Ebook Reader for Mom

maxyn83 · 04-16-2012, 10:06 PM

Hi, we're considering giving a kindle fire or a T1 Sony ereader to our mom for her birthday. She currently has an iPad 2 that she only uses when she's at home coz she doesn't like carrying it around because it's heavy and big. So far, I really like the Kindle fire for her especially since there's a lot of free and discounted ebooks everyday but have some questions about it.

- I use the kindle app in my iphone/ipad and is there any difference with reading in kindle fire and it's settings? Like easy to change fonts color, size, etc. Also easy access to dictionary?

- In kindle ipad, there's currently no way to get the book summary unless you have to go online and search the book. With kindle fire, is it integrated in the books like in Stanza? I'll be downloading lots of free ebooks for her in Amazon and it would be great if she can read the book description without having to ask me to check it online every time.

- Will I be able to transfer books from Calibre to Kindle Fire? And how easy is it? I'm currently using the Stanza app in ipad and it's very easy to transfer books with calibre. There's also a download all feature that I really like!

Any other ebook reader that's easy to use with most if not all of Stanza's features?
Thanks!

SteveEisenberg · 04-16-2012, 10:10 PM

It's hard to give advice without knowing what country you are from. I know I could guess the US, on grounds that my fellow Americans sometimes consider ours the default nation

Also, does your Mom like to buy her books, or is she is more a library person?

maxyn83 · 04-16-2012, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

It's hard to give advice without knowing what country you are from. I know I could guess the US, on grounds that my fellow Americans sometimes consider ours the default nation

Also, does your Mom like to buy her books, or is she is more a library person?

Sorry, updated my profile. I'm from the Philippines but I buy ebooks from US Amazon. Also, my mom rarely buys books since my sister and I are big buyers. She mostly would just browse our library and pick books by the description on the backs but now that we all have iPads/iPhone, we buy or download ebooks. That's why I really like the Stanza app coz I can add the book description on all the books I think my mom would like and she can just choose whatever she wants to read.

She's not very techie so we're looking for something that's easy to use. And if there's no ebook reader that can show the book description, then the next best thing would be that we can easily transfer ebooks by her favorite authors to her device even if we didn't buy the books from amazon or sony.

LuvReadin · 04-17-2012, 07:43 AM

In that case, check what she wants to do with it, and how important it would be to her to have library borrowing (as opposed to borrowing from your own libraries, which I think is what you mean above). The Kindle doesn't work with libraries outside the US, so if this might be important to her, the T1 would be a better buy.

jbcohen · 04-17-2012, 07:47 AM

Another thing to consider is that dedicated readers such as a kindle and kindle touch are typically lighter and smaller then the fire is. Depending in your mom and her capabilities with PCs a dedicated reader might be a better idea. A kindle is cheaper and simpler then a fire is, I have both and I use my kindle for book reading and the fire for everything else (the fire does not venture outside my home, my kindle does). Now here is something odd, a kindle owner speaking ill of his own chosen book reader (very rare indeed), a kindle is the cheapest reader on the market (they start at $80) however they are not the simplest reader on the market, thats the kobo. Oh, don't get me wrong the kindle is simple to use its just that Kobo has taken the simplicity to a whole new level. However simple is not always the best thing, making the reader simpler can often make it less powerful so you need to make a determination which is best for mom. Does she need simple or power.

LuvReadin · 04-17-2012, 08:04 AM

The Kindle isn't necessarily the cheapest ereader either - the Kobo is almost half the price of the equivalent Kindle in the UK.

Shack70 · 04-17-2012, 09:10 AM

I would suggest just for simplicity and how easy it is to use, get a regular Kindle. Loading books on it is simple, it's easy to use and it's light to carry around. If she is just reading the Fire may be as much overkill as the iPad is for her.

susan_cassidy · 04-17-2012, 11:33 AM

I would say that if your Mom isn't tech savvy, stay away from the Fire. I've seen too many confused posts about people having problems figuring things out, and some bugs, too. Also, you can't buy apps in the Phillipines, so you would only be able to use the Kindle app, and not much of anything else.

I'd go with an e-ink Kindle, either the Touch or the Keyboard.

ProfCrash · 04-17-2012, 03:19 PM

The Fire is not sold outside the US. It sounds like you have a way around this but you should know that it is not sold outside the US, yet.

If she has an IPad, I would go for a regular e-ink e-reader. She does not need the extra bells and whistles on the Fire, the IPad does all that and more.

ilovejedd · 04-17-2012, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxyn83

- Will I be able to transfer books from Calibre to Kindle Fire? And how easy is it? I'm currently using the Stanza app in ipad and it's very easy to transfer books with calibre. There's also a download all feature that I really like!

Any other ebook reader that's easy to use with most if not all of Stanza's features?

If you want LCD, how about going for a normal Android tablet instead of the Fire? Most Android EPUB readers support reading metadata description so your mom can read synopsis/summary if the information is available. I don't know of any Android reader app with a "download all" feature when browsing OPDS catalogs but I find it unnecessary since it's simpler and faster to connect the device via USB and copy a whole bunch of ebooks over using drag and drop.

