Anyone Own An E-Book Reader?

[ThePhillyFlash]

So, has anyone out there bought a Kindle, Nook or Sony Reader? I've been curious about these devices and wonder how good legible the screens are, the length of battery life, the accessibility of books one can download, etc. I'd appreciate the 411 on these interesting gadgets!

[old hat]

I have owned two. I had one of the older model Sony devices and now I have a Nook.

The screens are very legible and don't cause eye strain. They are just like reading a book. You will need a light though since they are not backlit.

Battery life is variable depending on which one you have and what you are doing. Battery life in airplane mode (with wi-fi and 3g connection deactivated) is a week or more.

With the current ones, getting books is very easy. You can shop and download right on the device. It takes minutes. Downloading a book typically takes less than a minute. This reduces battery life a bit though. There are a lot of books available and almost always cheaper than a print copy especially for new books. Now everything I want is available for it and some publishers aren't available for the Kindle at all because of a price dispute with Amazon.

[Gaming_Bum]

I have a Nook, and the screen looks really good. Battery Life is reasonable. B&N has a good selection of books, they don't always have the book I want. But that's ok, I like buying hardcover books. But for the most part I prefer reading most books on my Nook. It's hard for me to get comfortable while reading hardcover and softcover books all the time. The light weight of the nook makes it easy for me to get in to a comfortable position. But at the same time I'm not fighting to keep it open like a paper back.

Now for the bad. Barnes and noble ebook prices have gone up. It seems like, B&N isn't really putting up a fight against the publishers. What makes things even more shady is that when the Nook came out prices on ebooks dropped basically matching amazon. Now that the demand for Nooks have settled down books prices rose up. Coincidence? I doubt it. Now there are a good number of ebooks that cost more than paper backs and some even more than hardcover books on B&N.com.

Also some people seem to be having issues with the nook, and from what I hear B&N has terrible customer service. Buttons have been cracking on people, the back of the nooks are already getting discolored, and of course some people are having issues with the nook not working right. Then customer service has been giving these people a hard time suggesting that it's most likely their fault, or that the warranty doesn't cover wear and tear (remember the nook hasn't been out that long, so that's bs if they're saying it's wear and tear). I've even heard horror stories of people sending back their nook, then when a new one is sent out days later their card is charged for a 2nd Nook without warning. So with that being said it's hard for me to recommend the Nook.

Maybe you want to wait to the dust settles from the amazon vs the publishers battle that is going on. Amazon is trying to keep pricing down, publishers want them to go up. Apple made the first move and sided with the publishers(Want higher ebook pricing, WE HAVE AN APP FOR THAT). B&N now seems to have done the same. That leaves Sony, Amazon, and a bunch of other small ebook sites that are fighting the good fight. We'll see how much longer they can hold out.

[old hat]

Fighting the good fight are they?
http://www.itproportal.com/portal/ne...ats-macmillan/
Amazon To Increase Ebook Price Following Threats By Macmillan

01 February, 2010, by Desire

In an announcement posted on its website, Amazon.com, the online retail giant, has reported that the company has agreed to sell Macmillan E-books at a higher price instead of the standard $9.99.

The Amazon Kindle Team wrote on the Kindle community blog that “Macmillan, one of the big six publishers, has clearly communicated to us that, regardless of our viewpoint, they are committed to switching to an agency model and charging $12.99 to $14.99 for e-book versions of bestsellers and most hardcover releases.”

This announcement from the online retail heavyweight comes two days after it stopped selling Macmillan book titles for its Kindle e-book reader format following a dispute over the e-book pricing strategy.

According to the new agreement between Amazon and Macmillan, the book publishing giant will be able to set the price of the e-books individually, with new releases being priced anywhere between $12.99 and $14.99.

In addition to the revised pricing scheme, the revenue sharing ratio will be set 70:30 in favor of the publisher.

Read more: http://www.itproportal.com/portal/ne...#ixzz0gQgTBDEw

but the books are available for the Kindle
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Also, I don't know if I would call resisting a software price increase to maintain sales of their own device 'fighting the good fight' anyway. It looks more like standard business self-interest to me.

[Gaming_Bum]

Originally Posted by old hat

Fighting the good fight are they?
http://www.itproportal.com/portal/ne...ats-macmillan/
Amazon To Increase Ebook Price Following Threats By Macmillan

01 February, 2010, by Desire

In an announcement posted on its website, Amazon.com, the online retail giant, has reported that the company has agreed to sell Macmillan E-books at a higher price instead of the standard $9.99.

The Amazon Kindle Team wrote on the Kindle community blog that “Macmillan, one of the big six publishers, has clearly communicated to us that, regardless of our viewpoint, they are committed to switching to an agency model and charging $12.99 to $14.99 for e-book versions of bestsellers and most hardcover releases.”

This announcement from the online retail heavyweight comes two days after it stopped selling Macmillan book titles for its Kindle e-book reader format following a dispute over the e-book pricing strategy.

According to the new agreement between Amazon and Macmillan, the book publishing giant will be able to set the price of the e-books individually, with new releases being priced anywhere between $12.99 and $14.99.

In addition to the revised pricing scheme, the revenue sharing ratio will be set 70:30 in favor of the publisher.

Read more: http://www.itproportal.com/portal/ne...#ixzz0gQgTBDEw

but the books are available for the Kindle
-------
Also, I don't know if I would call resisting a software price increase to maintain sales of their own device 'fighting the good fight' anyway. It looks more like standard business self-interest to me.

damn I'm super late on this. Didn't realize they made a deal especially when a lot of amazon ebooks are still at a reasonable price, at least a reasonable price when compared to B&N.com.

