There’s a showdown shaping up in my world these days. And each time I think it’s come to a resolution something else draw as me back into the fray. So, I’m doing what any self-respecting blogger would do on the horns of such a dilemma: I’m asking my readers!
The debate: What kind of eReader should I buy? Pretty much every year at tax time, I set aside a little of my refund money for something I want or that I can use for the house. It’s one of those things that’s usually not a question of need. Consider it a little extra retail therapy. Sometimes it’s an awesome tool. Or maybe it’s clothes. This year, it’s an eReader.
The truth is that I’ve practically made up my own mind. More than once this week I’ve been at Amazon. com, on the Kindle 3G+WiFi page … and yet I can’t make myself put it in my cart. Why?
Because every time, just about the time that I do, I am drawn to an article about the Nook. Or Kohl’s emails me an ad with a Literati eReader for $69. Or some other such thing happens to distract me. And it’s in those moments of distraction where I start questioning – and requestioning – my choice.
In fairness, during the past week, I’ve actually held a Kindle. I know that it supposedly will hold up to 3,500 books. 3,500. I mull that number over. That’s a lot of books! I know that for $5 (on top of the purchase price of said Kindle) I can play Scrabble on it. 3,500 books and Scrabble – yes, that’s plenty to keep me occupied.
Like I said, I’ve been having this internal debate for some time. I even have taken it out externally already, talking to my boss ( a Nook fan), a fellow commuter (a Kindle diehard) and the original Gadget Girl herself, the Monkeygirl. Of course, when the MonkeyGirl had this same argument with herself, she promptly went out and bought an iPad! That’s not an option. (Well, it could be. It’s just not one I’m including in my choices.)
Do you have an eReader? What do you like/dislike about it? What do you think I should buy? PLEASE let me know. Thanks!
A non-professional,faux home improvement blog dedicated to the insane yet diligent do-it-yourselfer,thoroughly peppered with random views and thoughts from me
13 comments:
I don't have one, but I have a feeling that I would be totally overwhelmed in shopping for one. Which is why I usually wait around for hand me downs!
have fun shopping!
I have a Nook (not color) and I love, love, love it. I chose the eInk version because I stare at a computer screen all day and i had no desire to stare at another back-lit screen to read. Yes, it requires an external light source, but it's so much easier on my eyes. It really is like reading a printed page. But the reason I chose the Nook over the Kindle is: I'm cheap. I use the library a lot and rarely ever buy books. The Kindle doesn't read library ebooks. Simple as that.
I've had my Kindle for over a year and I just become more and more attached to it every day! I LOVE it! The screen is so easy to read and there's absolutely no glare in the sunlight. In addition to every kind of book, magazine and newspaper you can think of, the Kindle Store at Amazon has loads of free books, both current and classics. Plus, Amazon stands behind their products. I would urge you to go Kindle! :)
I have a nook and a kindle. I use my nook more because I can check out library books on it....otherwise my book bill gets pretty darn expensive pretty quickly. I can also lend books to friends who have nooks and get books from them in return.
Also there's a deal today on 1 sale a day for the nook for 1/2 price... https://1saleaday.com/
I got my Kindle 3G + Wifi in November, and I can hardly remember life without it! I had a terrible time deciding as well. I knew that I wanted e-ink, not backlit, so the Nook Color was out. One thing that really bugged me about the Nook was the page-turn time. The whole screen blinks when you turn the page (on the Kindle or the Nook), but it takes at least twice as long on the Nook. I found it very distracting and tended to look away every time I changed pages. The page turning on the Kindle doesn't bother me in that way at all. I would like to be able to check out library books, but it wasn't a show-stopper for me, and I would imagine that the capability will be available in the future as more and more people have e-readers. I love the fact that Amazon will let you download a sample (usually the first chapter) of nearly any book for free to see if you want to buy it. You also have some time to return a book purchased by mistake (seven days, I believe). There are several blogs that track and report on the free and discounted books available from Amazon on a daily basis. I have a lot of books on mine that were free or very inexpensive. No matter which you choose, be prepared to draw attention in public. I'm still a little bit annoyed at myself for taking the Kindle to the ER when my daughter broke her arm a couple of weeks ago. Lots of people wanted to check it out, and waiting rooms in January are full of sick people. Still trying to get rid of the crud I caught from them. But other than that,Ｉlove my Kindle to pieces.
