what's the best eReader?

brainhulk

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2007
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kindle, nook, or are their others?
 
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edro

Lifer
Apr 5, 2002
24,326
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91
Whichever one doesn't use DRM and allows you to read generic PDFs.
 

Juddog

Diamond Member
Dec 11, 2006
7,851
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81
I just picked up the Kindle for my wife, and so far she loves it. Seems to have a pretty insane battery life compared to the other e-readers.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
59,737
10,235
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After a /very/ quick review, I settled on the Nook for my daughter. Is has good compatibility, good price, and it isn't tethered to one service.
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
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0
After a /very/ quick review, I settled on the Nook for my daughter. Is has good compatibility, good price, and it isn't tethered to one service.

This is why I chose the nook. I'm watching the development for the nook Color closely though, should be a nice tablet once a stock Froyo/GB is loaded on it. :)
 

Juddog

Diamond Member
Dec 11, 2006
7,851
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81
One of the deciding factors for me was the battery life - a Kindle (latest iteration) can last several weeks. Those color e-readers may look better but some of them have battery life that's crap. If more supported formats is the deciding factor, then go with the Nook.
 

Wyndru

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2009
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etchasketchamazon2.jpg
 

ViviTheMage

Lifer
Dec 12, 2002
36,189
87
91
madgenius.com
I've seen them all from co-workers, and if it was for purely book reading ... kindle kicks ass, it's the most book like imo. You can also throw it on your iphone/apple device, as they have an app, they might even have one for droid.
 

jme5343

Platinum Member
Nov 21, 2003
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I've seen them all from co-workers, and if it was for purely book reading ... kindle kicks ass, it's the most book like imo. You can also throw it on your iphone/apple device, as they have an app, they might even have one for droid.

Nook has the same apps. I chose Nook b/c of the compatibility. So far, everything I've copied to it has worked. I esp like the .pdf functionality (which the kindle may have, I'm not certain).
 

ViviTheMage

Lifer
Dec 12, 2002
36,189
87
91
madgenius.com
Nook has the same apps. I chose Nook b/c of the compatibility. So far, everything I've copied to it has worked. I esp like the .pdf functionality (which the kindle may have, I'm not certain).

you can load a lot of stuff into a kindle, I forget the formats, but it's pretty open afaik.
 

geno

Lifer
Dec 26, 1999
25,074
4
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I've seen them all from co-workers, and if it was for purely book reading ... kindle kicks ass, it's the most book like imo. You can also throw it on your iphone/apple device, as they have an app, they might even have one for droid.

Yes, Android does have a Kindle app.

Nook has the same apps. I chose Nook b/c of the compatibility. So far, everything I've copied to it has worked. I esp like the .pdf functionality (which the kindle may have, I'm not certain).

The Kindle (at least my wife's Kindle 2) does have PDF functionality.
 

Juddog

Diamond Member
Dec 11, 2006
7,851
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As mentioned above, it's confirmed that any of the newer generation Kindles have PDF reading. The Kindle 3 also has a web browser (same type that shows up for mobile phones).
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,920
46
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Whichever one doesn't use DRM and allows you to read generic PDFs.

Yeah DRM sucks, who cares that without DRM you'd never be able to get free books from your library? PDF is the worst format for most books.


you can load a lot of stuff into a kindle, I forget the formats, but it's pretty open afaik.

They don't support ePub, DRMed or otherwise. You can use Calibre to convert non-DRMed ePubs to MOBI to read on a Kindle, but you can't read DRMed ePubs like you'd buy from Google/B&N or get for free from your library.

I like Amazon, and I like my Kindle, but I got my mom a Nook for that reason.
 

Kev

Lifer
Dec 17, 2001
16,367
4
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I like my nook because you aren't tied to amazon's kindle books. Also, the touchpad at the bottom allows you to swipe to turn the page which I like.

The page turning is a little slower than the kindle, but it's not a dealbreaker.
 

metalmania

Platinum Member
May 7, 2002
2,039
0
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My 1 year old ereader can read epub, PDF, TXT, html, chm, doc, xls, ppt...you name it. Why is the PDF suddenly a new feature for Kindle?
 
Sep 16, 2009
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I like my nook because you aren't tied to amazon's kindle books. Also, the touchpad at the bottom allows you to swipe to turn the page which I like.

The page turning is a little slower than the kindle, but it's not a dealbreaker.

My friend has a kindle 2 and i have the original nook. After the 1.5 firmware upgrade, the Nook turns pages faster than the kindle. Both are really good for reading since they use the same screen, but here are the key difference:

Kindle 2:
pros: lighter (but not by much)
pros: Battery life (the kindle's batter life is vastly longer than the nook). I usually get a week to a week and half of reading before having to charge ... this is with 1-2 hours of reading a night and keeping it in standby with airplane mode on.

cons: stuck to the amazon store. No support for epub (but my friend told me that they have the ability to send the epub to amazon and for 50 cents it'll convert it for them)

Nook:
pros : open standard, supports epub .. side load epubs with calibre.
pros : 1 hour reading on entire barnes and noble libraby when in store.
pros : Free stuff at the barnes and noble stores when you show your nook...this month is a free tall smoothie.

con : battery life
con : the lcd screen at the bottom is unresponsive and hard to use.

Hope that helps.
 

chalmers

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2008
2,565
1
76
I just use the Kindle app on my droid if I want to read books. I try to limit myself to as few gadgets as possible that can do multiple things.
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
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The page turning is a little slower than the kindle, but it's not a dealbreaker.

When the nook first game out, page turns were slow as molasses. The 1.2 firmware improved it considerably, and the recently released 1.5 firmware improved it even more. Its pretty close to instant now.

Battery life on the nook should be fine for most people, its going to last for a good two weeks with the wireless off. Its not like you're going to need a mid-day bump charge. :p
 

stag3

Diamond Member
Feb 7, 2005
3,623
0
76
i have a nook, no issues, love it
i got it for the open standard, altho you can convert any ebook you want anyways
 

rudder

Lifer
Nov 9, 2000
19,441
86
91
ipad. If you get bored from reading a book you can watch some porn videos instead.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
I have a Kindle, love it. Besides the Amazon store I buy DRM-free books from the baen.com bookstore (they also have a collection of free books).

Borrowing ebooks from a library sounds nice but also like too much work for me :)
 

Juddog

Diamond Member
Dec 11, 2006
7,851
6
81
So to sum up the above:
* Battery life - Kindle
* Every format - Nook
* Porn - iPad