Which e-reader do you have?

I own a kindle but never ever use it. I read books on the kindle app for my mac and iPhone.

I have a Nook Tablet. I thought long and hard about which ereader to get. I wanted something for my needs and the Nook seemed more of a fit than the Kindle. I wanted something for reading and light web surfing when I don't have my laptop on me, like say at my sister's house. I don't care for many apps, nor do I play many games on my Nook (I only have Plants vs. Zombies on it). Most of my gaming I do on my 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PSP, PC, and DS. I also didn't want to be limited to Kindle only files.

Kindle. I've read full books on my phone, tablet, and laptop as well, but I always have to stop for a while because the backlighting tires my eyes. Kindle ink all the way.

On the other hand, I refuse to buy ebooks (recent exception: if my friends' books are only available in ebook). I object to the idea of paying to license the content rather than owning it. So I download free books (mostly classics) and read those electronically, and I love borrowing ebooks from the library (I wish that were more available!). But I still go all-print-all-the-way for modern fiction in my book-buying purchases (and usually borrow print from the library just because that's what's available).

I have a Kindle, but what I really want is a book of blank electro-internet-beat-up-vellum pages that can have any book uploaded to them in fake ink after purchase on the innarnetz...

Technology has disappointed me thus far

slhuang said:

On the other hand, I refuse to buy ebooks (recent exception: if my friends' books are only available in ebook). I object to the idea of paying to license the content rather than owning it.

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There are some publishers who have abandoned DRM. I think most will eventually.

Amadan said:

There are some publishers who have abandoned DRM. I think most will eventually.

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True, but AFAIK (and I could be wrong; I haven't checked in a while) the TOS is still a licensing model, and Amazon (or whoever) maintains the right to go into your reader and alter or delete your books if they so choose. I just don't like giving money to that model, or saying okay to anyone else having access to my collection.

(Yes, I could convert and back up my whole collection (possibly violating the TOS in the process?), but that seems like a lot of work, especially considering that I prefer the aesthetics, if not the inconvenience, of reading on paper anyway. It's sort of a combination of "the principle of the thing" and it just working for me to read classics on my Kindle and modern fiction in print -- doing that wouldn't work for everyone, of course.)

Edit: Also, in practicality: If I buy a paper book, I own something of value that I could resell or give away. If I license an ebook, I am . . . renting access to it indefinitely. (Borrowing/lending restrictions used to be something else that REALLY bothered me, although it seems they're loosening up on that now.)

Literateparakeet said:

For those books that are only available on Kindle, I have the Kindle app on my computer. I didn't know you could convert books with Calibre until I read this thread...so I'll have to look into that!

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It works with some books and not others. Books you buy on the amazon site itself often have a DRM lock that prevents conversion to epub. I know, because I've tried with calbre. They want you to buy a kindle, darn it, not just buy kindle format books to read on other readers. They do have software that lets you read kindle books on a windows pc, though. Maybe it works for windows-compatible tablets too?

Not true. Google "Apprentice Alf." There are plugins for Calibre that make it easy to strip DRM and convert Kindle books.

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Just saw this. May give it a try. I just have straight up calibre, which doesn't seem to come with any such plug ins.

And I have to say that if I buy a book and pay the same price for it as I paid for a paper copy, then darn it, I want it to be mine the way a paper book would be. I want to be able to lend (to one person at a time) reformat and keep the book as long as I want and not have the company have the right to come in and delete it or alter it after the fact unless I'm doing something that is in violation of copyright law (like copying it and posting it to the web or something). If they want to limit our ownership of digital books, then they should definitely make them cheaper.

[edit] Downloaded that app and it let me convert kindle book to nook format. Most awesome, so thanks!

I have the most basic Kindle and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. My library has an excellent selection of Kindle books to check out, so I almost never spend any money. (I read about 40% MG, 40% YA, and 20% literary fiction).

I also love it for the ability to send Word manuscripts to it. I read a lot of critique partner manuscripts this way, with more ease and portability than having to do so on the computer screen. I also read my own manuscripts this way and catch errors I wouldn't catch on screen or paper.

I have a basic Kindle, which I prefer if I'll be reading for a long time. I also have a Kindle Fire and use that one if I'm reading in a dark room (like after Hubby has gone to sleep).

I have a Sony Reader. It has a marvelous foreign language dictionary set up that has spoiled me for life. I like to read books in Spanish and French. I used to just figure out unknown words from context because I hate stopping to open a dictionary and look things up constantly. But, with the Sony I can double-tap and have the definition pop up right then and there. Very cool and useful. I have the Daily Edition, which came pre-loaded with about 15 various dictionaries, so I never had to mess with set-up other than chosing which one I wanted a certain book to default to.

HOWEVER, I now read almost exclusively on my iPad mini, simply because I don't want to carry two devices. It was a fight to find apps that would allow me to duplicate the foreign dictionary usage (strangely, the Sony reading app doesn't). It's still not as good a set up as the actual Sony Reader, but it's usable.

I have a Kindle Keyboard. I quickly came to love it. I got a tablet a few months ago and for a while did a lot of my ebook reading in the Kindle App on that. But the novelty wore off and though I still love my tablet for all the other stuff it does, I still prefer longer reading sessions to be on the Kindle. Less eyestrain, no distractions (emails, notifications etc) like I get on the tablet. I still do read on the tablet if I don't have the Kindle with me for some reason. And there are some things it's easier to do in the app than on the Kindle. But for just sitting down and reading the Kindle is my first choice.

