Gift for my Mum

[Doaj]

I live in Australia and cannot decide what type of ereader to buy my mum for her birthday coming up and need a bit of advice from you experts on here. I am looking for a simple one with the biggest library to get books from. I was looking at the kobo glo but I am still not sure on that or a kindle.

[soulfuldog]

Does your Mum already have an Amazon account? Where is she likely to buy her ebooks from? Will she want to buy ebooks directly from her ereader and get them delivered wirelessly or will she be happy to buy from websites via her computer, and connect her ereader via USB to load the books? Will she want to borrow library books (if ebooks are available in her local library)?

Both the Kobo Glo and Kindle Paperwhite are good and easy to use, but depending on the answer to the above questions, one or other might suit her better.

[HarryT]

The Kindle is by far the easiest to use in terms of buying books and having them delivered to the reader, as well as offering the best bookstore.

But if she wants to read library books, an ePub device would be a better choice.

[tomsem]

At least in the US, Kindle has very good integration with Overdrive, which many of the libraries use here. I would say it is vastly superior to any of the ePub experiences, which generally involve side-loading, ADE, etc. and don't provide sync between devices. The only thing close is Sony PRS-T1/T2, which has ability to download wirelessly directly from Overdrive. There are a couple of library vendors that don't support Kindle at all however, and you have to use a device borrowed from the library or an app running on a tablet. When it comes to iOS/Android tablets, there are a number of options.

But I don't know what the situation is outside the US.

[Doaj]

Originally Posted by l_macd

Does your Mum already have an Amazon account? Where is she likely to buy her ebooks from? Will she want to buy ebooks directly from her ereader and get them delivered wirelessly or will she be happy to buy from websites via her computer, and connect her ereader via USB to load the books? Will she want to borrow library books (if ebooks are available in her local library)?

No she doesn't have an amazon account, she would be fine buying them on the ereader and straight off a website via her computer. The only reason I am kind of not considering the kindle is because I hear amazon in Australia is a bit lacking and there is more libraries on other ereaders, not sure how true that is though?

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Doaj

No she doesn't have an amazon account, she would be fine buying them on the ereader and straight off a website via her computer. The only reason I am kind of not considering the kindle is because I hear amazon in Australia is a bit lacking and there is more libraries on other ereaders, not sure how true that is though?

If she is in Australia, she will not be able to borrow library books with her Kindle. That's a dealbreaker for many.

[Doaj]

Originally Posted by meeera

If she is in Australia, she will not be able to borrow library books with her Kindle. That's a dealbreaker for many.

Yep that is what is mainly swinging me to the kobo glo, she isn't too bad with computers so she would be fine buying books off other sites and sending them to her ereader. I could even load up a heap of books before I give it to her.
Is there still a built in store with the kobo glo in Australia? Even if the library isn't that big, at least I have tons of other options with it like buying from other book stores online and sending them to the ereader I guess.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Doaj

Yep that is what is mainly swinging me to the kobo glo, she isn't too bad with computers so she would be fine buying books off other sites and sending them to her ereader. I could even load up a heap of books before I give it to her.
Is there still a built in store with the kobo glo in Australia? Even if the library isn't that big, at least I have tons of other options with it like buying from other book stores online and sending them to the ereader I guess.

Yes, there's a built-in store. I confess I haven't found any books that aren't on both Amazon and Kobo yet, though I believe others have. There are publisher georestrictions sometimes that means an ebook isn't available in Australia, but that will apply across the board, not to any one particular store. (And there are ways around them, but we won't go into that here.) To see where a book is available and at what price, check luzme.com. But remember that you can often use discounts with Kobo that drop that list price.

I just set my mum up with a Kobo Glo when her Kindle Keyboard broke, and she's loving it. I think either are perfectly good choices, though.

[Doaj]

Sweet thanks for all the advice, looks like I am going to get a kobo glo for her now. I was pretty set on getting it at the start but just wanted to confirm some things about it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by tomsem

At least in the US, Kindle has very good integration with Overdrive, which many of the libraries use here. I would say it is vastly superior to any of the ePub experiences, which generally involve side-loading, ADE, etc. and don't provide sync between devices. The only thing close is Sony PRS-T1/T2, which has ability to download wirelessly directly from Overdrive. There are a couple of library vendors that don't support Kindle at all however, and you have to use a device borrowed from the library or an app running on a tablet. When it comes to iOS/Android tablets, there are a number of options.

But I don't know what the situation is outside the US.

The T1/T2 and forthcoming T3 are the best for library eBooks as you can download direct to the Readers. You do not need a computer to do this. It's easier then with a Kindle. In fact, if you are not in the US and you do use Overdrive, Sony is the best.

[soulfuldog]

As already mentioned the Kindle is the easiest to use in terms of buying books & getting them delivered wirelessly. But if she doesn't already use Amazon & will happily sideload books from her computer then either will be fine.

If borrowing library books is a consideration then the Kobo Glo is the easier choice to make. The Sony can borrow books direct from libraries, but as above, if she's comfortable using computers then its not an issue, plus the Sony is usually more expensive and as yet doesn't have the in-built light of the other two. Hope she enjoys her Glo, I'm sure she'll love it.