Initial Decision

[patrickt]

I'm curious. Some people here have Kindles and Kobos and others I've never heard of. They want to jailbreak their devices and play with the gizmos. The ereaders as devices seem to fascinate them.

When I was first stepping into the world of ereaders I wasn't particularly interested in the specific device. I had waited for a common format and decided it wasn't coming so I was looking for a "system" that would give me the most books I wanted to read economically.

I didn't understand about the archaic and customer unfriendly laws at the time and live in one country and want to buy books in another. I selected the Kindle system as giving me the most of what I wanted. I bought my first Kindle without ever having seen a Kindle device. I've been happy with my choice for seven years.

When I first looked at ereaders, in 2009, the basic devices were very similar.

So, I'm curious. Was your choice driven by the device or by the availability of books you wanted to read?

[issybird]

I've moved this to the General Discussion forum so as to involve more members than only those who hang out in the Kindle forum.

[issybird]

When I got my first dedicated ereader (also in 2009), access to OverDrive tipped me to an ePub reader. So, initially it was access to books. Since then, size has been my most important criterion, so it's been the device itself.

[HarryT]

When I started reading eBooks in the late 1980s there were no "dedicated" reading devices or commercial ebooks, so it was the availability of handheld devices on which to read public domain texts from PG that was the determining factor. My first ebook reading was done of Psion palmtop devices (a long-defunct British manufacturer of early PDAs), then later on Palm, followed by Compaq/HP Pocket PC devices. The first eInk reader was a Sony PRS-500 in 2006, which I had to import from the US at huge expense.

These days I stick with Kindles, both because I like the devices themselves, and because Amazon make the entire process of buying and reading eBooks so easy.

[JSWolf]

WHen I started reading eBooks, I did so using an old Dell laptop. Mostly in MS Reader format because I liked the MS Reader program better than Mobipocket and I hated the way eReader eBooks were formatted.

[sun surfer]

When I first started with ereaders around eight years ago or so, I was determined not to buy into the Amazon ecosystem, and I also didn't like the bulky space-hogging keyboards on them. I can't remember if they already had non-keyboard versions, but I definitely thought the keyboard versions were something I didn't want. I considered Onyx Boox I think it was called which seemed superior but required more of a learning curve to someone who has a slow tech learning curve, so I went with a Nook as I liked the device best of the bigger options and the ease of store integration which includes book availability.

Then I got two devices, I can't remember in which order. One was an iPad mini to try as my main ereader with iBooks, so again it was a combination of device and book availability. Again, I avoided Kindle on principle. The second was a Sony 950, pretty much the height of their quality ereader builds as right after they went down the plastic and irrelevance road. That was a great ereader except for one thing - it was extremely slow. I take a lot of notes and I had so many problems with that ereader going at a snail's pace. The nook was also a bit slow as I think most earlier ones were, but the iPad mini made me realise how much quicker things could be (and now that I think of it, because of this progression in thought I must've had the Sony first then the iPad), though I decided I preferred e-ink for reading.

So, I just said to hell with it and got a Kindle Voyage and couldn't be happier. It's a pretty walled garden anyway. Not many people complain much about that now, but back when I first started at mobileread it was a huge point of argumentative discussion that seeped everywhere on the forum and I happened on the anti-Kindle bandwagon for the longest time, I think because I was put off by many Kindle owners advocating a bit too vehemently for the superiority of Amazon in all respects and advising anyone new and wanting to get an ereader (and that was a large bulk of members then) that Kindle was the only worthwhile option. You could even start by specifically saying you want an epub ereader with other non-Kindle features and asking which one people recommend, and you'd still get half the replies saying you should just get a Kindle instead. Things have calmed down greatly around here since then and now I'm one of those pesky Kindle owners saying it's all-around the best. Anyway, with Kindles, which unless something drastic changes I plan to stay with as my ereader device and ecosystem, the integration is just so easy, much easier than the other stores I used, and the prices are usually on par and sometimes the cheapest except for maybe people who keep up with Kobo coupons if they still do those store-wide percent-off coupons. In my opinion, now Amazon devices are superior and book availability is superior. The Voyage is great and I'm looking forward to trying the new Oasis at some point.

