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Paper? That's like a baby's toy! [eReaders]

145791062

Posts

  • HoundxHoundx Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I presume if either of them ever shut down, they'd either make some kind of concession that let you keep your books forever, or more likely, their reader/audience gets sold to their competitor, and folded into their group. IE, if Amazon went under, they'd probably sell the Kindle to B&N, and we'd get a software upgrade that lets us read books from that service.

    I'm going to call this very bad advice. There are books that don't even survive format shifts from the same supplier - meaning that you can no longer redownload those books. If you want to make sure that you always have access to your books across all your devices then the first thing you should do is strip the drm and the second thing you should do is make an archive copy.

    Houndx on
  • OremLKOremLK Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    What other bookstores do you go through Orem? I've stuck exclusively with Amazon thus far, but wouldn't mind checking out other stores if they're that easy to get working on the Kindle.

    FictionWise puts some of their eBooks on Amazon, but not all of them, and I've been able to find some there that aren't available directly off the Kindle.

    I used one other store before but I can't remember what it was now.

    OremLK on
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  • servbotservbot Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    ok, so I decided to go for a kindle. I can either spring for the Kindle 2 right now, or should I wait for the DX to go down in price?

    servbot on
  • Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2009
    The Kindle has gone down in price like 4 times in the last year, but the DX hasn't at all yet. I suspect you'll be waiting a while if you're gonna get the DX.

    Bionic Monkey on
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  • PolloDiabloPolloDiablo Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Has anyone else had experience with battery power seeming shorter than it should? I've got a Sony one, and theoretically it can last 7000 pages. I read a 1000 page book, and I'm already low on battery power. That drives me crazy. Have any of you noticed that kind of thing on whatever type of eReader you have?

    PolloDiablo on
  • HoundxHoundx Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    The way battery estimates are calculated and presented should be illegal. I believe that "page turns" are counted by loading a huge book then holding down the next page button until the battery dies. In other words, a way that noone could ever, ever read a book. The first thing you need to do is divide the presented total by probably as much as four. Now you're down to 1,750 page turns which you could realistically expect if you shut down your device each time you stop reading instead of putting it into standby.

    Houndx on
  • SniperGuySniperGuy SniperGuyGaming Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I know this is like 5 pages back, but i'm reading through the thread, and I just found it funny that "looks like an apple device" was one of TekDragon's points against the Kindle. Because Apple devices sure aren't well designed, sleek and easy to use.
    Note, I hate macs. With a firey passion. <3 my iPhone though, because it's a beautifully designed piece of hardware. And I've never seen a mac that wasn't pretty.

    I might be getting a Kindle for Christmas and I'm super excited.

    SniperGuy on
  • Librarian's ghostLibrarian's ghost Librarian, Ghostbuster, and TimSpork Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    What cases do you guys use for your Kindle 2s? I'll be in the market soon and I'd like some ideas.

    Librarian's ghost on
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  • Zetetic ElenchZetetic Elench Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Looks like at least four of us are aiming for a Kindle for xmas.

    Zetetic Elench on
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  • Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2009
    What cases do you guys use for your Kindle 2s? I'll be in the market soon and I'd like some ideas.

    I just use the first-party case. It functions like a normal book cover, can wrap the front piece back around the Kindle when reading, and the Kindle actually snaps into it, so it stays secure.

    There were some reports of casing cracking while in it, but Amazon covers that and will repair your Kindle if it happens. But the only way I can see that happen is if you keep pulling the unsecured edge away from the case while it's still clipped in.

    Bionic Monkey on
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  • Vi MonksVi Monks Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    What cases do you guys use for your Kindle 2s? I'll be in the market soon and I'd like some ideas.

    I have a leather M-Edge case and light combination that I'll be getting tomorrow. I have no other case to compare to, but I'll be sure to report back. It looked pretty nice in all the photos I found.

