e-readers?

[CalvinHobbes]

I know this was brought up in the past, but I wanted to ask everyone their opinions on current e-readers. I had an old school Nook that just broke, and because I was smart way back in the day I had the extended warranty so they fully refunded it.

What are current thoughts on the different e-readers? I want something with the e-ink or equivalent because I can't read on my tablet...just too bright and hurts my eyes.

[bigm141414]

I like the new generation of Kindles with the glow back light. Comes in handy for dark places. And Amazon still has a bigger selection than its competitors. But if you don't go that route here is the hierarchy of ereaders

Kindle

Kobo

Nook

Sony Ereader

Everyone else.

[rtalencar]

I got my wife the new fire. She loves it. I use an iPad.

[Sea Level]

Agree with the e-ink. I have an older Kindle (3rd generation, I think) with the keyboard and Wi-Fi/3G. I really like it because of the e-ink and wherever there's (AT&T, I think) 3G, you can access minimal internet. It's proved very handy when traveling.

I don't think I would get an iPod or Fire because of the screen glow. I don't care for it.

[Eurydice]

I love e-ink but I do not love the low contrast, so I just bought the new Kindle Paperwhite, which seems to be the best of both worlds. I love my Fire but it has glare issues so bad you can probably see the screen from space so it's not that great for me to read on. I do highly recommend the Kindle products, though, not just for their awesomeness but for the whole Amazon ecosystem.

[Oogiem]

I'm going to replace my original first gen kindle with a paperwhite one if when I test it I can see it as clearly with no eye strain.

E-ink is the key.

I have an iPad, great for books with color and pictures but not for long reading.

[LRB]

I have an older Kindle, and love it. Like really, irrationally, completely love it.

[Aqweei]

I have a Kindle Keyboard, will be updating to the new Kindle Paperwhite! <3

[RaeVynn]

I'm a Nook fan. Still love my Nook. eInk rocks.

I love that I can get ebooks pretty much anywhere that work on it. I can side load whatever, onto the SD card, and can read stuff.

[andygates]

I love my Kobo Touch.

The touch means swipe-to-turn-pages, which is the best user interface I've seen all year. And it's cheap as anything.

The new-season variations are a Mini for little bags and a Glow with a nightlight built in.

[msuroo]

I have an older Kindle, and love it. Like really, irrationally, completely love it.

This.

I have a Kindle Keyboard, will be updating to the new Kindle Paperwhite! <3

And this.

[Caution]

I have a Kindle DX and it is great for when we go on long trips in the car. Last vacation trip we drove for 10 hours straight one way, stayed a few days then 10 hours back and I only had to charge it once all while reading 1 and a half books.

[Avistew]

I used to have a Sony reader, a very old one, but it died. I got a Nook to replace it. I enjoy it, but I preferred the Sony Reader because it didn't have a touch screen. I only ever use the buttons to turn pages anyways, and I keep accidentally turning pages with my knees or whenever I brush the screen, which is annoying.

Being able to touch a word and get a definition is useful though, I have to admit.

[silverpeacock]

I have a kobo touch. I love it, so easy to use, I've tried reading on my laptop, and it makes my eyes hurt, I'm assuming that that same would be true on a tablet too.

I've had my kobo for a year and a bit, and I mainly use it when I'm travelling, instead of having to lug a pack of books around too.

[Pallas Athena]

I really love my original Kindle w/keyboard and WiFi. I tried the Fire for awhile, but there's no way to organize the books into categories, and the battery doesn't last long, so I went back to my original Kindle. I'd like to try the backlit version just to see what it's like. It would be nice to have a "dark" reading option. But I love my original Kindle.

I also back up all the books I purchase on Kindle for PC, just so I've got 'em. I selectively load things to my Kindle so I don't have to hunt through too much stuff. However, I've got quite a few books on it.

I also love some of the free Kindle book email lists--Dining Downloads (cookbooks, mostly, with a few other books about food) because I get ideas for my local foods blog from them, and Pixel of Ink for all kinds of books. I've found authors through the freebie books that I enjoyed so much I later purchased some of their other books. It's a great way to try out newer authors. The books are screened and filtered by ratings, so few are really bad.

