Kindle or other E-Reader

[Dmac122383]

I'm looking to buy either a Kindle or or another type of E-Reader for my girlfriend for her birthday and I know absolutely zero about them.

Can anyone give me any info or tips on selecting one?

What's the differences between the 3G/Wifi versions? what can/can;t you do on each?

Thanks alot,
Dave

 

[thecrafter]

I can only comment on the Kindle as that's the one I have and I love it. But for some reason I thought the battery lasted 2+ months (could've sworn that's the figure Amazon was flaunting around at one point). It still lasts 10 or so days for me.

The difference between 3G and WiFi is this:
WiFi only - you can only use it on a WiFi (wireless) network such as in your home or work
3G - 3G version has 3G and WiFi built in. 3G allows you to download books and internet access where there's no WiFi available. It uses cellular signal like your cell phone. It's very slow.

There's really no reason to get the 3G version since you don't need internet access to read books you've already downloaded. If, for example, the internet goes out in your house and you just can't wait a few hours to a few days for power to be restored (...) and are having book reading withdrawals, the 3G would kick in and allow you to download a book.

Just get the WiFi version, I honestly don't know who "needs" the 3G version, it's a little ridiculous they offer it on an eBook reader. Maybe if you can't get internet where you live.. but if that's the case then you probably don't have 3G coverage either

 

[Joe Average]

The 3G is offered for two reasons:

1) To get a few more bucks for the device since the manufacturer is subsidizing the cost of the 3G service - that's free, you know

2) To allow for downloading of content and get Internet access (limited to some degree by crappy browsers on the devices but it does work)

Wi-Fi is indeed fairly pervasive in today's world but, 3G provides far more coverage on a more widespread scale, and the Wi-Fi radio will suck down battery power about 5x faster than the 3G connection does, typically.

Regardless, 3G is an option, and for some folks it's worth it simply because the service is free from the point of purchase on.

As for devices themselves, there are only 2 eBook readers with 3G capability worth mentioning: the Kindle or the original Nook, and of the two choices I'd go for the original Nook personally, but that's me since it's more functional and you can even do some other stuff with it (hack it, etc).

The newest Nook or the latest Kindle would more than likely do quite nicely for a gift - if the person decides the device doesn't offer enough capabilities, then at least you'll know that for the next gift.

 

[swatbat]

Personally I have a kindle 2 international that I love. I've worked with the classic nook and it worked pretty much as well although I didn't care for the color screen in the bottom. The keyboard on the kindle was a better option for me. Haven't played with the new nook yet.

I'd recommend the 3g kindle as the go to ebook reader even though it doesn't do epub. You can convert non-protected epub files to work on it though.

The 3g just means you don't need to configure it. Pretty much if you can get an att signal(yea I know att sucks) you can get books on it. I carry mine with me so if someone mentions a book worth reading I just download the sample. No need to try to make a note of it and connect my kindle to wifi somewhere later.

My mother will search amazon when she has downtime at work and just send a bunch of samples to her device. She just buys the ones she likes. Doesn't matter where she is, the cell network usually has her covered.

 

[thecrafter]

The 3G is offered for two reasons:

1) To get a few more bucks for the device since the manufacturer is subsidizing the cost of the 3G service - that's free, you know

2) To allow for downloading of content and get Internet access (limited to some degree by crappy browsers on the devices but it does work)

Wi-Fi is indeed fairly pervasive in today's world but, 3G provides far more coverage on a more widespread scale, and the Wi-Fi radio will suck down battery power about 5x faster than the 3G connection does, typically.

Regardless, 3G is an option, and for some folks it's worth it simply because the service is free from the point of purchase on.

As for devices themselves, there are only 2 eBook readers with 3G capability worth mentioning: the Kindle or the original Nook, and of the two choices I'd go for the original Nook personally, but that's me since it's more functional and you can even do some other stuff with it (hack it, etc).

The newest Nook or the latest Kindle would more than likely do quite nicely for a gift - if the person decides the device doesn't offer enough capabilities, then at least you'll know that for the next gift.

