I'm looking for a new device

[Jaie]

This will be my first device, but I decided I really need it. My needs are pretty basic but even after reading here, I'm still confused.

I'm in college, and I'm trying to avoid adding to my current physical book collection (500 and counting). I'm also on a budget so I don't want to spend a lot (after what my books cost I'm flinching at every dime spent)

I'd like something with a wifi connection so no matter where I am, if I have a connection I can download books. I'd like to make sure I can download from Project Gutenberg.

I've so far really liked the Sony reader, it's pricey, but still in my budget. The Amazon reader is out of my budget. It's IMO way too expensive and I can't see that it has any fantastic features.

And I'd like a lot of memory. I've got a ton of books, and really, some can be gotten rid of and put on the new reader. So I'd like lots and lots of space.


Hopefully that covers my needs. Can anyone suggest a reader that covers my needs?

[HarryT]

The ONLY eBook reader on the market with WiFi is the iRex iLiad, and I'm afraid that if the Kindle is out of your budget, then the iLiad most definitely is.

I'd ditch the WiFi requirement if I were you, and go for either the Sony Reader or the CyBook Gen3. Both are excellent devices. Both use memory cards, so space is a complete non-issue.

[yagiz]

I guess most of college books would be in PDF format, right?

[HarryT]

From the mention of PG, I think he's talking about fiction rather than college textbooks.

[wallcraft]

The other device you might consider is the Nokia 770 (no longer made, replaced by similar N800 and N810) with FBReader. It cannot read DRM-laden e-books and its battery life is perhaps 4 hours, but it is otherwise a very good e-book reader and it does come with WiFi. The screen is almost exactly half the size of a Sony, but because it is usually held in "landscape" mode all this means is that you need twice as many page turns (which are very fast on the 770). It is also backlit and color. The more expensive N810 has a sun-light readable display.

[Gideon]

Are you planning on using your reader for text books?/books for school?

If so, you may want to reconsider the Kindle - the search function is a real must. I had a 505 and loved it, but the lack of search ability made it too awkward to use for texts for class (since you can't just quickly flip through the pages or when the professor says "go to page 128" go to the same page 128 everyone else is on.)

[JSWolf]

To be honest, NONE of the current eink readers are good enough for text books. So if anyone is planning on a 505, Kindle, Gen3, V3, iLiad, or whatever is currently out now to use for text books, you'll be wasting your money.

[Jaie]

Originally Posted by HarryT

From the mention of PG, I think he's talking about fiction rather than college textbooks.

He's a she.


But some college, but college actually requires a lot of standard books. For example, my art class has the "tao te ching" as required reading. Easily gotten on line in nearly any format.

So it's not ALL my texts, just as many as possible.

[Jaie]

Originally Posted by Gideon

Are you planning on using your reader for text books?/books for school?

If so, you may want to reconsider the Kindle - the search function is a real must. I had a 505 and loved it, but the lack of search ability made it too awkward to use for texts for class (since you can't just quickly flip through the pages or when the professor says "go to page 128" go to the same page 128 everyone else is on.)

The Kindle is WAY out of my budget. $400 for a device is just too much. I know what you are saying though, and I agree, but budgets are budgets

[Jaie]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

The other device you might consider is the Nokia 770

That's one I looked at before, so I'm glad to see it actually suggested. And it's a little expensive, but not badly so. And the design is nice.

[Jaie]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

To be honest, NONE of the current eink readers are good enough for text books. So if anyone is planning on a 505, Kindle, Gen3, V3, iLiad, or whatever is currently out now to use for text books, you'll be wasting your money.

That's good to know. So even if I got the Sony one, I wouldn't work. Which means I'd be getting one and not being able to have EVERY class book in it. Good to keep in mind.

[Gideon]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

To be honest, NONE of the current eink readers are good enough for text books. So if anyone is planning on a 505, Kindle, Gen3, V3, iLiad, or whatever is currently out now to use for text books, you'll be wasting your money.

I think both (Sony and Kindle, haven't used an iLiad) work fine for text books. The trick here is - what kind of text books.

Is the Calculus 101 book going to work? Nope. Chemistry? Nope. In fact, hardly any will work for these fields... with their monster sized pages and enormous amounts of charts and graphs, but for your average humanities/social sciences students - these can work very well, occasionally requiring some tweaking for the odd chart or graph. When most the text is text, it's just fine. And that's most majors, really.. once you take out the hard sciences and mathematics, you're left with a lot that works just dandy academically.

But I found, aside from the search thing, my books for my senior capstone class worked just perfectly and kept me from dragging a dozen books around with me everywhere.

[Jaie]

Originally Posted by Gideon

I think both (Sony and Kindle, haven't used an iLiad) work fine for text books. The trick here is - what kind of text books.

Is the Calculus 101 book going to work? Nope. Chemistry? Nope. In fact, hardly any will work for these fields... with their monster sized pages and enormous amounts of charts and graphs, but for your average humanities/social sciences students - these can work very well, occasionally requiring some tweaking for the odd chart or graph. When most the text is text, it's just fine. And that's most majors, really.. once you take out the hard sciences and mathematics, you're left with a lot that works just dandy academically.

But I found, aside from the search thing, my books for my senior capstone class worked just perfectly and kept me from dragging a dozen books around with me everywhere.

Well, I'm a history major, so luckily not too many formulas to worry about. But, this brings your comment back to the Sony reader. It might be back in the running.

[Gideon]

The Sony Reader is usable academically, but it will require more work on your part to make it so (and it really is an excellent device.)

A lot has to do whether or not you are actually using the texts in class. I've a history minor, and generally found that I wasn't using the texts in class - and if this is the case, being able to search isn't as important. However, if you scan your textbooks in you'll want to keep the page numbers and if you don't, you'll need to find a hard copy of your texts if you need to cite them since the real pagination isn't present.

With the frequent use of bookmarks, I think the benefit would outweigh the costs.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Jaie

He's a she.

My apologies .