Are Kindles really worth it???

[svakanda]

I hear so much about them. Are they the best??

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by svakanda

I hear so much about them. Are they the best??

For some yes, for others no. It depends on you and your needs. There are a lot of great ebook readers available and one is sure to fit you. If you share what you're looking for, we can help point you in the right direction.

[Renaldo]

I thought they were the best and was going to buy one. Before committing to it though I checked out a lot of the threads in these forums and other places around the internet, decided what I'd really want in an ereader, and decided the Kindle was not for me. Don't get me wrong, I think they're cool, but the things that make them cool aren't necessarily things I'm going to use very often, if at all, so in the end I went for a Sony 505 and couldn't be happier.

Do your research, figure out what you really want a reader to do, and the Kindle may be everything you want. Or, maybe something else will.

[Ervserver]

I don't think a "best" exists. each seems to have a feature the other does not. You need to decide what features you want

[Alisa]

I prefer the Kindle over other readers because dictionary lookup, content search and the ability to annotate are important to me. Amazon also has more of the books I want at a better price than the other stores. The free sample chapters are also really nifty. I like that I can read the sample and have the whole book within a minute of finishing. It keeps me from buying books ahead of time with little idea if I'll really like them.

Before I bought my Kindle, I had been leaning toward the Cybook. It has even better dictionary support since you can have multiple active dictionaries at once. It also lets you load your own fonts. There's no search function, though.

Sony has the only reader that support DRMed PDF. Most library books are in this format so that's appealing to me, but the 505 doesn't have any of those features I mentioned so ultimately it wouldn't work for me. It's attractive, IMO, and a good price so if you don't want those features, then it could be a good deal. It also has a way to organize your content which most readers don't. The 700 is quite a bit more expensive but has search, annotation, a touch screen and a built in light. Some say the screen is less readable, though.

There are quite a few new readers on the market like BeBook, Eslick, Jetbook, Astak. I don't know as much about them. It's good to check out which formats they support and see if the books you want are available for them. There's a sticky link for a comparison matrix at the top of this forum.

[Gideon]

It really is something more complicated than that. It's more about figuring out your own needs and going from there.

But I've never known anyone who has a kindle and regrets it.

[Elsi]

I own both a Kindle (bought January 2008) and a Sony 505 (bought in May or June 2008). When I bought my Kindle, I wasn't even aware of the Sony -- I had never done any research on what devices might be available. I had been aware of the older Rocket book readers and had even downloaded the Rocket emulator to my PC, but decided that I didn't want to have to sit up to read and taking my laptop to bed with me was too comfortable. Then Amazon came out with the Kindle and I ordered it based solely on the info at Amazon's web site. Shortly after my Kindle arrived, a friend took me to Border's and showed me the Sony on display there. After handling it a while and looking at the books pre-loaded on it, I realized that I could have been perfectly happy with the Sony if I had seen it first. But, having had the Kindle for a couple of weeks, there was no way I was going to give it up. My hubby was kind enough not to get mad at me when I bought a Sony later on.

"Best" is an indefinable measure. What's best for me may be quite different from what is best for you. I use my Kindle for pleasure/entertainment reading. If I were needing to read technical or scholarly documents, I'd probably be using a different device. I use the Sony for book development and experimenting with book file formats. (I've never even installed the Sony software!)

Since you're asking what is best *before* you buy a device, I'd recommend thinking through what factors are most important for you. Is this for reading fiction or technical material? Where will you get your books? What formats will be used for those books? How big a screen do you need? How much are you willing to pay for the device? How much are you willing to pay for new fiction releases? All of these will come to play as you sort through the available devices.

It may also matter where you live and whether having a local source and support is important. For example, the Sony 505 was just recently brought to England. The Kindle isn't marketed there. There are people who own Kindles living in England, however there are also people who don't want to buy a Kindle until Amazon actually sells the Kindle directly to a UK resident.

