Which E-reader for Kids?

[terraskye]

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

The 350 has a touch screen, better contrast, pan and scan and margin cutting for PDFs (I think), as well as 12 preloaded dictionaries (two monolingual English dictionaries, as well as bilingual French, German, Italian, Spanish and Dutch dictionaries. Great for language learners). The 300 doesn't have those features; both accept the same types of files and both are great devices. Your children might enjoy having the dictionary on the 350; they just tap on a word that they don't understand and the dictionary entry pops up at the bottom of the screen.

Karma for being great parents and encouraging your children to read! I still remember my father taking me to the library for the first time, it's one of my fondest memories. Your children will appreciate their gifts.

This!! what LatinandGreek just said but for a basic reader I like it fine..I have my PRS650 for other functionalities and I wont mourn too much if I bork up my 300 for some reason

[voracious71]

I would have loved an ereader when I was a kid. And I think that some kids can handle electronics responsibly, some can't. I have young relatives that have ipod Touches, and they are very good about handling with care. They also have taught me things about computers..kids these days are very technically inclined. My year old niece knows how to work the TV remote!

I love my Kindle but if you want epub, a Nook might be a better choice, or a Sony. Yesterday, Amazon had the Sony PRs350 for $149.

[wvcherrybomb]

Since you are moving overseas my first choice would be a Kindle. The reasoning being that you can still access Amazon's US store by having a US address listed on your account. It need not be your address, you can use that of a friend, relative, or even a fake one.

Amazon also has lots of free books as well as daily "promo" books that are free for a limited time. Just in the past few weeks there have been 5 or 6 "tween" chapter books on free promo, including a pre-order.

All of the free sites you listed offer downloads in Kindle format. I know epub is less of a concern but you can easily convert those files to Kindle using the free software, Calibre.

Whatever reader you decide on, I'm sure your kids will be thrilled. They are a great age to start using eReaders.

--Mom of 4, Grandma of 2

[zsmomma]

A couple of points:

Kids and eReader-Yes, if they have any sort of electronic toys, they can handle it. My almost 8 year old son reads the Kindle a lot. But there are rules. No reading and walking (I also don't let him play Nintendo DSi and walk), no putting the Kindle in his backpack (I know how he treats his backpack--shudder), and no setting the Kindle on the ground.

Kindle or Nook (or other)-Since you are going abroad, you might find a better selection with Kindle verses nook. Last I read, it's difficult to purchase ebooks from B&N if you're not in the US, whereas you can with Amazon (albeit there are different copyright laws in different countries).

Then it comes down to epub verses mobi. I purchased a backlit epub reader just so I can read library books, but we've got a pretty decent sized elibrary. I would much prefer to read on eInk than LCD, but these are free books, so not too much complaining. Folks will tell you that there are more books in the epub format, however, these are mostly books for adults.

btw, my son loves the text-to-speech function of the Kindle.

Good luck on your move and in your purchase.

[CountryGirl]

I just wanted to update and thank everyone for their help and input. We ended up going with Kindles. It mostly came down to potential accessibility from oversees and it just seemed the Kindle was a safer bet in that respects compared to the Nook. The Sony was still a high contender but my husband didn't really like the 5" screen once we got a chance to see it in the store and the bigger Sonys were too big of a price jump to justify them for the kids.

Unfortunately, the two places we looked in town were sold out of stock on the Kindles so we had to order them..... now I can't wait to get my hands on them (I'm pretty sure I know what I'll be putting on my Christmas wish list this year).

Thanks!

[erictoma]

Originally Posted by CountryGirl

I just wanted to update and thank everyone for their help and input. We ended up going with Kindles. It mostly came down to potential accessibility from oversees and it just seemed the Kindle was a safer bet in that respects compared to the Nook. The Sony was still a high contender but my husband didn't really like the 5" screen once we got a chance to see it in the store and the bigger Sonys were too big of a price jump to justify them for the kids.

Unfortunately, the two places we looked in town were sold out of stock on the Kindles so we had to order them..... now I can't wait to get my hands on them (I'm pretty sure I know what I'll be putting on my Christmas wish list this year).

Thanks!

If you are living outside the usa be aware of the available eBooks you can find.
Kindle does read only its own text format but the real issue is that Kindle eBooks are not sold profusely outside USA due to GEO restriction.

[speedlever]

Originally Posted by erictoma

If you are living outside the usa be aware of the available eBooks you can find.
Kindle do read only its own text format but the real issue is that Kindle eBooks are not sold profusely outside USA due to GEO restriction.

And how exactly is that different from other ebook stores? GEO restrictions will apply to the Nook and Sony too. Am I wrong?

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by speedlever

And how exactly is that different from other ebook stores? GEO restrictions will apply to the Nook and Sony too. Am I wrong?

True, but as they both accept epub, you can buy epub books from European based stores.

[erictoma]

Originally Posted by speedlever

And how exactly is that different from other ebook stores? GEO restrictions will apply to the Nook and Sony too. Am I wrong?

Yeah you are wrong, Sonny and Nook accept ePub while kindle doesn't accept it.

[wvcherrybomb]

Originally Posted by erictoma

Yeah you are wrong, Sonny and Nook accept ePub while kindle doesn't accept it.

ePub is a format and has nothing to do with geo-restrictions. YOU are wrong.

[erictoma]

Originally Posted by wvcherrybomb

ePub is a format and has nothing to do with geo-restrictions. YOU are wrong.

Let suppose that Sonny , Kindle and Nook all of them faced a Geo restriction in Canada .
With Sony and Nook you could easily find millions of ePub titles while your are in Canada which is impossible for Kindle owners since their machine cannot support ePub format.
is it clear?

[zsmomma]

Originally Posted by erictoma

Let suppose that Sonny , Kindle and Nook all of them faced a Geo restriction in Canada .
With Sony and Nook you could easily find millions of ePub titles while your are in Canada which is impossible for Kindle owners since their machine cannot support ePub format.
is it clear?

that is clear...on the flip side, if you're in Canada and have a Sony or nook, you cannot access the ebooks from Amazon, since their machines cannot support mobi format...

So, chances are that if you want a 'mainstream' ebook, you will be able to find it in both formats. And if you cannot access the book due to Geo restrictions, you won't be able to find it in either of the formats (at least legally).