E-books and e-book readers

[buksida]

Mods - Is it OK/Possible to start a thread on E-books where forum users can review and share books/downloads (via a free "Cloud Storage" site for example), or would this be tricky/against the rules?

If the material isn't copyright protected and you setup your own system I don't see why not.

[moja]

Yes there is a print size adjustment. The largest print gives you about 1 word per page!!!

Thanks Moja. That would be a lot of page turning to get through a book! Pete

But at least you would be able to read it without glasses!!!!

[STEVE G]

I was back in the UK over the weekend and I managed to get a Kindle Touch. I've been after one for a while but because I don't have a good delivery address I couldn't get one from Amazon and no one sells them retail here in continental Europe. In England I managed to pre-order one from Argus and pick it up from a retail park in Nottingham on the way.( Which was actually very efficient, I was in the shop for about two minutes! )
I'm very impressed with it, particularly the crispness of the 'print' on the display. I have to wear reading glasses for detail work at or for reading poor quality printing like you get in a lot of paperback books but I can read the Kindle without them on even with it set to the smallest text size.
It also downloads books in a seamless fashion in that if you have it logged on wifi or connected by USB and it's registered to your account, you can just buy books off Amazon on your computer and they just appear on the Kindle without having to do anything else, you can literally buy and have a book on the Kindle in less than a minute.
Also, on older ebook readers with these types of electronic ink displays, everytime you changed the page it went black for a second which is a bit annoying but on this one it only does that about every five pages which makes it much easier to read, most of the times it just changes almost instantly.
Basically, for anyone who reads a lot and travels, it's an amazing device.

[Bamboo Grove]

Ok, Steve, that's good news.

[caller]

Anyone got any views on this as a piece of kit? I've been waiting for this to come out as its an e-reader with knobs on and its priced really well! So before I take the plunge, anyone here got it? Or any techies out there like to comment? Its got good reviews from within the industry, but I always have suspicions about those!

[BaaBaa.]

I'll just say.......... Nexus 7.

Any Android is an e reader, you can buy books directly from the Android market.

http://www.gsmarena.com/asus_google_nex ... ew-797.php

[Dannie Boy]

Anyone got any views on this as a piece of kit? I've been waiting for this to come out as its an e-reader with knobs on and its priced really well! So before I take the plunge, anyone here got it? Or any techies out there like to comment? Its got good reviews from within the industry, but I always have suspicions about those!

My son is an Apple advocate but bought a Kindle Fire and swears by it.

[BaaBaa.]

The summary at the end of the GSM review says this.

A more natural competitor for the Google Nexus 7 is the Kindle Fire. The Amazon slate costs the same as its rival, but you'd need quite some fiddling (and giving up on your warranty) to make it run stock Android. And even then you'll get what's at best last-year's hardware. The Kindle Fire basically comes out as an even more limited Nexus 7, with less power, which costs the same - surely the release of the Google slate looks like the end of the road for Amazon's first gen tablet.

I'm probably going the Nexus route on my next phone as long as the hardware is upto scratch, it's by Google therefore it's guaranteed to get the latest software first.

I see the kindle as an underpowered droid, think they only use Amazons own app store too.

[STEVE G]

Personally, if you want an actual e-reader as opposed to a tablet, the Kindle Touch is a great bit of kit. The big advantage for me is the battery life, I bought one a month ago, have used it every day and it's only been charged once so far. Sometimes when I'm going backwards and forwards to Thailand, I'm on the go for well over 24 hours so no tablet comes close to matching that. Another big advantage is that reading a e-ink display is far more like reading actual print than any colour computer display.
If you want a tablet computer instead, there are loads to choose from.

[BaaBaa.]

What's e-ink Steve? Just a type of display like LCD and Amoled?

Got to admit that battery life is brilliant.

[caller]

Personally, if you want an actual e-reader as opposed to a tablet, the Kindle Touch is a great bit of kit

Thanks for all the responses. Its main usage would be as an ereader, but I like the idea of being able to browse the net as I choose, or connect to others. Games would be limited to bejewelled and I might be tempted by something to watch. What I can't see is whether the ereader will be in 'standard' format, which is widely regarded as the best there is, or colour or an option for either? Also whether just using the ereader in 'standard' format would extend battery life?

[STEVE G]

What's e-ink Steve? Just a type of display like LCD and Amoled?

Got to admit that battery life is brilliant.

E-ink is a type of display that only uses power to change state, that's why the battery life is so good:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_Ink

[J.J.B.]

I bought a Kobo from WHSmith in the UK and use Calibre on my Mac to convert all sorts of files, including PDFs, to readable books. Now I can't prise it from the wife! For me the benefit over our iPads was battery life, weight and the e-ink plus the micro SD slot that stores around 1,500 books.

[BaaBaa.]

There's loads of different apps for readers on Android Caller, that's the best thing about it, you don't like anything from the keyboard to calendar you get a new one.

[STEVE G]

There's loads of different apps for readers on Android Caller, that's the best thing about it, you don't like anything from the keyboard to calendar you get a new one.

If you want content from Amazon, ( they have some good deals ) you can download a free Kindle app for Android from them anyway.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html ... 1000423873