Best eReader?

[Doug5984]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

I want to buy a case for my Kindle, and a while back, it had some special offer for a deal on Kindle accessories, but now it's not there. Does anyone know if I can find it, or when it will come back?

There is a screen to see the active special offers, I'm not sure if you have to be in the store- or where it is, but it'll say "View Special Offers" and like the other night there were 4 for me.

[MacroGuru]

So I go to turn on my kindle tonight....it looks like someone sat on it...however, I know that no one has because I was reading it last night...The LCD is shot.

Call Amazon support not but 10 minutes ago, they trouble shoot it, it doesn't fix it and they are sending me a new Kindle, 2 Day air and sending me a return label to ship it back..

Awesome customer support and they rock.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by rowech

I've been disappointed with the whole ebook process. I can't believe the amount that publishers are charging for ebooks. $22? Really? $15 for a book that's in paperback? I wish people would stop paying these insane prices or that the authors would start offering their books for download from their website so as to pocket all of their money directly.

Feel like buying an ereader was a waste really.

I've got a few hundred ebooks on my nook.

Maybe a third of those I paid for at all, and on virtually none did I spend more than $5.

Barnes and Noble likes to do a monthly $0.99 selection, they have a free selection every Friday (although I only snag the ones that look interesting), and between Project Gutenberg, the Baen Free Library, and periodic sales, that's the rest of my collection accounted for.

I don't know how open the Kindle setup is for that kind of thing, but when I got my Nook when MSRP was still $250, I have around 300 books on there, and the amount I've spent on books is still less than what I spent on the Nook, it's hard to call it a 'waste.'

Just my two cents.

[stevew]

When I see a paperback for 8.50 on amazon, and the kindle edition is like 11.00, I'm reminded why I don't buy ebooks. Same thing with software too. The traditional model had all kinds of middlemen, but now you've largely eliminated them, plus moved into a situation where you produce no excess physical inventory. And that's supposed to cost more?

CDs too. Like I feel like I could put together a reasonable quality recording studio with a few thousand dollars. But I somehow have to believe that Watch the Throne needs to sell for 14.99 so you can make videos with Aziz Ansari and destroy 350K Maybachs?

15.99 for an audiobook I will listen to once?

Do people realize how badly this is turning out for the customer?

[Groundhog]

I agree. Part of me is also happy because the artists themselves, the non-superstars in particular, are able to make actual money from their music/books/etc., rather than just a couple of cents per sold copy. But yeah, no excuse for them to be more expensive than physical copies, and at this stage in Australia eBooks/iTunes albums are both considerably cheaper than what you pay in stores for albums or paperbacks.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by stevew

When I see a paperback for 8.50 on amazon, and the kindle edition is like 11.00, I'm reminded why I don't buy ebooks. Same thing with software too. The traditional model had all kinds of middlemen, but now you've largely eliminated them, plus moved into a situation where you produce no excess physical inventory. And that's supposed to cost more?

CDs too. Like I feel like I could put together a reasonable quality recording studio with a few thousand dollars. But I somehow have to believe that Watch the Throne needs to sell for 14.99 so you can make videos with Aziz Ansari and destroy 350K Maybachs?

15.99 for an audiobook I will listen to once?

Do people realize how badly this is turning out for the customer?

It all depends on which books you buy. I'm not thrilled about the prices lately, but I love the fact I don't have to buy another bookshelf to store my books.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

I agree. Part of me is also happy because the artists themselves, the non-superstars in particular, are able to make actual money from their music/books/etc., rather than just a couple of cents per sold copy. But yeah, no excuse for them to be more expensive than physical copies, and at this stage in Australia eBooks/iTunes albums are both considerably cheaper than what you pay in stores for albums or paperbacks.

What I'm hoping the authors realize is they don't need the publishers at all. Put ebooks on your own website and sell them direct to the customers for cheaper. You pocket all the money as opposed to losing any of it. Big authors link to little authors they like, those authors link to other authors, etc. The authors themselves can run the industry entirely.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by rowech

What I'm hoping the authors realize is they don't need the publishers at all. Put ebooks on your own website and sell them direct to the customers for cheaper. You pocket all the money as opposed to losing any of it. Big authors link to little authors they like, those authors link to other authors, etc. The authors themselves can run the industry entirely.

