[sirius]

I'm looking for an e-reader in the $100.00 price range, atm I'm torn between the Kindle Touch, Kobo Touch and the Sony PRST1. The Sony one is actually $20 more, not feeling that.

They all seem to be very similar in terms of hardware and software though, so I guess this is more about which individual service and book selection that each company offers? I have no experience with e-readers so um, yeah that's pretty much it, help me pick guys.

Torrenting books in epub/mobi works right?

edit: In Canada btw

[Ghostly Image]

I've owned a first gen kobo and recently upgraded to a vox. Never tried a kindle.

I am very happy with kobo. Support is great. Easy to buy books on their site, you can browse to get an idea of their selection. Canadian company with affiliation to chapters/indigo.

Non kobo retail epubs (however you obtain them) are super easy to load with third party software like calibre (which will also handle mobi conversion).

[sirius]

Originally Posted by Ghostly Image To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I've owned a first gen kobo and recently upgraded to a vox. Never tried a kindle. I am very happy with kobo. Support is great. Easy to buy books on their site, you can browse to get an idea of their selection. Canadian company with affiliation to chapters/indigo. Non kobo retail epubs (however you obtain them) are super easy to load with third party software like calibre (which will also handle mobi conversion).

I feel you keeping it on the dl, thanks for the response.

I was going to sit back and wait to make a decision but I've been reading on forums the past 2 hours and people had a lot of good things to say about the Sony PRST1. Came across a $25 off coupon + free shipping and went ahead and got the PRST1.

Coupon code was SHAREMAY2012 if anybody wants it.

[Bluestreak]

I've used the Kindle App to read a few books on my Motorola RAZR. It was much easier to read than I ever expected it to be. You might save yourself the $$$ if you have a device capable of downloading apps handy.

[sirius]

	Originally Posted by Bluestreak To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	I've used the Kindle App to read a few books on my Motorola RAZR. It was much easier to read than I ever expected it to be. You might save yourself the $$$ if you have a device capable of downloading apps handy.

I wanted something with a screen larger than my own phone and an e-ink display because lcds tire my eyes very quickly.

[ClydeB]

Have to 2nd the Kobo touch. I'm on my 2nd one now. 1st one got left at a bar and was never seen again. epub, pdf, rtf are supported, but not mobi. Though calibre is great for converting mobi to epub. Works like a usb drive if you don't to use any transfer software. You do have to register your device to get the wifi working. But thats a minor thing to me.

One big plus is the open standards. Another big plus (least to me) is that I have not heard of Kobo reaching out to remove purchased books like Amazon and Kindle have. Though I have not purchased any books from the Kobo bookstore. I get mine with no DRM from Baen.com, Fictionwise, Safari Books Online (pdf download with tokens), and other less mainstream places. Like directly from the author's websites.

[eagleseven]

As I've said in other threads, love my Kindle Touch. The most expensive of the options, but I love Amazon, their selection is amazing, and I believe Amazon will exist 10 years from now. Can't say that about the other digital book sellers.

Since I buy most of my shit from amazon as it is, buying ebooks from them comes naturally.

[Nikonman]

I've enjoyed my Kindle a great deal. All the free selections on Amazon have kept me happy for the most part. I seldom buy a book, probably one out of every 15 or 20 that I read. Never tried any other e-reader, but I have used the Kindle app on my laptop as well and found it to be good.

[GSOgymrat]

I love my Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight. Works perfectly.

