So the only thing that my wife wants for X'mas is an eReader. "Easy" I think.

Now that I'm ready to buy, I'm overwhelmed by the different types out there.

Nook, Kindle, Kobo, Sony, BeBook, etc., etc., etc.

Each one seems to have pros & cons.

I'm leaning towards the Nook simply b/c it allows "free" ebooks from the library. Not the fancy 3G verison either (just WiFi connectivity is fine).

Anyone out there who can offer some advice?

The ONLY thing I know is

Rhianna has bought 2 different types and was dissapointed in both ~

not much help huh ?

two days ago I ordered a Kindle. XxAxX told me it comes complete with the further adventures of Max Sherman!!! I can't wait

BlackAdder7 said:

two days ago I ordered a Kindle. XxAxX told me it comes complete with the further adventures of Max Sherman!!! I can't wait

Max would definitely want you to buy a kindle

Really don't get the fascination with these-I just prefer a regular old fashion book

I still need to hold a book in my hands..

but I know someone who recently wrote a very detailed reveiw comparing the new Kindle to the Nook (color)

I'll see if I can get a link from them

[Edited 12/15/10 11:49am]

I think they need to lower the prices on eBooks and I might consider one.

But I just bought The Girl Who PLayed With Fire in paperback and it was only $.50 more than the Kindle version.

NDRU said:

I think they need to lower the prices on eBooks and I might consider one.

But I just bought The Girl Who PLayed With Fire in paperback and it was only $.50 more than the Kindle version.

kindle weighs much less than the the who played with fire series. so there!

do you buy the latest adventures of Max Sherman? it's only 235.05$ from amazon. autographed, no less

BlackAdder7 said:

NDRU said:

I think they need to lower the prices on eBooks and I might consider one.

But I just bought The Girl Who PLayed With Fire in paperback and it was only $.50 more than the Kindle version.

kindle weighs much less than the the who played with fire series. so there!

do you buy the latest adventures of Max Sherman? it's only 235.05$ from amazon. autographed, no less

yeah I do see the advantage of having 1000's of books on a small device, but I'm poor! I rarely buy new books at all. I either get them used or download the free books (unautographed) written by orgers.

In fact, I'm not above calling the prince.org General Discussion Forum one of my favorite books!

NDRU said:

BlackAdder7 said:

kindle weighs much less than the the who played with fire series. so there!

do you buy the latest adventures of Max Sherman? it's only 235.05$ from amazon. autographed, no less

yeah I do see the advantage of having 1000's of books on a small device, but I'm poor! I rarely buy new books at all. I either get them used or download the free books (unautographed) written by orgers. besides, i got an illegal draft copy of max sherman, with the author's scribbles in the margin. Im going to put it up for auction on Ebay!

In fact, I'm not above calling the prince.org General Discussion Forum one of my favorite books!

i had no idea Max Sherman was so popular. he's the ice dildo of book characters, isnt he.

Mach said:

The ONLY thing I know is

Rhianna has bought 2 different types and was dissapointed in both ~

not much help huh ?

Thanks anyway!

nursev said:

Really don't get the fascination with these-I just prefer a regular old fashion book

Me too! But, I'm a hoarder. A collector. A packrat. I like to hold on to "things".

Whereas my wife is comfortable reading a book and getting rid of it afterwards (not the good ones of course, just those stupid romance novels that she buys by the dozen!).

If I'm not going to buy my own copy of a book, then I'll borrow the book from the library.

PositivityNYC said:

I still need to hold a book in my hands..

but I know someone who recently wrote a very detailed reveiw comparing the new Kindle to the Nook (color)

I'll see if I can get a link from them

Thanks!

I've looked up a few websites and some of them are clearly biased towards one or the other.

So far as I can see (I don't want to spend the extra $ on a full-color unit) the nook is the better choice ONLY because you can access non-Amazon books (such as ebook downloads from the library).

The Kobo also looked good, but why would they make it with that stupid square "pad" that you need to use to flip the pages?

