Do you have an e-reader?

Grampa Don

Grampa Don

Yep, that's me
Location
Orange county, Calif.
A couple years ago I won a Kindle Fire tablet in a raffle. I figured, that's neat, what can I do with it? I don't care for games, and I'd rather cruise the internet with my regular computer. Then I looked at Amazon books and found a lot of free stuff, some them classics. The Fire was nice to read on, but a bit bulky and heavy, and the shiny screen was a distraction.

So, I invested in a regular Kindle reader, the kind with no light. Now I was hooked. My wife had no interest in it. She preferred her real books. But, then there was a particular novel that she wanted and it was only available as a paperback or e-book. She doesn't like paperbacks, so I downloaded the novel to my Kindle and loaned it to her. Goodbye Kindle.

That was an excuse to upgrade to the Kindle Paperwhite with a lit screen. I love it. I can choose the typeface, text size, and brightness I want. There's no glare, and it's very light weight. I bought a cover that turns it on when you open it and off when it's closed. There are a ton of books available free on the internet, and several sites to help find them. I can even borrow books from the library over the net.

I still use the Fire tablet. Now it contains a couple programs that I use when I'm star gazing.

Don
 

I bought the Paperwhite a couple of years ago and loved it also. I had to return it because my local library wouldn't support it. Only the kindle fire. I should have asked before I bought it but they did take it back,no questions asked. When I need a new one I'm going to see if the library will now let me use the paperwhite. After a couple of hours reading, the Fire feels like it's made of lead. I also was afraid I wouldn't find enough free books to read. I don't mean to seem cheap but so many books I return because after the first few pages or chapters I find I don't care for the book. I don't have Amazon Prime,which I guess could be a problem also.
 
​I have my husband's hand me down Kindle. He never used it for reading, mainly watching videos and movies. When the sound card went, he gave it to me. I have some books on it, but rarely use it. I much prefer paper books to the e-books.
 

Ruth -- Unfortunately, there are different formats for e-books. And there are two different systems used by libraries, 3M Cloud and Overdrive. Overdrive supports Amazon Kindle format but 3M Cloud does not. A lot of libraries are converting to 3M Cloud because it is supposedly cheaper. Apparently, 3M Cloud does support Kobo readers.

But, even without using the public library, there are thousands of free e-books available. One of the sites I visit is http://www.ereaderiq.com/ Another is Project Gutenberg. And, if you search a genre on Amazon and select sort by price, the free ones pop up first. Some of the free stuff is poor, but a touch of the finger deletes the bad ones. It's kind of a treasure hunt. Amazon does have a program where you can borrow up to 10 at a time from a large collection of books for ten dollars a month. I stick with free.

My wife's books are never free. She likes popular authors, and they run about six to eight dollars. But, she would still rather read them on the Kindle.

Don
 
I too won a Kindle Fire in a raffle. I have used it on planes to read books. At home I prefer my full grown desktop with a keyboard, trackball, scanner and printer.

Before we returned to FL I got books online from the local libraries. They have that here, but I have a lot of print books on hand, so I haven't pursued it.

I bought a cover for the Kindle at Best buys that serves as a stand as well.

While moving we used the Kindle online to research property on http://realtor.com . The portability was an asset.
 
Marie -- The Kindle Fire is a whole different animal than the Kindle e-readers. It's basically a tablet computer that happens to be able to display Amazon e-books. The e-readers have a different display technology that's just black on white and are only useful for books; no movies or apps. But, they are easier on the eyes, lighter, and a battery charge lasts a lot longer.

Don
 
Yeah, I have several versions of Kindle tablets and a Paperwhite. I do a lot of reading, have Prime and Kindle Unlimited. Lately I have been using Audible which has someone reading the book to you (on the devices that have audio output). I can also use it with my smartphone and have it read to me while I am in my car through Bluetooth... if I get a phone call it pauses the book and connects the phone call through my car's Bluetooth. I love that, I have at least four 15 minute drives everyday. And all my Kindle devices and phone keep track of where I am at in any book I am reading. I can read them on my laptop computer also.
 
Grampa Don said:
Marie -- The Kindle Fire is a whole different animal than the Kindle e-readers. It's basically a tablet computer that happens to be able to display Amazon e-books. The e-readers have a different display technology that's just black on white and are only useful for books; no movies or apps. But, they are easier on the eyes, lighter, and a battery charge lasts a lot longer.

Don
Click to expand...
The Kindle e-readers are also the ones that work in direct sunlight, so if you want to read outside...
 