More and more authors are self-publishing on Kindle. I've been checking out a fair number of $0.99 and $2.99 scifi books lately, for example. The only books I've spent more than $8 on for my Kindle are larger, less popular non-fiction books that are $20+ for the physical book. I agree that some publishers are gouging, but avoid them and find other good books to read at the price point you like. They'll get the hint eventually, or go out of business.

[Subby]

Originally Posted by stevew

15.99 for an audiobook I will listen to once?

I at least kind of understand audiobooks. That's a whole new production you are putting into the product.

e-Books, not so much.

[Subby]

BTW

I just got an iPad 2 and the reading experience on that kills anything the Kindle can or did do. The only drawback is the glare issue, but that wasn't all that hard to get around.

The Sports Illustrated ipad app is incredible. Not just the magazine digitized, but chock-full of extras. Just awesome.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Subby

BTW

I just got an iPad 2 and the reading experience on that kills anything the Kindle can or did do. The only drawback is the glare issue, but that wasn't all that hard to get around.

The Sports Illustrated ipad app is incredible. Not just the magazine digitized, but chock-full of extras. Just awesome.

I don't think there is any kind of question that an iPad 1 or 2 kills a Kindle when it comes to magazines and comics, but for books it's not even close. I'm not going to sit down and read a couple of hundred pages of text on an lcd screen, it's that simple.

[ISiddiqui]

Word.

Kindle is a unitasker. It does the written word extremely well and there are few that can come close and certainly no LCD screen tablet.

[gstelmack]

For the Kindle folks, a bit of advertising for a family member: my sister-in-law, who has been writing for several years now and working to get published, has decided to self-publish on the Amazon Kindle store. Her first effort is available at Amazon.com: Inflatable Men eBook: Amy Ivan: Kindle Store for anyone who would like to help out a new author.

[albionmoonlight]

Question:

I was talking to a friend with a Kindle, and she mentioned having bought a Jane Austin book. I said that I thought that Austin, etc. were free through Project Gutenberg or some other such free public-domain place.

She said that they were, but that the formatting was so bad for the free books that it was really worth buying the paid versions of those books.

I have been thinking of getting a Kindle for Mrs. A., but a lot of the draw for me was that we could load it up with free books that she always had those with her (her comfort reading tends to be re-reading classics that she has read dozens of times).

So, are the free versions of e-books kind of a "you get what you pay for" sort of thing? Or do they tend to be good enough that we won't feel the need to pay for public-domain books?

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Question:

I was talking to a friend with a Kindle, and she mentioned having bought a Jane Austin book. I said that I thought that Austin, etc. were free through Project Gutenberg or some other such free public-domain place.

She said that they were, but that the formatting was so bad for the free books that it was really worth buying the paid versions of those books.

I have been thinking of getting a Kindle for Mrs. A., but a lot of the draw for me was that we could load it up with free books that she always had those with her (her comfort reading tends to be re-reading classics that she has read dozens of times).

So, are the free versions of e-books kind of a "you get what you pay for" sort of thing? Or do they tend to be good enough that we won't feel the need to pay for public-domain books?

I guess the answer is: it depends


There are a lot of free eBooks that are terrible - grammar, spelling mistakes, formatting, etc. There are some that are fine. Of course, I also bought A Feast for Crows off Amazon.com and that had enough grammatical errors to irritate me after the first 100 pages or so.

[Carman Bulldog]

Actually, there are a lot of free books right on the Kindle Store. I don't have a Kindle, so I don't know the quality, but you don't even need to go elsewhere for some of them.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Carman Bulldog

Actually, there are a lot of free books right on the Kindle Store. I don't have a Kindle, so I don't know the quality, but you don't even need to go elsewhere for some of them.

Unfortunately (for me, at least), they only appear in the US store.

[samifan24]

Kindle library lending is now live at over 11,000 libraries nationwide.