Also, I used to have about a 1200 volume library. I have moved those 50+ boxes so many times I can't even think about it. When I discovered I could carry that many books in my little Kindle, I was hooked for life. I've been able to liberate a whole bunch of books from my shelves to the used book store and elsewhere. Woohoo! Much of what I've liberated were favorite classics, which are free to download, so it hasn't cost me much to start converting. I have to admit, I love the feel of reading an old book that I know elders in my family for several generations appreciated, but my daughter and grandson prefer digital reading, so no one to leave them to who would be interested.

Finally, my little Kindle doesn't hurt as much as a heavy book or a Fire or iPad when it drops on my head because I've fallen asleep mid-sentence while reading in bed. Heh.

[Lefeux]

I'm going to replace my original first gen kindle with a paperwhite one if when I test it I can see it as clearly with no eye strain.

E-ink is the key.

I have an iPad, great for books with color and pictures but not for long reading.

I have an iPad 2 and do a lot of my reading on it. If you hit the home button three times it changes from a light background with black lettering to a black/dark background with white lettering. Makes it much easier to read. About the only time I go away from that mode is when I am playing games or browsing the net (i.e. not often out here.) My wife has the kindle fire though and she is pretty happy with it.

[MuayTyson]

Please tell me if I am high jacking the post but why an e-reader over a pad? My wife and I are discussing this for my mother inlaw which is probably leaning to a pad so she can use Skype. The but is this, I lost a third of my library thanks to the USPO so I really want to get my books saved electronically. I need books for reference and some of my CEUs texts can be purchased electronic Why would I get an e reader over a pad? Love to hear any suggestions.

[Eurydice]

Anyone else hovering over the mailbox waiting for your Paperwhite? Mine's supposed to be here tomorrow.

[Blaidd]

I vote for the new Sony eReader - it was the best purchase i made this year (and i got an iPad 3 & Samsung Galaxy S3, so that's high praise)! I like that i can lie on the beach (or at a picnic in the park etc) and read without having to find shade and tilt the thing this way and that to be able to read it. Yay for e-ink! It has wifi but no 3G (i think, i haven't tried), it plays music - I love reading to music - it reads most formats and it's lightweight. IMO Sony was definitely the way to go, but i believe the new Kindle Paperwhite is also pretty good.

[Avistew]

The man advantage e-readers have over pad/tablets is that they aren't backlit, which means they're not as hard on the eyes. The E-ink technology means that it basically feels and looks like you're reading ink on paper.

Some people, me included, find it extremely difficult to read on a screen, and ereaders solve that issue. However they don't have the functionality a computer does, obviously. They're very one-task oriented, so meant for heavy readers. Especially since it's a large original cost comparatively (tablets can do way more stuff).

[Laney]

E-ink is amazing, especially if you suffer from migraines! I bought the Nook when it first came out and it was great! Now I have the Simple Nook and I friggin love it, it's really small and fits in my purse and isn't nearly as heavy as the original one.

The reason I picked Nook originally because I thought the Kindle keyboard was tacky. Books are about the same price on each, and they have the same options for sharing/borrowing.

[Avistew]

The reason I originally got an e-reader was that I had been moving across the world. From France to Canada to France to Canada to the US to France.. I'll stop here.

Anyway, the point is that several of these moves were meant to be permanent. As a result, whatever I couldn't carry or ship I had to sell. It was heartbreking because I just couldn't have all of my books shipped. No place to store them anyways.

Now, I can keep my books with me and not lose them like that, and only buy the really "essential", collector ones.

I started with classics, all free domain so no reason I couldn't get them all back right away. Then I borrowed from the library a bunch, which when I was in Alberta in winter was really nice, as I didn't need to leave home and walk half an hour through the snow to get to the library.

When my Sony Reader died, I got a Nook, and I've only just started to actually purchase ebooks. I find it very convenient, personally, and if you don't have a lot of room or you move a lot, the physical aspect is an obvious and overwhelming advantage.

[Michael Ramm]

I have a Kindle Keyboard, will be updating to the new Kindle Paperwhite! <3

Same here..probably next summer sometime (not one for going for 1st versions of anything technological).

[andygates]

The new Kindle Paperwhite is getting some rave reviews.

[jdkc4d]

While I dearly love my Kindle, my one complaint is the lack of interoperability between devices. Should a better device come out in the future that doesn't support the kindle format, I'm screwed if I want to re-read a book that I have purchased. I don't like that. I feel that if I have bought the book once, I shouldn't have to buy it again and again. I also don't like that I can't share all my books. That is one of the best things about books is being able to share them with friends. Yes, I know you can loan out certain kindle books, but its not the same.