I'm very tempted to get the new Kindle that's coming out. It looks so nice...

I have a Kobo Glo and an old Sony prs-600 (the aluminum one).

I was reading on the Kobo for a while and really liking it. I used the Glo function in bed, it was light and a bit smaller than the Sony. But I find getting to my books to read can be a trial sometimes. There's no categories, so books seem to be listed on it helter-skelter. The screen is a bit insensitive, which is good when I shove it in my purse, but annoying when I'm trying to change a page and I have to try 3 or 4 times. I like how the books disappear from the front screen after you've finished them.

I've gone back to reading on the Sony. I can find and get into my book quicker, it starts up faster, I can read pdf's on it and change the text size to make them easier on the eyes (I can't do it on the Kobo and it makes it unusable for pdf's). It also has the option of buying a charger (which I did) so you can plug it into an outlet to charge it, and you can still read on it if you do. If you plug it into the computer, though, you can't.

And it's red. I like red.

iPad Mini and iPhone 4S, both running the Marvin ereader app. Dreamweaver, you can configure Marvin to use whichever dictionaries you'd like to use.

Marvin only reads DRM-free ebooks, so I tend to buy from whichever store has the best deal, and strip the DRM in Calibre. (Actual real ebook vendor competition ensues.)

While I would prefer to read paper books, the ability to change the font size, the easy access to the particular books I want to read, and the fact that my house is already full of books stacked everywhere, are leading me to use an ereader more and more.

I prefer paper books but I also love my Kindle 3 keyboard--I use it primarily for reading my manuscripts as part of the revision stage.

I'm thinking of upgrading to a Kindle Paperwhite soon. Anyone used a Kindle keyboard and a Paperwhite? Would you recommend the upgrade?

I voted other. Dude, you must have APPS as a choice. (-;

I began my ebook experience with a Kobo (generation 1). I quickly moved on to apps. There is only one way that I read books now... APPS. I have both the Kobo app and the Kindle app on my cell. I read from those exclusively.

I have a basic Kindle, which I love. When my mom died, I inherited her Kindle keyboard, which I also love, although it's a LOT more dangerous since it has built-in wifi, so I can buy books anywhere/anytime instead of having to be near a router.

I also have a Kindle Fire, which I use more for games (or more succinctly, that my kids use for games) and magazines. I can't read more than a little bit on it, because it bothers my eyes, although I do use it when we go away and I want to read after everyone else has gone to sleep. I'm coveting the Paperwhite for this reason alone.

I loves me my Kindle. Because of it, I've read more books in the last two years that I've had it, than I had in the ten years before I bought it. I throw it in my purse and always have a book with me.

I voted "other". I've always used an iPad (or iPhone) as my e-reader. No need for yet another device to carry around

I have and love my Nook. Originally, I wanted a Kindle, but there was a huge fiasco when I ordered one. I get paid via Paypal by a lot of clients, so I use my debit card to buy things to get the cash back at the end of the month. I bought the Kindle, they said they had them in stock but then sent an email four hours later saying they were sold out and not accepting backorders. Meanwhile, my "refund" got delayed by a full week. I didn't like the hassle and bought a Nook locally and love it.

In the end I'm glad I went with the Nook. My best friend got a Kindle a month before I got the Nook. I tried hers before I bought my Nook. Her battery life is longer, but her Kindle died about six months ago. My Nook is still going strong.

I have a very basic Nook, and it's great. I love it for vacationing or when I need/want to find a book in a short amount of time.

Sony Reader for me. I don't think the Nook and Kindle are bad devices. I just don't want my hardware tied to a service provider. I really like the eInk display or reading, although I wish it had a backlight. I'd happily take the battery life hit.

I had a tablet for a while (GalaxyTab) but the backlight gets to me late and (bigger problem) I couldn't read outside. I *really* hated not being able to read in the sunlight, so I got a 1st Gen Nook from ebay ($25) and I love it.

My publisher doesn't do DRM on it's books and all are directly downloaded via their website, so I don't have to worry about them ever trying to delete my stuff. They even send directly to Kindle (though I would run it through Libre and convert it before using proprietary Kindle stuff). Also, with the Nook there is other software (Adobe Digital editions and Libre) to get the books onto it (you can also use windows explorer.)

Don't get me wrong, I still love physical books but without some kind of e-reader, I'd never get to read a number of my author friends and when I travel, I'd have to carry a LOT of books because I read too fast. The nook takes care of that for me.

I don't have an e-reader, primarily because I don't even have enough time to read my hard-copy books, let alone digital ones. If I did start using an e-reader, it would be because I got one for free - I'm not opposed to them, but I don't want to pay for one if I don't really need it. I have plenty of physical books to read.

I don't read books electronically. I'm too cheap to buy an e reader right now and reading a novel on my computer is really cumbersome. Eventually I may pick up a tablet (my husband wants one so he can get electronic versions of the gaming books he owns and not break his back lugging them around), but until then it's not worth it to me right now. Between babysitting 3 kids, writing, and being a stay at home Mom to my toddler I'm lucky to read 5-10 books a year anymore (beside picture books).