/need another reader for quite awhile.

I also got hooked on borrowing books from the library thanks to Igor's scripts. However, a few months ago, the library switched to ePub as its primary ebook format. I wasn't crazy about removing DRM (although I knew how to) and combined with the fact that Amazon can technically see what is on your Kindle, I decided to buy a used Sony PRS-505 off craigslist for my non-Amazon reading.

While it took me awhile to get used to the Sony, I soon came to love its compact size and Collections (one-level folder) support.

I still use my Kindle to primarily buy books from Amazon that my mother would like to read and NY Times News updates, but find myself primarily using the Sony for everything else because I can slip it into my purse without even knowing its there. This was most surprising as I bought the Sony expecting it to be my supplemental reader and instead its been the reverse.

I now use Calibre to manage what is on my readers. When I just had my Kindle, I only used it occasionally to convert formats; however, with two readers that support different formats, its become on invaluable tool for keeping track of what I have.

With two readers, I feel like I have the best of all worlds...for now

[joobies]

Have had my Kindle 1 for nearly a year. Realized recently that my husband was a Kindle Widower.... bought him a Sony 505 so we could mutually ignore one another.
It is working out well. We both love to read and I was tired of cleaning up his drool.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by joobies

Have had my Kindle 1 for nearly a year. Realized recently that my husband was a Kindle Widower.... bought him a Sony 505 so we could mutually ignore one another.
It is working out well. We both love to read and I was tired of cleaning up his drool.

[sindget41]

Yep, Joobies has it right. My wife and I have our own Sony readers, each with their own libraray -- and this cuts down on verbal communications which can lead to spousal abuse. Did anyone mention that, if, by chance, two of you wanted to read the same material, the cost is cut in half?

Also, I use a ipod Touch for reading in the dark... My vision won't last as long, this way; but when it's dark, some half-baked solution is required...