Re: Towards A Virtual Williamsburg!
 

Speed and size.

TM

Re: Towards A Virtual Williamsburg!
 

Q: Why is Hank not more successful with the ladies? [/Carnac]

E-Readers
 

I've finally decided it's time to buy an e-reader. Yes, I'm a dinosaur. The thing is, I still get most of my books from the public library so I want to get a reader that will allow me to borrow books easily. I understand from my research at the local library that I can do that on any kind of reader, including Kindle, Nook and iPads. So I guess that doesn't help me narrow it down any.

Assuming that I'm mostly going to be using the reader to read books (60% borrowed/40% purchased), does anybody have any advice? I'm leaning away from the Ipad bc I don't see the point in paying so much more for options that I don't think I'll use, but I'm willing to re-consider that stance if somebody makes a strong enough case.

If it matters, what really convinced me that I need an e-reader is that I've been traveling a lot lately and packing multiple books to get me through a trip is getting cumbersome. I've run out of reading material a couple of times when my travel was delayed and that is something I never want to experience again.

Re: E-Readers
 

We just buy the cheapest versions offered by each of Amazon, B&N, and Kobo, and have the reader apps on our various applie products, and they all get passed around the family and more or less treated as disposable. At $69 or $79 each, so what if we have to buy a couple a year. Everyone has mild preferences based on screen appearance and the feel of the unit, but they're not really that distinguishable in terms of functionality. Everyone has some books and misses others, and Amazon is much easier to import non-Amazon stuff into now.

I think your choice is more a lifestyle one - do you buy the cheapos and think of them as semi-disposable, or do you buy a fancy one that has color and behaves more like a tablet than a reader and protect it accordingly.

Re: E-Readers
 

You can get a blackberry playbook for $150. It's actually a pretty good tablet (unless you need certain apps like Skype and Netflix). I use it as a reader and it works great. It's no Ipad, but it's significantly cheaper and not much more expensive than a regular reader.

I also always keep one real book with me when I travel so I can read during take-off/landing.

Re: E-Readers
 

I use a Kindle and the kindle app on my ipad because I like the bigger screen. Where else does one get books?

Re: E-Readers
 

I love my old skool Kindle with the fire of a thousand suns. I still carry an iPad for movies, work, everything else, but I read on my Kindle.

Re: Towards A Virtual Williamsburg!
 

HELP! for a story I'm writing I need a clever, concealed way to cheat on a test, as in "he smuggled notes in under ___" or some other neat trick. I need it ASAP.

Re: E-Readers
 

I'm leaning in this direction bc my husband has an early generation Kindle and loves it, and that means he can troubleshoot for me if I have any problems (although he doesn't borrow books).

Is it easier to share books if two people have the same kind of device or is that irrelevant? Our tastes don't always overlap, but when they do, that would be a nice option to have.

And thanks to GGG and Coltrane for your suggestions too. Even though Coltrane's sucked because he gave me another option and I need less options not more because my head already hurts from trying to decide things.

Re: E-Readers
 

If you are only going to read books, you're right that you don't need an iPad. Get one only if you want to use it to surf the web, use email, etc and don't mind that it's less than perfect for just reading books. It's what I'd buy, because I'd prefer to be able to do those other things and only want to carry one device, but I don't read a ton of books on it. My next one might be a iPad mini though.

I'm biased, as my future father in law oversees production of all the Kindles, but I think Kindle is the way to go for strictly book reading. Again, if you don't want to do web stuff, there is no reason to go for a Fire, especially as some people get eye stress from reading a back lit screen. The fiance has several Kindles and uses them all the time. Personally, the need for a separate light would annoy me, but I guess it's easier on the eyes for some. Wirecutter says the Paperwhite version is currently the best e-reader. Apparently it includes a light (haven't personally seen this one yet).

Personally, I'd also have more faith in the continued availability of content from Amazon too.

ETA: Briefly playing with various Kindles convinced me that the original iPad is bigger than needed for almost everything. It's great if you want to watch video while it sits on a table in front of you, but it's too big to comfortably hold on to and doesn't need to be that big if you're holding it at normal reading distance, especially.

Which is to say that my advice is to get a smaller one because it fits in the hand better. I got each of my parents one of the small Kindle touches last Christmas. My mom's a constant reader and also prefers the library. She uses it all the time.

Re: Towards A Virtual Williamsburg!
 

Does it take you a long time to count to 36?

Re: Towards A Virtual Williamsburg!
 

He had to smuggle in a cheat sheet for that test too.

Re: E-Readers
 

Before you decide, if you're only getting 1, I would look at the last dozen books you've read and who has them. B&N is better than Amazon for easy access to cheap classics and downloading from some of the public domain sites; it is also better for published abroad books, which Amazon more often figures out how to block before release here (this is important to my kids, who like a couple of fantasy writers who are always first published abroad) or where Amazon seems to have some tiffs (like they don't seem to get along with the Chinese that well - getting Chinese language books seems to work better on B&N). But Kindle probably has the edge on the mass market publishers in general. If hubby has a kindle, it's actually a reason to go with B&N, since each of them will list some books the other won't have, as long as you and he are willing to swap now and then.

If your reading habits tend toward bestsellers, it probably won't matter. But if you have some quirky stuff you read, it's worth checking out.

Re: E-Readers
 

Thanks, but I'm pretty sure I will never be ordering a book in the Chinese language. And my husband will let me touch his Kindle when I pry it out of his cold dead hands. I bought the Kindle Paperwhite. It's cheap and seems like a good introductory e-reader that will be easy to carry and use while I get used to reading e-books.

Re: E-Readers
 

I see what you did there.