Buying an E-Reader? Some Things You Need to Consider First

OK, Karen, I'm off to do some Nook and Kindle holding.... you may have converted me from a die-hard dead-tree-reader to a 21st century electronic one. Sigh....

a/b

Very interesting article. I'm not ready to buy one yet, but it is definitely good to see what some of the options are all about!

Very accurate and good article!

They were talking about the Nookcolor. It would make a different with magazines for sure.

Regarding the next thing to come around - there's always going to be something different and newer. That doesn't always mean better though. That's why I didn't make one particular recommendation. It all depends on what you value.

I do suspect that there will be color Kindle sometime in the future. With the iPad and the Nookcolor I think they pretty much have to go down that road.

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

Via the Nook or Nookcolor but with the iPad you have access to applications that you can download that might help with school work. The price point is higher though.

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

If I make the print larger I find that I use the built-in light on my Sony less. Using the light really cuts down the battery life on my device.

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

It was so interesting the other day someone said they're thinking of buying a color e-reader. It's not made by Amazon but it's like a Kindle. That made me realize how color is great especially if you're downloading magazines. It's so hard to buy since the next great thing is around the corner (invariably the day after you commit and make a purchase) but I'll be waiting for color + vast availability of content.

Thanks for the post!

I've been on the fence about a dedicated e-reader. More and more nudges me in the nookColor direction.

Maybe sometime next year.

My main impetus for purchasing one is actually for my son. This is an excellent tool for textbooks and audiobook versions of his textbooks, which help him overcome dyslexia issues.

If there is a device that will help him with reading and his school work, that would push me off the fence.

I enlarge the print on my Kindle so I don't have to use my glasses. The new generation of Kindles have covers you can buy with lights built inside the cover. You don't even know they are there! They only work when the kindle is hooked into the cover and the kindle is on. The light gets it's power from the kindle. Makes me want to ditch my 2nd generation and get the new one!

Because they are really, really not about replacing books.

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

Oh I just can't love these things!

Marianne at Mealmixer ( http://www.mealmixer.com )

Really is a hard combination to top. (Angry Birds in HD even...)

Yes, lots of page turns on an iTouch. It is not my first choice of how to read but it's great when I'm running errands or waiting for the bus.

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

with a kindle, at some point. But now, I must admit, I think I'd like an iPad more. E-reader AND Angry Birds, and the rest of the inet...

I have read books on my iTouch and while the screen isn't soo big, so lots of mini page turns, I did find the overall experience pleasant.

Of increasing font size and it's really easy to do. I often increase it a bit.

In terms of lighting, any of the color e-readers (such as an iPad or Nookcolor) would have built in lights. As for the non-color devices, the Sony PRS-700 has a built in light but I not entirely sure about the rest of the e-ink devices. If you have one with an internal light it will cut the battery life though.

There are a variety of external light sources that you can choose from. Some are specifically designed for use with e-readers, like the Kandle or the Lyra, while others are more standard book lights. She would probably have to try out a couple or do some googling to see if any of them give off a glare.

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

great consumer info. But what device is the best for someone with a vision issue? I'm still reading in paper myself but my good pal who travels and reads a lot needs something with enlarged print and lit well. Which one of these works best for that?

That could be huge for some people.

I can do a finger swipe on my Sony. I am surprised that people are so annoyed by the clicking. Turning a page makes noise too.

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

So I read my friend's Mockingjay copy that she loaned me on my Nook.

I've since connected with other friends who don't even have a physical nook but use the nook app on their phones and we can loan each other books, too. So it's not just the library that can loan, but friends.

I prefer the Nook for that reason. You can also use a finger swipe to turn pages (on the bottom part of the screen that is color - classic Nook, I haven't played with a color one yet) and avoid the button clicking that another poster mentioned. My girlfriend's DH hates the clicky clicky noise she makes while reading on her Kindle.

I write on Suburban (In)sanity ( http://beckersmith.typepad.com/my_weblog/ ). I have two kids, two cats, a dog, a husband and a minivan. I live in the suburbs now and try to stay sane. Some days, I succeed.

That I am envious of the syncing capabilities between some e-readers and iThing apps. It's like magic!

I'm really appreciating the fact that e-readers are cutting down on the number of books I need to store. We don't really want to add more bookcases at this point and ours are pretty much at capacity.