Orn8one · 04-24-2012, 06:56 AM

I bought my 83 year old Mum a Kobo Vox. She was thrilled, loved the idea, got into email but the Vox was very temperamental and difficult for her. I got her an iPad, she manages iBooks and loves the photo gallery I set up for her.

Harry_Y · 04-24-2012, 08:06 AM

I just recently set my 81 year old mother up with a Kindle Keyboard.
after a 15 minute lesson on how to use it she was up and running.

She loves her Kindle.

04-16-2012, 10:06 PM	#1
maxyn83 Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: iphone 13pm	Ebook Reader for Mom Hi, we're considering giving a kindle fire or a T1 Sony ereader to our mom for her birthday. She currently has an iPad 2 that she only uses when she's at home coz she doesn't like carrying it around because it's heavy and big. So far, I really like the Kindle fire for her especially since there's a lot of free and discounted ebooks everyday but have some questions about it. - I use the kindle app in my iphone/ipad and is there any difference with reading in kindle fire and it's settings? Like easy to change fonts color, size, etc. Also easy access to dictionary? - In kindle ipad, there's currently no way to get the book summary unless you have to go online and search the book. With kindle fire, is it integrated in the books like in Stanza? I'll be downloading lots of free ebooks for her in Amazon and it would be great if she can read the book description without having to ask me to check it online every time. - Will I be able to transfer books from Calibre to Kindle Fire? And how easy is it? I'm currently using the Stanza app in ipad and it's very easy to transfer books with calibre. There's also a download all feature that I really like! Any other ebook reader that's easy to use with most if not all of Stanza's features? Thanks!

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04-16-2012, 10:10 PM	#2
SteveEisenberg Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,369 Karma: 42994616 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: near Philadelphia USA Device: Kindle Kids Edition, Fire HD 10 (11th generation)	It's hard to give advice without knowing what country you are from. I know I could guess the US, on grounds that my fellow Americans sometimes consider ours the default nation Also, does your Mom like to buy her books, or is she is more a library person?

04-17-2012, 07:43 AM	#4
LuvReadin Addict Posts: 372 Karma: 1925568 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: England, UK Device: Sony PRS-T1 and Cool-ER	In that case, check what she wants to do with it, and how important it would be to her to have library borrowing (as opposed to borrowing from your own libraries, which I think is what you mean above). The Kindle doesn't work with libraries outside the US, so if this might be important to her, the T1 would be a better buy.

04-17-2012, 07:47 AM	#5
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,030 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Where am I? Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature edition and a Samsung S24 Ultra	Another thing to consider is that dedicated readers such as a kindle and kindle touch are typically lighter and smaller then the fire is. Depending in your mom and her capabilities with PCs a dedicated reader might be a better idea. A kindle is cheaper and simpler then a fire is, I have both and I use my kindle for book reading and the fire for everything else (the fire does not venture outside my home, my kindle does). Now here is something odd, a kindle owner speaking ill of his own chosen book reader (very rare indeed), a kindle is the cheapest reader on the market (they start at $80) however they are not the simplest reader on the market, thats the kobo. Oh, don't get me wrong the kindle is simple to use its just that Kobo has taken the simplicity to a whole new level. However simple is not always the best thing, making the reader simpler can often make it less powerful so you need to make a determination which is best for mom. Does she need simple or power.

04-17-2012, 08:04 AM	#6
LuvReadin Addict Posts: 372 Karma: 1925568 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: England, UK Device: Sony PRS-T1 and Cool-ER	The Kindle isn't necessarily the cheapest ereader either - the Kobo is almost half the price of the equivalent Kindle in the UK.

04-17-2012, 09:10 AM	#7
Shack70 Guru Posts: 777 Karma: 1043626 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: York, Pa Device: Kindle Paperwhite 11th Generation	I would suggest just for simplicity and how easy it is to use, get a regular Kindle. Loading books on it is simple, it's easy to use and it's light to carry around. If she is just reading the Fire may be as much overkill as the iPad is for her.

04-17-2012, 11:33 AM	#8
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	I would say that if your Mom isn't tech savvy, stay away from the Fire. I've seen too many confused posts about people having problems figuring things out, and some bugs, too. Also, you can't buy apps in the Phillipines, so you would only be able to use the Kindle app, and not much of anything else. I'd go with an e-ink Kindle, either the Touch or the Keyboard.

04-17-2012, 03:19 PM	#9
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	The Fire is not sold outside the US. It sounds like you have a way around this but you should know that it is not sold outside the US, yet. If she has an IPad, I would go for a regular e-ink e-reader. She does not need the extra bells and whistles on the Fire, the IPad does all that and more.

04-24-2012, 06:56 AM	#11
Orn8one Groupie Posts: 176 Karma: 8362 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Northamptonshire UK Device: Kobo Touch, Sony 650 and Cool-er	I bought my 83 year old Mum a Kobo Vox. She was thrilled, loved the idea, got into email but the Vox was very temperamental and difficult for her. I got her an iPad, she manages iBooks and loves the photo gallery I set up for her.

04-24-2012, 08:06 AM	#12
Harry_Y Addict Posts: 305 Karma: 704492 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: NY Device: Kindle 3, Kindle DX, Galaxy Tab 2	I just recently set my 81 year old mother up with a Kindle Keyboard. after a 15 minute lesson on how to use it she was up and running. She loves her Kindle.

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