/lit/ - Literature

i have a kindle touch and it's really easy to use. i'm not sure how $100 compares to other e-readers. but if you're like most people on lit, all of the books you want to read are old enough to be public domain, and you can legally download them for free on the store

someone suggested the refurbished kobo for around $50-60

>>2789686
That sounds a decent enough price tag. I don't want to completely shut off newer books though, I've been trying to find a decent new fantasy series lately. But they all seem to be directed towards teens now

Nook Simple Touch with Glow Light is superior.
>that expandable memory
>that e-ink display
>that mother fucking glow light son
>that ability to read .epub and .pdf
>that ebook store with over 2.5 millie books yo
>that simple to use menu and features
>that excellent customer service if you fuck it up
>that drag and drop computer compatibility

>>2789691

If reading books on a computer hurts my eyes after a while, won't a reader with a backlight do the same?

>>2789691
Never had one before, not sure what E-ink is?
drag and drop computer compatibility means dropping pirated books onto it easily? (formatted ones etc)

Are basically all books made for ebook readers the same formats by the way?

>>2789696
It's not a backlight. There are lights all around the edge of the screen, underneath the material. It's like having a bunch of mini-lamps around the screen that illuminate it.
>>2789698
It's extremely easy for pirating books, I do it all the time.
They come in either: .lit, .epub, .pdf, .mobi. Those are the most popular ones, but I'm sure there are more.

>>2789698
Also, about E-Ink. Kindle Touch/Kindle have it, too. It's just the neat technology they use to emulate a book page. It doesn't look like typed words, like a computer, it looks like an actual book.
Kindle Fire/Nook Color/Nook Tablet don't use it, because they're all back-lit and have glass screens.

>>2789710
sounds like that would be easier on the eyes

>>2789717
It is, which is why it's the preferred type of e-reader for /lit/ and old people. People who get the Fire/Color/Tablet are usually younger folk who want to browse the Internet and watch movies more than they want to read.

>>2789729
well I have the actual pc or laptop if I want that. I have a 3ds I can watch movies on also or laptop so I'm happy with something that just handles books well. I heard some ebook readers even have comic displaying apps?

>>2789741
Most, if not all, of the comic displaying ones are the Fire/Color/Tablet, because most comics are in color and reading them in black and white would detract from the experience significantly.
In fact, most, if not all, of the e-readers with any kind of "app" on them are the Fire/Color/Tablet.

>>2789747
Ah alright, I'll go for one with E-ink instead. Are there any makes that are just terrible? No compatibility, no pirating etc? Else I will just go for the cheapest with eink

>>2789756
They're all pretty much the same device. A major draw back of the Kindle devices, though, is that they don't have expandable memory. You're stuck with the stock, which is 2GB or 4GB.

>>2789760
Unless prepping the format takes up a lot of space, surely 2gigs would still be quite a lot of books?

>>2789771
Roughly 1.5k. A sizeable amount, to be sure.
There's also the fact that Amazon is a website, so if you have any difficulties with your device, or break it and need to replace it, customer service will be very poor, and you'll have to send it away and wait for a new one to arrive.
I'd highly recommend the nook simple touch, especially the one with glow light, although the regular one is just as fine. The regular one is $99, and the glow light is $139.
Kindle is $79, kindle touch is $99.

>>2789778
Have basically narrowed it to nook or kobo, depends which I can get my hand on easiest I guess

>>2789787
They sold Kobos in Borders, so if you have any near you, there should be some there.
Or did Borders die? I know it went out of business in my town, but I don't know about the whole business.

>>2789795
Ireland here so narrows my places to look considerably, will probably just order online.

>>2789805
Oh. Well, yes it certainly does.
Best of luck to you.

>>2789810
Thanks very much your time and information, I have a lot more to go on now.

>>2789778
Not OP here--this information has been very helpful to me as well, but I'm confused about the Nook Simple Touch: does it have an e-ink screen like a standard kindle? It seems that it does, but when I read reviews of it, they say that it runs Android (which has the benefit of making it very hackable, so that you can read many unsupported ebook formats, pirate more easily, read comics, etc.), but I don't understand how you could use Android on a device with only an e-ink screen. Wouldn't it be unbearably slow and unresponsive without an interface specially designed for the screen?
I'm just trying to get a handle on what the actual user experience is like.

