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Thread: E-readers

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    E-readers

    I can't find a thread for this! Not sure if it is better suited for this part of the board, or if it belongs in the Tech portion.

    Anyway, what are your recommendations for e-readers?

    I had/maybe still have an old school Kindle with the full keyboard that I used quite a lot. I think I lost it somewhere along the way in the last couple of years, though. I have like two boxes I need to look through to double check.

    I have about $230 in Amazon credit, and I've been looking at the Kindle Paperwhite for the last couple of weeks. They were even on sale until the other day! If I can't find my old one, I am really thinking about purchasing one of these.

    Does anyone else here have one, or any other e-reader? Do you like it? Worth it?

    I really like having actual books, but I hate having them while moving and then usually end up donating them.

    I have an iPad mini, but I really hate reading on that thing.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sarah K View Post
    I can't find a thread for this! Not sure if it is better suited for this part of the board, or if it belongs in the Tech portion.
    Actually, we had a pretty good discussion about that which begins HERE and goes for nearly 2 pages.

    @elevenism ended up ordering a Paperwhite, too, for Christmas.


    The newest Paperwhite has even better features than my 1st Gen Paperwhite.

    I now mostly use my Paperwhite, although for this book we are reading now (Book Club) I have been jumping back to the Kindle app on my iPad mini, because I like the way it can group the pages in windows and show me how much farther I have to go and what page number I'm on and show me what I have highlighted, etc. Like the background (iPad) image on below:

    Last edited by allegro; 12-28-2016 at 02:26 PM.

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    oh @Sarah K , the amazon paperwhite is fucking heaven for a book lover.

    I never thought i'd say this, but i THINK i actually like it better than reading real books!
    I love it so, so, so much. The wife got one too and she feels the same way.
    There is no eye strain even when reading for hours, there is an adjustable backlight, and it somehow really does look like paper and ink. Plus you can touch a word and it will look it up in the dictionary, or a phrase or proper name will be looked up in wikipedia. And you can highlight on the thing and take notes too.
    (i'm sure some of these features aren't new, but this is my first e-reader)

    It is AbSOULTELY worth the $99 i paid for it, and i think it would have been worth it at $199
    As i said before, it's like something you would have a crazy dream about and then wake up and wish it had been real.
    It is one of the like top 5 things i have ever owned in my life.

    It also helped that i have a friend who shared with me his collection of epub files, and i found a free software to simply convert them to mobi files, so i have like 100 books i want to read on it already.
    Last edited by elevenism; 12-28-2016 at 06:47 PM.

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    I would suggest getting any normal ole Android tablet, especially one you can root and install stock Android on. Then you can install your choice of ebook reading app.

    I got a $20 Kindle Fire off of Ebay and the stock Amazon interface was AWFUL. I could only install apps from Amazon's shitty app store and could only use their one proprietary ebook app and only use one format of ebooks. Save yourself the trouble of being locked down.

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    I hate reading on a tablet, though. I have an iPad mini, but hate reading on it.

    But I ended up finding my old ass kindle tonight! It has a big crack in it that goes from one side of the screen to the edge... I have it charging. Waiting to see if this thing still works!

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    She has an iPad mini and she said she hates reading on it so a Fire would make no sense.

    A Kindle Paperwhite is a whole other animal, a true e-reader (has no apps).

    The Fire is good for people who prefer a truly LIT reader and want to do things via the Kindle app like expand text etc. but not everybody likes a tablet to read.

    @Sarah K , I have that model Kindle that you have (I have 3 Kindles LOL) and that one isn't backlit, I always had to attach a light or only read during the day. If that's ok with you, then I guess the old model will do.

    One thing I love about my Paperwhite is my cover: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007R...8AL&ref=plSrch
    Last edited by allegro; 12-28-2016 at 07:10 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sarah K View Post
    I hate reading on a tablet, though. I have an iPad mini, but hate reading on it.
    Quote Originally Posted by allegro View Post
    She has an iPad mini and she said she hates reading on it so a Fire would make no sense.

    A Kindle Paperwhite is a whole other animal, a true e-reader (has no apps).

    The Fire is good for people who prefer a truly LIT reader and want to do things via the Kindle app like expand text etc. but not everybody likes a tablet to read.
    You're right, I guess I skipped that line. Carry on.

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    I would love to have a backlit one. But if this one still works, it will work fine for now. It will make sneak reading at work much easier.

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    @elevenism , I've had this first gen Paperwhite for a while and I JUST FIGURED THIS OUT (DUH):

    Double Tap the upper-right on the page so the menu comes up. Tap on the three horizontal bars on the upper-right. Choose READING PROGRESS. Choose PAGE IN BOOK.

