eBook readers

[brettw]

Hey guys. I'm thinking about getting Karly (i.e. Karly and I) an eBook reader for Christmas. Does anyone have any recommendations/anti-recommendations? I'm especially looking for Australians, since things are different in Australia vs the US. We have PCs and not Macs, if that makes any difference (plus wireless in the house

Comments

[liedra]

Get a US Kindle, and then make a new account and buy yourselves gift vouchers for the US store. That's what I do! (Though I'm not sure if you can get US Kindles any more; I bought mine on ebay).

Kindle doesn't have wifi btw, it has GPRS or 3G (I think -- maybe just GPRS, at any rate, it's over the mobile phone network, not wifi). Very Different :)

The Kindle form factor is really good, I really like mine. I'm glad I don't have an AU one though because the range of books is pretty poor in comparison with the US store, I believe. Only problem with the US Kindle is you can't use gift vouchers to buy magazine subscriptions, but you can still buy individual magazines. Also you can't use the wireless, though I don't really find that a problem either - I just plug mine in and update it after I've bought a new book -- also recharges the battery!

[liedra]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, you'll pay more for the books here regardless of what ebook reader you buy; the problem with the other readers (Sony, dymocks, etc.) is more that they don't have a very large range of books available. I chose to get the Kindle simply because of the range of books available.

iPhone

[bifurcati]

Just throwing into the mix the fact that Stanza on the iPhone is a pretty darn good reader. It's not the polish of the Kindle' (or others') eInk screen, but it's quite readable, and great for portability.

Sounds like you're looking for a more specific device (and one you can share!), but just for info :) As for getting books for it, I've been downloading them from Torrents, etc., mostly PDFs but converting them to stanza files. (I should point out, for the most part I've only been downloading books I already own - I don't feel too guilty about doing that! Things like fantasy that are just too big to lug about, etc)

Re: iPhone

[brettw]

I've had other friends recommend the iPhone as a ebook reader. I'm unconvinced. I'd kinda like to keep my eyesight, so the iPhone isn't big enough for how I'd like to use it (whilst on an exercise machine, for long reading sessions on holiday...)

I also avoid Apple like the plague. I have issues with their brand and have long ranted about them. To get an iPhone would be admitting defeat :)