I have a zeepad quadcore tablet pc that I read epub on. I can change font, lighting and it displays in color. It keeps my place in whatever book I am currently reading. But then it is not just an ereader so I can also use the wifi at the library to search and other things. I use aldiko ereader program and get free books from the bookz channel on irc.
 
Hi @Gramdpa Don.

My wife wanted an iPad so when she got it I logged onto my local library to see what books I could read on the Kindle App.
I was hooked.
I love to read so I bought myself a Samsung tablet, installed the kindle App and started reading.

I didn't know much about a dedicated e-reader tablet like a Kindle Fire and I knew I wanted more than just a reader tablet.
I'm very comfortable with an android phone so I bought an android tablet.

Anyway between the two cities I live in I have access to two library systems and I use them to the max.


My best find was Bookbub.com
Check it out.
Every day you get emails listing Amazon books for little or no cost.

You enter your authors and genre preferences and BookBub emails you every day with independent or self publishing authors that are similar.

I downloaded well over 200 books from Amazon through BookBub and other than 2 or 3, found them to be excellent reads, all for free.
 
I have a Kindle Paperwhite. I love it! I have Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Prime, and I get a lot of free books that way. I joined the Free Library of Philadelphia and I borrow books from them. They have poplar authors -- with new books, there is a waiting list, but I don't mind because I have plenty of books to read (mostly free or with my $10/mo Kindle Unlimited subscription). It is free for PA residents, and $50/year for people from other states. Also, under Kindle Bestsellers, there is a tab for free books.

I have discovered many authors I like that I wouldn't have been exposed to if it weren't for my Kindle.

My sister has given us 2 Kindle fires and I don't like them.
 
If I were to go out and buy a tablet, I'd get something other than the Kindle fire. It has too many limitations. I don't believe it can read e-pubs. The Kindle e-readers are very nice, but they will only read Amazon's format. That's not too much of a problem because there is so much available in that format. But, as Steve LS noted, the android tablets can read anything.

There are so many new authors on Amazon that it's mind boggling. The problem is that anybody can publish almost anything and it doesn't cost a cent. As a result, there is a lot of junk. I follow an Amazon authors forum, and people are always asking "Why isn't my book selling?" The answer is obvious if you check out their book. Some are as little as 10 pages long, and spelling and grammar make them almost unreadable. Amazon doesn't care. It cost them virtually nothing to host a book on their site. But, there are some really good new authors, and you can recognize them by reading the sample that is provided. The sample is 10% of the book and that's usually enough to give you some idea of what to expect.

The problem is the decent stuff is buried in the dreck. That's where sites like BookBub come in handy. It's an interesting new world, and I think the traditional publishers are still trying to figure out how to deal with it.

Don
 
In addition to many many paper books, I also have a paperwhite and a Fire kindle. I also have the pc kindle ap so I can read on my computer also. I love to read - always have. I get daily emails from Bookbub also.
 
I use my desktop screen to read e-books. I have quite a large cell phone and might try and use that, too. What does the kindle cost?
 
Ruthanne said:
I use my desktop screen to read e-books. I have quite a large cell phone and might try and use that, too. What does the kindle cost?
Click to expand...

The Basic Kindle is 79.99 and the Paperwhite is 119.99, but they are often on sale for $20 less. If you have a Best Buy or Office Depot near by, you can try them out.

Don
 
I was from the "old school" and never had a desire for a Kindle (liked the idea of actually holding a book in my hands and turning the pages), but my husband got me one for Christmas several years ago and I got hooked! Since then I have gotten a Kindle Fire, which the grandkids use more for games and movies. This past Christmas my husband got me a IPad Mini and I have my Kindle books loaded to it! I get notifications in email from pixelink for low priced and free Kindle books every day. I usually go for the free books.
 
I have an old-fashioned basic Kindle, which I use part of the time. I particularly like it for two things: bringing it to doctors' offices to read in the waiting room (it fits in my purse), and it fits neatly on the ledge of the treadmill in the gym.

Otherwise, I sort of do prefer paper. I also prefer paper newspapers, rather than electronic ones over my ipad.
 
Don't need one anymore, now I have a 10.9" Google Chrome laptop computer and a 10" tablet. Both are perfect for reading eBooks and I can make the print as large as required for tired old eyes. I get five notifications every day from Book Bub of popular eBooks on sale and also get five notifications every day fro Early Bird of eBooks on sale. I can download any book I want from Amazon on the Kindle Cloud or from Google Books or Smashwords or my Provincial library system on Overdrive. Very easy, very convenient.
 