    @Sarah K note that backlit on Paperwhite is not like iPad. It doesn't "glow." It doesn't keep my husband awake when he's sleeping next to me while I read in bed, for instance. But, if you can still SEE on that one, go for it!! I may have a nicer one here without a cracked screen and newer that I can send you for free if you want (not Paperwhite, just a Kindle).
    Last edited by allegro; 12-28-2016 at 07:26 PM.

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    I don't think it will work. It's been charging for quite a while now and is still stuck on the "Empty Battery" screen. But it's probably been a couple of years since I've actually used it, so my hopes weren't too terribly high. I'm gonna let it charge overnight and see if anything changes by morning, but I kinda doubt it. I've tried the "reset" of holding the power button to the right, but it still just remains on this screen.

    If you're willing to do that, @allegro , that would be awesome! If it still works and all, I'm willing to PayPal or Venmo you some money for shipping, time, etc.

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    @Sarah K , It absolutely works, I kept getting new (updated) Kindles because, um, I'm a nerd, LOL.

    I'm prepping it to transfer and ship it to you right now. I'll PM you to get your address, etc. Hey, glad to see it put to use! And, you're a college student, it's much better to keep your Amazon credits for college textbooks whenever possible; I used Amazon for LOTS of my college textbooks, USED even!



    @elevenism , for the record: The Paperwhite, you can get regularly with "special offers" which means with ads and without 3G (cell connection) for $119.99. Without ads (which I don't think is worth it since there are hardly any ads) is $139.99. With free 3G which, like, WHY? is $209.99.

    The newest Kindle is the Kindle Oasis, which has buttons on the side that you push to turn the page and it's the thinnest Kindle ever, allegedly. And the battery last months instead of weeks.

    The Kindle Voyage is just lower than the Oasis, and you can press the outer bezel to turn the page, meaning you don't have to lift your fingers. And it has adaptive light sensors.
    Last edited by allegro; 12-28-2016 at 10:55 PM.

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    @allegro i am happy with my $99 paperwhite.
    the "special offers" don't bother me and i don't care about 3G, or even the wifi that much for that matter, because i have so many books on the computer already.

    I GUESS the 3G is so people can buy books anywhere.

    I can't afford an Oasis or Voyage. :/

    I mean, i COULD get one if i really wanted it and asked for it, but it would make me feel fucked up. You know my situation. I digress.

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    @elevenism , I wasn't trying to sell you another e-reader, I don't work for Amazon.

    You said: "It is AbSOULTELY worth the $99 i paid for it, and i think it would have been worth it at $199"

    And I'm merely saying that's probably not true.

    The 3G is pretty unnecessary these days considering there is wifi nearly everywhere and most people can tether off their cell phones; that's why *I* never bothered with the free 3G with any of my Kindles, and I never missed it.

    This is a thread about e-readers, so I was just putting all of the options and facts out there for whomever since this is a general thread that Sarah created. She has $230 to spend.
    Last edited by allegro; 12-29-2016 at 03:16 PM.

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    i feel you @allegro . I just meant that i dig the thing so fucking much, it would have been worth $200 or even like $300 to me.

    Also, thanks for the "page in book" tip.

    I am quite sorry. I did not mean to misinform. Rather, my goal was to express how much i love the thing.
    It is just about my favorite object.
    Last edited by elevenism; 12-29-2016 at 04:15 PM.

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    @elevenism , sorry, I probably misunderstood what you were saying; I've been working too much after my vacation, ugh.

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    Last night I was in Best Buy and I saw they had those Fire tablets for only $40 bucks, which seemed insanely cheap, so I grabbed one. Kind of an impulse buy, but I've been interested in getting a tablet for a while now. I just want it for reading books and watching netlfix in bed at night.

    The only thing is that I'm surprised at how much kindle books cost. I never paid attention to the cost of kindle books since I never had any reason to, and I guess I was imagining them being cheaper. There's a used bookstore that I drive by everyday coming home from work that has all these paperbacks for anywhere between one to five bucks. And yet I go on Amazon and everything is like ten to fifteen bucks. I don't know if I want to spend that much money on a regular basis. I'm kind of poor, lol. Any idea on how to get this shit for cheaper? Do they ever have site-wide sales? I was looking at all the books I want to get, and damn, I'll be broke in no time.

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    So Kindle Unlimited fucking sucks. I thought it was like Netflix or some shit where you could read whatever was in their library for a monthly fee instead of paying per book.

    So I did the 30 day trail, and it's terrible. Most of the stuff that shows up on the lists that I've clicked on are romance/porn books. Sigh.

