wrapped up in (e)books

[tears_of_nienna]

Hello! I am soliciting advice about e-readers, because I think I'm going to ask for one for Christmas. So, if you've got one, tell me about it! What brand is it? What do you like about it? What drives you crazy? Is the contrast good enough? Can you convert text files and upload them

Comments

[vilify]

Nook all the way! It's the more flexible of the two, according to my brother.

[sineala]

Honestly, if you just want to read fanfiction, any of 'em will do; pick the one you like holding and clicking "next page" on best. :) The ebooks community on dreamwidth says sometimes the Sonys have problems with the AO3 exported files, though I don't know much about the Sony line in general. Calibre is a piece of software that basically wants to be iTunes for your ebook library; it will convert pretty much any format to any other format. Which is how I got Harlequin Airs on my Kindle. Calibre of course only works on non-DRMed files, so there's not, um, any legal ways to read library ebooks on a Kindle. Not that I would, er, know anything about stripping DRM. But if you have non-DRM files, you can pretty much get them on anything

[tears_of_nienna]

You make a very, very good argument. <3 I'll probably go out this weekend and poke at the ones they have at Best Buy, just to be sure. I think Amazon has a pretty good return policy, though, so I don't have to worry too much. :D Thank you so much!

[sineala]

...also the Kindle has Minesweeper. :) And it can do text-to-speech if the publisher hasn't disabled it. It gets very confused with invented names, which is occasionally hilarious.

I don't think you have to worry about them coming out with anything shiny and new until at least after Christmas, as well; I think they know people are buying 'em as gifts. People can also gift you specific books if you have a Kindle; if it turns out to be something you don't want Amazon can give you the cost as a gift certificate. Which is nice.

I honestly thought I was going to be one of those people who preferred books, until after about five minutes with the Kindle, which is when I discovered it was the best thing ever. Way better than reading on a computer screen!

[squeeful]

I'd been holding out admirably, but now I want one. (And a fountain pen. My Amazon.com wishlist is hilarious.)

[neumeindil]

I have an E-reader app for my iPod. My books, music, pictures, everything in one shot, and since that prefers epub, you'd still be able to sync the ones from the library. A second or third generation will cost about the same as the Kindle/Nook and do A LOT more. :)

[tears_of_nienna]

Is the screen really small? I hadn't considered an iPod as an ereader before.

[neumeindil]

About the length of my middle finger top to bottom. Big enough for me to see it all right a least.

[sarahsan]

Related - smartphones/iPhones/iPod touch/iPads can download a Nook (and possibly Kindle?) app for free that will function (as far as I can tell, though I haven't played around with it too much) exactly like an ebook reader. So if you already have a phone like this (mine runs Android), or are considering going for one, you might hold off on the separate ebook reader? :D

[sc_fossil]

We had this discussion a couple of weeks ago on the_safehouse. Maybe the info will help you: http://community.livejournal.com/the_safehouse/992814.html

Lots of recs and ideas were tossed out and I posted my comments there.

Have fun!

[tears_of_nienna]

Aha! I knew I had seen info about fanfic and ereaders somewhere--I just didn't connect it with the safehouse. Thank you!!

[jeditrilobite]

I've got a 16 gig wifi iPad and love it. Great ereader, also supports PDFs in addition to most formats that I've been able to find, and is very good for web browsing and writing.

[tears_of_nienna]

Yeah, iPads sound fantastic. But I've been informed that $499 is a little bit out of Santa's price range. :)

[jeditrilobite]

Pricey, but value per dollar? Very well worth it.