So, I’m thinking of rejoining the 2010s and getting an e-book. I don’t know what I’m looking for exactly, what makes a big difference or is trivial. Any opinions or advice? Which models or features have been worthwhile for you? Which have not?
Let’s see if this goes through with out another 504 gateway error.
Kindle Paper white is the best IMHO.
Second this.
I bought my first electronic paper ebook reader in 2009 and continued using the second one until it died from a broken USB port around three years ago. So I don’t say this without experience with e-book readers: if you are totally new to electronic books, you might as well try the Kindle app or an EPUB reader such as Moon+ on your phone or tablet first. You may decide that that is good enough (or decide that ebooks aren’t for you) before buying dedicated hardware.
Love the Kindle paperwhite.
First, some clarification about terminology. It sounds like you’re asking about a device. I’ve only ever seen the term “e-book” used to refer to the texts that you might read on such a device. For example, an electronic version of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer would be an e-book.
E-books can be read on computers, smartphones, or tablets, or on dedicated e-readers, which is probably what you’re asking about. (The Kindle Paperwhite which has been mentioned here is an example of an e-reader.) Some people find their phone or tablet to be perfectly adequate for reading e-books, but a dedicated e-reader has some advantages, compared to tablets or phones:
- Many people find it easier on the eyes, since it’s not backlit. (Most models these days are frontlit, which is a different thing. The light is shining down onto the words, not up into your eyes.)
- Much easier to see in bright sunlight.
- Significantly longer battery life.
- Bigger screen than most phones, lighter and easier to hold/carry than most tablets.
Amazon’s Kindle line of e-readers are the only ones I have any experience with, but they’re just fine, especially if you intend to get some or all of your electronic reading material from Amazon. They have three “levels” of Kindle. Their cheapest, most basic version didn’t use to have a light, but now it does.
I like my Kindle Fire 9 (gave to my son’s girlfriend because…) and 10 (Hubby bought it and a case for me for XMas). Not just an e-reader but also a tablet.
So not only can I read tons of books for $9.99 a month (and I read a lot) thru Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Prime, I could surf the Net (I prefer my desktop) , add games, listen to music and the display/play of Netflix/Hulu or Amazon Prime is quite nice. But they do require wi-fi/cord to a pc/laptop to add new stuff vs a phone that has its own “hotspot”.
Non-amazon books can be read but you might have to jump through a few hoops to get them to work. Same with adding google play games to them.
I do mean an e-reader rather than an e-book, thanks for the correction.
For what reason(s)?
E-reader and tablet prices don’t seem that far apart, thanks for mentioning it. Will Kindle Unlimited/Prime work with other tablets?
The option of tablets really opens things up though.
Generally, what features have you enjoyed? Front-lighting seems good. Are there others?
I have a Kobo Aura H2O e-ink reader. I bought it mostly for use outdoors (beach, poolside) where a regular tablet would typically be unreadable. It’s supposedly waterproof. The battery life is very good if you don’t abuse the backlight.
I like it but it’s a single-purpose device; I often find myself using a tablet instead because I don’t feel like reading a book right then.
I have a kindle fire 8. I love the thing. I can stream movies or TV shows, download them, read, listen to music (download it, too!), wander the internet and take photos. I opted for the larger memory and popped in a memory card for even more memory.
My only sadness is that they did away with the lovely tangerine color the kindle7s had. It was glossy and made me happy. Matte marine blue just doesn’t do it.
I pay for kindle unlimited for books and have never regretted it.
As far as I know, they should work on any tablet, through the Kindle app that you can install if it isn’t already pre-installed. But I’m not speaking from extensive experience here.
The advantage of tablets is that they’re multi-purpose devices, and you can do many different things with them, not just read. Plus, the cheapest tablets are even cheaper than the cheapest e-readers.
I listed the advantages of e-readers over tablets in my earlier post.
Should be fine. I read far more with Kindle on my iPad than I do on my paperwhite, and nearly all Kindle Unlimited. It’s nice that the app has different colour schemes, variable contrast etc. and supports graphics/formatting much better.
The dedicated ebook reader is sluggish and occasionally annoying with any content that has things like embedded tables. However it is much smaller, has better battery life and is easier to read in sunlight so it is better as an ‘out and about’ reader. Although for filling in a few minutes here and there kindle app on a phone is surprisingly good, its well worth trying as David Garrison has already pointed out.
Fun quirk to be aware of with apple devices - apple want a cut of everything sold through apps on their platform, so kindle on apple does not support direct purchasing, you need to buy the book from kindle webstore via the browser, then you can use the app to download/read. However with Unlimited you’ve already paid separately and there is no transaction cost, so for that search/choose/download/read works normally via the app.
As mentioned, it’s very good for reading outdoors. Even in the brightest sunlight. That’s important to me. I like reading on the deck or around the pool on vacation. Also great battery life. And plenty of settings to adjust your font size (which I’m sure they all have).
Re e-readers, the Kindle is a nice size in my humble opinion.
What I have done is also downloaded the Kindle app to my smart phone. They two devices are synced, so the proper page always comes up. I don’t carry the Kindle around with me . When say waiting for an appointment or something, I just pull out my phone. Except for traveling, the Kindle just stays by my bedside.
Had the first Kobo, I currently have an Aura H2O and Really like the fact I can read it in any light conditions, the long battery life, and the relative ease of sideloading other books compared to a Kindle. It’s also waterproof if you like to read on the beach or in the bath.
Ebooks must be in .mobi format to be read on a Kindle. Hardy any other device uses mobi. I was reminded of when stuff for Apple was not compatible with PC. Or C-64. Most every other Ereader uses .epub.
(Or variants of that format, like .azw. Or plaintext or PDF files, but they don’t work very well.)
It has literally never been a problem for me that Kindles don’t read the .epub format. Books acquired from Amazon are, of course, always in a Kindle-compatible format. Books from other sources (e.g. Project Gutenberg) are usually available in multiple formats; just pick the one that works best on your device. And when only .epub is available, Calibre can be used to convert it.
I have both a Kindle Fire and a Paperwhite. Hands down, for reading, go with the Paperwhite. I use the Fire for watching Netflix in bed or surfing the web. Once in awhile, I use it as a reader but only when I’m in bed with the lights out. It is impossible to read outdoors. Even with a non-glare screen saver I can’t read from it. I’m outside every day when the weather is nice, reading on my patio. That’s what I use the Paperwhite for.
I have had a Kobo Touch for several years, and have been very happy with it. Of the readers available at the time, it was my preference because of the e-pub compatibility. As others have stated, if that format doesn’t work with your choice, Calibre can be used to do the conversions.
-DF
I love my kindle paperwhite. If I lost it I’d immediately repeat the purchase.
Yup. Hassle free. It always just works.
If I needed a tablet computer, well I would buy a tablet computer. But I would not expect, or plan to use it as an e-reader.
As I mentioned, I can sync my phone to my Kindle. So as long as I have either, I just turn it on, and there is the last page I read. That’s GREAT for the times when you are expected to wait. Like a Doctors office. (Had my hip replaced in November). But bang, take your Kindle or assuming your indoors at the docs office (I do traditional medicine), If you have a smart phone, Bob’s your uncle.
When waiting for a 10 minute database process to run through at work, that I may have to run at work 10 times a day… well… I’ll pull out my phone and read a bit. It’s all there. When I get home at night, the Kindle picks it right up where I left off.
Yes I am very tied to Amazon. But, I never have a lack of choice. Works for me.