I think it's the other way around, 3G sucks battery much more than WiFi does

 

[Dmac122383]

Thanks alot guys for such great info. I think I am going to just go with the wifi edition of the Kindle.

 

[mhenley]

If she's the savvy shopper type, get the one with the Special Offers (sometimes you can find this cheaper anyway than the standard WiFi version). I know several people who like it because these offers sometimes include a random book for a dollar, or a deep discount on bestsellers.

 

[Dmac122383]

I ended up getting a NOOK Color for her. Its alot better than the entry level e-readers. This one is full color, touch screen, can surf the web, email, pandora & other apps, games

This thing almost seems like a tablet pc, I just dont think you can watch videos on the nook. Overall my girlfriend is very happy with it (and so am I, already got a few magazine subscriptions)

 

[swatbat]

I ended up getting a NOOK Color for her. Its alot better than the entry level e-readers. This one is full color, touch screen, can surf the web, email, pandora & other apps, games

This thing almost seems like a tablet pc, I just dont think you can watch videos on the nook. Overall my girlfriend is very happy with it (and so am I, already got a few magazine subscriptions)

The nook color pretty much is a tablet pc sold by a book store. Overall it is a pretty good little device. Personally I prefer the eink screen of the standard nook/kindle/sony as it is easier on my eyes and the batter lasts a lot longer.

Key is that she is happy with it.

 

[pakman134]

I just dont think you can watch videos on the nook.

Just need to convert the videos. Check out this thread for Handbrake presets for good videos on the Nook.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=894165

 

[Dmac122383]

I've been doing alot of reading on these nook colors and found out it runs on android 2.2 OS, and its very easy to run it as the main OS using some 3rd party mods. Because of this I went out and bought myself one too lol. I'm going to be putting CyanogenMod 7 on it tomorrow and it will be a regular tablet pc. The CyanogenMod 7 OS will actually OC the 800mhz cpu to 1.3ghz and has a feature like AMD's Cool N' Quiet which throttles the cpu clock speeds. Overall I think these nook colors are the way to go if someone is interested in a low cost tablet pc.

 

[Veilrap]

I love my Kindle 3g, personally I'd never get a non-E-ink screen on an e-Reader. I've had my battery last for months of casual usage. On the kindle the only things that really use any energy are page turns and wireless/3g. Turn networking off when not in use and you can read over a 1000 pages without charging.

 

[thecrafter]

I love my Kindle 3g, personally I'd never get a non-E-ink screen on an e-Reader. I've had my battery last for months of casual usage. On the kindle the only things that really use any energy are page turns and wireless/3g. Turn networking off when not in use and you can read over a 1000 pages without charging.

How do you get so much life out of yours? Mine does not last more than 10 days and I'm a casual reader (I read daily but not much at all). WiFi is off 80% of the time

 

[jiminator]

I have been using a kindle with voice turned on. IMO it helps for absorbing material

 

[ChuckLogan]

How do you get so much life out of yours? Mine does not last more than 10 days and I'm a casual reader (I read daily but not much at all). WiFi is off 80% of the time

I leave 3G/WiFi off and get a month of battery no problem.

 

[cuongnq]

What about NOOK Color?

 

[jeremyshaw]

What about NOOK Color?

OP ended up buying two, one for wife, one for himself to tinker with

 

[savvyninja]

I have a kindle, and I have used OmniPage X to perform optical character recognition (OCR) on scanned documents. The reason you find so many misspellings in Kindle edition books is most likely varied. But my guess is that a lot of publishers can't publish eBooks fast enough, so they don't bother to perform the needed proof reading. Performing OCR is not fail proof. In fact, the computer tends to generate a lot of mistakes, depending on the quality and visibility of the original scan. As far as piecing together a PDF, I have converted my older eBooks, which are simply PDFs I've read on my computer, into .mobi files compatible with my Kindle using Mobipocket Creator - freeware available for Windows only. It works great converting docs, PDFs and other documents into eBook ready files.

