Ebook and reader advice?

[Darkfire]

Decided I might want to invest in an ebook reader, but the options are a little confusing (especially on whats available in the us vs the uk). Anyone got any handy advice (or even better, personal experience) about this issue.

[Janos]

Decided I might want to invest in an ebook reader, but the options are a little confusing (especially on whats available in the us vs the uk). Anyone got any handy advice (or even better, personal experience) about this issue.

I have a Kindle. They're decent, but not awesome devices. Technologically they're pretty solid, and I haven't had many hardware or software issues.

That said, I think the technology has a lot of room for improvement too. When you throw the cost of a Netbook or a laptop into the picture, I think the Kindle is a rip-off.

Pros:

Ease of use
Free Whispernet (which is the cheapest anywhere internet access you can get in the US)
Speed
Size
Clear text on the screen in indoor lighting conditions


Cons:

Not backlit (this seems to be controversial, but I like to read at night and don't want to turn on a light)
Almost unreadable outside most times
Lack of PDF support (I don't have the Kindle DX)
Outrageous book prices (and its annoying to convert other books to Kindle format)
Price


Beyond that, I can answer other questions you have about it. I'm on my second Kindle. I bought one when they first came out, wasn't impressed, and returned it. I was then given a second one as a gift and kept it and have used it since.

[Morbidity]

I have an Iliad.

Pros:
- Ease of use
- Size (bigger screen than kindle or sony I think)
- eink technology - like reading paper and the brighter it is the clearer the screen
- not proprietary to any book format, so can put pdfs, docs, txts or mobipocket
- can have multitudes of books, so if you go on holidays etc you take a single "book" rather than several
- with a wee bit of effort you can get most books off the internet at nil cost (depending upon your ethics about this). I tend to adopt the approach of getting "old" books for free and buying new ones.
- As I'm from Australia, allows me to get books when they are released in the US, rather than wait for Oz and the US book prices are much, much cheaper than Oz.

Cons:
- Like a book, so need to have a light source
- Most expensive of the options
- Doesn't support ereader or lit, so need to convert, but I don't find this that much of a hassle and it's easy enough to convert even secure ereader files.
- A variety of them have an error where a line of "pixels" will go out and I've just sent mine back to the Netherlands for this reason.
- At the end of the day they do have a fairly fragile screen, so you can't treat them roughly the way you might a book. i.e. you don't want to fall asleep reading and rollover onto it or something similar.

Can answer any questions. I love my e-reader and am feeling very lost without it right now.

[azrael]

in theory we should have a demo model of the b&n nook in the store sometime this week/next week and I can let you know what I think... on paper I approve of it

however, if you're in the uk, there's some issues with content apparently due to the different copywrite laws

[Morbidity]

There are geographic restrictions which are generally quite easy to get around. When I buy books with geographic restrictions I just change my address to the UK. I generally get a warning message that the address doesn't match that on my credit card, but they process the credit card anyway. Or you can buy store dollars with your credit card with the right address, then change your address, then buy book with geographic restrictions with a US address.

[Schizm]

in theory we should have a demo model of the b&n nook in the store sometime this week/next week and I can let you know what I think... on paper I approve of it

however, if you're in the uk, there's some issues with content apparently due to the different copywrite laws

I'm most interested in your review of it sir... I have a long work trip coming up and don't want to lug around 20 or so books worth of entertainment, and was thinking about a kindle or the B&N reader...

[Name Lips]

IIRC, the B&N reader only gets free internet access within B&N stores. Which to me violates half the point of the thing.

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/kindle.png

[Janos]

IIRC, the B&N reader only gets free internet access within B&N stores. Which to me violates half the point of the thing.

Supposedly they're going to open that up with time.

Right now though it means that they can automatically push info/coupons to you and supposedly scan what books you have on your Nook every time you walk into a B&N for targeted marketing.