I've got a Kindle Fire, rooted and running Cyanogenmod 9. It's exactly like an Android tablet; you can install the Android market and download apps, movies, and music. It's also a pretty good e-book reader too, I guess.
Books from the Android market or Amazon are much cheaper than books from Apple.
I have a Kindle Touch, I like it. I used to be a hardcore "I'll never want an e-reader because I like the feel of a book in my hands" kind of guy but my mom and sister got it for me as a Christmas present. I figured well, I gotta use it now or else insult them hehe. Turned out I got attached to the thing. I find I use it more than my books. I can't just lay a book down and read because it won't stay open without me holding it; Kindle though allows me to read mostly hands free. Convenient. I also like having most of my library with me in my pocket when I travel.
I cannot comment on prices though as all the ebooks I have I downloaded from newsgroups. One thing annoying about free ebooks, sometimes they must be made by lazy people scanning books with OCR and not proofreading. The current books I'm reading have all sorts of errors here & there: Electra becomes Electro, lir becomes fur, Finn becomes Fim, etc.
As for physical book purchasing, I usually just get used from Amazon or eBay.
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I've been using a Kindle Touch for a few months now and I have been very pleased with it. I present a brief list of my thoughts and some noteworthy points for you to consider.
Book Price
The kindle books are always cheaper than their physical counterparts, but not by a particularly large amount. At least not as much as I initially expected. Something to note is that while free books are available, there does not appear to be any readily available way to find them.
You can get a sample of a book you're considering and at the end is a link to "Buy Now". Be aware, this will immediately purchase the book; there is no confirmation pop-up. You are able to cancel though if the purchase was a mistake.
Touch Interface
I really like the simplicity of the Touch version. There is no physical keyboard taking up what could have been screen space. The touch screen is a bit slow, but unless you make tons of notes in your books it shouldn't be bothersome.
Also the display quality does not seem to be any different to a non-touch Kindle, as it is implemented with an IR array at the perimeter of the screen. This means it only takes a light touch, not even a 'tap', to interact with it. In other words, little to no oily finger smudges.
Ad Support
You can save $40USD by going with an ad supported unit. If you later decide you don't want to see the ads, there is a menu option to disable them for the $40 difference.
The ads a quite minimal and non-intrusive. They only exist in two places: a full screen ad in sleep mode, and a footer ad at the bottom of the home screen. You will see them nowhere else, whether reading, digging through menus, or browsing the Kindle store.
General
I find it more convenient to pick up and read than a physical book. If/when you tire of your current reading material, it takes mere seconds to switch to something else. When you wish to return to the previous book, it will place you right where you last left off. As a result of the Kindle's convenience I read far more often, even when I only have a few minutes.
Oh and I would recommend getting a case as well. I avoided using my Kindle too much at first because I did not want to drop it or damage the sleek exterior. I went with the Amazon Lighted cover and am very happy with it despite the high price.
One thing annoying about free ebooks, sometimes they must be made by lazy people scanning books with OCR and not proofreading. The current books I'm reading have all sorts of errors here & there: Electra becomes Electro, lir becomes fur, Finn becomes Fim, etc.
I will say that even the books in the Kindle store have similar errors. Though from the sounds of it, they're not as rampant as in the ebooks you've been reading. I would guess roughly 10 or fewer in each of the books I've read thus far.
I have this 3-4 year old kindle and even though it is old it still works extremely well and I enjoy it quite alot. I haven't really used it much lately, mostly because I don't read too much, but IIRC an average book is between 5$ and 15$. IIRC I bought the full LotR trilogy for 11$ a few years ago, which is alot cheaper then a proper book (from 10$ to 100$ for the LotR triology depending on the condition). The battery-life is approx 30 days when in ''idle mode'', and approx 3-4 days of reading, but most likely the newer versions with colours and fancy touch probably has slight less battery-life, in exchange for more features.
The screen is very good. It dosen't have that glare that many tablets have (EG iPad), and the text feels ''calm'' (EG real book). Although navigation is slightly clunky, I assume this is because my old kindle only had 5 buttons and no touch.
