The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

Thought this would be a good idea with quite a few people getting their first Kindles & eReaders for the holidays (myself included). Also with the other eReader thread now being 21 pages long I figured it would be good to have one thread for eReading discussion. Maybe even a sticky.

Whether your a long time owner or a new one, post your thoughts here, post book recommendations, or just any questions.

I got a Kindle & a Nook for the X-mas. Haven't opened the Nook yet. Really diggin' finally owning an eReader. It is so easy on the eyes reading, that should not be a concern for anyone debating getting one.

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

Also just like the "What have you bought" threads in the DVD/Blu-Ray & CD forums, you can post "What is your latest download" here.

My latest downloads are:

"Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1) by Patricia Briggs
Works of Arthur Conany Doyle (200+ Works)

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

Good idea, the old one was getting played out.

Here's some great links all eReader owners should have:

http://manybooks.net/
http://www.mobileread.com/ (has download guide)
http://www.feedbooks.com/ (has download guide)

I purchased King's UR and David Foster Wallace's Consider the Lobster: And Other Essays, and recommend them both.

I recommend Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series, it's all up and all free. Can't go wrong with the Oz books either. Mark Twain, too!

Wikipedia readers may find this useful: http://www.edukindle.com/downloads/kindlepedia/

It converts article into a file that is easier to read on the Kindle, good for really long ones.

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

I am trying to decide between the nook and kindle. It seems the nook has a larger screen size than the 6 inch kindle. Why does the kindle devote so much space to the keyboard and the nook so little? 6 inches seems small, Id rather have something at least PB size.

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

Do you only read hardcovers? The Kindle screen is the size of most paperbacks & honestly, now that I've been reading on it for a few days now, I have zero complaints with the screen size. Also, the Nook does not have a larger screen than the Kindle they are both 6 inches.

I do agree, that the design of the Nook is much nicer, & I like that when you read on it the touch screen goes black like its not even there. I don't know where you would get a Nook right now though, except overpaying for one on ebay. B&N has stated that they don't expect to get them in-stock until February now.

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Mostly hardcover. How do things like maps show up in these readers? I read alot of that type of stuff. I saw that about nook shipping but I can read paper books for another month. I have to go try them out. Looking at some of the download sites, there is stuff I would not have found at the library or book store. Looking forward to getting one.

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

Amazon has a section in their Kindle discussion forums for "See a Kindle in your city." You might see if you can hook up with someone and take a look at the Kindle DX. It's about the size of a sheet of 8.5x11" paper, although still a lot lighter than packing hardback books around, and is supposed to handle documents and books with charts, drawings, maps, etc better than the Kindle 2.

Personally, I have a Kindle 2 (original US wireless, not the new International Wireless) and I love it. I have 3 M-Edge GO! Jackets for it in various colors, along with some complementing skins from DecalGirl. When I get bored with one combo, I switch to another and it's like a whole new Kindle!

I much prefer e-ink to traditional paperback books, the e-ink is so much easier for me to read. I have 3 books that I had to buy in paperback because they were so much cheaper than Kindle versions (not a common problem, but these are normally $9.99 paperbacks/Kindle and I found the paperbacks buy 2 get 1 free) and I'm just dreading reading the paper versions. In the end I may hate going back to paper so much that it's worth paying for the Kindle version even though it's only about $1 cheaper than the paper versions.

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

If you read a lot of maps and want illustrations, The Kindle DX or similar sized readers are what you want. Images looks really cool on the e-ink tech. You should really try to see one in person.

I can assure you for just typical text reading 6 inches is a perfect screen size. You can adjust font sizes so you an cram more or less words on a page. Either way just enough words are displayed that it doesn't feel intimidating or anemic.

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

So now I am just the owner of a Kindle, which I am happy with. Just for shits & giggles I put my Nook up on ebay with what I thought was an outrageous "Buy It Now" of $440 & sure enough, somebody bought it. As soon as I got home & saw that somebody bought it, all of a sudden I don't want to get rid of it anymore, but its crazy that someone is willing to pay that much for it considering all the problems it is having.

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

Well just order another one and use the Kindle until it arrives in a month.

Definitely going to have more than one eReader down the line.

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You can get the large Kindle for just a little more. What is the attraction that someone would pay that much to have it now rather than in a month?

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Hey everyone, I just ordered my kindle and I am excited! I also have been using the kindle for pc app to get some of the free books at the kindle store.
So what about accessory's for it? Should I get the amazon cover? What about clip on lights, screen protectors?

I've wanted one since day one and it's almost here!

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

I just got a Kindle for Christmas. I'm enjoying it so far. First purchase was Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash which I have always meant to read but haven't gotten around to until now.

I bought the standard Amazon designed case and it seems ok. Adds some weight and makes it a little more difficult to hold left handed and still hit the next/prev page buttons. It should keep it relatively safe in my bag though.

It is a bit annoying when searching for books that there are quite a few not yet available. C'mon publishers! Still there is more then enough to keep me going.

I'm interested to see if the Apple tablet pc is announced and released whether they will tie ebooks into itunes and what effect that could have on the market. Without E-Ink I'm not sure the reading experience would be nearly as good an experience.

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

I fold the case over when I'm reading (so it ends up about the same width as the kindle, but obviously a bit thicker) and have no trouble holding it left handed. It probably doubles the weight with the cover, but I find it easier to hold onto with the cover than without so I usually use it. I just use my thumb to hit the next and back buttons.

