Digital Readers - Some thoughts for last minute shoppers

    

Interesting article in Friday's USA Today regarding the digital reader wars. Lots of talk about the impact they are having on the industry, which we can discuss later.

    In the meantime, in light of the fact that gift giving is on everyone's mind and several folks have emailed me recently asking if I have thoughts or opinions about one over the other, I thought it would be timely for us all to discuss the pros and cons of readers, and discuss their features and benefits.  Maybe this discussion will be too late for all but the last minute shoppers and those who have parking and shopping angels on their sides, but I thought it would still be interesting and helpful to create a forum for those of us who have taken the digital reader dive to share what we've learned.

    I own the Sony Reader and love it. I'm a fan of quality (basically because I'm thrifty and hate having to replace expensive electronics) so was really excited several years back when Sony announced they were creating one. I made myself wait until the second (or maybe it was the third) generation was released, and I bought the PRS 505. I've been very happy with it. Of course they've tinkered with it and released several newer versions: one with a backlight which quickly proved unpopular; a touch screen version which allows the user to highlight text and take notes and creates the sound of a turning page; and a more compact version (perhaps in an attempt to satisfy people under forty who are still capable of reading tiny, tiny print?)

    Obviously I've closely followed Sony's progress, though I've yet been lured into an upgrade. Thing is, I mainly use mine for reading manuscripts and proposals, and it serves that purpose very well. It handles PDF's and Word docs beautifully, with no conversion needed. (I do have to save them to Sony's ebook library on my computer and then move them onto my reader via a cable, but it's a simple process, and I like that everything is backed up on my own computer in my library.)

    To tell you the truth, I've yet to actually purchase a book for it, but it works very well with library programs and handles most audio books nicely. I'm shopping now and planning to treat myself to a pair of noise canceling headphones to go with it. Big decision in front of me is whether the new pair from Bose (vs. Sony) is worth the extra money.

    Back to the reader, though. There are other readers on the market, of course. In addition to the Sony the most popular are Amazon's Kindle, and the latest new the Nook from Barnes and Noble is making a splash.  If you've had the Nook in mind, either for yourself or as a gift, you'll have to settle for a gift card at this point as they are not shipping any again until after the first of the year. As far as I know, the Kindle is only available online, so there may still be time there. The whole Apple universe is foreign to me -- I'll let someone else chime in there.

    Whether or not it benefits last minute gift givers, I'd love to hear from users regarding the pros and cons of their particular reader, and the ups and downs of using one. 

    Let's compare notes ...

   

   

   

   

   

Comments

[Karen Robbins]

I have the Sony PRS 505 too and love it! My husband orginally bought me the newer backlit version last year but we exchanged it when I saw how much easier the 505 was to read. I have purchased books and it's a simple process. When we travel I can take along 5 books and not be charged for overweight luggage or have to sacrifice some essential clothing for room for books.

On our last trip this past November, we had some time at a stop along the way in Denver and found a Bose booth set up with the new earphones. Bob had the older version, which he never flies without but when he compared the two, the newer ones were even better. He got a deal swapping out the old ones. They really are nice for long flights. I'd put it on your list and be very good for Santa.

[Lisa Jordan]

For now, I have the Kindle app for my iPod Touch. I love the compactness of it, but the battery life isn't that great and pages need to be turned constantly. Beats lugging heavy books in my carry-on though. Really eying the Nook, though. I think my brother-in-law is getting one for Christmas, so I'll have to check it out when it comes in.

[Dedi]

I don't have an eReader yet but have been looking forward to getting one. Here's a website that gives a nice description and review of all the ones on the market: best-ereaders.com
I wish I could combine different features from each to make the one I'd like. I'm waiting till the "right one" does come out and hopefully the price comes down a bit.

[Sharon A Lavy]

We had our ACFW Ohio Christmas party at my house Saturday. One of the ladies brought her new nook and tried to demo it. Of course the learning curve made it look bad. It seems she has to put her credit card # in as her security code. NOT impressed with that part.

I love my kindle. Husband saw one and told me to get it for mother's day last year. Husband loves to travel and with the new weight constraints I can no longer pack a suitcase of books to take with me. So I do buy some books for it and also look for the free ones that interest me. Causing me to buy the rest of the series in the case of James Patterson's book The Angel Experiment. I just fell in love with his heroine Max.

I like the larger print so I am really appreciating the new update that downloaded to my kindle 2. Now I can read landscape when I choose.

[Jodie]

Wow, Sandra! Two posts in just over a week! :-)

I have a Kindle. Got it for Mother's Day. We bought the eReader first, but for some crazy reason that tech support couldn't figure out, the program refused to work on my computer. So, we ordered a Kindle. From my experience with both, the screens are essentially the same readability, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE that the Kindle is wireless. I can email documents to my Kindle, and Amazon automatically converts them. They charge me fifteen cents to do it, but I'm occasionally lazy so fifteen cents is worth my time. :-)

Don't get me wrong, I still love to hold a good book (in fact, I was a little wary at first because I am very much a pen and paper person), but traveling is so much LIGHTER now!

[Perry P. Perkins]

I just posted on this very subject!

Here's how I decided on the Nook, and a couple of great articles to help narrow the field:

http://tinyurl.com/y8hjgun

Blessings,

-Perry

[Alison Strobel Morrow]

I have the Sony 505 as well, and I was really annoyed at first because they didn't have a Mac version of the eLibrary, so I had to use my husband's PC to load books. (The Sony was a gift and I couldn't return it, hence the reason I didn't try something else.) But they just released a Mac version, and I've got the library on my computer now and it's great. I've only downloaded two books so far, and the frist time it was a nightmare. For some reason the library kept...just...not working. Very irritating. But the second time it was fine, so maybe I just happened to stumble into a problem that got fixed.

The only other thing I've realized is that the books are not always cheaper than the paper version. I went to purchase Lisa Samson's "The Passion of Mary-Margaret" (which is FANTASTIC by the way) and it was $13.99! And that was on sale!! On Amazon it's priced at, like, $10-something. So I bought the paper version. I wrote to complain about the pricing and got a response that didn't at all fit my question, so that was a little irritating, too.

But, overall, I really love the product itself. Easy to use, lightweight, great battery life. :)

[Karla Carlson]

I think the digital readers are cool but I am still in love with curling up with a traditional book. I am also concerned with the cost involved. The readers cost over $200 and then the books cost around $10 a piece. I can purchase and trade my traditional books so much cheaper than that. I have some friends with e-readers but they travel and have them for space issues. I would hate to see traditional books go away because my library is my favorite room in the house.

[Sandra]

Karla,

I agree there is just "something" about the look and feel of a paper book. But ... I imagine people who first started writing checks felt funny about not handling their cash, too. Technology and change are inevitable. Might as well use both to make our lives easier and more enjoyable, right? I do love my library and have loved adding a few books from "my" authors to the shelves this year. But, on days when I get "tossy-outty" as my family puts it, I have to confess, I've wondered why I keep old books around just to gather dust...