>>2789833
It does use E-Ink as well. When they say that it "runs on Android," they don't mean the same android as a phone or tablet use. It's just that the OS is designed by android, and based off of one of the original kernels of it. They designed it for the nook, so it's smooth and efficient.

>>2789833
You can navigate on the internet with e-ink display(I have a kindle 4).But yes, it is very slow.
Look son, it depends on what you want.If you want some cool shiny gadget that does all but doesn't excel, just to please your inner hipster, get a tablet.
If you want only to read, and I mean read for hours an end, get an e-reader with e-ink display.

>>2789847
That also brings up the wonderful battery life that E-Ink e-readers have. They can go for weeks at a time without needing to recharge. I've had mine going for two weeks now on a single charge.

Toaster: droppin' dat info like its scaldin'

>>2789858
I do it on a daily basis. It's literally my job.

>>2789840
Ok, so it's really just a simple e-ink reader device that runs a sensible interface built around an ARM Linux OS, which happens to be Android. That makes sense.

But why is it called "touch"? Presumably it has a touch screen, but how can a touch screen work with e-ink? Is the display responsive enough to satisfy basic use with a touch screen? (using a touch screen "blind" can be one of the most infuriating experiences...) I've only ever used a borrowed last-generation Kindle, and found the screen more responsive than I was expecting, although still noticeably slow (as I'm sure all e-ink displays are).

>>2789847
Exactly. I agree completely. I have a million and one gadgets, but reading in the dark on my smart phone has been reddening my eyes more than I'd like. I don't need another gadget to watch movies, or to play games, or to browse the internet... the only thing I could imagine wanting to do with it other than reading normal, textual books would be, perhaps, experimenting a little with reading manga, which is black and white anyway. Of course, that wouldn't be the decision point, reading actual books would still be the meat of the matter.
The way I see it, the tradeoff of hyper-multi-media functionality is cost: If I don't need or want a $500 tablet or even the crippled but comparatively inexpensive $200 Kindle Fire, I can buy a very cheap e-reader like the refurbished Nook Simple Touch going on newegg right now for $73.

>>2789869

>tfw you will never penetrate the tight-knit, zero-turnover world of bookstore employment

>>2789876
It is touch screen. The screen refreshes every few page turns/ every screen change, so the e-ink remains fresh and crisp. I've never had any problems with the responsiveness or speed of response.
I had a good example in mind but can't remember it now.
I'd highly recommend going to a B&N, because they have demo units out that you can try for yourself to get a feel for it.

>>2789889
Well, it sounds pretty great, especially the backlight model if the backlight can be turned off to save battery life etc. I didn't realize it could change the display at all without "refreshing"--I guess I'll have to inspect one in person to see what that means in practice.

Yet another thing to add to my unexpectedly long and growing list of things I'd like to buy if I had money and a job.

>>2789876
touch screen on e-ink is a bit unresponsive, but most of them have side buttons to turn the page so that you don't poke the screen like an idiot.The kindle touch doesn't have those buttons so I got their last version of e-reader that doesn't have touch functionality.Can't speak for other products.
Overall, e-readers are great devices and you will be hooked.Slim design, lighter than most books, you can keep hundreds of them, battery lasts for week, it look like real paper so no strain on the eyes

>>2789910
The light can be turned on/off either by selecting it in the menu or just holding down the menu button for about two seconds.
It's also not a back-light, it's some weird side-lighting that makes it much, much easier on the eyes.
The advertised battery life without the light on is one month, and the advertised battery life with the light on is about two weeks.
Also, the light is incredibly bright at full brightness, but you can dim/brighten it easily. I keep mine at about 5% brightness, because that's all that I need to see it at night time.

Does anyone know if it's at all possible to convert formats? Specifically from Amazon's proprietary format to something that can be opened by all readers.
I ask because I can buy a Sony PRS-T1, second hand, at a good price.

>>2789966
Absolutely. A free program called "Calibre" is the most widely-used tool to do that. Simply put the books in Calibre, select at the top "convert" and choose the file type to convert them to.

>>2789966
I have a Sony PRS-T1, and is really nice,
i had no problem at all with any format, calibre + PRS-t1 options to view pdf = win