eReaders...

[thestoat]

Does anyone have any experience with eReaders? Seems there are a load out there with more imminent. I like the look of the new Kindle but the DRM involved seems a bit heavy. Further, with some of the new books being almost as expensive as their paper equivalents there seems something of the rip-off in them.

I thought about the iPad too - until I saw they are a little over £100 cheaper in the US.

[Daisy]

They only look cheaper as they don't show sales tax, there's only about 30 quid difference once you add those on.

I use my ipod touch as a pocket sized ebook reader if you use iceberg reader you can resize text and swipe through the pages using the touch interface.

The iPad is nice to sit at home and read on or on longer journeys. I's worth the extra moolah over the kindle and other e-readers because it is so much more than just e-ink.

[Guinevere]

I've used a free Kindle app on my blackberry to read a bit. But I get most of my books via the library, as I have no room for new ones. I only buy the ones I adore, and I'd buy them in hardcopy anyway. Until ereaders can deal with the borrowing piece, I won't buy one.

(I did read that the Nook has some lending ability, but need to check that out more).

[thestoat]

there's only about 30 quid difference once you add those on

That would make the tax component over 100 dollars - surely that can't be right? But I did forget about the various sales taxes - whenever I am in America they always catch me out.

I use my ipod touch as a pocket sized ebook reader

I tried with my Desire (one of the Android phones from HTC) using something similar. It is fine as far as it goes but I find it a bit small to read much from.

Until ereaders can deal with the borrowing piece, I won't buy one.

That is a big problem for me too - all about DRM. You can loan (and resell / give away) a book but not an eBook. Just doesn't seem fair ...

[Reality Bytes]

At least one UK library now loans out e-books free of charge http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsite/s ... endocument you don't have to live in Surrey to join and "borrow" 3 books at a time for 14 days. I don't have a portable e-reader but I use Adobe Digital Editions to download them and read them on the PC. I've got 3 I'm reading at the moment and just had an email to say one that I had "reserved" is now available - just like a regular library.

As for "lending" books to friends - I can see that being an issue with the Kindle but the Sony e-reader first requires you to download to your PC so it might be possible to copy that book onto a flash drive and share books that way?

[thestoat]

At least one UK library now loans out e-books free of charge

That is interesting - I wonder how they get round drm issues. Of course there are a number of web sites that show how to rip the drm out of a book and convert these books to a format that is drm free. Though of course, who would do such a thing ...

[Daisy]

Though of course, who would do such a thing ...

I can't imagine ...

[BoSoxGal]

So I've finally joined the ranks of eReader users - just yesterday, with a latest generation amazonkindle that my BF presented to me.

Since I had to purge the vast majority of my personal library of literature when I moved from Maine to Arizona in 2005, I am pretty excited about the substantial library of free offerings in classical literature. I'll still always twinge when I think of my 'lost' books, but this kindle will be a lot easier to carry in my future travels/relocations, anyway.

If anybody out there has a kindle, too, and wants to lend me some ebooks - let me know! I'll be checking out the resource mentioned previously in this thread.

[The Hen]

I got my pad because I wanted an e-reader.

I havent used it for books yet. God it's a lot of fun.

[BoSoxGal]

iPad?

They look nifty, but out of my price range at present and probably too large to comfortably curl up with in bed.

Anyway, I'm in the midst of reconsidering my kindle and may be sending it back. Apparently it's the only eReader not compatible with my library's eBook lending program. Supposedly they'll be getting compatible later this year, but I want to know when and whether it will be full compatibility. If not, I may be getting a Nook or other device instead.

Of course I just upgraded to a blasted iPhone4, which I gather I can read eBooks on as well, but it's too tiny to be enjoyable for long for that usage. I played with BF's all weekend and decided I needed my own; it's going to be a hotspot for my desktop computer so with the data package and hotspot service, I spent the same monthly as a fixed internet service for my house would have cost on its own. Seemed a no-brainer, but as with any major purchase, I am already chiding myself for spending the $.

Ah well . . .

[The Hen]

Yes iPad. I don't find it too big for use in bed at all. But then I guess that entirely depends on how you like to read in bed.

Now that I hace a great cover o. It, it can self stand and I can lie down next to it and catch up with shows that I love. One day I'll use it for reading more that news sites and forums .... But not just yet.

[Gob]

One of the selling points for me of the i-pad was the ability to take innumerable books on trips an journeys. We're hopefully going back to the UK this Xmas. The flights alone require four books each way.

[loCAtek]

Me? None of that, too poor

[Sean]

I use an iphone for ebooks. I have no problem with the text size as it's roughly the same size as that in a paperback. I'm not feeling the need to shell out on something else which won't even fit in my pocket.

[The Hen]

You should get larger pockets, or a handbag.

They are all the rage you know.

I am hoping to get my work iPad soon.

Even more fun.

[Sean]

Large pockets are all the rage?

[Reality Bytes]

iPad?

They look nifty, but out of my price range at present and probably too large to comfortably curl up with in bed.

Anyway, I'm in the midst of reconsidering my kindle and may be sending it back. Apparently it's the only eReader not compatible with my library's eBook lending program. Supposedly they'll be getting compatible later this year, but I want to know when and whether it will be full compatibility. If not, I may be getting a Nook or other device instead.

Of course I just upgraded to a blasted iPhone4, which I gather I can read eBooks on as well, but it's too tiny to be enjoyable for long for that usage. I played with BF's all weekend and decided I needed my own; it's going to be a hotspot for my desktop computer so with the data package and hotspot service, I spent the same monthly as a fixed internet service for my house would have cost on its own. Seemed a no-brainer, but as with any major purchase, I am already chiding myself for spending the $.

Ah well . . .