The overall important thing to realize is that no matter which device you purchase, you are going to find *something* that could be improved. There's no perfect device for sale. You may, however, find one that a perfect fit for your needs and usage.

[sigma8]

I don't think any of them are the best, honestly. They all have strengths and weaknesses. I wasn't able to find one that did everything I wanted it to do.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Alisa

Sony has the only reader that support DRMed PDF.

That's true at the moment, but Adobe have announced deals with several other manufacturers, such as Bookeen and iRex, which should result in Adobe DRM support on those devices in the near future, so "watch this space".

[DDHarriman]

Hi svakanda

There are two options:

1 - if you live in the US - one can compare with other eBook Readers and come to a conclusion. I my self think it’s not the best by far.

2 - if you live outside the US = Not at All = you can not buy Amazon eBooks and can not use the wireless “thing”… still can use it in a sort of “crippled way”…
Still I myself think it’s (even less) the best then in (1).

So final personal conclusion = no!

Best regards,

[brecklundin]

While I do not at all like reading on my Kindle (K1 - which seems to have been adopted as shorthand for the 1st generation Kindle), I actually like the features. It is very far from perfect and far too expensive for what it is, but it's all a matter of what one is willing to settle for in a device. Were it up to me I would have returned it a week after receiving it...

My better half loves reading on it. Me? Not so much. I however have problems with all current eink displays. We have a K1 which I also have problems with the handling of the device. That is because I have rather cumbersome hand issues which the Kindle aggravates, then again so does the Sony I tried for a few days.

Were I in the market now and it was not imperative I buy a device this microsecond, I would wait a good 4-months for a few of the newer devices to hit the market. That gives time to see how things shake out industry wise this year. So far it seems that there will be a nice increase in the devices we have to select from...normally I say to just buy a tech device now if it fits your needs, but right now ebook reading devices are still evolving quite quickly. This makes waiting sometimes a better choice plus it gives you more time to research and learn what features are most important to you.

Also, try and find some place to actually use an eink device. Not everyone finds them nice to read on...mind that is the exception so far, though many of those might simply be because they associate quality with cost and not likely they are going to be critical of a device to just read books on which they spent $400. I know Boarders and I think Best Buy(?) and Cost Co carry Sony devices...the 505 and the Kindle seem pretty close display wise. In fact as far as I am aware, currently, all of the devices use the same display from the same company.

One place that eink is outstanding is outside in the sun. Best thing I have come across today for reading outside...inside, it's a coin toss...and for me eink does not work well. But again this is for one person...be wary of anyone who uses broad strokes to declare their favorite device a one-size-fits-all perfect solution. Many people still love prefer reading on their far cheaper PDA style devices over eink.

Big advantage to the Kindle for a lot of content can currently only be had via Amazon's Kindle Store. I have bought a number of reference books for our Kindle and other and the contrast issue, I find them useful when not at home where the rest of my library resides.

Do a lot of research and the Wiki section here is excellent...and really, no matter which device you buy, I doubt you will be unhappy. Nice thing with the Kindle is if you buy it, don't like it, you have 30-days to decide and send it back.

Still, I would wait at least a week and see if any interesting devices are announced with firm release dates at this coming week's CeBIT...

[basschick]

for me, the kindle is definitely not the best reader.

for some, it is.

[sammsmom]

I think the "best" reader all depends on what your needs are. I don't have a Kindle because of the research that I did before buying. I decided that I would never really need to buy a book while on the go, so I went with the Sony 505. I love it, it is perfect for me probably not for others though. It's all a matter of opinion.

[AbFabGab]

Originally Posted by Ervserver

I don't think a "best" exists. each seems to have a feature the other does not. You need to decide what features you want

This is exactly how I feel.
There is NO best.. just find the one that has the features
you will give you the most use, satisfaction or enjoyment!

I was looking at the Kindle originally because it was the first
one I found. I still think they (K1 & K2) are cool machines
but I ended up getting a 505 and am very happy with it.

[robb01]

I agree, I just picked the Kindle because it was the best for me