    Vi Monks on
  • servbotservbot Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I'm really digging the Cole Haan leather covers

    servbot on
  • SenjutsuSenjutsu thot enthusiast Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    servbot wrote: »
    I'm really digging the Cole Haan leather covers

    that thing is crazy expensive, though

    Senjutsu on
  • CJTheranCJTheran Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    So, I really wanted a Kindle right up until the Nook was unveiled, and now I'm not really sure. Do I go with the Kindle, which is a known quantity, or do I go with the untested nook, which has pretty colors?

    DECISIONS

    CJTheran on
  • Raiden333Raiden333 Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    What cases do you guys use for your Kindle 2s? I'll be in the market soon and I'd like some ideas.

    What's your budget? If it's $alot, Oberon Design makes the best cases. This is the one I use:
    2163.jpg

    The leather is really high quality, the Kindle is secured by little straps in the corners. You can remove the Kindle in 2 seconds when you need to, but I can open it and hold onto the front of the cover and shake it and it won't fall out. Really, I couldn't be happier with it.

    Raiden333 on
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  • HoundxHoundx Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    CJTheran wrote: »
    So, I really wanted a Kindle right up until the Nook was unveiled, and now I'm not really sure. Do I go with the Kindle, which is a known quantity, or do I go with the untested nook, which has pretty colors?

    DECISIONS

    Do yourself a favor, there are plenty of Nook reviews around.

    Houndx on
  • DarmakDarmak RAGE vympyvvhyc vyctyvyRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Raiden333 wrote: »
    What cases do you guys use for your Kindle 2s? I'll be in the market soon and I'd like some ideas.

    What's your budget? If it's $alot, Oberon Design makes the best cases. This is the one I use:
    2163.jpg

    The leather is really high quality, the Kindle is secured by little straps in the corners. You can remove the Kindle in 2 seconds when you need to, but I can open it and hold onto the front of the cover and shake it and it won't fall out. Really, I couldn't be happier with it.

    That's a really pretty case.

    Darmak on
    JtgVX0H.png
  • useless4useless4 Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Houndx wrote: »
    The way battery estimates are calculated and presented should be illegal. I believe that "page turns" are counted by loading a huge book then holding down the next page button until the battery dies. In other words, a way that noone could ever, ever read a book. The first thing you need to do is divide the presented total by probably as much as four. Now you're down to 1,750 page turns which you could realistically expect if you shut down your device each time you stop reading instead of putting it into standby.

    I thought on Sonys that standby uses no power?

    If my ebook is on or off or in standby after a few weeks it will drain and I do notice my battery life is shorter now (I have had it a few years - I have the PRS-500 - the last one in the wild according to sony who daily sends me lovely notes to upgrade it, trade it or trash it) but still useable.

    "Standby" and "Reading a page" are def. the same thing... it's just an all "off" state change of the eink where text is a mix of "off/shades of on" to display the letters. Eink - once a state change has taken place - requires no further power to continue the display. So if you are on a page you remove all power or the battery that page should stay up forever. That's what makes it perfect for ebooks and things that require limited changing displays - like the those new cell phones with eink buttons.

    useless4 on
  • Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2009
    CJTheran wrote: »
    So, I really wanted a Kindle right up until the Nook was unveiled, and now I'm not really sure. Do I go with the Kindle, which is a known quantity, or do I go with the untested nook, which has pretty colors?

    DECISIONS

    NYT review
    WSJ review

    Bionic Monkey on
    sig_megas_armed.jpg
  • PolloDiabloPolloDiablo Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    useless4 wrote: »
    Houndx wrote: »
    The way battery estimates are calculated and presented should be illegal. I believe that "page turns" are counted by loading a huge book then holding down the next page button until the battery dies. In other words, a way that noone could ever, ever read a book. The first thing you need to do is divide the presented total by probably as much as four. Now you're down to 1,750 page turns which you could realistically expect if you shut down your device each time you stop reading instead of putting it into standby.