[Sinequanon]

I had a nook Simple Touch that I bought for an overseas trip (I wanted to make sure during the 16 hrs of flying I would have a device that would last and was dubious about my iPad's battery life for the task). While I liked it a lot, and I liked the SD card expansion port that was on it but not on the Kindle, I ultimately ended up returning it, for a variety of reasons:

* When reading, I like options. I prefer the ability to read in landscape and horizontally. I prefer to be able to switch between different reading modes very quickly (normal white-on-black, sepia and night).
* I do a LOT of night time reading. As such, the ST without glow light (I bought mine a week and a half before the upgraded model came out) wasn't hacking it for my uses. So I ended up reverting back to the iPad at night.
* One of my favorite things about ebooks is not being physically attached to the book. I find holding books open, holding them at particular angles, etc to be kind of tedious, especially for large books. I like that an ereader can be placed in a stand and only needs to be interacted with when ange needs to be turned (yes, I'm the laziest person alive.
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
)
* Consequently, I don't go have to change pages all that often (except when I do... See point 1), so I like a larger screen that can accommodate as many words as possible. I also like that the iPad will update the page count based on font and size selection, though I understood the utility of the nook's fixed pages as well.
* Perhaps most importantly, I don't really seem to have everyone's issue reading on an LCD screen. I have been for 25 years and still have 20/20 vision. Though I'll say the iPad 3's screen is easier to read than the 2's is, now that I could look at them side by side.

I know you went with the Sony unit. I like those, but I always see the display units broken in stores, next to functional Kindles and nooks, so I do hope the reliability has improved, or that maybe the display models get much rougher treatment than normal usage would bear. If you read a lot at night, at slightly outside of your price range, the nook ST with Glowlight might be a good solution for you though.

[chop]

@sirius How are you enjoying the Sony so far?

[sirius]

	Originally Posted by chop To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	@sirius How are you enjoying the Sony so far?

The contrast could be better on the screen but other than that it's pretty sweet. I've read people saying the contrast is better than most ereaders, except the kindle touch, I haven't seen any other ones in person though so I can't compare them. All in all I'm happy with it.

You play balance?

[chop]

Pre-Cata I played cat and balance, and sometimes resto if I got bored. I don't play anymore though. What about you?

Edit: and while sticking to the subject: My only complaint about the Sony was the glare coming off the border. Otherwise I was impressed by its clarity, especially compared to the Nook Glow.

[sirius]

	Originally Posted by chop To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Pre-Cata I played cat and balance, and sometimes resto if I got bored. I don't play anymore though. What about you? Edit: and while sticking to the subject: My only complaint about the Sony was the glare coming off the border. Otherwise I was impressed by its clarity, especially compared to the Nook Glow.

glad disc priest, started playing again recently after I quit at the end of BC.

Yeah the glare on the black one bothers some people, I don't mind it, you just have to angle it slightly.

[Antares]

Second nook simple touch ($99). It's cheap and easy on the eyes to read. The reason I didn't go for kindles is because epub is simply a more widely-used format and can be used on any device, so if you ever switch, or have another device, epub is the way to go. And I already had a large epub library from the iBookstore, so getting a kindle was not justified for me, if I can't put those books on the kindle.

	Originally Posted by Sinequanon To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	If you read a lot at night, at slightly outside of your price range, the nook ST with Glowlight might be a good solution for you though.

I don't know the glowlight is justified because of the 30 dollar price difference, when you can get a headlamp for a fraction of the price. I bought my NST after the glowlight came out and couldn't justify dropping 30 dollars for the backlight, not to mention I bought it at mother's day discount at 79 dollars, v. 139 dollars for the undiscounted glowlight.

[sirius]

