E-readers. Which is the best?

[Tankshell]

Hi folks.

Anyone here know much about all the different E-readers on the market? The GF keeps dropping hints and birthday is up soon... so was thinking about treating her...

Basically, is there a clear best choice, or are the all much of a muchness kind of thing?

Thanks for any advice!

Cheers,
T

[QualityChimp]

I saw a few reviewed on The Gadget Show a few weeks back. This might help:

http://fwd.five.tv/clips/show/jon-tests-e-readers

[fuji]

You might want to visit http://mobileread.com and check out the forums there. There's no overall clear winner as people have different needs, but the Amazon Kindle, Sony series, Barnes & Noble Nook (US only) seem to be the most popular. You could also consider the Ipad as an alternative choice - good luck!

[abigsmurf]

I've a sony PRS-505 and really like it. That's discontinued but check out Sony's range. Solid build quality and they accept a huge number of formats.

Almost every e-reader uses the same type of screen; e-paper, 800*600 (for 5") but there are differences in page turn speed. My one takes about 0.5seconds to refresh a typical page but it takes ~2.5 seconds for the most complex pages (PDFs of page sized images, PDFs are among the slowest ebook format).

I strongly recommend the Sony range but here's things to consider:

The Nook (not on general sale in the UK iirc), has a colour LCD bit below the main screen. This is about as flashy as they get and it's apparently a great e-reader. You'll pay a premium for it here though.

Look at the formats they supports (and the DRM schemes). Most common formats are pdf, ebi, txt, rtf, lrf and epub. If she wants to read manga, zip,rar, cbr and cbz, jpg and png support would be incredibly helpful but this is rare and calibre has some handy conversion tools anyway. The Kindle is the most locked down of readers.

Not many readers come with lights. However they don't need much light to read.

LCD is nowhere near as comfy to read as e-ink screens and is unreadable in bright sunlight (unlike e-ink which is about as readable as paper)

Touchscreens reduce the contrast of the screen and aren't really needed unless she'll be using it for note taking. They don't really add much to page turning and navigation.

[kryss]

Sony PRS-600 (Touch edition) owner here and I love it.
Like abigsmurf said, there are some issues with how reflective the screen is due to the touch layer on top and it is pretty tough to read in low light. That being said, reading outside in the sun is great, and inside near a lamp is fine too. Think GB/GBC.

I use it as a learning tool. For example, transfer some japanese/etc. text to it (in PDF) then highlight what you don't know, or listen to an audio book and make notes at the same time (was doing that with a Korean language learning mp3 last nght).

I did have an issue a few weeks back where an entire length-wise row of pixels seemed to die, but I was within warranty and got a replacement in about 3 days.

[noobish hat]

I think Nintendo's is probably the best

[importaku]

LOL i was dying to use that joke

[kryss]

E-reader+ is even better! It has a "+" after the name!1!1

[Mercian]

I thought I'd revive this thread due to the imminent release of the new Kindle. Does anyone else feel any love for this?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kindle-Wireless-Reader-Wifi-Graphite/dp/B002Y27P46/ref=amb_link_157524627_2?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=gateway-center-column&pf_rd_r=18ZV78G2794W3C3NNVCQ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=210833607&pf_rd_i=468294

[John Beaulieu]

tried a few different makes out and stuck with the amazon kindle as my reader of choice - just so easy to use and buying a book is a doddle with the free 3G coverage on the international version - just browse the store and buy the book and you can be reading it within a minute

kindle 3 looks good - already decided that the missus is getting me one for christmas, and gonna pick another couple up for family members who I have been telling for a while need to switch from paper to e-ink.

The UK store which is being released alongside the kindle 3 is going to be cheap as well - it won't be using publisher prices unlike the current US store - so am well looking forward to that.

not tried out a nook yet, heard good things online about them but not seen one in the flesh (no barnes and nobles in the uk)

[cutmymilk]

Are the books generally RRP or do you get bargain prices? One thing I HATE about the move to digital.

[NW2013]

I think they're about RRP which is ridiculous and will surely encourage piracy.

[John Beaulieu]

bit of both - you find a lot of books at cheap prices on amazon and if you keep an eye on the free books you can often find a book for free that is full price a week later

was much better before the ibook app launched since apple and the publishers set a price and tried to push amazon out of the equation, now many ebooks at launch are more expensive than the hardback version whereas before they were discounted. However the UK store will not be using publisher rrp's so expect some serious bargains

[Garf]

Question for any e-reader owners - I have a number of technical guides, which are quite heavy to lug around and I also have them in PDF format - is it possible to load my own PDF's onto a e-reader ?

Possibly a dumb question I know...

[abigsmurf]

The vast majority of e-readers should let you view PDFs. Some view them better than others