Digital Reading: e-books discussion

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BlueStarEgo
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Re: Digital Reading: e-books discussion

Post by BlueStarEgo »

It's not that I can't navigate with a touch screen, not at all. It's just that I don't really trust them. I don't have extremely long nails but they are lengthy and I've seen enough "good touch screen gone bad from bruising" scenarios to know that if anything goes wrong, I'm screwed. I refuse to even buy a touch screen phone. I think I'll feel better about it though if I were able to purchase a pen for it. I've used touch phones were they were pen compatible.

The e-ink is the main reason I'm torn between the Kindle and the Nook. There's just so many things you can get on one but not the other. I also saw on the Nook you can use the "Lend Me" technology and that's pretty cool. Have you ever gotten a chance to use it?

I've read my .lit books on my laptop and have eye irritation quickly. Even though the e-ink not easy to read in dim light, i still think it's a better choice. Can't have everything in one! I wasn't really looking at the Literati, my mom was. She isn't really techno like I am so all she was looking at was the "pretty colors". :lol: So I've basically counted that one out. If I want to watch videos in color and read with a bright backlit display, I'll just read from my laptop.

I keep my iPod with me at all times so the games won't really bother me. I'm not even a game person. Not being able to surf the web with fluid scrolling will probably irritate me for a couple days, but again, I have a laptop so I'll try not to worry too much about it. It would be GREAT if I could, but again, can't have everything. Plus, I saw a demo where you can see the webpages section-by-section in the color/touch part of the navigation.

Does your Nook ever slightly irritate you that it's not in color?
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ringswraith
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Re: Digital Reading: e-books discussion

Post by ringswraith »

If I'm not mistaken, last time I heard about the Nook's "lend me" system it was under fire (from publishers mostly). Essentially what happened is publishers didn't like the idea of people lending books out, so they either removed this option completely (I believe one publisher at least did this for all their books), or you can only "lend" out a few chapters.

I have a Kindle, and while it's true you can't really use it for browsing the web like you would expect to, it's still fine for reading text-heavy websites (like blogs and fanfiction sites). The newer ones even have a feature called Article Mode, which converts the main body of text from the webpage into a pseudo-one-page-book so it's easier to read. It does take time for it to load on 3G but once you're on a chapter you're set for however long it takes you to read it. :)
corona
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Re: Digital Reading: e-books discussion

Post by corona »

No, not having it in color doesn't bother me at all since I use my Nook strictly for reading.

That "Article Mode" for the Kindle sounds very cool, thanks for pointing it out to me. I think I might just have to switch over to the Kindle, as being able to read online would be a definite plus, it's just something I didn't think these e-readers were close to yet. It sounds like Kindle's implementation of its web browser is much better than the Nook. Based on that alone, I would have to recommend the Kindle at this point.
"It will take an amazing amount of control,” she mused. “More even than Carlisle has. He may be just strong enough…the only thing he’s not strong enough to do is stay away from her. That’s a lost cause.”
BlueStarEgo
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Re: Digital Reading: e-books discussion

Post by BlueStarEgo »

Well, that's probably unfortunate for the people who used the "Lend Me" feature. It sounds pretty nice. As far as it still being available, it is still listed as a current Nook feature on the B&N site. Maybe not for all publishers as ringswraith has mentioned.

Yes, I saw a demonstration of the "Article Mode" feature for the Kindle. While I agree that it does seem neat and useful, I personally don't read many blogs on the web and text-heavy sites so, I probably wouldn't use it much. Another reason why I'm leaning toward the Nook.

I may have to suck it up and start purchasing books. I usually don't because I only reead them once. I do buy books though than I plan to reread. I've looked at my library's e-branch selection and it sucks for the most part.

corona, has them Nook's "In Store" feature come in handy? I've read that B&N offer some good deals. Unfortunately, I don't have a store near me but when I travel it would come in handy.
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corona
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Re: Digital Reading: e-books discussion

Post by corona »

I've never used either the "Lend Me" or "In Store" feature. My wife has a Kindle, so I would never have an opportunity to lend something out. Also, I don't plan on spending any time in their stores, so that feature doesn't interest me either.

I forgot to mention that the Nook also has an MP3 player, so that does have some limited use. I have tried it and it works well, but does not necessarily mean a whole lot to me. I use my Ipod for music anyway, and I very rarely play any music when I am reading, being only able to concentrate on one thing at a time. I either completely filter the music out of my head, or end up getting distracted by it, so having the Nook double as an MP3 player is nice, but not very useful most of the time for me.
"It will take an amazing amount of control,” she mused. “More even than Carlisle has. He may be just strong enough…the only thing he’s not strong enough to do is stay away from her. That’s a lost cause.”
ringswraith
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Re: Digital Reading: e-books discussion

Post by ringswraith »

The Kindle can also play music (mp3's definitely- I don't recall off-hand what other formats it supports) and can display pictures as well (of course, in e-ink). Depending on whether the publisher/author has allowed it or not, you can even have your Kindle "read" your book for you (that is, turn them into an audio-book)- though I think the Nook does that as well.
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Re: Digital Reading: e-books discussion

Post by bac »

My mom recently gave me a Nook. I did no research, it just fell into my lap. One of the things that I like about the Nook is that you can download books for free from websites that offer free books. Most of the free books are classics or much older, you can't get new books for free, but it is kinda nice to get Jane Austen for free. I like getting books from the library as well, but have found that my library doesn't have a great selection.
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ringswraith
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Re: Digital Reading: e-books discussion

Post by ringswraith »

I think that's true of any e-reader though. The Kindle definitely has a vast assortment of free books- anything that's old enough to be in public domain, really. :)
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Re: Digital Reading: e-books discussion

Post by BlueStarEgo »

Thanks for recommending Calibre. It's a great program. Although I don't have an e-reader just yet, it's really useful to have. It takes only a couple of seconds to convert and I can change the covers if I want.

When you transfer books to your device, do you simply transfer the .epub file or the entire folder that that book/cover is located in?

EDIT: I'm reading the features on the B&N site and I can't remember if someone told me that the Nook offers the text-to-audio reading feature.

I went back to Best Buy today, (yes, I'm a loser :lol: ) and one of the employees informed me that for Black Friday (after Thanksgiving sale) they're offering the Nook for $99. For anyone interested, that's about 50 bucks off.

EDIT2: Nevermind, I found that the Nook doesn't support text-to-speech. Still not a deal breaker for me though. I also just read that in a new upgrade they're going to make the Nook password protected. I like that!

bac: I was initially very happy when I learned that my local library offered e-Books. That happiness quickly faded when I saw that their selection was anything but large. The selections they have I've either already read them or don't plan to.....ever.
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corona
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Re: Digital Reading: e-books discussion

Post by corona »

BlueStarEgo:

That $99 Nook deal sounds great, and everyone who manages to get into Best Buy on Black Friday to pick that up will earn the discount by the time they leave. No, the Nook does not support Text to Speech, but I would not use it even if it did, so no loss there.

Once you have your e-reader hooked up to your computer, Calibre will display an additional menu icon for transferring the book to your reader for you.
"It will take an amazing amount of control,” she mused. “More even than Carlisle has. He may be just strong enough…the only thing he’s not strong enough to do is stay away from her. That’s a lost cause.”
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