Explaining the choices to noob's

[emellaich]

It's interesting. I had a Bookeen for a year and never had questions. Now I get stopped every day and asked about my K2. Its tough to explain the entire area to true noob's.

Today, was typical. A checker at McDonalds was immediately hooked on the device. She says she reads a lot and buys lots of books from Amazon, but she's never heard of the Kindle ?????

Anyway, there is no quick way to point them in the right direction. I love the Kindle2 and its the best for me. However, if they can get buy with non-DRM stuff then the Jetbook or another alternative may be better. Of course, this requires them to either 1) Enjoy Gutenberg style books; or 2) Be able to work through/understand any DRM issues. On the DRM front they probably get tied to either the Sony or Amazon stores. Their are a few choices such as Baen that are fantastic sources of non-DRM stuff. Then there is the pdf issue. Etcetera.

Anyway, the ideal would be if there were one essay that explains the issues that drive selection of a reader, and then lays out the choices. The ebook matrix in the sticky is great info if you already understand the issues, but it doesn't really layout the choices if you are a noob. Is there a source that lays everything down in one spot?

Thanks,
Michael

[Rique]

Anyway, the ideal would be if there were one essay that explains the issues that drive selection of a reader, and then lays out the choices. The ebook matrix in the sticky is great info if you already understand the issues, but it doesn't really layout the choices if you are a noob. Is there a source that lays everything down in one spot?

Michael, exactly! I have been going through a somewhat rigorous process, involving a thread I started here, at the Cybook G3 forum, at the Hanlin forum and at the Sony PRS-505 forum. Prior to all of that, I lurked here for several weeks before I joined and began to ask questions.

And as I have collected the - almost entirely useful, and often passionate - information and opinions from members here, I find myself thinking to myself: "self, all of this information really should be collated, organized and presented in essay form somewhere here in the forums".

Yes, the comparison matrix is useful - and yes, the wikis are also useful - but there is really no one document that speaks completely to the selection process. At least not that I have found yet.

So, I couldn't agree more. Great idea.

-- Rique

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by emellaich

On the DRM front they probably get tied to either the Sony or Amazon stores. Their are a few choices such as Baen that are fantastic sources of non-DRM stuff. Then there is the pdf issue. Etcetera.

If you purchase a 505 or 700, as far as DRM goes, you are not tied to Sony as you can get ePub via some publishers and eBook stores.

And for PDF we just pretend it doesn't exist and treat it as such.

[emellaich]

So,
I've taken a stab at a page to define terms at the most basic level. It doesn't push a given solution. It just tries to define the terms that we throw around every day.

This is not linked into the wiki yet. I'm giving it a chance for review, and for me to look at again before it is hooked in place. Take a look, and edit it as you see appropriate.

https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Choo...n_Ebook_Reader

[Leep]

Yes, the comparison matrix is useful - and yes, the wikis are also useful - but there is really no one document that speaks completely to the selection process. At least not that I have found yet.

Probably the reason why you get so many different opinions is that the best device for you depends on how you will use it and what you are willing to pay for the device. Just like purchasing a computer or home theater. Some folks travel alot and love having newspapers and magazines delivered wirelessly; some people like to use their library and other folks are completely computer illiterate and just want to buy ebooks from a single source. It's hard to advise you when we know that every ebook readers has it plus and minus and the features most important to me, may not be the same as yours. I have both a Kindle and an iTouch with which I am very satisfied; but I have been willing to invest a lot of computer time into getting the best out of both devices.

cheers