E-readers Kindle, Nook, Sony, Others, Pro's Cons?

[mur]

Looking to get an E-Reader
Who's got one, do you like it, Pro's Cons?
My Wife goes through books like crazy and wants one.

My MAIN concern is how are they outdoors?

I usually Take they wife dirt bike riding with me and she sits at camp, keeps watch and usually reads.
If the device isn't outdoor friendly it would really be killing my seat time.


Other concerns would be:

1. What format are the books, are they Pdf's
2. If not PDF's Are Book formats propitiatory to that specific device
3. Are the books cross platform compatible?
4. Any specific device hold more books than other devices
5. Anyway to backup the books that are purchased.
6. How long to the batteries last on these things?
7. Are E-Books cheaper

As long as I can ride, Price isn't an issue

Thank you

[reggie 00]

If price isnt an issue i would get an I pad.

I have the Nook. It works good for books i get at Barnes and Noble.
The E books are cheaper than the print ones.
I have taken it camping with me twice now and it has done good. its light, and if you turn off the wireless the battery lasts longer. I go a week or so between charges reading a few hours a day i guess.

I will be getting the I pad. My friends got one and i love the way the magazines are. The color is a big deal. Not so much for regular books but the magazines look great.

They get a pretty wide variety of magazines. And i know the Nook has software you can load on it to read Barnes and Noble ebooks so im sure the others have it too.

The Nook reads PDFs, the sales guy showed me how to load em but its kind of cumbersome.

The Nook is cool for Books. But if you read alot of Magazines or papers i dont think the I Pad can be beat.

I havent looked at the Kindle so i dont know much about it other than its more expensive than the Nook, but i imagine its pretty similar.

[Telperion]

1,2,3 - There's several formats: Mobipocket, ePub, Amazon's proprietary AZW format, and a few others. They aren't PDFs (although many e-readers will render PDFs), and often times PDFs don't work all that well with e-readers. Why? Because PDF is a page-description format that describes where every element (text or graphic) should be, as you would expect for a printed page. e-readers allow the text to reflow as you change the text size or jump to different points in the document. ePub is the most supported format (except for Amazon), but there are programs that will convert one format to the other in most cases, even stripping off the DRM.

4,5 - Check the specs. Some have memory card slots for external storage. Most will connect to a computer via USB and look like a flash drive where you can back up the contents to your computer.

6- e-ink readers can go several days, usually weeks between charges, as long as any device wireless mode is turned off. The iPad has a active powered display so its battery life is measured in hours.

7- Depends. I've seen Kindle books sell for more than the hardcover edition on Amazon, which usually unleashes a torrent of negative reviews and comments. Usually the price is a little less than the dead tree version. Publishers are always pushing for higher prices and restrictive DRM, but like the record companies, they just don't "get it" when it comes to the disruptive impact of digital distribution. In this area, change is the only guarantee.

Outdoor performance- I'm not so sure what you mean here. An e-ink display really does look like paper and is easily readable in full sunlight. If you mean weather and shock resistance, none of these devices respond that well to water and rough handling.

[mur]

Great Information guys,

Any device I should avoid?
Without restrictions, which one would you get

Outdoor performance- I'm not so sure what you mean here. An e-ink display really does look like paper and is easily readable in full sunlight. If you mean weather and shock resistance, none of these devices respond that well to water and rough handling.

Only that it is easy to read in sunlight, not concerned with rain

[zfields]

By the way, you can convert file formats using a program called Calibre. Ive converted thousands of E pub and PDFs into the format for my Kindle.

[sfwdiy]

I've got a Kindle 2, I really enjoy it. It lasts for weeks on a charge as long as the wireless is turned off.

You can buy most any book on earth with one click on the Amazon website and it's instantly pushed to the device. You can also shop for books on the device itself. It's a great product.