I honestly don't see why you should NOT get a kindle if you read books (even if you only read 2-3 books a year you will still save money and time). If you didn't have a Kindle you would have to first put clothes on (you don't want to be nude outside), go outside, find a book store, physically find the book, buy it and then go home and read. With a kindle you type in the name of the book and there's a 99% chance that the book is there. Press download and you get it (or you can get a ''demo'' version of the book for free).
Alright. I'm pretty much on the precipice of purchasing a Kindle, but I have one final question: How easy is it to transfer my own documents over to the Kindle? I do mean .txt, .doc, and .html. I know the device supports those formats, but is it as simple as plugging it to my PC via USB and simply copying the files over to the proper folder? If so, will they simply appear in my menu of reading material?
Alright. I'm pretty much on the precipice of pushchair a Kindle, but I have one final question: How easy is it to transfer my own documents over to the Kindle? I do mean .txt, .doc, and .html. I know the device supports those formats, but is it as simple as plugging it to my PC via USB and simply copying the files over to the proper folder? If so, will they simply appear in my menu of reading material?
Yep. Once you plug it in, it should show up as a drive. There is a documents folder, you just put them in there. I personally use Calibre to manage my collection. It's kind of like an iTunes for books. Makes it easy and has handy metadata editing abilities. But you don't need any special software, no.
Yep. Once you plug it in, it should show up as a drive. There is a documents folder, you just put them in there. I personally use Calibre to manage my collection. It's kind of like an iTunes for books. Makes it easy and has handy metadata editing abilities. But you don't need any special software, no.
That's great to hear. I read a lot of material online that's not published stories and would like to carry them with me. All of my questions and concerns have been answered now, so thanks, everyone.
- infinite battery life
-readable in sunlight
-does not need electricity at all
- its a book, it will last for ages.
- while not infinite, 2+ weeks of use one a single charge, is outstanding
- e-ink displays are as easily readable in sunlight as paper
- in today's ubiquity of portable media devices, something needing electricity is a non-issue
- I don't doubt that my Kindle will last long enough for it to have been worth every cent
Now here's something to try with your library of hard copies. Carry thousands of your books with you everywhere. Not so superior now?
I hate all ereaders with a passion eink screens are ****.
Why because when you turn the page they act like a half erased etch a sketch and you can read the old page with the new pages text smashed into it. If you don't want to deal with that you can set it to erase several times so its harder to see the old text but then you gotta wait for the screen to flash for the next 15 secs.
If I don't want to finish it fast I can just get an audio book. That or I can just go get one from my local library and I have infinite loan time for doing IT work for them.
I hate all ereaders with a passion eink screens are ****.
Why because when you turn the page they act like a half erased etch a sketch and you can read the old page with the new pages text smashed into it. If you don't want to deal with that you can set it to erase several times so its harder to see the old text but then you gotta wait for the screen to flash for the next 15 secs.
If I don't want to finish it fast I can just get an audio book. That or I can just go get one from my local library and I have infinite loan time for doing IT work for them.
You must be used to old readers. My Kindle has the problem, but it's pretty slight. To me, it just appears as a kind of texture, it's not that distracting. Mine refreshes after six pages. Here are some pics, starting with a fresh page just after refresh and proceeding (click for full res):
ereaders are the future! Not lying. Only thing an e-reader can't do is survive a huge fall.
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You must be used to old readers. My Kindle has the problem, but it's pretty slight. To me, it just appears as a kind of texture, it's not that distracting. Mine refreshes after six pages. Here are some pics, starting with a fresh page just after refresh and proceeding (click for full res):
I can live with that
Nope it was on a brand new kindle touch and a brand new nook touch.
Nope it was on a brand new kindle touch and a brand new nook touch.
I've never noticed that on my Kindle Keyboard.
OP, get some sort of Kindle with the 3G option. Why? Free internet basically everywhere, and you can root them so you can tether it to a laptop or something.
2) Concerning physical literature, does anyone know of a good online store that possibly offers better prices than the norm?
Books from the Android market or Amazon are much cheaper than books from Apple.
I cannot comment on prices though as all the ebooks I have I downloaded from newsgroups. One thing annoying about free ebooks, sometimes they must be made by lazy people scanning books with OCR and not proofreading. The current books I'm reading have all sorts of errors here & there: Electra becomes Electro, lir becomes fur, Finn becomes Fim, etc.