No need to return it .... I bought my Kindle just after Xmas despite being dubious about ebooks but since hubby said he'd buy it off me if I didn't like it and promised not to moan if (when) I still came home with really real books so I figured win win my reluctance stemmed from the fact I love books I own several thousand paperbacks (conservative estimate) many of mine are out of print or books that are unlikely to ever get converted to ebook (so I thought and have been proven wrong). I also objected to the price of ebooks and considered them a complete rip off since they cost as much as (and in some cases more than) physical books yet cost the "publisher" a fraction of the production costs. I also did not want to be locked into one type of format meaning I was held hostage to only being able to buy from Amazon (albeit I do tend to default to using Amazon for book purchases).

Suffice to say I now love my Kindle and I have more ebooks than I do physical books but they take up less space theres a few things you need to know with ereaders the first is where to get the books and the 2nd is how to convert them to read on your reader.

If you aren't too concerned about getting ebooks from "legitimate" sources then torrents are the place to look - thousands and thousands of ebooks all types of genres, authors, formats, new books, back catalogue, out of prints, technical manuals, fiction, non fiction etc.

The 2nd thing you need is Calibre http://calibre-ebook.com/ (free download) this converts pretty much every different ebook format into any other ebook format including MOBI (Kindle format) it also converts .doc into an ereader format and if all else fails you can convert the books into .pdf and those will read on most readers including Kindle albeit the layout and formatting isn't always brilliant.

One of the other things I love about my Kindle is that I am often very impatient waiting for books to arrive - I read and collect a series of Scifi books and sometimes would have had to wait 8 or 9 months for them to be available in the UK even though they are on sale in the USA so its cost me extra to order from the states & have them shipped - not any more though as the latest editions have come out straight to ebook weeks ahead of the hard copy edition 1 click on Amazon and I have them instantly! (and then I buy the hardcopy edition as well to add to my collection).

Theres no way I'd part with my Kindle now.

[thestoat]

My thoughts.

I agree utterly with RB. I use calibre and find it excellent. The Kindle can read pdfs (and calibre can convert many formats) so you should be ok with your library's ebook service. Here's the thing. Since I love gadgets, I have aKindle AND iPad. The iPad book reader is very swish (lovely page turning animation) but is only really usable with books bought from the iBookstore, which may only be read on Apple devices. Kindle books can be read on all PCs AND Macs AND iPhones AND Android phones AND Kindles AND iPads.

It annoys me that the price of ebooks for the Kindle is usually higher than that of paperbacks (VAT is added to the price of an eBook in the UK - sneaky government wankers - but they should still be cheaper). While that happens, long live the proliferation of torrent sites (not that I would ever use one, obviously).

To read books, I choose the Kindle over the iPad EVERY TIME. The screen is better for text and the device is lighter and easier/more comfortable to hold. My mum was a big nay-sayer with Kindles, saying she'd only ever want a real book. Since using mine she won't go near a paperback and has her own. My wife was of a similar view to my mum - is now after one for her borthday. The new B&N Nook is supposed to be very good, but bugger all use in the UK, and anyway, I like my Kindle.

One thing to note - an Amazon user can have up to 7 (I think) Kindles on their account, and sync a book to all of them. So you could but 2 Kindles, buy a book once and read on both - useful if your partner wants to read the same book.

[BoSoxGal]

Thanks for all the good info!

I am definitely keeping the Kindle. I messaged with Amazon yesterday and they inform me that while they don't yet have the exact date of the library lending launch, it will be this year and it will make Kindle fully compatible with OverDrive service at the 11,000 libraries nation-wide that offer it. WOOT!

Additionally, another friend mentioned that there are websites (I have yet to check this out) where you can link up with other Kindle users to borrow books.

I will also look into the Calibre, which I had read about briefly online, in addition to hearing about it from you guys.

My thing is that when I was forced by circumstance and finances to give up 90% of a very nice personal library accumulated from youth through university/law school, I made a vow to not get into buying books again except in rare cases (like, an autographed edition of a special book where I knew or had met the author) - and to pass on paperbacks after I'd read them. Basically, I've made myself somewhat of a minimalist in terms of all possessions, and I don't want to change that by spending a lot of money on current fiction for my Kindle, when I wouldn't buy the actual book.

The Kindle was free to me, thanks to a very dear boyfriend/best friend who wanted to show his gratitude for the great friendship I've shown him. So far I've spent $7.71 on some collected works, because the interactive contents and such were better than the free copies of the individual works. I can't wrap my head around how much classic literature I've already downloaded and I've maybe used 2% of the storage space so far?

After thinking on it and especially considering my sleep issues, I decided I didn't want to give up the Kindle because it simply has the best readability - most like a real book, no backlit LCD screen that will mess with my melatonin production. The past two nights I've almost fallen asleep with it in my hand - just like real books! So I am prepared to wait for the library lending feature later this year.

It doesn't hurt that I just splurged and spent 1/10 of my permanent salary increase (I finished my 6 mo. probation on this new job last month) on an iPhone4 3G, which arrived via FedEx yesterday. So, now I have iBooks and can borrow stuff from the library and read it on that until the Kindle conforms later this year.

eta: Just that my library uses OverDrive and provides books that are in ePUB format, with DRM that makes the lended eBooks self-deleting after 14 days. Kindle doesn't read those, and the only way to use them is to read them on my computer (not interested, spend enough time sitting at the bloody thing during the workday) or do something illegal by hacking the DRM and converting the book to another format that Kindle will read. I'm not tech-savvy enough to get into that process, and not inclined to hack.

[The Hen]

I reckon I'll have to get a kindle as well now.

(Let's face it, although Gob and I bought this iPad, it's all mine I tell you. All mine.)