economical ereader for a kid?

[LDBoblo]

FWIW, standby still drains the battery, and one informal test showed that in standby, a Sony Reader was dead in 3 weeks without any use. 2 weeks is somewhat reasonable, but very heavy readers will probably deplete the battery in less time than that. I am a moderate reader on my Sony, and I depleted the battery once in less than a week, and normally recharge every 9-10 days. Not sure how the Astak would behave, but likely not too differently.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by LDBoblo

FWIW, standby still drains the battery, and one informal test showed that in standby, a Sony Reader was dead in 3 weeks without any use. 2 weeks is somewhat reasonable, but very heavy readers will probably deplete the battery in less time than that. I am a moderate reader on my Sony, and I depleted the battery once in less than a week, and normally recharge every 9-10 days. Not sure how the Astak would behave, but likely not too differently.

Different devices have dramatically different "stand-by" behaviour - there's a separate thread on this elsewhere on the forum. The Askak/Bebook/Hanlin devices are excellent in this regard - there's no difference with them between "standby" and "shutdown" as far as battery life goes.

Sony are in the "in between" camp. The PRS-505 lasts 2-3 weeks in standby, but the PRS-600 only manages about a week.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Different devices have dramatically different "stand-by" behaviour - there's a separate thread on this elsewhere on the forum. The Askak/Bebook/Hanlin devices are excellent in this regard - there's no difference with them between "standby" and "shutdown" as far as battery life goes.

Sony are in the "in between" camp. The PRS-505 lasts 2-3 weeks in standby, but the PRS-600 only manages about a week.

Seconded. The Astak/Hanlin/Bebook are probably among the best with regards to battery life.

[daisies]

fjtorres and others, thanks once again for helping educate me on this. This is like a whole different world with its own language. I'll learn gradually now that we're in it. I appreciate the patience of everyone who has taken the time to respond.

I'm so excited!

[daisies]

Originally Posted by ficbot

Do you need book suggestions too?

Yes, that would be great!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by daisies

Yes, that would be great!

Just looking at the books here at Mobileread you have a great selection.

The "Oz" Omnibus of the first 14 books my L. Frank Baum
The Tarzan books by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Various Dickens - Oliver Twist & The Christmas Stories especially
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Just So Stories and Kim by Rudyard Kipling
The Anne of Green Gables novels by L.M. Montgomery
The Five Children Omnibus by E. Nesbit
The David Balfour omnibus and Treasure Island by Robert Loius Stevenson
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

I think these are all suitable for an 8-year-old who's a very keen reader. Some may have dialect or old uses of words, especially some of the older novels, but that's no bad thing.

[daisies]

Pdurrant, thanks for the list! Figuring out the places to get books (and researching what's appropriate for her there) is going to be my next challenge. I did a little browsing and will have to get used to this very different way of finding books -- no cues from picking up the book, reading the back and flipping through it. This kid can read years ahead of her age, but her mind is only 8, which can present a bit of a challenge at times in choosing books. I try to find her good classic stuff, as opposed to some of the fast-written kids' fluff that's out there or young adult books she's not ready for.

[ficbot]

Fictionwise has a series in multiformat that I thought was very good,a sort of modern take on fairy tales. It's by Roberta Olsen Major and I think there are 8 or 9 of them. Some in the series are better than others. It's hard for me to say what else since Fictionwise has removed so much stock---I remember seeing Neil Gaiman's YA stuff there, Terry Pratchett's YA stuff and the Nancy Drew series but I am not sure what's still available and where.

As for free stuff, here is a list I posted in another thread on this topic:

All of these are 'classics' she might enjoy and available, for free, in various places:

SERIES

- Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Wizard of Oz series by L. Frank Baum
- Pollyanna series by Eleanor H. Porter
- Five Children series by E. Nesbit
- Alice in Wonderland series by Lewis Carroll
- Bobbsey Twins series by Laura Lee Hope
- Little Women series by Louisa May Alcott
- The Fairy Books by Andrew Lang

STAND-ALONE

- Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

And some I have not read personally but look (on Manybooks.net) interesting:

- Aunt Jane series by Edith van Dyne
- Betty Gordon series by Alice Emerson
- Bunny Brown series by Laura Lee Hope
- Campfire Girls series by Jane L. Stewart
- The Curly Tops series by Howard Garis
- Dotty Dimple series by Dorothy May
- The Twins series by Lucy Fitch Perkins
- Elsie Dinsmore series by Martha Finley
- Five Little Peppers series by Margaret Sidney
- Four Little Blossoms series by Mabel Hawley
- The Girl Aviators series by Margaret Burnham
- The Girl Scouts series by various authors

[beppe]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

You might want to consider a used color PDA, either PocketPC or Palm-based, and just install MobiReader (and/or MSReader). Advantage being small size, color for graphics, plus gaming and media capabilities on the side. Downside: daily recharging.

You might find an old Palm650, new or used. Battery lasts at least a week if it is not used as a telephone. It is excellent for music too.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by daisies

Figuring out the places to get books (and researching what's appropriate for her there) is going to be my next challenge.

For out-of-copyright stuff, always check here at Mobileread first. The books here are hand-formatted and will generally be better quality than elsewhere. All the books I listed are available in the Mobileread library (see the E-Books link in the blue bar).

For commercial stuff, it's trickier. Most commercial books have DRM, which you'll have to match to the reading device you choose (or strip the DRM, which may or may not be against the law where you live).

There's Amazon, of course. There you can download samples of the books, which is useful.

There's Fictionwise, although they are currently missing large numbers of DRMed books due to the agency pricing mess. Their multi-format ebooks are free from DRM. But don't get any out-of-copyright/public domain books from there - no point in paying money for inferior versions of books freely available here.

And there are numerous other ebook stores, of course.

[fjtorres]

Given *my* SF preferences I'd like to start by suggesting the Robert A. Heinlein Juveniles over at Baen.com but they haven't yet gotten to releasing the most appropriate one for a precocious 8 year-old: "Have Spacesuit, will travel". Maybe soon it'll be out in a legal ebook release...

In the meantime, take a look 'round here:
http://www.munseys.com/detail/mode/cat/20/Children

You'll find the OZ, Alcott, Lang books and a lot more, ready to go.

[Ea]

Arabian Nights by Andrew Lang
Grimms' fairy tales

[beppe]

Both me and wife at that age were reading Verne, Sabatini, Dumas,
Nobody's Boy (Sans Famille), by Hector Malot.
Robinson Crusoe.
Stevenson, Robert Louis: Treasure Island
Jack London
We have them on board.

Salgari but here we have it in German only.

At that age I would give her Harry Potter. I think it is sold by someone.
An abridged version of Odissea by Homer that contains all the elements of Harry Potter.


@ Ea: hi there, excellent suggestions.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by beppe

At that age I would give her Harry Potter. I think it is sold by someone.

Harry Potter is not legally available as an ebook.

[beppe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Harry Potter is not legally available as an ebook.

Than I had a wrong impression. Thank you.