    I thought on Sonys that standby uses no power?

    If my ebook is on or off or in standby after a few weeks it will drain and I do notice my battery life is shorter now (I have had it a few years - I have the PRS-500 - the last one in the wild according to sony who daily sends me lovely notes to upgrade it, trade it or trash it) but still useable.

    "Standby" and "Reading a page" are def. the same thing... it's just an all "off" state change of the eink where text is a mix of "off/shades of on" to display the letters. Eink - once a state change has taken place - requires no further power to continue the display. So if you are on a page you remove all power or the battery that page should stay up forever. That's what makes it perfect for ebooks and things that require limited changing displays - like the those new cell phones with eink buttons.

    Out of curiosity, what are you planning on doing with your 500?

    PolloDiablo on
  • SniperGuySniperGuy SniperGuyGaming Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    CJTheran wrote: »
    So, I really wanted a Kindle right up until the Nook was unveiled, and now I'm not really sure. Do I go with the Kindle, which is a known quantity, or do I go with the untested nook, which has pretty colors?

    DECISIONS

    NYT review
    WSJ review

    Do people really go to the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal for tech reviews? I find that kinda surprising. I generally look at places like Cnet and Gizmodo.

    SniperGuy on
  • HoundxHoundx Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    useless4 wrote: »
    Houndx wrote: »
    The way battery estimates are calculated and presented should be illegal. I believe that "page turns" are counted by loading a huge book then holding down the next page button until the battery dies. In other words, a way that noone could ever, ever read a book. The first thing you need to do is divide the presented total by probably as much as four. Now you're down to 1,750 page turns which you could realistically expect if you shut down your device each time you stop reading instead of putting it into standby.

    I thought on Sonys that standby uses no power?

    If my ebook is on or off or in standby after a few weeks it will drain and I do notice my battery life is shorter now (I have had it a few years - I have the PRS-500 - the last one in the wild according to sony who daily sends me lovely notes to upgrade it, trade it or trash it) but still useable.

    "Standby" and "Reading a page" are def. the same thing... it's just an all "off" state change of the eink where text is a mix of "off/shades of on" to display the letters. Eink - once a state change has taken place - requires no further power to continue the display. So if you are on a page you remove all power or the battery that page should stay up forever. That's what makes it perfect for ebooks and things that require limited changing displays - like the those new cell phones with eink buttons.

    No power in standby? Could be true, sounds nice. The main point I was trying to get across is that the page turn quotes for battery life are, at best, pure fantasy but that I'd be more likely to call them deliberately misleading.

    Houndx on
  • PolloDiabloPolloDiablo Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Raiden333 wrote: »
    What cases do you guys use for your Kindle 2s? I'll be in the market soon and I'd like some ideas.

    What's your budget? If it's $alot, Oberon Design makes the best cases. This is the one I use:
    2163.jpg

    The leather is really high quality, the Kindle is secured by little straps in the corners. You can remove the Kindle in 2 seconds when you need to, but I can open it and hold onto the front of the cover and shake it and it won't fall out. Really, I couldn't be happier with it.

    Oh man, those are really pretty. I'm jealous.

    PolloDiablo on
  • Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2009
    SniperGuy wrote: »
    CJTheran wrote: »
    So, I really wanted a Kindle right up until the Nook was unveiled, and now I'm not really sure. Do I go with the Kindle, which is a known quantity, or do I go with the untested nook, which has pretty colors?

    DECISIONS

    NYT review
    WSJ review

    Do people really go to the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal for tech reviews? I find that kinda surprising. I generally look at places like Cnet and Gizmodo.

    I imagine they're useful for people that aren't geeks.

    Bionic Monkey on
    sig_megas_armed.jpg
  • useless4useless4 Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    useless4 wrote: »
    Houndx wrote: »
    The way battery estimates are calculated and presented should be illegal. I believe that "page turns" are counted by loading a huge book then holding down the next page button until the battery dies. In other words, a way that noone could ever, ever read a book. The first thing you need to do is divide the presented total by probably as much as four. Now you're down to 1,750 page turns which you could realistically expect if you shut down your device each time you stop reading instead of putting it into standby.