Originally Posted by Sinequanon To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I had a nook Simple Touch that I bought for an overseas trip (I wanted to make sure during the 16 hrs of flying I would have a device that would last and was dubious about my iPad's battery life for the task). While I liked it a lot, and I liked the SD card expansion port that was on it but not on the Kindle, I ultimately ended up returning it, for a variety of reasons: * When reading, I like options. I prefer the ability to read in landscape and horizontally. I prefer to be able to switch between different reading modes very quickly (normal white-on-black, sepia and night). * I do a LOT of night time reading. As such, the ST without glow light (I bought mine a week and a half before the upgraded model came out) wasn't hacking it for my uses. So I ended up reverting back to the iPad at night. * One of my favorite things about ebooks is not being physically attached to the book. I find holding books open, holding them at particular angles, etc to be kind of tedious, especially for large books. I like that an ereader can be placed in a stand and only needs to be interacted with when ange needs to be turned (yes, I'm the laziest person alive. To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ) * Consequently, I don't go have to change pages all that often (except when I do... See point 1), so I like a larger screen that can accommodate as many words as possible. I also like that the iPad will update the page count based on font and size selection, though I understood the utility of the nook's fixed pages as well. * Perhaps most importantly, I don't really seem to have everyone's issue reading on an LCD screen. I have been for 25 years and still have 20/20 vision. Though I'll say the iPad 3's screen is easier to read than the 2's is, now that I could look at them side by side. I know you went with the Sony unit. I like those, but I always see the display units broken in stores, next to functional Kindles and nooks, so I do hope the reliability has improved, or that maybe the display models get much rougher treatment than normal usage would bear. If you read a lot at night, at slightly outside of your price range, the nook ST with Glowlight might be a good solution for you though.

Build quality is really good on the Sony, I don't see how it could break unless it was straight up dropped or something. Also, you can't judge build quality by a display unit, you have no idea how they're being treated compared to other units, other ones could have been broken but got replaced right before you entered, etc, too many variables.

I do read at night but I just keep my room light on so it doesn't make a difference to me.

Yeah, the lcd thing just depends on the person. Most people I know can actually just zombie and never be bothered by any lcd no matter what. Apparently something about light coloured eyes makes them more sensitive, not sure if this is true didn't follow up on it. I do have light brown eyes though so it fits for 1 person at least, smallest pool of text subjects ever right. Small lcds like on a phone won't bother me really but when I'm on my 24'' desktop monitor for extended periods of time it fucks my world. I'm only 19
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
, so it's not like age has anything to do with it in my case. Just individual tolerance, who knows what factors into it.

Late response and answered everything out of order but cba'd, thanks for your input though.

[SoundofSilence]

Originally Posted by Antares To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Second nook simple touch ($99). It's cheap and easy on the eyes to read. The reason I didn't go for kindles is because epub is simply a more widely-used format and can be used on any device, so if you ever switch, or have another device, epub is the way to go. And I already had a large epub library from the iBookstore, so getting a kindle was not justified for me, if I can't put those books on the kindle.

Yes, you can. You would just have to convert them using Calibre.

[chop]

I haven't had experience with Calibre, but it seems to be the answer for any format concerns.

I would like to add one minor detail. Comparing the Nook Touch with the Glow Light, I found the Glow Light model had noticeably less contrast than the Touch. That might be due to the extra layer needed for the frontlight.

[Antares]

	Originally Posted by SoundofSilence To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Yes, you can. You would just have to convert them using Calibre.

Calibre is a great program but it seems the conversions are just not top notch, which is not its fault, given the difficulties. I tried converting several pdf ebooks (war and peace, Homer, etc) to epub and the result is just not ideal.

Edit: Tried it. No dice. Every goddamn book is locked by DRM.

[chop]

	Originally Posted by Antares To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Tried it. No dice. Every goddamn book is locked by DRM.

To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


There is a way apparently, if you hack Calibre. It doesn't look very user-friendly though.

[Antares]

	Originally Posted by chop To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. There is a way apparently, if you hack Calibre. It doesn't look very user-friendly though.

Yeah. I've seen that. It just seems to be too much trouble. Plus, Apple iBookstore and B&N have great selections, and with the added bonus that I have successfully installed iBooks onto my Nook with zero trouble... I thank Amazon for the Kindle app, though I prefer iBooks.

