There's somethin' to them e-readers after all...

[Perd Hapley]

I didn't think I'd ever want to read a book on a screen, but Kindle was provided on my Droid X, and there are free books out there, so I'm on my second one now. Pretty handy when I'm out somewhere and have down time.

The droid has also seduced me into other evils, like texting.

[Fitz]

You think that's great, try a REAL e-paper display.

Reads like a book. Wifi/3g connection. No eyestrain from long periods of LED


My black and white nook has a 3g connection that is free. Caveat is that it can only connect to the bookstore. But still, books anywhere

[Phantom Warrior]

Lots of books available for free from Baen if you like sci-fi.  I've been using my e-ink nook this deployment and it is money.  Ditto what fitz said about it being comfortable to read for long periods of time.

[Perd Hapley]

You think that's great, try a REAL e-paper display.

Not paying the price. I paid $100 for my phone.  I can't see that many uses for a dedicated e-book. If I plan on reading something, I'd probably prefer a few paper books to one reader.

The kindle on my phone makes sense, since I pay nothing extra for it, and always have it anyway.

[Boomhauer]

Lots of books available for free from Baen if you like sci-fi.  I've been using my e-ink nook this deployment and it is money.  Ditto what fitz said about it being comfortable to read for long periods of time.

This. Baen is the place to go. Just don't get Ringo's Ghost series.

I can't see that many uses for a dedicated e-book.

Well, for people like me who don't have smart phones and aren't willing to pay the price for the monthly service...a B&N Nook Color makes a dandy ebook reader and tablet to get on the internet, do basic tasks with, etc.

[Perd Hapley]

Well, for people like me who don't have smart phones and aren't willing to pay the price for the monthly service...a B&N Nook Color makes a dandy ebook reader and tablet to get on the internet, do basic tasks with, etc.

I didn't think ebooks did all that. What does that run you?

See, the boss wanted me to be able to check email while out and about. Or so I thought. She apparently also just wanted to pay my cellular bill, since I use it a lot for work. So the company started paying that for me.

I got a pre-owned Droid, with unlimited data ($30) and $5-per-month of texting. Well, then the boss lady decided they wouldn't pay for text or data.    Which works out fine, though, because they have less excuse to check into my internet usage. Not that they will, but, anyway I pay less now than I did a few months ago.

[Boomhauer]

I didn't think ebooks did all that. What does that run you?

A nook color costs $250 with no monthly charge and is based on Android. Course, you don't have data service, but you can get on wifi hotspots, which are all over the frickin' place. It can be rooted for more functionality.

I don't get good cell phone coverage on the mountain anyway, and I can't use smartphone screens (can't stand them, they are far too small for me). I have a ruggedized GZOne Boulder for a cell phone when I'm in an area that can pick it up. 

Who do you get your unlimited data plan from? Most plans I have looked at are rather expensive.

[Perd Hapley]

Vare-ee-zone. Or Verizon, to be non-phonetical.

[KD5NRH]

Generic Android tablets with wifi are $100 or less these days, and you can run the Nook and Kindle apps on them just fine.  They tend to be a bit weak for much else, but they do make good readers, email checkers and very basic web browsers as long as you're not too far from a power source.  (30min-1hr battery life.)

[Fitz]

The advantage of the black/white epaper displays really shows throw in battery life and eye comfort.


E-paper displays only draw power when refreshing the screen. While reading the page, it's not drawing power if the wifi/3g is off

[Kingcreek]

I never thought I would say this but I prefer the Apple iPad. It has replaced my laptop as well as being a great ebook reader, great battery life and I sometimes watch some tv and movies on it also. I check out current ebooks through my library system anywhere with a wifi connection. free and no overdue fines, after 14 days they just return themselves if I forget to.

[220_SWIFT]

I got a Kindle in June, and absolutely LOVE it.  I got the Wi-Fi with "special offers" for $114.  The one with free 3G was like $30 more.  It is way easy on the eyes, even more so than reading a real book.  I also found in it, while messing around, that it comes with experimental internet browser software.  It is definitely not as good as a real computer for browsing, but you CAN look something up if needed.  The lighted carrying case is also something I highly recommend as the screen is not back lit at all.

I was very glad that I took the chance on it, and have not regretted it one bit.

[Phantom Warrior]

The killer app for e-ink e-readers is, in my opinion, travel.  My nook is even more compact than a paperback book and I can carry all the e-books I have around with me.  The battery is good for at least ten hour or so.  Usually long enough for a full trip. 

Not so good for use as a tablet but, like Fitz said, the battery life is great.  I paid $100 for mine used and it's paid for itself already.

[wmenorr67]

Hey Phantom, where you this time?  Didn't realize you were off on a deployment again.  It seems like we are on similar schedules.

Oh and I have a Kindle and love it.  The only draw back is no 3G coverage in Kuwait so I have to download books to the computer and then transfer over.

[Perd Hapley]

The killer app for e-ink e-readers is, in my opinion, travel. 

I've no doubt. I wish I traveled more often than almost never.

[AJ Dual]

I'm wishing for a pad that's a full blown 9" Android LCD on one side, and low power consumption map/e-ink book reader on the other.