BlackAdder7 said:

NDRU said:

yeah I do see the advantage of having 1000's of books on a small device, but I'm poor! I rarely buy new books at all. I either get them used or download the free books (unautographed) written by orgers. besides, i got an illegal draft copy of max sherman, with the author's scribbles in the margin. Im going to put it up for auction on Ebay!

In fact, I'm not above calling the prince.org General Discussion Forum one of my favorite books!

i had no idea Max Sherman was so popular. he's the jade dildo of book characters, isnt he.

Max dates back to a story i was working on when dad died... never could quite finish it. until, recently.

suffice it to say, some folks might even say he is worth stealing.

ok, my sister sent me:

A friend of mine was considering a Kindle and Nook Color, but was having trouble choosing between the two (like me), but since I got mine first, I typed up this review for her and ended up posting it to a couple of social networking sites that I frequent where I know people were wondering which one was better.

The holidays are here and if you're like me and love to read, you might be considering adding an eReader to your Christmas list. If you've already decided that you want one and have been trying to decide between a Nook Color and a Kindle 3, then I'd like to share with you my personal review of the Nook Color. I think it is most definitely the better eReader in comparison to the Kindle 3 once you break down all the pros and cons of their features.

The first thing about it that I love about the Nook Color is, of course, the color! It has absolutely stunning picture quality and I just don't know if after seeing the vivid color, that I would want to bother with anything that is still behind the times in a frumpy black and white.

I still like some features of the Kindle 3 over the Nook Color, but honestly, the robust color just cannot be beat.

Okay, so a friend of mine has Kindle 3 that I was able to play around with and use as a comparison, and here is my opinion of how it fares against the Nook Color.

Things that I hate about it:

The cost. $249, ridiculous compared to the Kindle 3's mere $189, UNLESS you're like me and read so much and buy so many books that it just makes sense. I was in Borders the other day and the cashier asked me if I wanted to sign up to be a Borders Prime customer for $20 for the year. I said no thank you and she looked at her screen and informed me that I had spent $100 in books just in the last month alone. Um, WHAT???????? I was like, that must be some mistake......there is no way, she said yeah, I did! So clearly I love books. Real books. The smell of them, the feel. But I have too many, and I don't like to share my books very often because I feel all panicky like maybe I won't get them back or get them back in the same condition, lol And I definitely don't give any of them away. So I just have too many. If you have stacks and stacks of books all around your place so that you can hardly walk, then it's just time to face the music and make the switch. Either that or end up being nominated for an episode of Hoarders. And we wouldn't want that, would we??? So, I decided that if investing in this Nook Color means that it will cut down on the amount of space in my house that my books take up, then I think it's a great investment. And when the first eReaders started coming out, I was such a book lover that I scoffed at the idea of replacing actual books. But let me tell you, the Nook Color is a game changer. It is a must.

But wait, there is more cost involved! So you have the Nook Color for $249, but now you need a few more things. You have to add 16.95 for the anti glare film so you can read it outside or as a passenger in a long car ride (it came with 2 and a cleaning cloth that is a must have!) and also so that you don't have a ton of greasy fingerprints all over your screen (which will happen immediately on a touch screen). And then add $54.95 for the cover (well my cover was that price, I have the Elsa cover in pewter but I did see some a little cheaper in the $30 range) which you NEED so the screen doesn't get banged up or scratched up in your purse or briefcase or around the house or wherever, and also add the 2-year service plan for $54.95, which would be crazy NOT to get since you're spending so much in the first place, so that in case something DOES happen to the screen, which it probably will with children in the house, you will get a free replacement. And so that all adds up to a very hefty total of $375.85, plus whatever the tax is......So. That's definitely something to consider before buying. Do you read all that much?? Are books taking over your house?? Oh! And I forgot one more thing you might need that I have to order is the CAR CHARGER! Because the battery life is so sucky, you will need a car charger for long road trips if you want to read while someone else is driving, so add another $24.95 to that total. Yikes!

