eBook reader recs?

[dragonfly]

Mom wants an eBook reader of some kind for Christmas, but she doesn't know enough about them to have a preference. Neither do I. I don't want to start any wars or anything, but which kind should I get her?

Edit: I went to bed after posting and woke up to all these wonderful responses! Thanks so much, everyone.

1. I also have issues with Amazon, but if the consensus was that the Kindle was really the best option I would have tried not to let my feelings interfere with her comfort, if you know what I mean. However, it sounds like there are lots of other viable options, so yayy, not a Kindle.

2. I honestly didn't know there even were other options than Kindles, Nooks and Sony, so that's a bit boggling. ::boggles:: Kobo sounds interesting, atm.

3. Mom is less tech-savvy than I am (or perhaps I should say tech-comfortable), but we live together, so I can help her, and she is willing to learn things when she cares about them. I could work with her for Sony-type downloading, and she'd catch on.

4. Price is an issue, but it's not the issue, and Mom would totally understand if I got her something that's not top-of-the line. OTOH, I don't have to go with cheaper, if it has a real downside.

5. Mom does not have particular issues with hand comfort or eyestrain, but of course, I'd rather not give her any, either.

So, from here, of the main three, I'm thinking Sony-ish, but now I do want to learn about all the lesser known brands too. THANKS for all the guidance, everyone.

Comments

[trialia]

NOT a Kindle; Amazon's ethics suck, they refuse to use industry standard format *and* they use DRM, plus they have a virtual monopoly on the new paper books market... I have a Sony PRS-505, have had it for a bit over a month & I love it. Falling asleep so will expand comment later.

[amalthia]

At this stage all the devices are pretty good it really depends on what your mom plans on reading, if she plans on buying all her ebooks, and if she wants to be able to easily organize her ebooks on the device. If she's the type that wants to carry thousands of ebooks with her all the time then the Sony devices are what she'll need. If she only wants to read ebooks she's paid for then the Kindle/Nook is a good choice.

[jumpuphigh]

I love my Sony PRS-650. I haven't heard enough about the new Sonys to rec them or not. My model is from last year.

I recommend finding some place where she can play with some different models. I agree with trialia that Kindle is really not the way to go unless she doesn't mind being locked into buying everything from Amazon. Nook is heading in that direction as well but it is a good device and for now has much more flexibility than Kindle. However, none of that matters if the device triggers a migraine (like the Nook does to me) or the interface doesn't make sense (like the Kobo for me) or it doesn't feel good to use. Best advice I got when I was trying to figure out what to buy was from elf which was (paraphrasing) "buy what you like. You'll make it work." She was right.

[amalthia]

Elf's advice is spot on. I made sure I tried my Sony PRS-650 and the other devices before going with the Sony. I also haven't heard much about the newer Sony devices I have the feeling that they are like the 650 except with Wi-fi. Since I don't buy any ebooks my sony works just fine.

I also didn't want to be locked into Amazon or Nook.

[shanaqui]

You don't have to buy everything from Amazon to put on a Kindle. I have Diane Duane's books and Baen ebooks and Project Gutenberg books on mine.

[mackiedockie]

A lot of libraries do lend ereaders to patrons now, or have in-library tech 'petting zoos' where patrons can get some hand's on feel for the units without a sales push. Depends on the library (and the funding, alas.)

[dragonfly]

Cool! Thanks, I'll look into that.

[thejeopardymaze]

I don't trust Kindle due to privacy issues, but Nook's internal storage restrictions
are nothing to be happy about either. Personally I plan on settling for a Kobo.

[rattlecatcher]

A problem with the Kobo is that the only way to organize is by author and title. As in: Author's names, A-Z, and same for title. I was spoiled by BeBook, which allows you to create folders and subfolders. I could have a folder for storytelling, and toss in all my fairy tale collections, and a folder for reference materials, as well as regular fiction (broken down by genre), slash (fandom-author-whathaveyou)...
Nook offers this as well (and is easier to get in the US, which is why I switched from BeBook), and has an SD card slot, which is where I keep the slash, etc. I can organize in a way that works for me, and I just couldn't get the Kobo to do that for me.

[dragonfly]

Thanks! I plan to look into a Kobo.

[elf]

The biggest difference with the current models is "e-ink READER vs color MINI-TABLET."

E-ink is easier on the eyes and has much, much longer battery life. They work better for most books. (They don't work better for letter-sized PDFs.)

The color readers, which are mostly Android tablets with limited functions (which bold & clever buyers willing to play with firmware are willing to root to less limited tablets), can play games and do internet things as well as read books, but their book functions aren't as good. (Most of that is battery life & display; the software functionality's about the same.)

