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Old 12-03-2010, 12:09 PM   #1
tahseen
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Help in choosing a reader

Hi all,

Thanks in advance for your help in deciding the reader for me. I have mostly used computers to read my ebooks and for a short while in my Aluratek Libre. My Libre screen got busted after a fall and now I'm looking for a replacement.
  • Price is rather important for me.
  • I want good navigation features as in easy page turning, remembering of last page per book. Jump to page and search are also highly desirable.
  • Book navigation. I'm used to folder browsing. How does collection and other such customized browsing works specially if books don't have meta data properly?
  • Prefer one with long charges since I generally read couple of hours a day (so E-Ink is actually preferable).
  • I am used to reading in lots of format from html to epub. So it would be great to have that. How bad is it if the reader doesn't support many formats specially with Calibre? Can calibre convert to azw?
  • Of course a good build and screen is highly desirable too specially since I broke my last one.
  • Bookstores and such aren't a concern for me

English is not my first language so I'm not how well that list came off. Basically most of the reader would somehow work but I am trying to think which one would feel most comfortable given my practice of reading in computers and the flexibility it afford. So information about software features and what are missing would be very helpful.
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Old 12-03-2010, 02:12 PM   #2
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Besides the format thing, I think a Kindle 3 may be your best bet. It's one of the cheapest, has a good build and a top-of-the-line Pearl screen, and has one of the longest charge times out there at the moment.

Sonys sound too expensive for you. The nook classic is great and just got an update, but its charge times are always going to be shorter because of its LCD menu screen and though it just added "shelves" its folder system isn't the best yet.

The Kobo could also be good for you, is cheap and offers lots of formats, but for what else you want, I'm not sure how it stacks up honestly.
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Old 12-03-2010, 02:17 PM   #3
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Take a look at Kindle, Sony and Pocketbook.
They all have different models according to your requirements and money
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Old 12-03-2010, 02:31 PM   #4
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If you live in the US, go to Best Buy and compare the Sony, Kindle, and Nook. That will give you a good feel for each of the e-readers and should help a fair amount.

Collections on the Kindle is a tagging system. You build your own collections and put books into the collections. The big problem with Collections is that it is only one level. So I have To Be Read Fantasy and Read Fantasy. I would love to have sub collections in that folder for different series and authors but that is not possible.

I have no idea how the Nook book shelves work. I believe that Sony does allow subfolders.
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Old 12-03-2010, 04:39 PM   #5
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From what I understand Kindles can't read epubs. I recommend the PocketBook 301+. It's cheap, e-ink, reads virtually anything, and it just works.
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Old 12-03-2010, 05:16 PM   #6
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I believe that Sony does allow subfolders.
Sony have collections (1 level) but no folder structure.
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Old 12-03-2010, 07:14 PM   #7
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I don't live in US and for that matter no Ereader is available in my country. But I'm going in an office trip for the next 2 weeks or so and plan to buy one. Does any of the device have trouble operating if I'm out of US? Thanks for the suggestions and here are my take on that.

I will probably buy it from stores in NY. Don't have a lot of free time. So suggestions on that are welcome too regarding where to check or buy and have good prices.

Forgot to say, I need good page turning speed. I'm used to instant page turn in computer and mostly so in Libre.

I don't think pocketbooks are that easy to find in US stores. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Sony - It seems deals are off and the latest ones are in the last $179

Kindle - I'm guessing I have to convert the books using Calibre I guess? Can someone confirm if Calibre allows to covert to azw and if there's any issue with azw that I should know about (since I haven't used that). Thanks for the bestbuy suggestion.

Nook - If it can hold for 10 days that should be enough for me but yes 1 month of kindle helps.

Kobo has only epub and pdf but yes it have epub. As I understand it doesn't jump to pages or even backward? Am I correct. How is the page turning speed and navigation? My understanding was that its firmwire is not as good.

One thing I forgot to mention is the portability. How bad is it with kindle/Nook?

Which one don't support accessing the device as just USB device?
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Old 12-03-2010, 07:39 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tahseen View Post
I don't live in US and for that matter no Ereader is available in my country. But I'm going in an office trip for the next 2 weeks or so and plan to buy one. Does any of the device have trouble operating if I'm out of US? Thanks for the suggestions and here are my take on that.