Another thing I don't like about it is their LendMe service. This is where you can add friends who also have a Nook or Nook Color (add me!) and borrow their books for free for up to 14 days. The bad thing about that is you have to make sure you've read the book already because you can't get it back until the 14 days is up. But the worst thing about the LendMe service is that you can only lend a book out to one person, EVER. Once you lend that book to your friend, you can't loan it again to anyone else, ever. How rude! I feel like if I pay for it, I should be able to lend it out to whomever I want, as many times as I want just like a real book. And yes I do understand that if that were the case, then no one would hardly buy any books, it would just be like a giant, virtual library out there. Which suits me just fine, but the big wigs at Barnes and Noble probably wouldn't appreciate that, lol

Things that I love about it:

You can change the font, font size, background color of the page to so many different colors. They even have a sepia option that is very close to the color of a page of a real book. You can adjust the brightness of the screen and you can read in the dark with ease. You can change the font size on the Kindle, but I'm not sure about the color. And I'll say it again, I still can't get over being able to read complete magazines in robust color. And zooming in on an article and outfit is so easy and fast.

Oh, and another feature that I love on my Nook Color is the dictionary. I'm the type of person to stop reading and go look up a word, regardless of if I understand what it means by the context of the sentence. I just like to know the actual definition. On the Nook Color you can touch a word and look it up instantly. You also have the option of pressing the Google or Wikipedia options for further research on the word or name. You can also search for a word within the book. You also have the option of highlighting passages and saving them, which are easily accessible at any time. And you can also highlight an important passage and instantly post it to Facebook or Twitter. And let's say you remember a great passage that you forgot to highlight and save that contained the word "weathered." You can type in the word and it will pull up every single page that contains that word.

Another thing I like is how fast it downloads books. You can purchase a book with two taps (and a password if you want that password protected like me) and it literally downloads in less than 5 seconds. And there is a really great filing system so that you can make different folders. I have one for my husband, myself, my 12 year old and then one folder for children's books for my two and four year olds. Another thing I like is that you can set it up with a 4-digit passcode so that it won't open up unless that code is put in so that your kids can't log on unless they ask permission first.

Another nice feature is the free 40 hours per month of Pandora that you have access to, so that you can listen to music while you're reading......I generally don't want to listen to music while I'm reading unless maybe when it's appropriate for the mood of the book, but hey, for the money, I damn sure welcome the option! I also like that I can customize the home page with my own art or any picture I want.

I think my most favorite thing of all about the Nook Color is how it allows me, as a mother, to be able to enjoy myself while multitasking. you just can't beat being able to browse tons of books, cook dinner and keep an ear out for the kids in the bath all at the same time. Having the option of being able to browse THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of books in the comfort of my own home is invaluable to me. I can download a sample for any book I want and sit there on my couch or in my bed and read several pages to determine whether or not I want to buy it. Whereas doing that in a bookstore would be much more time consuming (but still fun) and take me away from where I need to be, which is at home with my family.

** that desktop (?) picture is a painting she did recently

My Elsa cover in Pewter. The annoying thing about this is, I feel it's backwards! The emblem and the cover opening should be facing right, not left. And when you turn it over, the other side stays open. I would have liked to seen a magnetic closure......

My 2 year old with my Nook Color

So, all in all, the Nook Color is very easy to navigate and I am super happy to have it, even though it becomes very costly once you add it all up. But I think of it as an investment. Everyone here loves it, especially my 12 year old daughter. She has been very busy doing all of her chores so that she can make enough money to purchase books on it, and she's bought two, so far. But the bottom line is the Nook Color is fabulous. But there is something that still intrigues me about the Kindle, mostly the battery life and the realness of the "page," but it's going to have to go color and change a few other things before it can even compare with the Nook Color!

I love my Kindle even more than I thought I would and it's done what I hoped it would. Get me back to reading more.