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

I resisted e-readers because I was a lover of books. Loved the feel, the smell, EVERYTHING about books! Then I ran out of storage space and decided the time had come to try the Kindle. Love, is the word I feel. LOVE!!! It's like reading a book, but not. NO glare. NO eyestrain. Lightweight. Stores a bagillion books. They are cheap. Some are free. I am in LOVE!

I have an iPad that I worship, as well, but not for reading. Might as well read on your computer as read on the iPad. It's too heavy for reading in my opinion and there's glare. Just doesn't look the same. So I do everything else on the iPad, but save the reading for my Kindle. Although I do love the fact that if I'm downstairs and just have to read on my iPad, I can then go upstairs to my Kindle and it is sync'd to my last page read on the iPad. Genius!

I've taken mine on a few trips now. I do still tend to carry one paperback with me because I'm paranoid about running out of juice and not being able to read. It still makes packing so much easier and lighter.

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

A lot more than I ever thought I would. That goes for my iPhone, too. When Denise got hers and starting telling me how much she enjoyed reading on it I thought she was nuts. And then I got one. ;)

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

That I ended up using it for purchases like that. Or for when the line for the book was just too darned long and it would have taken me months to get the book (like for Mockingjay). E-books are usually cheaper than a paperback (though not always by a lot) and I don't have to worry about storing them. I'm starting to run out of room for new books so I'm getting really picky about what books I'll use up space for.

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

I have an iPad, so I'm partial to that. If I had to pick between a Nook or a Kindle, it would be the Kindle - hands down. The Nook isn't very user friendly. As a librarian, I have patrons in all the time needing help. Sometimes, I get confused!

I haven't tried the Kobo or Sony Reader.

I like reading wherever I'm at - and not having to worry about carrying a book on me. It's convenient for me to carry my iPad everywhere. That said, the eReaders will never replace books, but they sure are nice when traveling! No more am I packing a bag just full of books!

The samples have saved me lots of money! I read the first 2 or 3 chapters and if I'm not into it, I save my $10 and move on!

I love books and that's why I resisted the Kindle for as long as I did. But O.M.G.! I don't miss them anymore!! Reading on a Kindle is just like reading ink on a page. In fact, it actually uses ink (no clue how they do it) in the device. There is no glare from the screen and you forget that you are even clicking to turn the page. Just like when you are reading a book you forget that you are turning pages because you are so into your book. That was Kindle's main purpose, to create a device that allows you to get into your book and forget what you are reading it on. It is amazing! I do so much more reading now than I used to. It's not like reading on a computer so your eyes will get no more tired from reading on a kindle than they will from reading an actual book.

From one bookie to another, you HAVE TO GET ONE!! :)

Hmm, I really like your point in the comments about the library not having the book, thus the e-reader purchase. I told @cfd46 that I didn't want an e-reader for Christmas -- mainly because I couldn't make a decision. I'll do my research before my (BIG!) birthday.

Thanks for this post!

Contributing Editor Jenna Hatfield (@FireMom ( http://twitter.com/FireMom )) blogs at Stop, Drop and Blog ( http://stopdropandblog.com ) and The Chronicles of Munchkin Land ( http://thechroniclesofmunchkinland.com ). She is a freelance writer and newspaper photographer.

Samples are such a tease to me, especially if it's a book I haven't read. I just want to get to the rest of it immediately. They are handy if you are trying to figure out if you have read a book though.

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

I have an iPad and I love it! I've read a few books on it, and what I really love is the fact that I can download samples into my library. So many times I'm ready to read a book and can't rememeber the zillions of titles that I made a mental note of to read, having all of those books on my shelf is very helpful.

My husband has a Nook with wifi & 3G, he he's only had it for a few days so it's not that familiar with it yet. He chose the Nook because of the free 3G as well as being able to check out library books on it.

Kimberly writes at Outside My Head ( http://outsidemyhead.com/ ) and That's My Answer ( http://thatsmyanswer.com/ ).

As with most electronics I found the battery life for my device was not as advertised. Nor were the page turns before you had to recharge. (I really want to know how they determine those...)

But part of the reason mine isn't as advertised is because I'm often using the built in life. That really sucks down the battery level.

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

It does not replace physical books, it supplements them.

