For users of the Kindle, Nook, or Reader - why do you like them and which do you recommend?
I’m looking into getting one of the three, but I can’t figure out which one to purchase.
For you book lovers out there who prefer the actual book ; I too like having the actual book in my hands. But for my purposes, that isn’t really possible since I will be traveling a lot in the near future with lots of flights and car rides. Having ten or twelve books isn’t really a convenient option for me.
For those of you who have one of them, can you list if they have some of the qualities that I’m looking for?
I’ve looked at a lot of online articles about which ones are best, but they all seem biased in one way or another…
For example, the Nook has a lot of titles because its based with Barnes & Nobles. I could be sure that it had all of the books that I wanted, but the Kindle is cheaper.
Here’s what I’m looking for:
– reading light
– good selection
– affordability (of books and the product)
– battery life
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
11 Answers
I have the Kindle so I can only speak to that product. I think it’s pretty damn awesome and I’m not very gadget-y. It was user-friendly, downloading takes seconds and the battery life is very long (weeks, if you turn off online mode). You can’t read it in the dark, obviously but I don’t need it then. It was pretty expensive for me (~$270) and that’s why my partner bought it as a birthday present. There are certain titles that Amazon doesn’t carry in Kindle form (like Harry Potter books, grrrr) but most of the books I am looking for are obscure in the field of gender and sexuality and feminism.
I have a Kindle DX, and I love it. I can’t compare to the other readers out there, since I only briefly played with them. Again, it doesn’t replace a paper book, but for much of what I’m using it for that’s OK.
Good points:
– Good readability
– Can load PDFs and other ebooks (project gutenberg/google books) onto it over USB for free
– battery life is about a week if you leave wireless turned on
– Free mobile data*
Bad points:
– Cannot organize books into folders (apparently being fixed in the 2.5 update this month)
– Web browser kind of sucks*
* Okay, one of the big selling points for me on the Kindle was that the whispernet service means you can use their web browser and eventually apps over the mobile network for free. It’s just included in the purchase price of the Kindle. The browser isn’t great. Gmail works fine for me, checking weather on noaa works fine for me, twitter works, wikipedia works GREAT. It’s a little clunky (eInk screen can update maybe 2Hz), but it works, particularly for reading text-based sites on the internet.
If you already have an iPhone or iPod Touch, just download the free Kindle app from the iTunes store. No additional hardware costs, just pay for the books.
I don’t own a Kindle, but I have used one extensively and I really like it. It has a good selection of books, and obviously it’s very convenient (but that applies to all the gadgets you mentioned). I can’t speak for affordability since the one I use is from my school library.
One big downside for me is that it doesn’t have a backlight, which seems like an obvious feature to me. Unless you have an external light like this one, you can’t read in the dark. You also can’t organise books into folders, which can be problematic if you have a large number of books.
@MrItty – The iPod Touch/iPhone screen is too small for me to comfortably read anything longer than an email. Personal preference though.
@MrItty ; Yeah, I do have that, but the screen is a bit too small. xD
Besides, that has all my apps and music – I don’t have room for books!
@xxii @troubleinharlem <shrug> The mild inconvenience of the smaller screen size is well worth not spending several hundreds of dollars on a new piece of hardware. But that’s just me, I guess.
@MrItty – true, but its harder on my eyes to read on it. I’ve tried, don’t get me wrong. But it just doesn’t work for me. Thanks for your suggestion, though.
I just wrote this in defense of e-readers this morning.
When I was choosing whether I wanted to buy a Kindle or a Nook, I looked at this comparison review and found it really helpful. Almost all of the features that made the Nook “better” than the Kindle were ones that I didn’t care about, and I hate touch screens, so the Kindle was the obvious choice for me. It may not be for you.
I got a Nook for my birthday from my husband. I absolutely love it! I have it with me always. I have always loved to read, and I am reading more and more. I really like the lend me feature. I share books with my daughter a lot . She is sixteen and is an avid reader also. Free Fridays are pretty cool also.
Every Friday you can download a free book of their choice. They are usually good. Also you can read any book free in their store for one hour a day. When you go into a B&N, and log into their WiFi you get free things and coupons. You can download Free Friday books anywhere. I love my Nook!
Answer this question 
This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.
Composing members:
0