When Barnes and Noble came out with the Nook, I bought one. Still have it, can't trade it in or anything and don't have the heart to just throw away. I've been seriously looking at the Paperwhite, but I like holding a real book. I buy a lot of 'used' books through Amazon, usually around $5 each.
 
When Amazon had their Prime Day specials, one of the best deals that they had was their new Kindle Fire 7 tablets for only $29; so I bought one. I had an older Kindle that I have been using for reading, and that I got used/refurbished on ebay, and had been suing that for the last several years; so it seemed like a good time to upgrade.
The new Fire 7 comes with several different case colors, and I also got a cover so that it wakes up and goes to sleep automatically when you open or shut the cover.
Although you can easily surf the net with the Fire tablet, I much prefer the setup on my iPad, and only use the little Kindle for reading ebooks.
I much prefer ebooks to regular books now, and I like that I can adjust font size and have it large enough to easily read the book. With a paper book, whatever size print you have, that is your only option. Also, the Kindle is thin and lightweight, so no matter how large of a book I am reading, it is never cumbersome like carrying around a large book is.
 
I love books and am a voracious reader. I'll have withdrawal symptoms if I don't have access to reading material. Always had a book with me wherever I went. A few years ago arthritis in my hands made hardbacks difficult to hold without pain. Paperbacks not much better.

Bought a Kindle Paperwhite and love it. It's backlit so I can read in a dark bedroom. I have Amazon Prime and always look over their cheap or free offerings but don't often use them. My local library keeps huge inventory of books and I use Overdrive to access them.
 
helenbacque said:
I love books and am a voracious reader. I'll have withdrawal symptoms if I don't have access to reading material. Always had a book with me wherever I went. A few years ago arthritis in my hands made hardbacks difficult to hold without pain. Paperbacks not much better.
Bought a Kindle Paperwhite and love it. It's backlit so I can read in a dark bedroom. I have Amazon Prime and always look over their cheap or free offerings but don't often use them. My local library keeps huge inventory of books and I use Overdrive to access them.
Click to expand...

Have you tried the Amazon Prime Reading Library yet, Helenbacque ? It is a fairly new feature that they have added to their Prime benefits, and there is a lot of books and magazines, and they add new ones all of the time.
It is like a library in that you are not actually buying the book (or getting it free), you are just borrowing it. You can borrow up to 10 books/magazines at a time, and keep them as long as you want.
I have never had 10 books at one time, because I borrow them, read the book, and then return it.

There is also a program called Kindle First, and when you sign up for that, you get to choose one new book each month, for free, and they are new releases that haven't actually come out yet. They give you a selection of about 6 books, so you can find something that looks interesting.
 
If I can toss in a question: are e-readers and e-books interchangeable, or can you only use products from the same company?
Example: can you use an Amazon Kindle for a Barnes&Noble e-book, etc.

Personally I prefer regular books, but not knowing if all e-books are compatible with all e-readers is another reason I haven't tried this modern approach.
 
I have the Kindle Paperwhite (2nd version, I think) and finally convinced my spouse to get his own. I use Bookbub and it's great. I've discovered some new authors I really enjoy, and a couple of them only release e-books anyway. But the majority of e-books are a one-time read, and then I delete them.

My DH and I still have over a thousand actual books. Some are so old they will never make it into e-book format; over half of mine are "coffee table books" of art, architecture, and craftswork that I treasure too much to let go of. We have been slowly culling our "real" books but when it comes to rereading favorites, we do prefer to have them "in hand" rather than on e-book format.

One of the most irritating issues with e-books are authors with extended character series. J.D. Robb is on her 45th "In Death" book. Very few authors set up their series so that you can immediate see the chronologic order in e-format. I re-read that entire series regularly, and actually number the books so I can keep them in order.

We have multiple electronics, but altho the Kindle reader is loaded on our laptops and tablets, we prefer using the Kindle reader. The Paperwhite is an outstanding example of sheer utility: lightweight, fast, thin, with unparalleled visual adaptability. I have a smartphone but I intensely dislike reading on it; a Kindle is not much larger but so much easier to read on.

For reading daily media I prefer using my desktop PC and accessing various websites. I get the maximum amount of useful info with a minimum of ads. I can easily clip/save/forward articles to friends who might find the info interesting but don't have the time to spend reading, as I do.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top