Do you think electronic book readers are worth it? (such as Kindle, Sony Reader, and Nook)?
I’ve always wondered if you think they were worth it. They look pretty cool, and I read from time to time.
They aren’t that expensive, and on the Nook and Kindle a lot of books are free. They’ve always just looked cool, but do you think they are worth the $250 dollars they are?
Thanks for the answers, have a good day!
Tags: Book, electronic, Kindle, Nook, nook book reader, nook ereader, nook reader, Reader, Readers, Sony, such, think, worth
November 26th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
-I have had my Kindle 2 since February and I LOVE it!
Right now I’m using it to catch up on books and series that I never got around to reading, so I’m not even paying Amazon’s average bestseller price of 9.99 for a book. Some are very very cheap and some are even free. (Presumably to introduce you to the author.)
It is always in my purse and I pull it out at railroad crossings, at lunch, everywhere. With the adjustable type size, I can read it in bed without my glasses. And it is so lightweight… I tried reading a big book from the library the other day. Within two chapters, I got it for Kindle instead. Spoiled? Moi? Yup!
November 26th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
I own the Kindle 2, so let me give you some of my opinions. I’ve to say I love it! I think I’ve read over 30 books with my Kindle, no glitches so far!
One of the reasons I love my Kindle is that it has helped me improve a lot on my efficiency and utilize my time. Before I have the Kindle, waiting time like when I’m waiting for friends or waiting for shuttle bus or some thing like that is simply wasted. Now I just need to bring the Kindle 2 along with me, and all my favorite books are inside it. Another thing I like the most is the text-to-speech function, which means I can “read” books without even holding or looking at the Kindle. Now I like to use this function when I’ve myself busy on some boring things, say when I’m on the step machine or doing some housework…
I like reading and at the beginning I did miss a bit on the feeling of reading books. But now I love to hold the Kindle, the e-ink seems to work very well, it is really like reading books… Now I often read with the Kindle for several hours but I don’t feel tired… And I now prefer to manage all books inside the Kindle rather than my never big enough bookshelf…
Yes, there are quite a lot of free books, and many Kindle books, magazines and newspapers are cheaper than the actual paper version. I remember I read these reviews about the benefits of the Kindle when I decided to buy it:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Freview%2FR2DUM7S4XW06QN%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ASIN%3DB00154JDAI%26nodeID%3D%26ref%255F%3Dcm%255Fcr%255Fpr%255Fcmt&tag=moreinfo-po-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957
http://www.speedreaderxreview.com/is-kindle-2-worth-the-price
Finally, guess you know, Amazon has just put a price slash on the Kindle 2, and it is now selling $100 cheaper than the price I got my Kindle, and it adds in international wireless access… So take the chance if you want it.
Hope it helps
November 26th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Yes, I do think they worth. Books on the electronic book readers are cheaper, adn it can definitely save you quite a lot of money in long term…
I would also like to mention something about the three ebook readers. Sony Reader is difficult to find books on it. For the Kindle and Nook, it is a draw and which to go depends on what you need.
From the official page of B&N, here is how the Nook compares with the Kindle:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/compare/
Since Barnes and Noble page is only mentioning the advantage of the Nook over the Kindle, let me try to tell more about the benefit of the Kindle 2 over the Nook:
- There is no internet browser for the Nook. So even with Wi-Fi, you can only use it to purchase book. You cannot do searching in Google, Wikipedia, check email, etc., like what you can do with the Kindle.
- The Amazon Kindle has international free 3G wireless which covers over 100 countries. So even if you’re in places like the UK or Australia, you can access the internet with the Kindle free of charge. The Nook has wireless only within the U.S., and is limited for use of buying books only
- The Kindle is available outside the U.S. (it ships to 176 countries), while the Nook only ship within the U.S. at this moment.
- The Kindle has text-to-speech function, so it can treat an ebook like audio book. This function is not present on the Nook.
- Amazon is already doing some change after the Nook is announced (still more than one month for it to be available). They dropped the price of their International Kindle even further. And they are going to release a PC software which can read their Kindle books.
One more thing to be aware is that, at first glance you may think the Nook can read ebooks with color touch screen. But indeed the color touch screen is only a small screen beneath the greyscale eink screen, and seems it is only used to browse the cover of ebooks.
In my opinion, it is a tie between the Kindle and the Barnes and Noble. But if you may travel and you enjoy reading during your trip, you should go for the Kindle for sure. Moreover, I trust the Kindle will come up with some strategies very soon, like improving their lending book function. The Kindle is the biggest player in the ereader market right now, and I believe it will put enormous effort to hold its position.
I recommend this article as well, it is the best review on ebook readers I’ve ever read:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Freview%2FR3QM7LGL62MZ4X%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref%255F%3Dcm%255Fcr%255Frdp%255Fperm&tag=ereader-2-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957
Hope this helps you decide.