 

[cuongnq]

OP ended up buying two, one for wife, one for himself to tinker with

Ipad is other choice.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I had a Kindle 3, then replaced it with a Nook Color.

I like the Nook Color a lot, I run CM7 on it. And it's basically my 7 inch tablet. I surf the web, run apps, play games, watch videos, and sometimes even read an ebook on it.

Sad thing is I certainly read books a lot more when I had the Kindle 3. The Kindle was much better as just a pure ereader. I preferred the e-ink display, it felt more comfortable to read for long periods, was light and comfortable to hold, I could read outdoors, and battery life was never a concern. With the Nook Color, I tend to get distracted. Though on the flip side with the Kindle, it did suck there was no built in light for reading in the dark (some cases include it though).

I'm probably going to buy an e-ink reader again soon, but was waiting to see if a new Kindle would be coming out before Christmas.

 

[Dmac122383]

We both have been enjoying our NOOK Colors alot. The girlfriend has been reading books like crazy, and I've been messing around with CM7. These things are great, like Ravynmagi said, once modded these things are a sub $300 tablet. Rooting/Installing a different O.S. is not hard at all and you are able to install the O.S. on a micro sd memory card, and if you want to use the Nook in factory form, you just pull the memory card and you're back to the basic out of box form.

Overall I think purchasing 2 of these was a good investment, we will def get our moneys worth. If anyone has any questions let me know.

 

[E^vol]

Though on the flip side with the Kindle, it did suck there was no built in light for reading in the dark (some cases include it though).

That's the problem I am facing. My wife would like an e-reader but she reads at night in bed before going to sleep with a flash light because she doesn't want the room lights on and also she doesn't have to get up to turn the lights off.

What we're looking for is a "backlit e-reader" !!!

Any ideas (other than a kindle with a light) ?

 

[freakycody]

FYI, kindle cannot get books from the library. Got my mom the Nook (e-ink) so she could check out books at the library on it. I think your option is stuck as a e-reader + light, if you want the thin, light, easy to read in sunlight abilities of what makes an e reader great. The basic Nook (e-ink) has my vote.

 

[savvyninja]

I'm glad your girlfriend is happy with her nook. Personally, I prefer the e-ink to full color digital display because it's so much easier on the eyes, especially in the sun. Plus, if I have full internet access - a la tablet - on my ebook reader, the last thing I'm going to do is read.

 

[GreenMonkey]

I've got the Nook touch for reading and a Nook Color with CM7 RC1 on it - best of both worlds

 

[swatbat]

i heard kindle was really good.. and its the most easy to donwload things for.

of course.. its the most expensive.. make sure she liks to read and travile... becuase thats what the kindle is made for.

there are other deceant e-readers.. but i forgot the name...

i do know that the kidnle is soposed to be really good

The sony with 3g access is like 300 bucks. That is compared to the 190 for the kindle with 3g(140 if you let them put ads on the standby screens).

Amazon isn't the most expensive. The kobo is around the same price for the newer one as the kindle wifi and the nook wifi is the same price as the kindle wifi.

 

[Ryokurin]

Yea, the whole Kindle is most expensive is a misunderstanding. Back when it was the only game in town the books were cheaper, mostly because they were setting the price, often below costs to build the market. When the nook and kobo's came out and book manufactures started to enforce pricing the average price for a book went from around $9 to $12 and people who didn't know better complained and figured it was bait and switch. You can occasionally find sales but pretty much every store is the same price at least on new releases.

 

[wlvrne]

I just got my girl a Kindle with wifi and free 3g. She loves it. It's not to big to take with you and works in any type of light.

 

[c5guy]

Kindle all the way -- can do far more with it then an e-reader

 

[Monkey34]

Aside from the fact this thread is a tad old, I'm going to put in my 2¢.

I've looked at the Kindle......I like it, but think I'm going to go with the Nook Color and drop Ice Cream Sandwich onto it to get a full blown tablet out of it.

 

[Starview]

People that want to read should get E-Ink devices.

