Kindle and "E" readers.

[Ghosth]

Your very welcome Mad, I think I've pulled over 600 ebooks from that site over the last year.
And I still go digging around for new old authors.

Review from someone who has both Jetbook and the new K3.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97926

"The key differences are:
Storage card: jetBook has one; K3, no. Advantage jetBook
Wireless: K3 has two, WiFi and 3G; jetBook none. Advantage K3
Battery life: jetBook, a week-ish; K3, supposedly a month-ish. Advantage K3
Case: jetBook comes with one; K3, I have to buy one*. Advantage jetBook"

To me 3G or Wifi is only an advantage if you want, and can afford to buy your books from Amazon.
If you don't, or can't afford them then it is no advantage at all.

"...In conclusion, I like the K3, I don't love the K3. The jetBook shines because of the complete lack of hassle.

1) File conversion and transfer for the K3 is clumsy and time consuming. For the jetBook, it's effortless.
2) The K3 is a bit large for my taste. The jetBook is easier to carry around and handle.

On the other hand:
1) The K3 is a little more pleasant to read on because of the Pearl screen.
2) So long as you don't want to play outside of Amazon's infrastructure, the K3's wireless features shine.

I'm keeping both.

Regards,
Jack Tingle"

So a lot comes down to how and where you want to get your books and what kind of books you want to read.
Mystery, thriller best sellers are few and far between and hard to find except at the big bookstores.
Sci-Fi/Fantasy is very easy to find, and the Project Gutenberg Classics are awesome, if you enjoy that kind of reading.

What will work best for you, only you can say.

[Saxman]

Saxman, why would you want to hold in some cases, several pounds in your hands for hours at a time, smelling dust, mold, and mildew often enough when you could hold a small device, weighs about half a pound, and feeds you a new page every time you push the button?

Same reason why anyone would want to drive out to the firing range, hold in some cases, several pounds that has a tendency to kick back at you, have to contend with the weather, the smell of spent gunpowder, the noise of it going off, and having to clean it again when you're done, when you could instead load up your computer and play Call of Duty.

 

[Sonicblu]

The wife bought me an iPad I haven't found a e reader yet that can do what the I pad can do with it e readers. I have kindle iBook borders just to name a few ... Oh and for you page turners. When you touch the screen you can turn the page. You drag your finger on page and the page turns with it.

It's interesting how you kinesthetic guys just have to turn a page.    Ugh me mongo me no read unless it on clay tablet that weigh ten pounds.

Nice thing about iPad is you can get videos and pictures I use it for work to download spec books and installation manuals.

iPad is the way to go for me the kindle would be my pick if just reading novels.
 

[Ghosth]

2 things you need to look at if you want to bring the Ipod or similar pads into the mix.

A Price: from what I've heard I could buy a 6pack of Jetbooks for what you spend on an ipod.

B Battery life, you get what, 10 hours? Perhaps 12 if you turn stuff off?
Jetbooks typically get 20 - 24.

Last, I have some nice pictures to share of the new K3 vs Jetbook screens.






"Is the K3 a better display? It depends. It has a much better side view (picture 3). But it has a much worse glare problem (picture 2) than the Jetbook. Viewing them side-by-side and keeping the Jetbook at its best angle (picture 1), the Jetbook more than holds it own against the new Pearl screens. The contrast on the K3's Pearl screen does not yet match that of the Jetbook's LCD if the Jetbook is held at its best angle. For me the Pearl screen's contrast sets the bare minimum acceptable for a ereader."

[katanaso]

My wife and I were talking about these, as she is an avid reader.  Our main concern is the comfort of reading a LCD as opposde to print on paper.  Can you guys share your experiences with this aspect of the devices?

Personally, I get sick of reading a computer screen after working around them all day, so I love the fact that I get newspapers, magazines, and books in print form.

Thanks.


mir

[Fulmar]

QFT. The only "reader" I need:

(Image removed from quote.)

The feel of a REAL book int your hands is something special that Kindles and all the other E Readers can't replace.

I'm very much with Saxman on this.  I'm not sure E-readers are going to stem off the oncoming storyline of Fahrenheit 451 though, except it may be eventually Fahrenheit whatever plastic burns at.  But I think E-readers are a transitional technology.  Much like the PDA was.  You used to be the cool person with your Palm Tungsten, but finally someone merged them with a cell phone.  This will more than likely be merged with the cell phone (at least expanded more on cell phones) in a couple two three years.

[Delirium]

I hate to say this but digital books aren't going away, neither is technology in general. They will evolve further into smaller and smaller units, combined with other computing functions.