It feels like a paperback holding it. I have about 140 books on it and only had to pay for 2 of them and it's just a matter of a couple of clicks and it gets downloaded in less than 60 secs. I don't need to take the time to get to the library now.

A cool feature is you just have to move the cursor over a word and it will bring up the definition at the bottom of the screen. It can play mp3s. I have the 3G version which gives you free web access. The browsers not great but it's ok. It's frozen a couple of times on me and was mildly panicked but it just needed to be reset much like an ipod so no real drama. LOVE my kindle.

mynameisnotsusan said:

I love my Kindle even more than I thought I would and it's done what I hoped it would. Get me back to reading more.

It feels like a paperback holding it. I have about 140 books on it and only had to pay for 2 of them and it's just a matter of a couple of clicks and it gets downloaded in less than 60 secs. I don't need to take the time to get to the library now.

A cool feature is you just have to move the cursor over a word and it will bring up the definition at the bottom of the screen. It can play mp3s. I have the 3G version which gives you free web access. The browsers not great but it's ok. It's frozen a couple of times on me and was mildly panicked but it just needed to be reset much like an ipod so no real drama. LOVE my kindle.

what does that mean, you get wi-fi? No monthly service charge? That is a good selling point for me, actually

PurpleJedi said:

Mach said:

The ONLY thing I know is

Rhianna has bought 2 different types and was dissapointed in both ~

not much help huh ?

Thanks anyway!

Do they make something like theses that READ the book TO you ?

Mach said:

PurpleJedi said:

Thanks anyway!

Do they make something like theses that READ the book TO you ?

yes they are called audiobooks

NDRU said:

mynameisnotsusan said:

NDRU said:

what does that mean, you get wi-fi? No monthly service charge? That is a good selling point for me, actually

Yeah, Amazon have a deal with AT&T. It was worth the extra for me and there is no monthly charge. One of the reasons I got it instead of an ipad. I'm using my Kindle browser to send this.

ah interesting

so can you plug a keyboard into a kindle so orging is easier?

NDRU said:

mynameisnotsusan said:

NDRU said:

yes they are called audiobooks

Many books have a text to speech function but it's not perfected. Still a bit robotic and it will do some strange things but the software will only get better.

I actually prefer the reader to just read, not to act or do voices for each character.

But that is still more human than a synthesized voice.

Not sure I could handle all my books being read by Stephen Hawking

NDRU said:

don't make the same mistake I made

an e-meter is NOT the same thing

[img:$uid]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b143/Terpgirly2004/emeter.jpg[/img:$uid]

mynameisnotsusan said:

I have about 140 books on it and only had to pay for 2 of them

How does that work?

Also: Someone told me you can "rent" books on one or some of these e-readers - is that true?

ZombieKitten said:

don't make the same mistake I made

an e-meter is NOT the same thing

[img:$uid]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b143/Terpgirly2004/emeter.jpg[/img:$uid]

PositivityNYC said:

So, all in all, the Nook Color is very easy to navigate and I am super happy to have it, even though it becomes very costly once you add it all up. But I think of it as an investment. Everyone here loves it, especially my 12 year old daughter. She has been very busy doing all of her chores so that she can make enough money to purchase books on it, and she's bought two, so far. But the bottom line is the Nook Color is fabulous. But there is something that still intrigues me about the Kindle, mostly the battery life and the realness of the "page," but it's going to have to go color and change a few other things before it can even compare with the Nook Color!

Thanks for the info! (...and cute kid btw!)

I can't spend the extra $$$ on color, so she's getting the regular Nook.

I started seriously considering the Kobo...but that damned navigation "pad" really kills it for me.

Checking out Barnes & Nobles website in a little bit...

PositivityNYC said:

I still need to hold a book in my hands..

but I know someone who recently wrote a very detailed reveiw comparing the new Kindle to the Nook (color)

I'll see if I can get a link from them

[Edited 12/15/10 11:49am]

This could change.