The Asus T101MT Pad, with the optional detachable keyboard/extended battery that makes it a netbook, if it had e-ink on the backside would be just about perfect. Hell, even a full speed tablet with an optional e-ink display just for maps and GPS would be great. Can't count the number of times you can't see the display on the GPS in the car because it's a really sunny day.

[MrsSmith]

I've been fighting this whole e-book thing from the beginning (I LOVE real books) but looks like I'm going to have to cave soon. Best Bud has one (Kindle I think) and she loves it, doesn't even buy real books anymore - which is frustrating because we used to swap boxes of them a couple times a year. Now she calls me and says, "I just read the best book, it's about..." and I say, "Great! Send it to me!" And she says, "Uh, can't. It's on my kindle."

But I'm starting to feel like I'm being pushed over to Apple's darkside. AT&T is supposedly buying T-Mobile, who I've had service with for almost 11 years - and they offer the iPhone, which Best Bud has been bugging me to get for several years now. Played with a friend's iPad the other day and I was pretty impressed with it, except couldn't find the "back" icon. And half my writers, my designer, and my printer are all bugging me to drop my PC (Dell laptop actually, but whatever) and get a Mac. The pressure!

I just don't know. There's something about a real book. With my lack of gracefulness, I'd worry about taking an e-book (or is it e-reader?) in the bathtub, one of my favorite reading spots, or on the boat. On the other hand, if I'm sitting down somewhere with a paperback or hardback, it's pretty clear what I'm doing. If I'm sitting down somewhere with an iPad, I could conceivably be working... 

[Boomhauer]

I completely agree with you about the desirability of real books, but the storage capacity, portability, and capabilities of an ereader make it a very useful complementary medium to the dead tree library...

[Perd Hapley]

I've been fighting this whole e-book thing from the beginning (I LOVE real books) but looks like I'm going to have to cave soon. Best Bud has one (Kindle I think) and she loves it, doesn't even buy real books anymore - which is frustrating because we used to swap boxes of them a couple times a year.

And I don't foresee any used e-book stores, selling musty old electronic copies of Plato's dialogues and L'Amour westerns.   

[MrsSmith]

Fistful, for once I agree with you.

[Regolith]

And I don't foresee any used e-book stores, selling musty old electronic copies of Plato's dialogues and L'Amour westerns.   

You can get Plato for free in e-book format.  Give it another 20 or 30 years, and L'Amour will drift into the public domain (provided the Mouse doesn't *expletive deleted*ck things up, again), and you'll be able to get that for free, too.

[MicroBalrog]

Generic Android tablets with wifi are $100 or less these days, and you can run the Nook and Kindle apps on them just fine.  They tend to be a bit weak for much else, but they do make good readers, email checkers and very basic web browsers as long as you're not too far from a power source.  (30min-1hr battery life.)

You can get a $100 tablet? Link.

[BryanP]

You can get a $100 tablet? Link.

How about $70?

Granted, it's pretty low-end for an android tablet, but for the price it looks okay.  Me, I'm going to stick with my laptop and smartphone for now.  I'll get a tablet one day, but I'll put it off as long as I can stand it.

[Ben]

And I don't foresee any used e-book stores, selling musty old electronic copies of Plato's dialogues and L'Amour westerns.   

I still like to get certain books in hardcopy, and hardcover. Mostly classics that I want to keep on the bookshelf (though with Gutenberg et al. out there giving them away for free, I have lots of copies on my Kindle as well). I like using the "Everyman's Library" for purchase of the hardcover classics.

 I also find the Kindle does not work well for things like technical journals, where color is important for images, and where you want to be able to quickly flip through pages looking for stuff that isn't bookmarked.

E-Readers do rule for general reading though, and my Kindle has really helped slim down the old paperback collection that was taking up so much space around the the house.

Interestingly though (to immediately make myself a hypocrite), I did just enjoy being able to finish a sci-fi series via paperback. I started reading the "Dumarest of Terra" series in High School. The books in the series were always bounced around between publishers and hard to find. I stopped reading them in the early 80's, only because I couldn't find the remainder of the series. Just a few months ago I ran into Amazon's third party used book area, and found all the remaining books in the series (though it cost me a pretty penny for a few of them that have apparently gone to "collector status"). The smell of the old paperbacks brought back some youthful memories as I went through the final books in the series -- something I would never have been able to do if not for used hardcopies.

[T.O.M.]

You can get Plato for free in e-book format.  Give it another 20 or 30 years, and L'Amour will drift into the public domain (provided the Mouse doesn't *expletive deleted* things up, again), and you'll be able to get that for free, too.

My wife downloaded a set of classics to her Nook color, which included the Illiad and Oddesy, Shelly's Frankenstein, etc.  I think she got 50 "books" for under $10.

She got me a Nook color for Father's Day.  I'm hooked.  It works with our library, so lots of books are available for free.  And, I prowl the Barnes and Noble site looking for free books and samples all the time.  Just got a 1910 Boy Scout handbook for $0.99, and had a blast reading it.  Even borrowed some ideas for my kids.  I do a lot of internet stuff on it (including APS).  Just need a real keyboard, and the thing would end up replacing my laptop for a lot of entertainment functions. I just read that someone hacked a Nook and unlocked Bluetooth capability, which B&N may offer as a software upgrade in the near future.