I don't think pocketbooks are that easy to find in US stores. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't think you'll have any trouble with the device out of the US. You won't be able to access any bookstore, though, but you already mentioned that is not important. You'll just want to make sure you can charge the ereader using USB. That's just in case your power system is different from the system in use by the ereader. I'd guess most any ereader can be charged via USB.

You are right, sadly. Only two PocketBook stores in all of the US: one in Kansas City, MO and the other in Seattle, WA.

Good luck! I hope you find something. Why not buy one online and have it shipped to the hotel you'll be staying at? Or shipped to the business location where you'll be working?
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Old 12-03-2010, 08:13 PM   #9
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There are only 2 Official POCKETBOOK stores in the US . I believe there and independent electronic/camera retailer in New York that stocks some. Ill point Yaroslav in this direction so he can confirm.
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Old 12-03-2010, 10:40 PM   #10
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Have you looked at the Reader Matrix? It offers a nice comparison of the different types of readers, including features. https://www.mobileread.com/eink/

Calibre will convert to and from .azw format, as long as there's no encryption applied to the book. Calibre is a great resource for managing your library; I'd strongly recommend it. As for collections, the reader uses metadata to decide where to place books. Calibre uses both tags and series information. So using Asimov's Foundation and Empire as an example, you might tag it Science Fiction and Robots. You might also put Foundation as the series. When Calibre puts this book on my Sony, it shows up in my Science Fiction, Robots, and Foundation collections. The nice thing about metadata is that you can have the same book in multiple locations. The not so nice is that on both the Kindle and the Sony, you can't search on more than one thing at a time. There's no way for me to show all of the books that match both robots and science fiction.

I'm not sure if you've been to the US before, but your hotel will likely have a lobby with a front desk. If you purchase a reader online, you should be able to have it delivered to your hotel.
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Old 12-04-2010, 12:50 AM   #11
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Thanks everyone. Those are some very useful comments you got there. I have been to US before but I will be traveling to 4/5 states in two and half week so delivering ahead is a little troublesome. But I probably would be able to manage by delivering to my final destination. But I really wanted to use the device before ordering it.

Pocketbook 602 seems real good but I'm a little unsure if I wanna buy it without seeing. I have checked the matrix and its very helpful but they don't provide much explanation in terms of navigation/collection etc. so I wanted first hand opinion. Anyone has good idea about page turning speed? I used to find the prs300 page turning irritatingly slow. Any of the nook/kobo/kindle/pocketbook that slow? or they are all much faster now?
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Old 12-04-2010, 02:34 AM   #12
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Welcome to MR tahseen!

You didn't mention your likes and dislikes with the Aluratek Libre. If you were content with it, I would go with the jetBook Lite which uses the same reflective TFT screen as the Libre.

The JBL uses four AA batteries, so we here buy a set of eight rechargeable batteries and a charger. I go two weeks before I need to change the batteries, which is simple and takes less than five minutes.

The consensus here is that the jetBook Lite is ahead of the Libre in the firmware race.

The JBL currently goes for $89 at newegg.com, but I expect that it will be less sometime between now and Christmas.
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Old 12-04-2010, 04:21 AM   #13
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Thanks Russell. You raised a good point about the Libre.

I loved the contrast and very fast page turn in libre alongside the fact there was no whole screen turning to black when page turn like E-Ink. My major concern was the charging I guess. Since I never got anywhere close to 20 hr and I'm used to reading a lot, often 4-6 works in weekdays and over 10 in weekend. So I needed to charge like every other day or so which was bit irritating specially since I didn't have a safe place where to put the reader to charge at night . Didn't want a kid or other family member dropping it or whatever. Also the page turning option wasn't as great which maybe the same with other readers.

How many hours do you go by in JBL?

But thanks for reminding me of the option. Also the price is great.

Last edited by tahseen; 12-04-2010 at 04:23 AM.
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Old 12-04-2010, 10:06 AM   #14
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If you are traveling to the states you can drop by a Best Buy and check out the e-readers they sell there.
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Old 12-04-2010, 01:09 PM   #15
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tahseen, I get about 25 hours of reading on a set of four AA batteries.

When you buy two sets (eight batteries total), you charge one set while you use the other. You therefore are prepared for your batteries to run out, and swap them out as easy as changing batteries in a flashlight.
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