The only thing I wonder about is library integration as I have been considering trying that out.

[Cinisajoy]

My reason free books and easy storage.

I was going to get a "used" but still new in the box Sony but had an issue with the seller. I originally got a Kobo because of all the free books. Then I got an offer on a Kindle Fire and it has spiraled since then.

[Apache]

I choose the device I wanted to read on after researching what was available. When I buy books, I like to check different vendors for price although price alone is not a reason to buy from a particular vendor. I actually prefer Baen for Sci Fi because I consider them eBook and customer friendly. I stopped buying from B&N because they made it difficult to side load books to the device of my choice.
Apache

[theducks]

When I started I bought an EZReader as it handled Adobe DRM (and had a decent price point) which was what my local library offered.

When that wore beyond my ability to repair, I got an e-ink Kindle WITH BUTTONS. I really detest brand specific proprietary formats (w/wo DRM) as a nasty way to lock you in. I like to return buy because the product is BETTER, not because I am shackled to that brand.

Looking forward
Back light (LCD) and touch are (I even use a mouse with my Touchpad equipped laptop whenever possible) my downfall. When the K4nt dies, I don't know. Paying an additional $200 just to get buttons on a E-Ink device.
If I am lucky, it will outlast me.

[latepaul]

I found out - made sure in fact - that DRM could be stripped before I bought my first dedicated ereader (a Kindle). Not long after I discovered that deDRM-ed ebooks could be converted to pretty much any format you like, thanks to Calibre.

Since then I've bought devices based on the device itself and bought my ebooks wherever they were cheaper - usually Amazon.

[Gotadimple]

When I chose my Nook STR, the Kindle was available, but they had yet to adapt a method for using public libraries. The Nook use of PUB also provided a range of books not just from one seller. I saw more flexibility with the STR than with the Kindle. B&N had also established a solid method of advertising new books (Free Fridays) and had a good community of readers to exchange ideas about books and the device.

So B&N was the first out of the gate with a comprehensive system. I still use my Nook, but when I travel I read on a tablet using the Kindle app - just for ease of downloading. I'd prefer the Nook, but don't want to carry more than one device.

[Gotadimple]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

The only thing I wonder about is library integration as I have been considering trying that out.

Sunsurfer,
Library integration - meaning downloading from a public library? Very easy, you need to use Overdrive to read your library's catalog. Then when you select you specify Amazon kindle and it posts the book directly to your reader through Amazon. Any librarian at your local library can show you how to use it with your device.

[haertig]

At the time I started with eBooks - a couple of years back, when the Nook Simple Touch was the B&N offering - I chose the Nook because online articles I read stated that B&N had the larger eBook inventory for the Nook than Amazon did for the Kindle. Whether that was true of not, I don't know, but it caused me to buy the Nook. I now use a PaperWhite3, although I still have, and occasionally use my old Nook. But 95% of the time, it's the PW3 that I use now.

[Tarana]

My first device was a Nook ST because the kindle was not workable with my library system. I bought my Mom a Paperwhite later on because, at the time, it was the only device with backlighting and she had a crummy lamp. Of course, AFTER she got the Paperwhite, she bought a much better reading lamp (weird). After only a decade. Since I can convert books to any device, I just have a lot of gadgets now to use.

edited: OK, turns out I was wrong. I had the Kindle Keyboard in Summer 2009. I bought the Nook later as it wasn't introduced until 2011.

[pdurrant]

I appear to have bought my first ebooks back on 27th January 2002. At the time I think I was probably reading on computer rather than with a device.

The first device I know that I bought was a Sony Clie SL-20, a monochrome TFT LCD device with 320x320 pixels.

The first E-Ink device I had was a Bookeen CyBook Gen 3 back in early 2008, which could read Mobipocket format ebooks.

I bought my first Kindle in October 2009. It was the Kindle 2i (international version) and cost $387.85.

I've had a nook or two, and another Cybook, but I've pretty much stuck to Kindles since 2009. They work well, and the book costs are reasonable.