I have to defend my decision (as the duly appointed gadget girl) on why I picked the iPad. I was going to buy an eReader (leaning heavily towards the Kindle mainly because of Amazon) but I decided that I could the iPad for MadHatter purposes and that opened up a new world of possibilities. I honestly never thought about the library aspect so I might have been swayed over to the Nook!
My admin got a Kindle for Christmas, and she likes it, but ... she can't download library books onto, as she could have with a Nook. She's very much a library user, and a book blogger. I believe the Kindle has its advantages too, but that library download thing is obviously an important point, since I'm the third commenter to mention it.
I'm with monkey girl but even thought the Ipad is small, it is not as portable as the Kindle. Most people I know who use these kinds of devices prefer the Kindle.
Of course, on the IPad, you could do more than just play Scrabble, just sayin.
Leah -- Thanks! you know how I feel then. ;-)
Anon, Kathie, KayO -- The Kindle doesn't read library books but ... you can CONVERT those files with a free program and read them if you want! This is a good argument and one I've considered. Thanks!
Star, Chris -- Yep there are LOTS of free books, apps and other stuff out there. I just discovered gutenberg.org which opens up a whole new source.
MG -- No need to defend your choice. My point was you didn't really have to have the which eReader argument. You bypassed that debate entirely!
Cindy -- Yes, you sure can. But you can do more than that on the Kindle, too. Between reading and playin' Scrabble though, won't probably use a lot more than that. And portability is a HUGE consideration so the fact that it weighs nothing got it bonus points!
I have a Nook 3G.
The slower page turn has been fixed with the new release. I like being able to turn pages without a pushing a button.
Love eInk don't want back lit color.
Love library access. I think I have purchased 4 books since I got it.
Don't know how many books it will hold, but with the micro SD card installed it has to be a boatlosd.
The installed games are Soduko and chess. I would LOVE crosswords.
It has a web browser, but it doesn't work with 3G. You need a real wifi network for that. I used it to research and buy a laptop when I was in the hospital.
If I were to buy it again I'd still pick Nook. You can try them out at the Barnes and Noble store. I had a problem with my first Nook, and I just took it back to the store and they replaced it.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
I went through this same debate myself for almost a month, and ended up buying a NOOKcolor. I love, love, love it! For me the decision came down to two main factors: I do most of my reading either at night in bed, at night on my front porch (obviously, during warmer weather!) and at night in a dimly-lit comm center, so I liked the idea of not needing an external light source; and, I wanted full-color magazine subscriptions. I have National Geographic and Newsweek delivered wirelessly and am super-stoked about both subscriptions. Also, I love the Read To Me feature with kids' books (some have this feature, not all) for my future grandchildren. My son's 18-month-old neice loves The Elephant's Child, which came pre-loaded as a free book on my Nook. The color and clarity of the screen are stunning. I don't have any issues with eyestrain with the NOOKcolor's backlit screen, and some nights I read for several hours. Also, the complaints about the supposedly short battery life of the NOOKcolor are unfounded, in my opinion. If I leave the wifi off, the battery charge lasts for a week or more, depending on how much I read, of course. The extras on the NOOKcolor are chess, crosswords, sudoku, and Pandora. It's really nice to be able to listen to Pandora while reading or working on a crossword puzzle, although it does eat up the battery. You can also load mp3s and photos on the NOOKcolor.
And one last thing - a plug for another product: DecalGirl.com sells vinyl decals for Nook and Kindle (as well as for phones, smartphones,& laptops) that are gorgeous, well-made, and fit the device perfectly. If anyone's looking to personalize your ereader, I highly recommend DecalGirl. (Not affiliated in any way; just a really happy customer.)
Of course I have the Kindle, Nook, and iBook apps on my iPad so it is kind of a win-win-win-win for me!
Came in via Mark ( the Idiot ).
I have a Kindle ( I didn't go for the 3G version just the wifi one because the battery life is better ).
I think it's brilliant, I am an avid reader and it took alot to decide to go for an e-reader. The main plus I liked with going with the Kindle is IF my Kindle dies / gets lost Amazon have a record of all the books I've downloaded and will put them back on my new Kindle. Also if a book I'd like to read isn't available on Kindle Amazon have a putton to push that will inform the author that we want it on Kindle.
Which ever way yo go enjoy :-)
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