E-Readers

[Musketeer]

In the past couple of weeks I've noticed a few people on Sydney buses and ferries with e-readers (no they weren't ipads!). It got me thinking that I might want to consider one of these. I reckon I would read a lot more if it were more convenient.

Anyone here used an e-reader before or have any recommendations? I'd be using it solely for reading books, so I don't really care about other features. Prolonged reading off an LCD is terrible, so I'm really only interested in the e-ink type devices that mimic the look of paper and have extremely long battery life. Also, I'd prefer the device not be too locked down with proprietary formats and DRM if possible.

[peterh_oz]

Most are compatible with PDF and ePub formats. DRM is USUALLY up to the Author/Distributor of the book.

For wide compatibility you should look at the Kindle, though I've never used any eReader.

[Musketeer]

Well I ended up going for the Kobo, mainly because I could walk in and see one and buy it on the spot (Borders and Angus & Robertson sell them). Most of the other units like the Kindle and the Nook would need to be ordered from overseas and are more expensive. The Kobo was just $199.

Its a bit early for a proper review, but so far I'm really happy with it. I find its actually more comfortable to read than a real book, particularly when you're lying back and holding it up, because its lighter and you don't need 2 hands to turn the page. If all you want to do is read books, this thing is excellent. But if you're keen on reading textbooks, PDF's with a lot of diagrams and tables, magazines and newspapers, then while the Kobo can display these, there are probably better - and more expensive - options out there.

If anyone does buy a Kobo, I would strongly recommend you skip the software it comes with and install Calibre instead. Its free on the web and works MUCH better. It allows you to convert any format of ebook, pdf or text document into a format that works best with the Kobo and makes syncing dead simple. You can use Calibre with every e-reader out there, not just the Kobo. I'll definitely be making a donation to the developer, its an awesome application.

Oh and one more thing, on the subject of e-books, searching for some titles I've found that they are available in the US but can't be purchased if you are in Australia. I've then googled those titles and found that they are freely available on the internet. Its a sad state of affairs when (just because I'm in Australia) I'm not allowed to buy an e-book and the only way of getting it is to steal it. When will these people learn?

[Dr Ron]

Good work Musketeer, keep us posted on the Kobo.

Post some pictures here if you can, that would be awesome!

[Musketeer]

Here you go, I've posted some pics:

http://kobo.musketeer.mm.st/

One thing I've discovered that's amazingly good is the ability of the Calibre software to pull down newspapers and magazines like the Sydney Morning Herald and Age for example. It formats them perfectly for the Kobo including a nicely linked contents page. It actually pulls down ALL the articles too, I had around 90 yesterday for example.

I reckon a lot more poeple would buy these things if they knew how good they were. Most people that see mine have never even heard of an ereader before.