Touchscreen readers - Kindle, Kobo, Nook. Can't decide please help.

[SmokeAndMirrors]

Originally Posted by corb

I'm stumped. I really can't deiced which one of these three readers to buy.

What I'll use the reader for :
READING BOOKS. Almost exclusively. Extras like text processors and the like do not interest me all that much although a sketching/drawing app would be kinda nice.


What I like about the said three devices :
Kindle has a community of devs doing 3rd party apps. Which is good because out of the box it's kinda bland and mediocre. Amazon bookstore is probably the best on the net.

Nook has the best design, I think the buttons on the sides are ingenious, the squarish format does not bother me.

Kobo is least obstructive drm wise and some recent updates adding a lot of text formating tweaks has made it pretty much the perfect reader softwarewise as far as I'm concerned.


What I DO NOT like about the said three devices :

DRM. Especially on Kindle.

Lack of page turning buttons on Kindle and Kobo.


I'm kinda leaning towards Nook and Kobo but Kindle isn't all that much worse really. Any opinion is welcomed.

DRM is not inherent to a device. It depends on what the publisher decides. Nothing the ebook stores can do about it.

That said, if you're concerned about lock-in, there's two things to consider.
1. The Kindle uses a proprietary format.
2. The Nook store (Barnes and Nobles) refuses to disclose if a book is DRM'ed or not.

As someone who is also concerned about lock-in and DRM, these considerations where a big part of why I went with the Kobo Touch. It uses the ePub format, which is more open, and the store readily discloses whether a book is DRM'ed.

I've been very happy with it. It's always getting updates and new features, and I like the transparency they have as a company.

I don't find myself wanting for page turn buttons. You tap the right side of the screen to go forward, left to go back (or you can swipe across the screen). It feels very natural to me.

I see you're in Europe. Kobo also has also gone international, so that's another thing worth considering. The Nook doesn't offer international support.

[Chi Cygni]

I bought a Kindle Keyboard but I don't like it too much. Surely, it works well and all that, but just doesn't do it for me. Result is it is in the cupboard, only taken out while travelling abroad (3G, email, internet and reading of course) or husband reads on it (rarely). So, better buy ereader you like, I guess. Of Kobo I know nothing. Must admit KK proved to be extremely useful with 3G so I don't consider I wasted money. Proprietary format is a non existent issue to me and I do have Times New Roman on my Kindle (no hack, courtesy to MR) I would have bought a Sony back then but when I was shopping for ereader it cost some 270 € and to read my language I'd have had to hack it to void warranty - and for that money it seemed too risky (also I have no idea how to hack)
To buy Kindle you will need to take into account the tax they will add. I paid 254 $ (approx. 180€) in total for it. Import from UK within EU is tax free (excludes Kindle as you have to buy it from amazon.com and not .uk) I love my little Cybook Opus but that is a simple no frills ereader (no dictionary, bookmarks etc) so probably not for you. Anyway, good luck.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by corb

it doesn't limit me with the amount of non kobo epubs I put on it, unlike the Nook (240 megs won't even cover my A to C collection )

Wait...what's this about the nook...? If I'm reading that correctly, my thoughts about getting an STR just went out the window....

ApK

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by ApK

Wait...what's this about the nook...? If I'm reading that correctly, my thoughts about getting an STR just went out the window....

ApK

Only 240MB of the nook's internal storage can be used for your own content - the rest is reserved for content bought from B&N. It does, however, have an SD card slot, and you can use that for your own content.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It does, however, have an SD card slot, and you can use that for your own content.

Ah. No worries then.