--B

[SoCal Bob]

I bought the wife a Kindle 2 and she loved it. I just got her the new Kindle 3 and she loves it even more. The 3 has better screen resolution and is a tad smaller. Battery life is great, if you leave the 3G/Wi-Fi turned off unless you are downloading a book. Amazon has tons of free books and the new books are usually less expensive than buying the hardback version at Costco. She uses it outside all the time, in the sunlight, with no issues.

I got her Kindle 2 when I gave her the Kindle 3 and have downloaded PDF's onto it with no problems. I have also copied a bunch of books onto it that were in the txt format.

If coin is an issue you might check Craigslist to see if there are any Kindle 2's for sale by people upgrading to the Kindle 3.

Someone suggested an iPad, early on they had an issue where they would overheat and shut off when used outdoors on a warm day. I would check to see if this is still a problem if you are thiking about one.

[SnWnMe]

Kindle. Nook is slow, Sony's display isn't very sharp (due to the touch screen).

All have the common drawback of not being able to "leaf through" a book rapidly.

[Iknownot]

Any e-ink screen (Kindle, nook, sony, but not the iPad) looks just like paper does outside in the sun.

Truthfully, after having a kindle for over a year now, I have a hard time reading traditional paper books at this point.

I can read faster on the kindle, with less eye-strain. It's more comfortable to hold for long reading sessions because there are no pages to hold open. I just like it better.

IMO, it's pretty hard to beat the new kindle ver. 3 that is out now. The price is pretty attractive for what you get, the screen has better resolution than the previous kindles and the batter life can go up to a month before needing a recharge.

If I were to buy a reader now, I'd go with the new kindles. Just based on the experience I've had with mine and what I know of friends who have other e-readers or the nook.

If you are in B&N a lot, then a nook may be worth looking into. If not, I think amazon has the better set up for ease of purchase and use through their website.

As for the iPad, if you want a device to do "other than reading" on, it's a good choice. I don't personally like the LCD screen for long reading sessions. I think e-ink is hands down better for actually reading. However it is hard to argue with being able to do all the other stuff the ipad can do, plus reading, if you just want to do short reading sessions or read things like magazines or newspapers on the device.

My 2 cents: Get the kindle 3 and don't look back.

(The new kindles support pdf natively and Amazon will be adding book sharing, like the Nook currently allows, later in the year, just as an FYI).

[mosinmike]

Bought my 70 year old mother a Kindle, she reads a ton of books and she loves it. Has no problems ordering books online and takes it everywhere with her. I don't like the fact that its black and white only, but for just reading it works great. I'm thinking of getting a nook, that way I can take copies of pdf's and carry tech books instead of the bookshelf full of them.

[SoCal Bob]

Bought my 70 year old mother a Kindle, she reads a ton of books and she loves it. Has no problems ordering books online and takes it everywhere with her. I don't like the fact that its black and white only, but for just reading it works great. I'm thinking of getting a nook, that way I can take copies of pdf's and carry tech books instead of the bookshelf full of them.

The Kindles will also read PDF's but I find the screen is a little too small when trying to read some PDF's. Our son bought one of the newer Kindle DX's with the bigger screen because he was able to download his college text books onto it. He has been really happy with the results so far and the downloaded textbooks were less money than the hardback versions.

If I recall correctly, the Nook's reading screen is the same black & white (greyscale) as the Kindle. The only color part is the menu screen at the bottom.

[mur]

I've narrowed it down to the either the Kindle 3 or Nook.
I'm kind of leaning toward the Nook because it allows you to connect to your local library and download ebooks for free, and their Epub Support
However the Kindle has better battery life
There are Rumors the Nook 2 will be coming out very soon and suppose to be in color...hmmmm.

[reggie 00]

Got an email from B&N. Color Nook is on its way. you can preorder now at $249

[Darklyte27]

its prob mentioned already, kindle has the wifi version, it taps into cellphone networks for FREE wifi?..
my friend has one.

[eville]

I hear rumor of $99 kindles after thanksgiving.