I call it the good fight. Yeah sure Amazon used those low prices as a means to sell their kindle, and to get more people on the site to buy other things. But they knew the low prices would appeal to the consumers. And if they were fighting to keep the consumers happy(even though the reason they wanted to keep us happy for their benefit), then it's fighting the good fight. Too bad they didn't seem to be fighting it that long.

I think it's ridiculous that they want to sell ebooks at a higher price than paperback.

[old hat]

I didn't either until very recently.

I don't. Amazon used those prices to promote their own Kindle sales. They resisted the increase for the same reason. Every company that sells anything is trying to appeal to consumers. That's how they get sales. I am dubious about the the entire idea that a company should be 'fighting the good fight' anyway. They should be acting on behalf of their shareholders.

I have never seen ebooks priced at above softback pricing for new books or bestsellers or at all that I can think of. Most are $9.99 and under and a lot are $5 or less. A lot of the current bestsellers are $4-6. I'm looking now. I don't see any above $9.99 in the New York Times bestseller section for the Nook.

I found 1 title at $11.99
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There is some weirdness in the pricing structure like certain books which are overstocked at some sellers being cheaper in hardcover than ebook format but that's because everyone has way too many copies of books like Breaking Dawn lying around and they are being dumped.

[ThePhillyFlash]

Well, thanks for the information. It's proven to be quite enlightening. At present, I figure to wait on buying one of the readers until the pricing structure of e-books is fully straightened out.

[old hat]

It's a bit odd at the moment. Book prices can fluctuate with a book being $2.99 one day and $7.16 the next. Sometimes bundles cost more than the books do individually. Some companies are still trying to charge for ebook editions of public domain books available for free on-line.

I think the device is worth it for the convenience, light weight and space savings but it isn't perfect.

[ThePhillyFlash]

It all sounds so confusing, what with prices on e-books not being uniform. I can understand why publishers are wanting higher prices for the electronic versions of their books, but I wish everyone would get together and establish a static price that would be agreeable to everyone and end all this angst.

[Gaming_Bum]

Originally Posted by old hat

I didn't either until very recently.

I don't. Amazon used those prices to promote their own Kindle sales. They resisted the increase for the same reason. Every company that sells anything is trying to appeal to consumers. That's how they get sales. I am dubious about the the entire idea that a company should be 'fighting the good fight' anyway. They should be acting on behalf of their shareholders.

I have never seen ebooks priced at above softback pricing for new books or bestsellers or at all that I can think of. Most are $9.99 and under and a lot are $5 or less. A lot of the current bestsellers are $4-6. I'm looking now. I don't see any above $9.99 in the New York Times bestseller section for the Nook.

I found 1 title at $11.99
-----
There is some weirdness in the pricing structure like certain books which are overstocked at some sellers being cheaper in hardcover than ebook format but that's because everyone has way too many copies of books like Breaking Dawn lying around and they are being dumped.

Actually the ad at B&N use to say bestsellers $9.99 or less. Of course that wasn't true, so some complaints were sent in. Of course they didn't honor their ad, instead they changed the ad to say MOST bestsellers $9.99 or less. That kind of irritated me.

But yeah best sellers seem to be at a good price. Some of the others not so much. And it's not like overstock is the only place where you can find some of these books cheaper. Look at other books like, The City and The City, on B&N.com you can get the hardcover cheaper than the ebook(the ebook is about 19 dollars). Or check out Salem's lot by Stephen King, the ebook cost $26.00 on B&N.... There are still a lot of good ebooks out there that are reasonably priced. But the prices on ebooks can be *** backwards at times.

Originally Posted by ThePhillyFlash

It all sounds so confusing, what with prices on e-books not being uniform. I can understand why publishers are wanting higher prices for the electronic versions of their books, but I wish everyone would get together and establish a static price that would be agreeable to everyone and end all this angst.

Honestly ebook readers are very convient. Especially if you read a lot. More comfortable to read with, you can get things that prop them up on tables for easier reading. Can take them anywhere. And a lot of the ebooks are reasonably priced, and the ones that aren't well I don't think there is anything wrong with going back to hardcover or paperback. So I'd suggest you get an ereader, I wouldn't suggest the nook at this time though. Maybe a sony ereader. But just be warned, with drm and books being set to certain devices you might eventually lose our collection.

[Leader Desslock]

I've tried out both the Kindle and the Nook e-reader software on my Netbook, and ... I wouldn't recommend a netbook for this purpose. Awkward to hold, bad battery life, etc.

I keep looking at a Nook, but I'm far from sold on it to date.

[old hat]

People sometimes suggest a netbook as an alternative to a dedicated reader device but it's not well suited for it.

Most bestsellers are $9.99 or less but not all of them. Many are under $5. There are some oddities in pricing like books here and there that are unexpectedly expensive like that one.

[Gaming_Bum]

OldHat since you have a Nook. You should check out some of my wallpapers I've made. A lot of them are video game based, a couple of anime wallpapers, and 1 nature wallpaper

http://www.nook-look.com/Nookfiles/userfiles/87

[f2akid]

A lot of new mobile phones these days have ebook readers built-in. The latest Blackberry is pretty convenient for it.

[old hat]

I recognize that cover now. I have that edition. I know why it costs so much more than you might expect. That's not a regular edition. It's a special illustrated edition I think was only available in hardcover and listed for $35.00.