How is the Kindle reader?

A friend of mine LOVE’S it but says she can not see the screen outside on the porch or in the car, two of her favorite reading places.

I got a sony PRS 600, I like it more than my dad’s kindle. The Sony ones (most of them) have a touch screen so you can jot notes down… the store it a bit spendy, but I just use it to put PDFs on so that is a non issue for me.

I have the first generation Kindle, and it is great. The buttons are a little awkward, but that rectified that with the second generation. Have you thought about getting an iPad instead? The Kindle app by Amazon is awesome, and it is really easy to read on.

My friend has the Nook, by B&N and it also great. My husband had the Sony and we were not big fans of it.

I have never had any problem reading outside or in the car. Since there is no backlight, there is no glare, so I am not sure why the above person’s friend could not use it in the sunlight.

@Supergirl So am I to take it that you would recommend the ipad as the best reader or just that it is a reader plus?

I got one for my wife on her birthday and she hasn’t put it down! All the eReaders cost about the same and from all the research I’ve done the Kindle (I’m speaking of Kindle 2 btw) is the most refined.

Here is a good Fluther thread with more information…
http://www.fluther.com/87174/who-has-a-nook-and-loves-it/

I have a Kindle and I love it. I love that I can take it outside or into bright areas without straining my eyes. If you get a Kindle, you’ll probably want to get a reading light. I keep thinking “oh, electronic device” and getting stuck without mine because everyone knows electronic devices light up. Well the Kindle is not backlit, so it does not glow and you need a light to read it in dark areas. Of course, this is also what lets you take it outside (that it is not backlit) so I can’t really complain.

I have looked at each of them and have an iPhone. I much prefer the Apple interface; I find the Kindle’s buttons awkward and unintuitive. However, my son who is an Apple-geek has both the iPad and the Kindle and says the Kindle display is much more comfortable for reading; because it is E-Ink (now corrected), it looks more like a book than the iPad and is easier on the eyes.

@janbb I believe the Kindle display is E Ink. But you’re correct that the Kindle is much more comfortable to read from than the iPad LED display.

@mhl12 Thanks for the correction; I wasn’t sure of the terminology, just the outcome.

It’s truly a matter of personal preference. I salivated over the Kindle for a year and finally bought one. After two weeks, I returned it. It, to me, was nothing like reading a book. The buttons were awkward. I hated the clicking sound each time I turned a page. I missed not being able to get an overview of the book before and during reading. I realized that I always do a lot of skimming before I read a book and no way to do that with the Kindle. It’s a page by page (plodding, to me) process.

Just didn’t fit my style. Obviously, most love it.

@plethora You could still get the overview before and during. You can read both the blurb from the back and—in my opinion more useful—you can download samples that usually consist of a wee bit over the first chapter.

@EmpressPixie True, I could, but I couldnt get over the feel that I was working a machine instead of reading a book.

I love mine and I don’t find the buttons awkward or anything. My only complaint is the DRM, and I strip it once I’ve purchased a book so that I can then read it on my computer (with a program other than Kindle PC), read it on my phone, or loan it to a friend. Plus, sometimes they wait a few months to after a book release to release the Kindle version, which is really f***ing annoying if it’s a book that everyone is talking about right now and no one will be talking about in 5 months (especially political books such as memoirs, Game Change, Palin’s book, and any of Glenn Becks’ books – just examples, not necessarily one’s I’ve read).

@papayalily Oh, come on…I bet you’ve read them…..:)

What is the DRM?

I do find reading on my Mac much more pleasing than reading on the Kindle.

@plethora I didn’t read Palin’s or Beck’s books, they were mentioned in an article about the pros and cons of doing those sort of books in hardcover vs paperback vs ereader (because the people that buy them will probably buy them right away, they have to get all their sales right then, no money will come from those books in 20 years or even a few months from then, and Amazon doesn’t let authors price their own books, so they aren’t making a profit off the 10 buck price).

Digital Rights Management – the coding they put on songs you download from iTunes so you can’t listen to them on another computer without making it one of your, what is it, 5 computers you’re allowed to have? It’s the whole “anti-pirating” stuff that makes it so you can’t share with yourself.

Oh ok…thanks for the clarification.

I’ve only seen it on Oprah once. It looks cute ‘n all, but i prefer books.