Are ebook readers worth considering?

hishadow

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Amazon just pushed out new editions of their kindle. Looks kind of sweet now with fairly decent pdf support. Earlier I was considering iPad but it looks kind of awkward for reading when you consider things like battery life, usb-support and glare.

I know they're just release have anyone got their hands on one? I'm particularly interested in how well it performs with different kinds of pdfs. Some youtube reviews suggest that two-column papers is a little small in portrait mode, and navigation in landscape mode isn't so flexible. A second opinion wouldn't hurt.

Kindle 6" Graphite, $139.00
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Kindle 9.7" DX Graphite, $379.00
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This might not be very helpful for you :p But I can never understand people buying ebook readers…. I mean most of us already spend so much time in front of our computers…. and now we can't even relax and read a normal book… no we need an electronic book reader. I for one will never exchange my daily paper paper and book with an electronic thing it completely ruins the reading experiance in every possible way IMHO.

So to reply the title in the thread, no it is not worth it!
 
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Fair enough. :) I like dead tree too, but I also have a lot of pdfs which I thought might work well with an ebook reader.
 
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I think they're great. I originally bought it to save room when I was in the Navy (submarines don't have much room for personal items). That alone made it worth it to me.

Now that I'm out I still use it on a regular basis. It's very light and thin so I can easily take it anywhere as opposed to some large books or hardcovers. If I read a normal book while I ride my stationary exercise bicycle it's really hard for me to read because of my movement but with the Kindle I can just make the font large which eliminates any need for reading glasses. Also, the Amazon whispernet is pretty sweet.

I haven't personally read any pdf files on my kindle but my friend was reading a bunch of graphic novels and manga in pdf. From what he's told me it worked out pretty good and that was before they enhanced the pdf compatibility.

If you have a specific pdf in mind, I could try it out on my Kindle.
 
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I bought an ebook reader a few months ago and couldn't be happier. Best purchase ever!
Now, the problem with Kindle is that it doesn't allow ePub, which is the standard for books. But at that price, it will force the competition to lower their prices.
At $140, I would have bought the Kindle, but I'm not complaining, I bought a Sony PRS-600 touch screen for $170 a few months ago, works great.

Advantages of e-book readers (non iPad, iPads are not good for reading books for any sustancial length of time):
- e-Ink technology: no backlight so it's very easy on the eye, you can read for hours and hours and it's no different than reading a book.
- Battery life: it's not measured in hours or even days, they last weeks without needing charge
- Collections: With paper, you are reading one book. When you go on a trip, if you want to bring more than one book, say goodbye to half your baggage space. In one of these devices, considering an e-book takes less than 1MB, you can have 400+ books in the main memory, and even more than that on little memory sticks (which really, are not needed)
- Dictionary: My Sony PRS-600 has a built-in dictionary. When I find a word I don't understand, just double tap on the word and the definition comes out.
- Search: So, you're in page 600 of the book you're reading, and suddenly Joe the Crazy Barbarian is mentioned. You don't remember him, so just highlight the name and search backwards. In one second you see the passage where he was described in page 173.
I mean, it's great.
Also, I recommend downloading and using Calibre (free software), it's the best program out there for e-book readers. It's really good.
 
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I bought a Sony ReaderDaily Edition. It seemed to have the best compatibility for PDFs (I have a ton of regulatory docs in PDFs that I use regularly) and the best ability to use books from various vendors.

I wasn't sure I'd use it for recreational reading at first. I mainly bought it so that I didn't have to lug around print outs of all these regulatory docs or open them on my laptop and suffer the eye strain. I took it on a business trip though and loaded a book I had been reading in paperback, and now I'm hooked. I doubt I will ever buy another printed book again. I lent it to my wife to see if she'd like it and now we're getting her one too.

I get eyestrain headaches a lot from sitting in front of a PC all day, so reading on something like an iPad is just a no-go. Reading on e-ink is absolutely amazing.
 
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Well, it didn't look too good at "fit to width" mode. You can zoom in but that means that you have to scroll across the page to read both columns. The DX might be better because of the bigger screen. I've read that Kindles are (or eventually will be) at Target so you might want to play around with one there if you get the chance.

I'd take pictures but all I have at hand is my iPhone and that wouldn't be good enough. Maybe blatantninja could take a picture of his e-reader using a pdf file.
 
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we love our amazon Kindles!

We've been able to pretty much get any book we have wanted to get, instantly. I like the romance of curling up with a nice paper book too, but youre eventually left with shelves of books afterward that have no resale value. When Jess moved in, she had to get rid of literally hundreds of books, it was ridiculous. Theyre major space wasters, and like I said - you pay 10.00 for the thing and a used book store gives you a quarter. If even that.

You get on one account and share a library, it's awesome.

Nope, it's the year 2010 - paper books are so yesterday. You might as well read a newspaper, LOL *snickers into paws*
 
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I love the feel of a new book, love libraries, and love having bookshelves full of them ("space wasters," no, not even close). Books have shaped my life and made me who I am. I like having them around, as physical presences -- a volume of Camus that blew my mind when I was 23, old science fiction novels, non-fiction books that have opened up new worlds to me. I hate the idea of reducing all of that memory to invisible storage.

I'm beginning to see the virtues of Kindle, though. I think it would be especially nice when travelling, reading on the exercise bike, or reading in bed. I just don't do enough of any of those things to make it worthwhile yet.
 
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Since I like to read in Bed the Kindle might be a good idea. It depends on whether the Technical references I use are available in Kindle form.

I like my Paper but for Traveling the Kindle would be very useful.
 
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Well, got tempted to try something new and placed an order for the 9.7" reader. Maybe I'll write a small review here when it arrives.
 
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My wife wanted one, so I got her the Sony touch ed. She loves it and has been ignoring me on camping trips, dinners out, and in the living room for months now...guess I love it too then :)
 
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My wife wanted one, so I got her the Sony touch ed. She loves it and has been ignoring me on camping trips, dinners out, and in the living room for months now…guess I love it too then :)
Hmm... sounds like the perfect gift for the mother in law :)
 
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Gawd, this thread makes me feel old………………..

I was going to quote your first post … but only so I could say this in the end lol [feel old].

My friend has one and adores it. However for me nothing in the world beats curling up on the couch to read a good book. Especially on a rainy/snowy day, with the dogs curled up at my feet.

The E-books are just to cold and impersonal. To techno. I spend most of my life on a computer (work, gaming, etc.) and for me having a good ole paper books can't be beat.

As for collecting space - I recycle some to friends and the library or at work. The best of the best I save, so I can treasure them later.

About the only thing that interests me on an E-book is the search feature. It would make it easier to find that page where some cryptic remark was made only to find out 200 pages later could be very important. Still it can be fun to thumb through pages to manually look for it. But that's the only real feature that could make me consider it. I think I would only try it, however, if someone gave me one as a gift.

Lastly books don't run out of power :)
 
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Wow, thank you! Your post made me feel better! It is not only me in that case :)
 
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