Ebook Readers: Discussion

[brightwanderer]

Further to the specific Amazon questions yesterday... I'm thinking quite seriously about buying an eBook reader (partly because I'm planning to travel and I don't want to have to keep putting my books into storage/lugging them with me) but I'm not at all drawn to the Kindle, partly because of the DRM, partly because I think it's ugly. I also have some issues with Sony: they have been known to push intrusive and destructive DRM on their products in the past (music, particularly) and I'm not massively keen on supporting them.

Looking around at alternatives, the two that have sprung up particularly are the Hanlin eReader or the Bookeen Cybook. I'd be really interested in feedback from people who've used these, or other readers. And just discussion in general! I'm getting quite excited about the potential of eBooks (I am a writer and I think it offers a lot of scope for self-publishing and alternate forms of publishing) and I like reading what other people have to say about the format and the hardware.

Comments

[gillian]

I can't help you with a personal testimonial, since I own a Sony and love it to death. But Mobileread is a really good place to read up on hardware. This is their Hanlin forum and this is their Bookeen.

Mobileread is just a good place for ebook and ebook hardware news in general.

[brightwanderer]

Aha, thank you - I did go to Mobileread, but for some reason did not find my way to the forums.

[elf]

The Hanlin comes with the additional option of using Open Inkpot, open-source firmware that's being developed by some of the Mobileread regulars. (They also have a forum about it.)

Hanlin was my second choice; I had a limited window of time to decide, and opted for the Sony (mainly for availability reasons).

[eleraama]

I don't have much experience with the others, but I've had a Sony for over a year now. I almost exclusively use it with open formats-- PDF, DOC, TXT, that sort of thing. I have a couple of books from the Sony eBookStore, but in general I get them elsewhere or use Calibre or other tools to convert from other formats to LRF. Then again, many of the authors I read also distribute under a Creative Commons, so YMMV.

[seanlily]

I have a Sony that I love. I use the Sony ebookstore but am not happy with it. What other place do you get books and do you have to convert everything?

[brightwanderer]

It's not so much that I suspect the Sony reader of causing me problems; I was angry enough at Sony's DRM policies to decide not to buy from them any more, and I haven't changed my mind.

[delibby]

There are other options. (Linking to Fry's because it's quick and easy although their prices are wrong.) Neither of these does DRM, one's e-ink the other's non-backlight lcd.

EZ Reader, distributed by Astak
http://shop4.frys.com/product/5834633

ECTACO jetBook
http://shop4.frys.com/product/5777932

[aukestrel]

Friend of mine just got a BeBook and she is very happy with it so far. She decided against the Kindle because Kindle 2 lacks an SD card slot, and she wanted the option of putting fanfic on a removable card.

http://mybebook.com/