As far as the books, even with all they have I hate how often I'm looking for something and it's not there. I've been wanting to reread the Ender books, but even though Orson Scott Card said that he'd decided to put them on Kindle a few months ago I'm still waiting for any of them to show up. I don't know what you like to read, but there are some books (usually without any DRM) that you can get on publisher's sites and not on Amazon (for example, a lot of Baen books, and some of those are even free). And of course most best-seller type books coming out now are available.

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

I've read a lot of articles lately trying to build up Tablets as the death of eReaders and feel they all miss the point. E-Ink has so many advantages over tablets inspite of being so specialized. They are smaller, they use less battery, and are way more readable. People reading plain books, do not care about color, don't care about using a computer. They just want to read books.

Eventually of course there will be all in one devices, but it'll be years from now and once a better tech than e-ink is out that is more affordable.

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

Wow this thing is pretty cool!

The E ink screen is amazing. i love being able browse the amazon store on it.

The bad thing is that the light is not so good in my favorite chair,
The really good thing is that It felt really comfortable reading it in bed.

Not sure what my fist book purchase will be but right now I am reading
Treason by Don Brown
It was an Amazon freebie a few weeks ago

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

I mentioned it briefly above, but I really like the M-Edge GO! Jacket. It uses the same hinge system as the Amazon cover, and adds corner tabs on the outside edge of the Kindle which make it feel MUCH more secure. It also feels like a much nicer cover in your hand. M-Edge also makes other covers that work with their E-Luminator light. The E-luminator has a tab that slides into a slot on the cover, so it's always ready when you need it. All of their products are available at Amazon or at their website. They usually have a 20% off code floating around on Twitter or Facebook, too.

If you like the Amazon cover and don't want the fancier ones, I have a Spike Light that I picked up at Fred Meyer (local version of Kroger, kind of like Target) for about $10 that slips over the edge of the cover when I fold it back to read.

I don't use a screen protector on my Kindle, but I have put a skin on it to cover up the white and make it easier to read (I use dark colors to increase the contrast a little.) I get my skins from DecalGirl and I've been really happy with them. If you're not into colors or patterns they have a REALLY nice "Solid State Black" skin that is just beautiful on the Kindle. A coworker has this skin with the Amazon cover and it looks very neat and sleek and simple.

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

Fictionwise had some pretty nice sales at the end of the year and I finally was able to use up a bunch of store credit I had accrued all year with their rebate deals. For a total of $50 or so in store credit I bought these on eReader:

Me of Little Faith - Lewis Black
I Drink for a Reason - David Cross
Nine Dragons - Michael Connelly
Death of a Witch - MC Beaton
The Eyes of the Dragon - Stephen King
The Vesuvius Club: A Bit of Fluff - Mark Gatiss
Black Butterfly - Mark Gatiss
The Devil in Amber - Mark Gatiss
The Masonic Myth - Jay Kinney
Don't Know Much About the Universe - Kenneth C Davis
Don't Know Much About Literature - Kenneth C Davis
Don't Know Much About Anything Else - Kenneth C Davis
Leonard Maltin's 2010 Movie Guide - Just to have handy on my iPod Touch

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

thanks for the info!

I really like the solid state black skin,

I was thinking about getting the amazon cover but saw the bad reviews saying it cracked the kindle!

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

From everything I've read, the problem is specific to the Amazon cover, and not the hinge system in general. The way the Amazon cover is designed, when it's folded back to read, the fold puts pressure on the hinges. In addition, the non-hinged side of the Kindle is not secured at all, and when you pick the Kindle+cover up, it's possible to try to open the cover backwards, putting extra pressure on the hinges and cracking the case. FWIW, I used the Amazon cover for a couple months, and a coworker has used it for nearly a year, and neither of us have any issue with the Kindle cracking at the hinge points.

The covers from M-Edge and other manufacturers that use the hinge system either secure the non-hinged side of the cover, or put the folding section of the cover a little farther from the hinges to avoid pressure on them.

If you want a very simple, lightweight cover, I'd recommend the M-Edge GO! Jacket. It's about the same price as the Amazon cover last I checked, and while it doesn't have any fancy features other than the hinge it is a really comfortable cover to use when reading the Kindle.

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

If you want something to protect it, but like to hold the Kindle naked, a sleeve is the way to go. The Timbuk2 Nylon Kindle Sleeve has really good reviews. Probably will pick one up myself.

But if you want a really nice case Oberon's seem incredible. they probably had a bit of heft though, and they aren't cheap.

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

I use the cover when I'm taking the Kindle somewhere or when I'm done reading...I take it out of the cover when actually reading - I find it less cumbersome that way.

Got my wife a Kindle for Christmas and enjoyed it so much that I bought my own this week. I love the fact that most "classics" are available on Amazon for free. Reading "Dracula" right now.

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I really like the Oberon designs. Does anyone have any experience with one of them?

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Ok it might be a stupid question, but I'm asking anyway. I have a kindle and the app for it on my iphone. I got my girlfriend an ipod touch for christmas. Question I have is does she need to own her own kindle to use the app or can she just create an amazon account of her own or piggyback off mine to read kindle books on her ipod?

Re: The Official eBook & eReader Thread
 

She can create her own Amazon account, or she could just use your account. She does not need her own Kindle.