What for $120?

[Fbone]

Buying a Kindle Paperwhite or Kobo Aura doesn't leave anything for a cover if you have a strict budget of $120.

[robko]

Originally Posted by babloyi

Weird...even with a US IP, it lists the price as $149.99 for me.

That would suggest you are looking at the Aura HD rather than the 6" Aura.

[crich70]

If you wanted a device for reading but weren't set on paper I'd suggest the Kindle Fire 6 HD. It fits your budget.

[rraod]

You could go for a used (Kindle PW, Nook or Kobo) having front-lit screens with a cover thrown in. These will be in well within your budget.

I got a used Nook Simple Touch with a cover for $30 on craigslist. With an additional 16GB micro-SD card on it, I could comfortably side-load much more EPUB e-books than I ever needed. EPUB books are freely available on the public domain.

I feel an e-book reader with EPUB file format should be more suitable for you. Ask your friend to look for one on craigslist.

[eschwartz]

EPUB supremacist!

Seriously why does this mythological rumor that Public Domain EPUBs are more available than MOBI persist all over the place? Project Gutenberg for example offers direct download for MOBI, and calibre can easily convert EPUB to AZW3.

The only disadvantage to that is a mild delay for conversion, which is not IMO an actual barrier.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

EPUB supremacist!

Seriously why does this mythological rumor that Public Domain EPUBs are more available than MOBI persist all over the place? Project Gutenberg for example offers direct download for MOBI, and calibre can easily convert EPUB to AZW3.

Where did the previous poster claim that ePub books are more widely available in the public domain than Mobi books are? I see no such claim.

[babloyi]

Settled on the Kobo Aura, ended up costing $126 with the discount. Thanks for all the advice!
Is a cover all that important? Are they special? Because otherwise I could just get a cheapo ipad cover from here or something..

And...what is all this format argument? :O
Most of the humble bundle books in my library have an epub version (even the comics, which also have cbz) as well as PDF...
But I'm assuming even text files would be doable?

[GERGE]

Just buy a chinese cover from ebay if form isn't that big a factor. If it is, I recommend Gecko Covers.

Also check these: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=256200 https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=252405 https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=220565 https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=211135

[morituri]

You can usually find a refurbished Kindle Paperwhite for $99 or $89. It has the same warranty as a brand new one. That leaves enough money for a basic case.

[robko]

Originally Posted by babloyi

Settled on the Kobo Aura
Is a cover all that important? Are they special?
...
...
And...what is all this format argument? :O

Congrats! Unfortunately your 1st question is at least equally contentious as the topic of your second question. The short version is 1/2 the people will tell you you are crazy if you don't get a case and always keep your reader in it. The other 1/2 (including me) will say "never had one, never broke a reader". I will caveat that by saying I do use a wooden box case for transporting it in my luggage etc.

[dordale]

Congrats on your new reader Babloyi! Robko is accurate in his statement some people will covers are absolutely necessary and some will tell you that you don't need one. I prefer covers on my readers--especially covers with the auto-wake/auto sleep function that will turn the reader on automatically when opening the cover and put it into sleep mode when the cover is closed.

You don't need to buy the official covers--they are way over priced in my opinion. I have sleep covers for both my Kindle PaperWhite and Kobo Aura HD that are made by Fintie. I'm very satisfied with them--and they are only a fraction of the cost of the official covers. They each cost me about $9.00 US apiece from e-bay. Do be careful if you order a cover to make sure it's for the Kobo Aura and not the AuraHD or AuraH2O!

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by babloyi

And...what is all this format argument? :O
Most of the humble bundle books in my library have an epub version (even the comics, which also have cbz) as well as PDF...
But I'm assuming even text files would be doable?

Oh we are all as mad as hatters here we argue about things sane peopele wouldn't care about. I for one hold that format is irrelevant if you have calibre.

[barryem]

Originally Posted by babloyi

Which Kindle do you recommend then, that would have the minimum required features with the largest screen size? Paperwhite?
Which kobo, then? Same question .

I'd like to suggest that if some features don't matter to you, you can just ignore them. Why make them part of the consideration?

I'm thinking of getting a Kindle Voyage. I have a Paperwhite now. I'm very sure I'll never use the page press buttons but I don't care at all that they're there. I'm focusing on what it does have that I want, in particular, the higher pixel density and the lighter weight. I have to decide if those are worth the price to me.

Another suggestion is to take all our suggestions with a grain of salt. If at all possible, try to find a way to look at the various ereaders and decide which one you like. The many and varied suggestions you're getting might indicate that they're about our tastes and needs and have little to do with yours.

Of course if you do that and get an ereader I don't approve of, I'll be very hurt.

Barry

[jscarbo]

I also recommend the Paperwhite. The lighted screen really does make a difference even in well-lit rooms or outdoors. The text appears much crisper and whiter with the lighted screen and the PW hits your price point right on the button if you get the special offers version. The special offers won't be available to you in Pakistan but you can still use the SO Kindles there and it's worth the cost savings to buy that version, in my opinion. Other than initial registration, you don't even need to turn the wifi on and if you don't plan to register it with Amazon and open an account, you don't even nedd to register it. I never turn on the wifi on mine. I download all my books to my computer and transfer them to my devices by usb using Calibre.

I've never owned a Kobo so I can't make a fair comparision but the Paperwhite is excellent in every respect. The only disadvantage I see is that it doesn't read ePub format but that's not a big deal if you use Calibre and convert formats. I also agree that none of the e-ink readers are great for comics because of screen size and lack of color display.

Another potential advantage since you live in Pakistan is that, since Kindles are the most popular eReaders, if you ever decide to sell it, you can almost certainly do so at a profit. I live in Costa Rica and, over the years, I've sold several of my Kindles and in every case I've sold them for more than I paid for them. I'm not sure the same would be true for Kobos.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by barryem

I'm thinking of getting a Kindle Voyage. I have a Paperwhite now. I'm very sure I'll never use the page press buttons but I don't care at all that they're there.

That's what I thought, too, but it turns out that, for me at least, the haptic sensors are one of the best features of the Voyage. I think they're great.