 

[Mr. Wolf]

Aside from the fact this thread is a tad old, I'm going to put in my 2¢.

I've looked at the Kindle......I like it, but think I'm going to go with the Nook Color and drop Ice Cream Sandwich onto it to get a full blown tablet out of it.

This... except I got the Nook Tablet. It's rooted and ready for ICS. No telling when ICS will come to the Nook, though.

 

[zepcs]

I'm looking at getting the kindle touch myself.

 

[swatbat]

I'm looking at getting the kindle touch myself.

I dropped my kindle 2 hard enough that it damaged the screen and replaced it with the 3g touch with no ads. So far so good although I wish it had the page buttons on the side like the older ones did.

 

[grunge]

Kindle 3 here,love it!

 

[Stone Cold]

I have the nook tablet (Android-based). It has a nice screen and works well as a tablet computer, doing most of what expensive tablets do.

Those black/white e-readers won't survive past the year (the tablets are sooo much better). And, I don't see Kindle/Nook tablets surviving past next year (in the face of cheap Android tablets).

 

[Monkey34]

I have the nook tablet (Android-based). It has a nice screen and works well as a tablet computer, doing most of what expensive tablets do.

Those black/white e-readers won't survive past the year (the tablets are sooo much better). And, I don't see Kindle/Nook tablets surviving past next year (in the face of cheap Android tablets).

While I agree on the straight-up e-reader's imminent death, I have a feeling the Kindle fire and Nook tablets are going to lead the way for tablets. Their functionality and low price are going to influence other tablets I think. I mean, why would someone spend at least twice the cost for something that does the same thing?

 

[GreenMonkey]

I have the nook tablet (Android-based). It has a nice screen and works well as a tablet computer, doing most of what expensive tablets do.

Those black/white e-readers won't survive past the year (the tablets are sooo much better). And, I don't see Kindle/Nook tablets surviving past next year (in the face of cheap Android tablets).

Insanity. e-ink is way better for actual reading. I charge the thing about once a month.

An e-ink device is a reader's device. A tablet is for people that want to watch movies and fiddle with apps and games. The Nook Color/Tablet and Kindle Fire are somewhere in between.

But if you're a serious book or novel reader at all, e-ink is WAAAY better. No annoying notifications popping up, less eyestrain, battery life that is measured in weeks and not hours...

An e-ink device is a book replacement of sorts...not a toy computer or a big cellphone. Different market, mostly (yes, there is some overlap). For serious readers, there will always be a place for them.

 

[Torr Samaho]

An e-ink device is a reader's device. A tablet is for people that want to watch movies and fiddle with apps and games. The Nook Color/Tablet and Kindle Fire are somewhere in between.

But if you're a serious book or novel reader at all, e-ink is WAAAY better. No annoying notifications popping up, less eyestrain, battery life that is measured in weeks and not hours...

An e-ink device is a book replacement of sorts...not a toy computer or a big cellphone. Different market, mostly (yes, there is some overlap). For serious readers, there will always be a place for them.

exactly this.

i'm going to buy a kindle 3, since i vastly prefer an e-ink display for reading books. sure, one can read pdfs on a tablet or pc monitor, but the eye strain is noticeable, i can't read longer than about for half an hour. while e-ink is like you're reading a book. except you can have literally thousands of books in a device the size of one book, and a pretty thin one.

however, it's strictly for reading books. for other purposes you're indeed better off with a tablet.

now does anyone own the new kindle touch? it's about 40 grams heavier than the normal kindle with button controls, but has twice the memory and the battery life, plus you can zoom more comfortably on a touch screen, so i think it's the better choice.

does it support pinch & zoom?

see also this discussion on the amazon forums.

 

[Prav]

I tend to read books only at night and in low light conditions, so e-ink doesn't have much of an advantage for me. Also, I prefer an e-reader that allows me to change to a dark background with light text and I don't believe any of the current e-ink devices allow this on stock firmware. If you read frequently in daylight then by all means grab an e-ink device. If not grab something else or make sure you order an archaic book light to go along with it.