[Sinequanon]

	Originally Posted by sirius To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Build quality is really good on the Sony, I don't see how it could break unless it was straight up dropped or something. Also, you can't judge build quality by a display unit, you have no idea how they're being treated compared to other units, other ones could have been broken but got replaced right before you entered, etc, too many variables.

mmmm, no I disagree. Unless you think that people just have a particular enmity for the Sony models such that they ensure the screens freeze and the buttons fall off (but not for the Kindle models), I think it's actually a pretty good indication of build quality.

	I do read at night but I just keep my room light on so it doesn't make a difference to me.

I'm rarely alone at night, so leaving the light on is not really always my decision. Besides that, I prefer the no-light reading environment to the soft-light reading environment. I don't like book lights, either.

	Yeah, the lcd thing just depends on the person. Most people I know can actually just zombie and never be bothered by any lcd no matter what. Apparently something about light coloured eyes makes them more sensitive, not sure if this is true didn't follow up on it. I do have light brown eyes though so it fits for 1 person at least, smallest pool of text subjects ever right.

Perhaps! These baby brown eyes don't have an issue with excessive light, generally.

[s4nder]

Get Kindle 4. I still don't understand why people want to touch and smudge up screens they read from.

[JackCY]

Because using the silly 5 button to do all the stuff is quite a pain, notes, dictionary, etc.
I don't like touch screens, touch phones, but an e-reader... well if the layer is good then the smudges will not stay or be visible much.

Sirius: could you review the Sony PRS1-T1 here?

I'm picking up an e-reader now, never had one and can't even find it in a shop displayed so I could try them out :/

Kindle Touch, nice but, does it work with other shops apart from Amazon?
There are pros and cons to all devices, I'm trying to compile a list of it.

So the Sony has a glare from the glossy frame?

Anybody who has other readers, please post a review, what do you like and what do you not like on your device. Dictionaries - English and their quality, need to be connected, formats and getting books from stores and net, usability of web browser, audio. Landscape mode and other adjustments of the view that not all the devices have. Organization and categories of books on the device. Contrast of the screen, does it have a protective layer that can be changed when scratched?
Prices and usability of accessories/covers.
Can Calibre be used with it to manage the books on the device, convert, import/export, sort, and such.
etc.

If you know about hacks, provide a name/link, explain what it can do and if you use it and why (pros/cons).

Sony PRS-T1 -
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
, screen switches on every page turn
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Sony PRS-T2 - wait till August-November if it comes out...
Amazon Kindle Touch -
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Nook Simple Touch + GlowLight version - ???
Kobo Touch - ???

Skiff Reader - is it just a hoax or is that thing ever going to be out?


To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


Any custom/fan made systems for e-readers?
So you could remove what they put there and run a custom software on it.
E-reader doesn't look like something super complicated, except the file formats, the rest is just setting it up here and there or adding "cool" features and user interaction.

And any tips when and where to buy? So I can get some discount on it? International shipping for me though.


I have to say I liked the Kindle, but after seeing it's competition it is not that good at all.
It's like Amazon has frozen the device and it's a lowcost machine to read Amazon bought books, nothing else... Grip and color is odd and cheap looking.

Nook can have integrated light which seems nice at the cost of contrast without the light on or in daylight. Grip and color looks nice.

Sony is fast, but has a glossy frame (I hate glossy things to look at for a longer time.), can I get a matte cover/foil over it? :D

Are white versions even worth buying with e-readers? Something like matte gray/grey seems best to me.



---------- Post added 07-24-2012 at 11:17 PM ----------

	Originally Posted by s4nder To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Get Kindle 4. I still don't understand why people want to touch and smudge up screens they read from.

For me, it lacks easy controls and a memory, it has only very little user usable memory space, 2GB including running the OS and no extensions possible. Kindles suck because the memory will run out for people who read or have a lot of books.

[SoundofSilence]

For me, it's between the Kobo Touch and Sony PRS-T1. Sony has the best features, but a glossy design. The Kobo has a very nice design, but doesn't have as many features as the Sony. Kobo's like €30,- cheaper here though (€130 vs €100).