As for physical book purchasing, I usually just get used from Amazon or eBay.
Book Price
The kindle books are always cheaper than their physical counterparts, but not by a particularly large amount. At least not as much as I initially expected. Something to note is that while free books are available, there does not appear to be any readily available way to find them.
You can get a sample of a book you're considering and at the end is a link to "Buy Now". Be aware, this will immediately purchase the book; there is no confirmation pop-up. You are able to cancel though if the purchase was a mistake.
Touch Interface
I really like the simplicity of the Touch version. There is no physical keyboard taking up what could have been screen space. The touch screen is a bit slow, but unless you make tons of notes in your books it shouldn't be bothersome.
Also the display quality does not seem to be any different to a non-touch Kindle, as it is implemented with an IR array at the perimeter of the screen. This means it only takes a light touch, not even a 'tap', to interact with it. In other words, little to no oily finger smudges.
Ad Support
You can save $40USD by going with an ad supported unit. If you later decide you don't want to see the ads, there is a menu option to disable them for the $40 difference.
The ads a quite minimal and non-intrusive. They only exist in two places: a full screen ad in sleep mode, and a footer ad at the bottom of the home screen. You will see them nowhere else, whether reading, digging through menus, or browsing the Kindle store.
General
I find it more convenient to pick up and read than a physical book. If/when you tire of your current reading material, it takes mere seconds to switch to something else. When you wish to return to the previous book, it will place you right where you last left off. As a result of the Kindle's convenience I read far more often, even when I only have a few minutes.
Oh and I would recommend getting a case as well. I avoided using my Kindle too much at first because I did not want to drop it or damage the sleek exterior. I went with the Amazon Lighted cover and am very happy with it despite the high price.
EDIT:
I will say that even the books in the Kindle store have similar errors. Though from the sounds of it, they're not as rampant as in the ebooks you've been reading. I would guess roughly 10 or fewer in each of the books I've read thus far.
The screen is very good. It dosen't have that glare that many tablets have (EG iPad), and the text feels ''calm'' (EG real book). Although navigation is slightly clunky, I assume this is because my old kindle only had 5 buttons and no touch.
I honestly don't see why you should NOT get a kindle if you read books (even if you only read 2-3 books a year you will still save money and time). If you didn't have a Kindle you would have to first put clothes on (you don't want to be nude outside), go outside, find a book store, physically find the book, buy it and then go home and read. With a kindle you type in the name of the book and there's a 99% chance that the book is there. Press download and you get it (or you can get a ''demo'' version of the book for free).
Yep. Once you plug it in, it should show up as a drive. There is a documents folder, you just put them in there. I personally use Calibre to manage my collection. It's kind of like an iTunes for books. Makes it easy and has handy metadata editing abilities. But you don't need any special software, no.
That's great to hear. I read a lot of material online that's not published stories and would like to carry them with me. All of my questions and concerns have been answered now, so thanks, everyone.
- while not infinite, 2+ weeks of use one a single charge, is outstanding
- e-ink displays are as easily readable in sunlight as paper
- in today's ubiquity of portable media devices, something needing electricity is a non-issue
- I don't doubt that my Kindle will last long enough for it to have been worth every cent
Now here's something to try with your library of hard copies. Carry thousands of your books with you everywhere. Not so superior now?
Why because when you turn the page they act like a half erased etch a sketch and you can read the old page with the new pages text smashed into it. If you don't want to deal with that you can set it to erase several times so its harder to see the old text but then you gotta wait for the screen to flash for the next 15 secs.
If I don't want to finish it fast I can just get an audio book. That or I can just go get one from my local library and I have infinite loan time for doing IT work for them.
Indeed.
People saying ereaders are great then someone posts a different opinion then you and suddenly you are saying he is trying to turn it into a flame war.
You must be used to old readers. My Kindle has the problem, but it's pretty slight. To me, it just appears as a kind of texture, it's not that distracting. Mine refreshes after six pages. Here are some pics, starting with a fresh page just after refresh and proceeding (click for full res):
I can live with that
Nope it was on a brand new kindle touch and a brand new nook touch.
I've never noticed that on my Kindle Keyboard.
OP, get some sort of Kindle with the 3G option. Why? Free internet basically everywhere, and you can root them so you can tether it to a laptop or something.