eBook Readers

[Bob The Skutter]

For a few months now I've been thinking about getting myself an eBook Reader. I've been thinking about a Kindle but until recently they haven't been available internationally, but the story about some book being deleted from people's Kindles after they'd bought them and the fact it would cost quite a bit in import fees on top of the price I'm not too keen on the Kindle now. But I've decided to treat myself to one for christmas and i'm trying to decide on which one to get.

In the last few weeks I've noticed Waterstone's have one of the Sony eReaders for £149 which tempted me, but it appears they don't have any way to expand the memory so you're limited to about 350mb on board.

Then I saw the Hanvon n516 for £119 (but it appears to have gone up since), but it appears that only works with .txt and .html files. So I guess that's out.

I think I've settled on getting the BeBook mini, it seems to support the most file formats as well as having a memory expansion slot and a free catalogue of 22,000 English language books.

So anyone got one? Opinions on which eBook readers are best? Or any advice on where to buy ebooks, cheapest or best place or places to get public domain and free book?

 

[Jimilu]

I still do not own one, i am waiting for the barnes & nobel nook:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I don't think that's going to be available in the UK.

 

[Jimilu]

Neither on Mexico, but just get a american credit card and you can buy the ebooks. I have a american subscription to itunes, amazon, etc. Usually international versions sucks.
On the other hand, the mini reader looks great! If you have a iphone or a ipod touch you can get the kindle reader, the barnes and noble reader and the best one, in my opinion stanza, now owned by amazon. The 3 of them have public domain books, and the readers are free, maybe you can try them out before making a decision anfter exploring the content of each of them. I do not think amazon will ever delete a book ever again, after all the bad press the got, and now they are compatible with pdf.
Good luck!

 

[mostly_nameless]

I was waiting to see the Nook before I decided what to buy, but I got tired of waiting and ordered a Kindle.

I love the Kindle. A lot of public domain books are free through the Kindle store. And, I think there are other places to find them, but I haven't been very thorough in seeking them out yet.

You might try the mobileread.com website for more info on different readers and formats.

(One of my friends loves the Sony e-reader because of the wider choices of formats, so if you're primarly interested in free books, you should take a closer look at that one.)

 

[Bloodwhiner]

Consider getting an 8GB iPod Touch for $180+/- US.

You can put the Kindle app on it for free. Then put whatever other apps you want, put movies, music, photos, check email, surf the web... There is just so much more that you can do with the Touch.

It works very well as a reader too and fits in your pocket.

Just give it a thought.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm not really after a backlit device they're not the best for reading books on and tend to cause eyestrain when reading for long periods, and I'm not too bothered about a music player. I have a pocket PC which I barely use, and an MP3 player that I never use either. I have a phone for surfing the web on the move.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

In the last few weeks I've noticed Waterstone's have one of the Sony eReaders for £149 which tempted me, but it appears they don't have any way to expand the memory so you're limited to about 350mb on board.

The eReader's internal memory can't be expanded, but it has slots for SD cards and PRO memory sticks. I've used SD cards up to 8GB. You can get a lot of books on 8GB.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

^Not on that model. Apparently on the 505 and 600 but not the 300.

I did place an order on the BeBook Mini, and then I found it cheaper on another website so cancelled the order and went to get it from there instead. Turns out it wasn't actually any cheaper, they just didn't show the delivery cost until you completed the order. So I'm back to square one wondering whether it's worth it.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Oops, yes, mine is the 505. They seem to have gone up a lot in price since I bought mine early this year.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Oops, yes, mine is the 505. They seem to have gone up a lot in price since I bought mine early this year.

Looks like they've discontinued the 505 in favour of touch screen models, and a low end model, probably so there's no mid-market option taking sales from their higher end.

 

[Captain Shaw]

Would it be cheaper to wait till January to get one?

 

[Bob The Skutter]

^Not sure. I suppose there's a chance they will be cheaper in post Christmas sales, and I guess in the long term they're only going to come down in price. But it always seems like you can wait for ever waiting for lower prices.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I'm waiting for the inevitable Apple tablet (we all know they're working on one). I think it will do for eBook readers what the iPod did for digital music. And I'm very brand loyal to Apple anyway.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I'm waiting for the inevitable Apple tablet. I think it will do for eBook readers what the iPod did for digital music. And I'm very brand loyal to Apple anyway.

I don't really care for Apple stuff, tends to be more expensive, and tied in to their own proprietary software.
I think Kindle is the iPod of the eBook world though.

 

[startrekrcks]

Apple are good What is the Iphone like anyway

 

[Kirby]

I've had a Kindle for a few months and absolutely love it. My wife is considering the Nook, so whenever the hell that becomes available we'll be able to compare.

 

[AnyStar]

i still use my old Pocket-PC (a viewsonic model), all i use it for these days is reading e-books, i throw it in my bag when i'm going to be sitting around waiting somewhere.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I don't really care for Apple stuff, tends to be more expensive, and tied in to their own proprietary software.

Don't most existing e-book readers only support e-books from their own formats? Meaning, there's no super-reader that works with them all?

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I don't really care for Apple stuff, tends to be more expensive, and tied in to their own proprietary software.

Don't most existing e-book readers only support e-books from their own formats? Meaning, there's no super-reader that works with them all?

Not really a lot support epub, txt, html, mobi and other formats. Kindle has its own format, and sony has its own format, but most of the ebook sellers sell in one of those widely used formats.