[cougarfreak]

Originally Posted by samifan24

Kindle library lending is now live at over 11,000 libraries nationwide.

I put a couple of holds from our library on books for my kindle tonight.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Question:

I was talking to a friend with a Kindle, and she mentioned having bought a Jane Austin book. I said that I thought that Austin, etc. were free through Project Gutenberg or some other such free public-domain place.

She said that they were, but that the formatting was so bad for the free books that it was really worth buying the paid versions of those books.

I have been thinking of getting a Kindle for Mrs. A., but a lot of the draw for me was that we could load it up with free books that she always had those with her (her comfort reading tends to be re-reading classics that she has read dozens of times).

So, are the free versions of e-books kind of a "you get what you pay for" sort of thing? Or do they tend to be good enough that we won't feel the need to pay for public-domain books?

I have downloaded a ton of the classics to read that I haven't that were free and they were just fine with formatting and such.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

I have downloaded a ton of the classics to read that I haven't that were free and they were just fine with formatting and such.

Me too. Lots of classics are available on Kindle store for free. Can't speak to other countries, there might be different licensing laws. But I've picked up a ton of books for free with no formatting issues (not via Gutenberg, but from Kindle store).

Also, I just bought Inflatable Men. Not sure when I'll get to it but looks enough to give it a shot!

/tk

[DaddyTorgo]

Kindle getting library books now too. Woo!!

[Carman Bulldog]

How well do any of the readers function with an RSS feed for tracking blogs/news sites, etc.?

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Also, I just bought Inflatable Men.

I just wanted to take this quote out of context. Success!

SI

[cougarfreak]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Kindle getting library books now too. Woo!!

I checked my first one out this weekend. Hell of a feature.

[Sweed]

Sometimes patience and a little luck pays off. Been looking at kindles for about a year pretty sure I would eventually get one. Almost bit when the first "ad models" came out at $114. Then the new $79 model and the $99 price for the keyboard "ad model" made it a "for sure" deal.

Wanted to wait on some reviews on the $79 model as a basic reader would be fine for me but wasn't sure about not having a keyboard. Some mixed reviews on the screen compared to the K-3(I believe that is the keyboard?) left me waiting a bit longer to see if it was a bad batch of machines or cheaper design.
Was finally planning on ordering yesterday and go with the keyboard model.

Funny thing is since Wed. my boss had a kindle, still boxed, on his desk. I figured he got it as a freebie for something work related and would give it to his wife or it was a prize for a drawing for our customers. Before leaving work I asked him what was up with the kindle? Turns out it came from corporate office and each store was to sell theirs. Yeah, corporate wanted the money rather than give them away, whatever. Anyway boss doesn't know much about them and asks me what they sell for. I tell him about each model and that they go anywhere from $80-$140 for wifi dependent on ads and keyboard. He thinks about that for a second and asks if I'm interested in it for $40? Sure am

Reading "War and Peace" now. Free classics are awesome.
Prices for some books are a bit high at $9.99 but really when I consider either shipping or having to drive 90 miles to the nearest "good" bookstore it is still a bargain. Also considering almost any book I could ever want is available without having to search makes it worth the price, to me.

Thrilled to finally have my kindle.

[terpkristin]

Nice, Sweed.

I'm still using my 2nd generation Kindle regularly. The new ones (both the touchscreen version and the no touchscreen version) intrigue me, though. They're both smaller and lighter than mine.

/tk

[ISiddiqui]

I'm in the same boat as terpkristin. Think I'll get the $99 Kindle Touch (WiFi) as a replacement at some point.

[MacroGuru]

With the prices of the Kindle....Christmas this year at my house will be all Kindle..

[lcjjdnh]

Kindle opens up a borrowing library to Prime users:

Borrow Kindle Books for Free from Amazon—If You Have Prime Membership

[Doug5984]

Originally Posted by lcjjdnh

Kindle opens up a borrowing library to Prime users:

Borrow Kindle Books for Free from Amazon—If You Have Prime Membership

They are really trying hard to pull me into amazon prime, and they might have just done it...


My dvd player has an amazon app, I'm wondering if that streams like netflix? Has anyone used something like this?