Also, about the headaches - I have never ever gotten a headache from reading on my e-reader and I've read on it until way in the night. (I had the flu last year, reading on my e-reader was the only thing that kept me sane in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep.) I cannot read e-books on my laptop because it's an instant headache. E-ink devices definitely don't glare. The page does kind of flip, too, just with the push of a button or the sweep of your finger if you have a touch screen.

By any chance does your local library have an e-readers? I know that many do. If so see about borrowing one for a try-out.

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

It's a supplement to real books.

I hope I am never forced to do the bulk of my reading on an electronic device but occasional reading is awesome.

:-)

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

I'm a reader through & through. When I was a kid I would read anything I could get my hands on.
Now, I read a whole bunch, both for fun & for school.
I considered getting an e reader for the ease of acquiring books.
The only thing that I think I would miss is the actual words on the page. & flipping the page. Also, I read for hours on end sometimes, I think I'd get a headache from the glare of the screen.
Still thinking about it though! Great tips

most important for me (i have have both kindle and nook) is what titles are actually available. i bought a nook first and liked it very much, but soon found the books i really wanted were either not available except as kindle books, or prohibitively expensive except as kindle books. so when the kindle price came down i got one of those too. although i hate supporting amazon's monopoly in this, i really had no choice; at least i didn't have to buy it from amazon, but from best buy, which is good because nearly everything i have ever bought from amazon i have had to return as defective--including deadtreebooks with obviously ripped pages.

currently i keep my leisure reading on the nook and my serious stuff on the kindle because that's how it flows. also, those christian romances and harlequin books? not my cup of tea but really, really prominent on the nook. that said, B&N has free fridays, where they spotlight a certain book that you can download for free and although most of them make me feel slimy, occasionally i've gotten a good lightweight read. and all this past summer they made 12 of their classics editions free each week, so i got nearly 100 free B&N classic editions, which are good ones.

the other thing is the battery: whether you use it or not, the nook must be recharged every weekto keep it ready. if you read with it much, the battery lasts about four days, no matter what they say. the kindle. otoh, doesn't ever seem to need recharging if you don't read it all that often (which is my case, having both of them)--i've had mine since around labor day and have yet to recharge it at all, ever. but then, really, during the school year i do most of my reading at home in bed, on my netbook on my tummy, which has both nook for pc and kindle for pc, both free.

also? if you're sideloading books from elsewhere than barnes and noble on a nook, get the free program calibre, and it will make it all very easy.

e

The B&N Nookstore has a ton of free books and so many of them are Christian romance or Harlequin or chick lit that doesn't contain gratuitous use of the F word... I think she's got ten books before I even download anything from the library.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

I could see that being very handy when you are travelling...or if the battery on one of your devices dies.

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

and I love that I can sync it to my blackberry. I don't use that feature too often, but I like that it is there.

I enjoy reading books on my iPhone way more than I thought I would.

I think TW's mother will like the Nook. :)

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

With the Kindle app you can sync your reading. So if you started reading it on the Kindle and then wanted to switch to the iPad your place, bookmarks, etc are all there waiting for you.

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

I enjoy reading books on my iPhone too.

I hate the Kindle. I don't like the way it feels in my hand. I like the Nook better. The way it feels, the way it works, the whole thing.

I bought TW's mother a Nook - it arrived today and I'm looking forward to loading it with books for her for Christmas.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

I love my Kindle - and I never thought I'd say that, because I'm all about the physicality of an actual book. BUT. My husband says that the Kindle drives him crazy, because of the clicking. Therefore, I'm pushing for an iPad. :)

But having an e-reader hasn't meant that I've replaced physical books. I've probably bought fewer physical copies in the last year than usual but I was moving in that direction anyway. But I've also purchased e-books that I wouldn't have purchased as physical books so I think it kind of evened out.

Honestly, most of the books I'm buying for my e-reader are books that I'd normally get at the library because I want to read but either the wait it too long at the library (sometimes I'm impatient) or the library doesn't have it. I can never see myself replacing all my physical books with e-books though.

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

I didn't realize there was so much to think about...I have my eye on a kindle but at the same time I feel like I'm abadoning the actual hard copy of books. But then I think convience, de-cluttering, money, etc. The kindle seems like the right move. But I still don't know?