Rule 1) Most people who love books and buy e-readers are happy with whichever one they got. It reads books, lots and lots of them; they learn to work around whatever tech limitations it has.

Rule 2) They all have tech limitations. They all have *severe* tech limitations, firmware, software & hardware. Investigate those, not the benefits; decide if the limitations of a device are a deal-breaker.

Rule 3) Nothing is great for PDFs. PDFs are designed for page layout; if that page isn't smaller than the screen, there's problems. Some readers are better than others at dealing with the problems.

More general advice:
For non-techie people, the Kindle works best. It's easy, connects to a huge bookstore that includes a lot of freebies, and lots of people love the easy-download options. However, it is tied to Amazon's politics & ethics (they're still removing searches for LGBT books, including non-explicit ones), and you can't buy DRM'd mobi-format ebooks from other stores. (You can buy non-DRM'd ebooks. And Amazon's "email me the converted version of [X]" is very convenient.)

However, the Kindle doesn't read epub natively (although Amazon will convert it), and the majority of other stores focus on epub. And the Kindle's PDF support is among the worst in the industry; they don't even allow bookmarks inside PDFs.

I'm fond of e-ink because I want the ridiculous battery life; I can't speak for other devices, other than to say, the people who have them? Mostly love them. This is a near-universal in the ebook-device communities: people love the one they get & disdain the flaws of the ones they don't have.

If you've got time to poke at ideas, or you find yourself hung up on a particular choice, you can check the archives at Mobileread's Which One Should I Buy? forum.

[thejeopardymaze]

e-ink READER vs color MINI-TABLET.

I realized recently I will need both, and I am not happy about it. I can only hope that someday a company will come out with a reader created with some kind of switch screen capacity.

[ein_myria]

Actually, the iPad goodreader app is great for the PDF. :) I've printed muuuuch less.

[dragonfly]

E-ink is easier on the eyes and has much, much longer battery life.

I knew nothing of this. Thanks a lot.

decide if the limitations of a device are a deal-breaker.

This sounds like great advice.

Nothing is great for PDFs.

Okay, good to know.

people love the one they get & disdain the flaws of the ones they don't have.

:-) Very reassuring! Thanks so much.

[purplecat]

A lot depends how comfortable she is using a computer. I love my Sony to bits but wouldn't recommend it for either of my parents-in-law because I know the simple fact of having to switch on a computer, connect to the internet, connect the device to the computer and then sync the devices once a book was downloaded would be a complete deal-breaker for them. Compared to the Sony, the kindle is much simpler to use for anyone who finds computers mysterious and difficult.

I don't know how the other ereaders compare, but if your mother tends to find computers difficult it is well work looking for a device with its own internet access and simple support for purchasing/downloading books at the level of "see it on the web page - click - pay - book is magically present in library".

[tameiki]

Got a Sony PRS 600 for m-i-l (she who will forever be computer illiterate). What I do there is have her keep a list of what title or author she wants -- I take her SD card so it's magically present in library after I do the computer thing.

Even with my own PRS 650 I just drag and drop ebooks onto SD card. I've never touched Sony's program or ebook store.

[ninetydegrees]

I'd never had an e-reader and reading all the reviews made here against the Kindle and Amazon kind of turned this decision in my mind into Kindle or no Kindle. And, frankly, it all came down to the price and the easiness of use of the Kindle 4. I knew I wouldn't use my e-reader that much that buying something more expensive would be a waste of money, I knew I didn't want a touch screen, I knew I wanted the e-ink, the non-lit screen and the options to format text (particularly leading and numbers of words on one line), I knew I wanted something very simple to use. I was already familiar with Amazon (and its ethics and policies) and I knew I could convert stuff thanks to Calibre if I needed it, which was quite unlikely anyway. Easy choice.

So, to me, it all boils down to:
-- does price matter?
-- how often are you going to use it?
-- what kind of things do you want to read? Books? News articles? PDFs? Word docs?
-- does it matter to you where you're going to buy them?
-- is a learning curve a potential issue?

Just thought about something: I would never buy an iPhone or an iPad for myself. I don't like them, I don't like Apple's policies and ethics and I prefer something with much more flexibility even if it's harder to use so exactly the opposite of what I wanted in a e-reader. But the iPhone and the iPad are perfect for my Mom. Would you buy them for yours?

[dragonfly]

But the iPhone and the iPad are perfect for my Mom.

Other than one Ipod, which is mine, we've never had anything of Apple's in our lives. I'll probably steer clear of that route, if for no other reason than that I couldn't help her. Thanks.

