E-Book Readers

Right. I can read my Kindle for hours on end without it hurting my eyes. I have the newest version of Kindle, the very inexpensive one with the ads. It is only $79 USD from Amazon. It is just like a book -- if you're reading in the dark you have you use a book light.

The new Kindle tablet, the Kindle Fire, IS backlit, so if the non-backlit thing is important to you (and if you do a lot of reading, it probably will be) then stay away from that model. On the other hand, if you're looking for a tablet it is very inexpensive (for what it is) and can do most of the fun stuff that other tablets can.

I heart my kindle.

I seem to manage to get wireless connections where others can't.  It can be dangerous when I'm bored though.  I just buy the next book.

You can connect your Kindle to a USB port on your PC, transfer PDFs of whatever type across and then read them. As mentioned above, Project Gutenburg ( http://www.gutenberg.org/ ) has enough free stuff to keep you going for a few centuries.

I'd really recommend paying a little extra to get the Kindle version with the keypad at the bottom. This makes it much easier to navigate reference books and search for things to download. If you get the 3G version, you can also use it for emergency internet browsing and email on the move in many countries. It's far from perfect for that, but just about workable.

Apparently Kindles are now available to buy in China, at Amazon China and Suning.

Admittedly you could get them fairly easily on Taobao anyway.


http://gigaom.com/2013/06/07/amazon-starts-selling-kindle-paperwhite-and-fire-hd-in-china/

Amazon started selling Kindle e-readers and tablets in China on Friday. The front-lit Kindle Paperwhite e-reader is ¥849 (USD $138), and the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD is ¥1499 (USD $244) for the 16 GB version and ¥1799 (USD $293) for the 32 GB version.

Amazon launched a Chinese Kindle store, with iOS and Android apps for reading ebooks, in December. The store contained around 25,000 ebooks at launch and is now up to about 47,000 titles. When I surfed around a Google Translated version of the store today, I noticed that the device page translates as “Optional Kindle device,” perhaps to remind users that they don’t actually have to buy a Kindle in order to read ebooks. Most of the books in the Chinese Kindle store are priced very, very low, with the top 15 bestselling books in the store all priced under 3 yuan (USD $0.49) and many at 1 yuan (USD $0.16).

Has anybody bought a decent e-book reader that will display *ahem* not entirely legal e-books?

I'm not sure about getting a Kindle as I heard you absolutely have to buy everything for it. And the price is high too.

I was looking at this one on TaoBao: http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=10223245219&prt=1330002313031&prc=1

Any opinions from anyone who knows what they are talking about on this subject? (I sure as hell don't) 

I have limited experience with e-books, but what I do know is how to ahem.

I've had success with the Nook, as well as the Korea Nuut. Both loaded up .pdf and/or .docs just fine. Had to fiddle with the formatting for some.

For an more information PM wakethenight. She's a writer and spend oodles of time messing around with different ereaders.

Mr. Benn I too had noticed the Chinese Amazon site had finally started carrying Kindles and e-books.

Interestingly, the Amazon version is not really significantly cheaper than the American import version you can get on Taobao, and the Japanese version is actually even cheaper. I've been thinking of upgrading my basic Kindle to a Paperwhite but I think I'll stick with the American version in case I need to use it outside of China. I wonder if I give my basic Kindle (bought in America) to my husband if he could get Chinese Amazon e-books on it?

just rediscovered this thread. I'm heading back to Canada for the summer, looking for work so maybe longer, and dread the thought of packing 40+ boxes of books. Thinking about a kindle, but also a Kobo. My niece has one she swears by. Think I'll talk to her, maybe get one as soon as I get there. (We're going to a cottage 5 days after I arrive, so I better get one quick)

I recently acquired a Kindle Paperwhite from the Chinese Amazon. Had no problems sync to my amazon.com account. Nifty reader, in-built light. I have not tried any other e-reader, but I too have to fly home this summer and all I am bringing are two Kindles and my computer. These gadgets are good 

I got a Kindle a year and a half ago and after packing up our stuff for our move I am so glad I did. So much so that I sold off my entire collection of paperbacks and used the money to upgrade to a Kindle Paperwhite.

Thinking about a kindle, but also a Kobo.

DO NOT GET THE KOBO. The Kobo is a proprietary device issued by (haha) Borders which is no longer in business. You can still get books that are non-DRM, but for the sake of convenience and no headaches, stick with the Kindle. I've got a Kindle Fire and a regular Kindle and find them to be awesome.

For the record, I also have a Kobo I purchased two years ago, but now it's pretty much just a paperweight.

I've heard rumors Nooks are on their way down, too, what with B&N showing record losses in all departments.

Quote from: latefordinner on July 14, 2013, 01:22:53 AM

Thinking about a kindle, but also a Kobo.

DO NOT GET THE KOBO. The Kobo is a proprietary device issued by (haha) Borders which is no longer in business. You can still get books that are non-DRM, but for the sake of convenience and no headaches, stick with the Kindle. I've got a Kindle Fire and a regular Kindle and find them to be awesome.

I use a Kobo mini and love it. The size is perfect for me. I don't really care if Borders is gone as I download .epub books and throw it on. I use Calibre to organize the books on my computer and put what I want on the Kobo. There's no headache and didn't do anything differently with my Kindle I had before except I needed .mobi files which are more annoying because they are proprietary.

Stil has a good point with regards to downloading books and mobi format, however, I must say I like the one-click-one-second delivery system from Amazon.

I think it has all been said but I love my Kindle. I download from several free sites, as well as Amazon, and have had no problems. I look forward to taking it to China this year. I even have some of my "maybe I will need them" texts on my Kindle now.

So I'll be getting my Kindle Paperwhite in the next 2-5 days. (I went to the local Suning store and they ordered it from the Suning online shop - an ass backwards process, but it suits me.) So...

Non-Amazon books... there's issues with them going in the "documents" folder and and you don't get all the features (like page numbers)?

But Kindles can be jailbroken.... so you can have screensavers?!

No experience with these e-readers. Assuming you download the PDF's or whatever format file to the e-reader directly from a service like Amazon, can you then conveniently save that electronic file to your home computer?