[ISiddiqui]

Amazon does have some free streaming for Prime members though - 13,000 movies and shows, not nearly as much as Netflix - but with the 2 day shipping and, now, lending - the $79 per year cost is quite a deal.

[wade moore]

The free streaming does not go to any devices except the fire though.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by wade moore

The free streaming does not go to any devices except the fire though.

You mean the free movie/TV streaming? Sure it does. I've done it to my Roku many times.

Unless you mean mobile devices...never had a yen to try that.

/tk

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

You mean the free movie/TV streaming? Sure it does. I've done it to my Roku many times.

Unless you mean mobile devices...never had a yen to try that.

/tk

Originally Posted by HiFiRevival

Works through several Blu-Ray/TV type options. I believe they're still working on the mobile apps.

I specifically mean through the TiVo or the Xbox.

If you can do it with the free movie/TV streaming, I'd love to know how. I can't find any information on their website. I thought you could only get the paid "Unbox" stuff through the amazon stuff on TiVo.

[Doug5984]

Good to know, I may look into it after football season, we just don't have much time to watch TV other than our recorded shows this time of year

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by wade moore

I specifically mean through the TiVo or the Xbox.

If you can do it with the free movie/TV streaming, I'd love to know how. I can't find any information on their website. I thought you could only get the paid "Unbox" stuff through the amazon stuff on TiVo.

Amazon Instant Video: Watch on Your TV

Not currently available on TiVo, but since the picture is there it must be soon enough.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Amazon Instant Video: Watch on Your TV

Not currently available on TiVo, but since the picture is there it must be soon enough.

Fantastic!

I'll have to keep an eye out. Depending on selection, this could be interesting for my Netflix subscription.

[gstelmack]

My Sony Blu-Ray supports it.

[samifan24]

Is anyone looking for a Sony Reader for Christmas?

My girlfriend received one new in box earlier this year but has never used it and doesn't really want to keep it. I'd throw it up on eBay but I'd rather sell it to somebody here if anyone wants it. The model number is the Sony Reader Pocket Edition, PRS-350 silver. She's asking $100 shipped or best offer, it was originally $179 at retail.

Please PM me if interested. Thanks.

[terpkristin]

I know there are some people here with the latest Nook Color Tablet thingie. This website indicates that you can stream Amazon Prime stuff to the Nook. Has anybody tried it?

In something that's moderately amusing, my mom got my dad a Kindle Fire for Christmas. He got her a Nook Tablet thingie.

/tk

[whomario]

i just got a kindle , are there any other sources for ebooks that one can use beside amazon (are there price differences ?) ?

[terpkristin]

Kindle can read Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively. I have no real clue on where to get stuff other than Amazon. Never really tried, other than Project Gutenberg, since if I'm looking for an author I'm usually starting at Amazon anyway.

Authors that put up their stuff for free (such as Cory Doctorow) quite often have Kindle versions available.

There is also software that you can use to strip the DRM from the MOBI files if you get them from other places.

And there is also Calibre which can be used if you have found the text somewhere (such as on a torrent) and you want to convert it to something a little more e-reader friendly...

/tk

[whomario]

thanks Calibre looks amazing, i just managed to load a ton of news articles/feeds and even articles from grantland onto my kindle with that program.

I have been dabbling around with RSS for an hour or so, is there any good web-based service for getting them onto the kindle ? (calibre works like a charm, but what about when i´m away from my laptop)

[Passacaglia]

You can email the files to [email protected] -- I think it's 15 cents per MB though.

[DaddyTorgo]

Anyone tried a Kobo? Thinking I might pickup an eReader for cheap (or just borrow my mom's Kindle) for my vacation, and there's a couple Amazon Marketplace deals on Kobo's for like $40.

[sposfan]

I've had a kobo for a few years now and love it. I haven't tried the others, so can't really compare, but really no issues with it at all. I can convert and sideload any ebook format using calibre.

I have the touch, was too cheap to get the glo and instead just use a $15 ereader light. My oldest (10 yr old) has the mini and really enjoys it. Mini's are going for $40 brand new now too.