E-readers

[Nish]

Looking around the house at storage space and wanting to catch up on some reading I had put off means thinking about e-readers. Anyone have suggestions or comments other than the obvious paper vs electronic preferences?

[SignOfZeta]

Are people still doing those? Some of my friends did for a while and then it seems like they eventually went back to books.

It was a good year for books, either method.

[Grendel]

Well definitely prefer to read an actual book, I like the feel of the book in my hand especially quality hardcover. That being said I do read a lot of my books in various E-book formats. E-Ink readers are almost as good as the real thing for reading and I hate to admit it Kindle readers are well worth the money. Amazon uses their Kindle E-readers as a loss leader (Kindle readers are cheap) to get you into their ecosystem and therefore encourage you buying Kindle books. I have had the same Kindle for many years (Kindle Keyboard) and still use it today on occasion but I have a library that spans many formats so I tend to use Samsung Tablet (10.5") to read my content now. The screen is not as nice as e-ink and the battery does not last as long but it is capable of seeing "magazines" and comic books in color and is backlit so I do not need a reading light to see text in the dark. I have thought about a Remarkable but they still are not in color.

If you are just wanting to read text only books then e-ink is the way to go and for the cost you really can not beat the Kindles and they do support several eBook formats other then their own. I use an application Calibre to handle my eBook files and convert to what ever I need. Most of my books are in MOBI format and that is not Kindle compatible but with Calibre I can convert it to something Kindle will use.

I have shifted over to using a tablet for the fact I can use it for other things as well and it works well with magazines and comics. The screen is not as nice for reading but it is a reasonable compromise for me. I do still pull out my Kindle at times to read a book I already have or want it laying around the house to use.

[Cdn_Cuda]

My wife is a voracious reader. She had a the Kindle Unlimited which gives her access to all kinds of books. Lots of crap out there, but she’s found some good stuff. She has an Amazon e-ink one, think it’s the middle level one?! Don’t remember. She likes it, batteries last forever, not overly bright (the tablet, not my wife).

[Nish]

Good save there.

[SignOfZeta]

Some of those e-ink things weigh only about as much as a paperback whereas reading an entire book on an iPad without some sort of stand is likely going to cause strain injuries in your wrists as the suckers are hewn from solid metal and just weight too dang much…in addition to providing zero actual grip area anywhere. The Korean knockoffs usually weigh less but still much more than a small dedicated e-ink doodad. Also the battery life on dedicated readers is in days not hours.

[powpowpaintball]

Piggybacking on Grendel's comment, I would get something with a backlight (preferably one you can turn on and off) and I would also make sure whatever you are getting is compatible with the source you will be getting your books from (this is probably irrelevant since you are buying new tech). If you will be borrowing from a library, make sure the library app or service syncs well with your device. I would also look for something that will be supported with updates for the foreseeable future so that it continues to be compatible with different sources.

I can't comment on what to get as I'm still using an old nook, but I'm interested in what you end up getting or what you find is the best consensus reader these days.

[Euphie]

I use a Meebook p78 pro, the main reason is I wanted an E-reader that also had a pen and that could use Android with the Google Play store. Granted I use the Kindle app more than anything else, but I feel that having the whole play store and it's applications available to me has some utility. The pen kinda sucks though, and if I had to do it again I might just buy a Kindle scribe, though that would make me give up my SD card which huge collection of PDFs on it.

Because of the PDF collection all I need to do at the paintball field is go to my car and I have all the schematics and manuals for Shocker, Max-flo, etc. Though, I could probably just use my phone.

Don't get me wrong, I love real books but, I read alot and I don't always want my coworkers to see the cover of the book I am reading on my lunch break. Also I put a 64GB SD card in it and it has 32GB built in, that is basically the storage space of a whole library in the palm of my hand. The one complaint I have is the 7.8" form factor is really small for PDFs, magazines, and photos, but my hands are too small to use the 10"+ devices with one hand, and I really like holding a e-book in one hand like I would a paperback. I also like the dual backlights, so you get a warm and a cool color temp light and can mix them however you see fit.

[Paintslinger16]

I have a kindle paper White, with unlimited subscription, I actually mostly read on the kindle app on a IPad, some purchases require to go back and use the kindle though.

I actually keep another old Kindle at my moms house back in NY and once I connect it, it update's purchases and
bookmarks and the unlimited sub, gives access to books, newspapers and magazines

[Painthappy]

I've been using my nook from Barnes and Noble forever. Nook, Kindle, they are all the same. Just make sure you get one that has the e-ink and the screen can also light up for reading at night. After that, they're pretty much all the same.

[autococker04]

I have a kindle fire but mostly read on my phone with the kindle app when I’m not using a paper book.

the key is to get the libby app and a library card, then you get unlimited books for free.

[Grendel]

Definitely make use of your local library they typically use ePub or MOBI formats (one advantage to using a tablet you can always find a reader for any file format). Also if you are interested in the classics you can find free eBooks from the Project Gutenberg https://gutenberg.org/. There is a lot of good literature available that is no longer under copyright and can be found on Project Gutenberg.

[Nish]

So with an e-reader like a nook of a kindle you can't download an app to read the other file formats?

[Paintslinger16]

Kindle has a app for Apple products, and I read mostly through the app on a IPad Pro. Just that some purchases can’t be completed inside the app, so you may be Able to do it by signing into Amazon or I just use the kindle to purchase.
I like the paper white kindle for how small it is, but reads way better then trying to use the iPhone kindle app.

[Grendel]

Most of the dedicated E-Readers have their set formats they are able to display and there is a fair amount of cross over. They are not little tablets and do not have enough horsepower to run APPs like your phone or tablets can run. They usually have a proprietary OS that has been optimized to just read text and simple graphics. There are some very basic surfing applications but in my experience are less then enjoyable to use. It is one of the reasons I have moved to a tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tab A) for reading because it can do other things and has the ability to run different reader apps. I have been interested in the Remarkable tablet as a possible alternative but it is not cheap and I already have my Samsung tablet. I do miss the e-ink screen but I had to sacrifice that for color and clearer graphics. I like to read magazines and they just look way better on a good color screen.

If you download your ebooks to your computer and use software like Calibre to maintain your library it really does not matter the format because you can use the software to convert the book to the format of your reader of choice.

[Nish]

Been poking around and with what people have said here, price, and added versatility of a tablet I'm kinda leaning towards the Lenovo M8.

[Nish]

Bit the bullet on the Lenovo. Setting it up today after work.