Anyone who thinks otherwise might as well yell, "Get a horse!" on the highway.

[Soulyss]

My wife and I were talking about these, as she is an avid reader.  Our main concern is the comfort of reading a LCD as opposde to print on paper.  Can you guys share your experiences with this aspect of the devices?

Personally, I get sick of reading a computer screen after working around them all day, so I love the fact that I get newspapers, magazines, and books in print form.

Thanks.


mir

Someone got me the Sony Reader last year for a Christmas present and I have to say that I really like it despite myself.  At least on the Sony the image isn't really back lit in the sense that you need some ambient light to read what's on the screen.  About as much as you would need to read a printed page.  I've taken mine on a couple business trips and have sat there and read for several hours at a stretch while in flight with little eye strain. 

I like books, I like to physically hold something, the tactile feedback, I'm the same way about music, I dislike mp3's and would much prefer to hold a CD in my hands or better yet a record/LP.  However I must admit that having an reader is damn useful at times. 

[maddafinga]

My wife and I were talking about these, as she is an avid reader.  Our main concern is the comfort of reading a LCD as opposde to print on paper.  Can you guys share your experiences with this aspect of the devices?

Personally, I get sick of reading a computer screen after working around them all day, so I love the fact that I get newspapers, magazines, and books in print form.

Thanks.


mir

My kindle doesn't cause me any eyestrain at all, even if I read it for hours at a time.  The background actually seems to have a sort of slightly off white and even looks like it has a papery texture.  It looks like cheap paperback texture to me actually.  It doesn't seem to be backlit really, I have to use a book light to read it at  night with the lights off.  It's not like a computer screen at all. 

[Ghosth]

When I first found ebooks I read them on the computer. But about an hour at a time is all my eyes can handle. An e-book reader is a totally different experience, be it E-ink, K3's new "pearl" screen, or Jetbook's Reflective TFT screen.

Pretty much they all use reflected light like a book.

Unlike a book they don't seem to "eat" half of the light that hits them.
So your left after 4 - 6 hours of reading with eyes that don't ache or strain.
I used to read with a 3 way bulb in a floor lamp over my left shoulder, 50, 100, 150. I tried the new twist flourescent bulbs but they just didn't put out enough light to be comfortable reading. However once I switched to reading on my Jetbook I was able to comfortably drop down to first a 100 watt incandescent, then a 100 watt equivalent twist fluorescent bulb. I am using a better quality "daylight" bulb that is considerably more white than normal twist bulbs. But I am also reading comfortably on considerably less light than I used to. In fact when the power goes out if I bump the font size on the Jetbook up a notch I can read comfortably by the light of 2 candles.

For all those who persist in trying to say that Ebooks will never replace books.
Just remember, that they said that about cars never replacing horses too. How many buggy whip and carriage factory's you see around?

In fact I think the next year will see a big tipping point. Ebook reader's have come a long long way in functionality in the last year. The biggest hangup at this point is not the readers, its the paper book publishers that see themselves going out of business in the near future.

Once you get over the emotional attachment you have to the book and truly just let yourself read on a good reader, you'll never go back to books.

And again I encourage everyone even remotely interested to check out the Mobileread forums.
http://www.mobileread.com/
Lots of good folks with all kinds of different opinions about every reader ever made. Also lots of good books there available for free download.  And lots of help once you do make a decision on a reader. Dealing with things like DRM, converting file formats, best rechargeable battery's, or how to best format an SD card.  It truly is a great community, even if some of us do argue a bit from time to time.
Not all that different from this one in many respects.

[Gman]

Thanks for all your information and help GhostH, it greatly helped my decision of which reader to buy an informed one.

[Ghosth]

What did you decide to go with Gman?

[maddafinga]

Ghosth, was the the Silmarillion on your jetbook right there?

[Gman]

I found the Jetbook on sale for 99$ at Newegg here in Canada, so I bought it.....they sold out in a couple days, both white and grey color.  So far it's been exactly what I wanted.  It's very simple to use, and supports a lot of different formats (except for .lit, I have to convert those).  I have a good 300 books uploaded to it now, should keep me busy for quite a while.

[Ghosth]

Mad I believe so, think I have most of Tolkien stashed both on computer and Jetbook.

Gman I use Amber Lit converter for converting .lit Files. It will do batch conversions. Plus its free, and you can choose your output format. Personally I prefer the .rtf.

Yell if you have any questions or problems. Stop on by mobileread and say hi.
Lots of great tips on everything from which rechargable battery's to use to formatting sd cards, or upgrading firmware.