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    @Mantra yes it's true Kindle books are a ripoff but the author is getting that money. It's mostly good if you don't have room for physical books, etc.

    But there is a world of pirated PDF versions of books out there which the Kindle can read.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sarah K View Post
    So Kindle Unlimited fucking sucks. I thought it was like Netflix or some shit where you could read whatever was in their library for a monthly fee instead of paying per book.


    So I did the 30 day trail, and it's terrible. Most of the stuff that shows up on the lists that I've clicked on are romance/porn books. Sigh.
    lol, Yeah, I looked into it too, but I discovered the same thing. There's almost nothing I'm interested in reading that's available on there. Why did they even bother with it? It's a cool idea in concept, and I'd gladly pay for it if it actually had a selection worth anything, but as it is now it looks completely worthless

    Quote Originally Posted by allegro View Post
    @Mantra yes it's true Kindle books are a ripoff but the author is getting that money. It's mostly good if you don't have room for physical books, etc.

    But there is a world of pirated PDF versions of books out there which the Kindle can read.
    Well, I suppose that's good news about the authors getting the money, at least in theory. But like 87% of the books on my wishlist are by dead people, lol.

    I have almost 400 books on my wishlist!

    Why is it that I can buy full blown video games for five or ten bucks on Steam, most of which cost millions of dollars to create by a big team of professionals, and yet these e-books cost more? This market makes no sense, lol. There's no reason for Faulkner's books to cost twelve bucks. Those should all be about 5 bucks, imo.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mantra View Post
    lol, Yeah, I looked into it too, but I discovered the same thing. There's almost nothing I'm interested in reading that's available on there. Why did they even bother with it? It's a cool idea in concept, and I'd gladly pay for it if it actually had a selection worth anything, but as it is now it looks completely worthless



    Well, I suppose that's good news about the authors getting the money, at least in theory. But like 87% of the books on my wishlist are by dead people, lol.

    I have almost 400 books on my wishlist!

    Why is it that I can buy full blown video games for five or ten bucks on Steam, most of which cost millions of dollars to create by a big team of professionals, and yet these e-books cost more? This market makes no sense, lol. There's no reason for Faulkner's books to cost twelve bucks. Those should all be about 5 bucks, imo.
    I agree. I don't know if the copyright still exists for Faulkner material. Absalom, Absalom! was written in 1936, I'm pretty sure that copyright has expired, so I don't know why you can't get it for free in PDF somewhere, totally legally. Or The Sound and the Fury. Oh, Wait. Just Google the name of the book you want + PDF, voila. Particularly if it's vintage. I have a ton of totally free stuff like that, even via AMAZON.

    I guess the process of making it e-reader-ready costs time and money so that's a lot of why ready-made e-reader formats still cost what they do, even for dead authors.

    Have you checked out, like, Halfprice Books?
    Last edited by allegro; 02-17-2017 at 11:18 PM.

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    Last edited by allegro; 02-17-2017 at 11:17 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by allegro View Post
    I agree. I don't know if the copyright still exists for Faulkner material. Absalom, Absalom! was written in 1936, I'm pretty sure that copyright has expired, so I don't know why you can't get it for free in PDF somewhere, totally legally. Or The Sound and the Fury. Oh, Wait. Just Google the name of the book you want + PDF, voila. Particularly if it's vintage. I have a ton of totally free stuff like that, even via AMAZON.

    I guess the process of making it e-reader-ready costs time and money so that's a lot of why ready-made e-reader formats still cost what they do, even for dead authors.
    Yeah, that's true. I wouldn't expect most e-books to be free. I know someone has to work in order to format it. But ten or twelve bucks still seems kinda high for some of these titles. I suspect the high price has more to do with the fact that they seem to have a captive audience and little competition.

    Quote Originally Posted by allegro View Post
    Have you checked out, like, Halfprice Books?
    Yeah, that's actually the used bookstore that I mentioned driving by every day in my earlier post, haha. I fucking love halfprice books.

    But I don't have a lot of space. I just rent a room in a big house with roommates. I'm kinda maxed out on bookshelf space for the time being. I do keep a ton of my books over at my mom's house, much to her annoyance, and I'm over there several times a week these days. But still, it isn't the most convenient setup. I like the idea of transitioning over to e-books. I've been really enjoying the reading experience a lot. I just didn't expect the cost to be so much.

    Quote Originally Posted by allegro View Post
    Ohhh, awesome! This looks really promising. I will have to check these out. Thanks!

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    Look at this book: https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Ele...=UTF8&qid=&sr=

    The Kindle version cost MORE than HARDCOVER. Wtf. I ordered the hardcover, fuck it. This is ridiculous.

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