Fun Stuff > CLIKC
e-readers are amazing!
LTK:
It seems I find myself in a similar situation as Barmymoo a few pages ago. I'd like to make myself better-read, so I was thinking of buying either an e-reader or one of the more popular (and more expensive?) tablet pc's. It would also be useful for college textbooks and scientific journals; a lot of my study material is in the form of pdf articles I have to download from a library that the university has a subscription to. A quick look at the available e-readers makes the Nook stand out as nice to have because of Android and WiFi, but since I live on mainland Europe it'll be impossible to get without jumping through some hoops (namely, the Atlantic). So, would I be better off getting a Kindle, or something that's easier used as a computer, or something else entirely?
ackblom12:
Assuming you got the e-reader and not the tablet, I'd say Kindle since PDFs are a big thing for you. You can root the Nook Touch pretty easily (Still trying to decide if I will rot mine or not) and get all those functions anyway, but it's native for Kindle and doesn't require voiding the warranty. Of course, you can unroot android devices and ignore the warranty problems, so that's not really an issue. With the availability of Calibre I'd say it's mostly a matter of consumer principle which one you choose since they are both quite good at what they do.
When it comes to the tablets they have, I'm not quite as sure. They all have decent note taking tools on them now, though the tablets are a little more intuitive with it. I haven't had a chance to use the Kindle tablet yet, but if you plan to do a lot of actual book reading as well, then I'd still suggest the dedicated e-readers. From what I've seen of the Kindle Fire, it's not going to be that much different from the Nook tablet outside of giving you streaming services if you are a Prime member. The e-ink screens are just a ridiculous step up from reading text on an LCD and I can't really recommend the tablets for that.
I guess if a full browsing experience is important to you, the tablets are a good choice as they'll also give you the full color pdf and slightly better note taking capabilities, but personally I'd go the wi-fi Nook Touch/Kindle touch and download Calibre immediately either way.
Edit: Also, keep in mind if you are seriously looking at the tablets, the Kindle Fire is almost a year newer and has a dual core processor, so it is likely going to be a bit snappier and more capable with multi media services.
LTK:
Thanks for the advice, but... "mainland Europe" sadly means that the Nooks, Kindle Fire and Kindle Touch are out of my reach. There's possibly the option of using an intermediate shipper, but that might cost me more than I save on the exchange rate. International options are limited to Kindle, plus keyboard, plus 3G, or DX. I'm not sure how widespread other kinds of e-readers are in my area, so it's a rather limited selection.
Edit: Hmm, there seems to be one e-reader maker that's based in the Netherlands: Icarus reader. Doesn't look too bad.
Barmymoo:
I use my Kindle for reading PDF articles too, and find it very helpful because if I highlight something or write a note on it, I can come back to it very quickly by going to an index page of my own comments. So much quicker than if I were to try and find the same note on a piece of paper and then relate it to the physical page of a book! I can't comment on other methods because I haven't used anything else but my Kindle is perfect for studying - especially since I prefer to make notes on paper than on my laptop, so I can get completely away from the temptation of the internet.
Irony: I am currently supposed to be reading an article that I didn't bother putting onto my Kindle, so I've got distracted from reading it on my laptop by this forum.
LTK:
Good to know! Did you get your Kindle from amazon.fr? I'm bordered by the German, French and British Amazon stores, but none of them allow me to deliver it to the Netherlands, and point me to the international orders instead. The good news is that it saves me a bit on the dollar/euro exchange rate, but the bad news is that there's a €30 import fee which completely negates this.
So I'm currently looking at either this Kindle, released in 2010, plus import fees, or, as ereaders.nl recommends, a 'Sony Reader Touch PRS-T1', releases right here in a week for the same price, has a touchscreen, card reader, and Android. Choices, choices.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version