[tameiki]

As everyone has wisely suggested above, the ereader you get depends on what you want it to do. Every brand has pros and cons. From what I like and require, I prefer the Sony brand without wi-fi (so far - but I've also been tempted by their newest offering).

I believe every Sony model through PRS 650 supports Word .doc format. The newest one doesn't. Many (most?) other brands of ereaders do not. My eyesight sucks so I can manipulate and change font sizes, formatting and whatever I need then drag and drop that directly onto the SD card. Not having the ability to use .doc format and having the ereader backlit is a deal breaker for me, it might not matter to your mother.

Whatever she gets, I'm sure she'll be thrilled :)

[thejeopardymaze]

Are there any apps that help with the .doc issue?

[delladea]

elf made a great comment above. I've only ever owned a Kindle (3rd gen. WiFi only), but I've been pleased with it. It's fairly easy to get around the limitations on the device, and it's rather nice to be able to email Word documents to the device and have them converted. E-ink screens are a must for me since they really reduce eye-strain (color screens currently don't).

Kindles are very easy to use and buy content for if you don't mind being locked into buying media from Amazon.

I'm sure she'll love whatever you get her! :)

[shanaqui]

Amazon doesn't stop you buying media elsewhere... I've got Baen ebooks and Diane Duane's ebooks on mine, along with files of my own and Project Gutenberg books.

[baggyeyes]

There are other options other than the big names. There's the Android powered Pandigital Novel, The Libre Pro, the Libre - depending on where you are, it is Aluratek or another company selling it. I first heard of the Libre VIA gossymer and she loved her relatively non-big name ereader. Myself, I have a Kobo, but the controls and the slow rendering of PDF annoys me. Otherwise, it's fine for text and packaged ebooks.

I mean to add - do some reading in users forums of the ereaders that catch your eye. See what the common gotchas are, and how old they are, and whether they've been addressed.

[thejeopardymaze]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll consider them.

[lapillus]

Some other things to consider:
Size, not just in terms of content, but also in terms of transport: I wanted one that would fit in a pocket and not require a bag to lug it around and as a result I've made much more use of it than I would have otherwise.

Weight: I have issues due to fibromylagia and if your mom has any problems with RSI or arthritis or they like take that into account. I found in playing with the older kindles, sonys and nooks that they were just heavier than I found comfortable to read one-handed (I'm single and often read while eating, so one-handed operation is a must.)

I ended up with one of the nearly unknown ones (Pocketbook 360)and have been very happy.

If your mom is relatively tech savvy and doesn't mind the slightly more complicated downloading from PC rather than the Kindle's whispersync it may be worth checking out some of the other options. http://www.the-e-reader-reviews.com/ has a wide variety of readers reviewed. Often there are video reviews which really help if you can't get your hands on one to try it yourself.

Also, once you get her an ereader, if your mom is up to following blogs she might be interested in http://blog.booksontheknob.org/ which gives links to daily deals on free and reduced price ebooks.

[dragonfly]

LOVE that review site. Thanks!

[ephemera]

If you're in the uk, Waterstones is having an epic sale on these: http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/cybook/bookeen+cybook+opus+ereader+black/8580829/

I've just taken delivery of one as an early Christmas present, and so far I'm impressed.

[dragonfly]

That does look good! Not too big (or too small), e-ink, changeable size fonts, expandable storage and not very expensive.

Except for that shipping it across the pond part. *cough* :-)

[thejeopardymaze]

I changed my mind, everything sucks, I'll be visiting a few electronic stores on Friday and the weekend to see what sucks the least. I do however think getting an ereader that natively displays epub is a pretty good idea, as well as a wide selection of other formats. If you don't get her a microsd card to go with it, you should probably advise her to get one in the long run.

Personally I'll be looking in to wifi and free 3/4g options for both e-ink and color.

-

As for ethics-I'm sorry, but nearly every electronic item made these days is made in horrific conditions. Even software from MS was packaged in sweatshops in Mexico back in the 90's, now their OS discs are probably made in even worse conditions. I wish boycotting just one company worked, but with NAFTA and GATT, the only thing left is revolution. I wish I could be an optimist, but I've been reading about the conditions of how so much is made in general before the 00's and is getting worse.

[delibby]

Two things I came across today:

http://ebookfriendly.com/2011/12/03/buying-an-ereader-checklist/



http://www.marco.org/2011/12/02/kindle-touch-vs-nook-simple-touch-kobo-touch-kindle-4

[dragonfly]

Hey, thanks!

herve leger

[(Anonymous)]

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