    I thought on Sonys that standby uses no power?

    If my ebook is on or off or in standby after a few weeks it will drain and I do notice my battery life is shorter now (I have had it a few years - I have the PRS-500 - the last one in the wild according to sony who daily sends me lovely notes to upgrade it, trade it or trash it) but still useable.

    "Standby" and "Reading a page" are def. the same thing... it's just an all "off" state change of the eink where text is a mix of "off/shades of on" to display the letters. Eink - once a state change has taken place - requires no further power to continue the display. So if you are on a page you remove all power or the battery that page should stay up forever. That's what makes it perfect for ebooks and things that require limited changing displays - like the those new cell phones with eink buttons.

    Out of curiosity, what are you planning on doing with your 500?

    From Wikipedia: According to the manufacturer, "The principal components of electronic ink are millions of tiny microcapsules, about the diameter of a human hair. In one incarnation, each microcapsule contains positively charged white particles and negatively charged black particles suspended in a clear fluid. When a negative electric field is applied, the white particles move to the top of the microcapsule to become visible to the reader. This makes the surface appear white at that location. At the same time, an opposite electric field pulls the black particles to the bottom of the microcapsules where they are hidden. By reversing this process, the black particles appear at the top of the capsule, which now makes the surface appear dark at that location.

    So white/black... it's a physical thing and that's also why it's easier to read then a standard lcd screen. It's also why, once state change takes place, it doesn't require power to hold in place.

    As far as the 500: Sony has given me two suggestions...
    1. I can send it in (I believe free of charge) for a firmware upgrade to support Epub and as a side effect also gain native mac support.
    2. I can send it in and get $50 off the little reader or $75 off the big reader.

    My mother already got me the big reader for christmas I suspect, so I think I might just get it flashed and send it to her as a thank you. Not sure.

    I find it odd they can't remote flash it , so I suspect the "flash" is replacing the 500 internals with the 505 internals.

    Sony wants me to change readers because as of this week my reader will no longer work with anything from the rebranded Sony Ereader store. Therefore I am no longer a cash source for them.

    you know what's really interesting? as far as I know they have never ever cracked the DRM from the old format.

    useless4 on
  • HoundxHoundx Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    SniperGuy wrote: »
    Do people really go to the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal for tech reviews? I find that kinda surprising. I generally look at places like Cnet and Gizmodo.

    I imagine they're useful for people that aren't geeks.

    I usually like Gizmodo but after seeing their review begin with this
    Gizmodo wrote:
    Do this now: Disregard all other ebook readers on the market besides Nook and Kindle. Unless you plan to get all of your books from back-alley torrents, or stick to self-published and out-of-copyright PDFs, you are going to need a reader with a good content-delivery system, one it connects to directly via wide-area network.

    Really Gizmodo? Not being able to purchase books via cellular wifi means that a reader is only good for getting free or torrented material? Wow

    Houndx on
  • useless4useless4 Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    You're right , there's a crap load of hate for the Sony not having wireless... but it's never bothered me. I guess I plan out my buying better and avoid impulse. If I am going on a trip, I shop before I leave.

    useless4 on
  • Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2009
    Not to mention the Sony will have their wireless version out soon.

    Bionic Monkey on
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  • taliosfalcontaliosfalcon Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    useless4 wrote: »
    You're right , there's a crap load of hate for the Sony not having wireless... but it's never bothered me. I guess I plan out my buying better and avoid impulse. If I am going on a trip, I shop before I leave.

    I usually have 50+ unread books queued up on my sony so i've never lamented the loss of wireless either :lol:

    taliosfalcon on
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  • PolloDiabloPolloDiablo Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Useless: I traded mine in and got the 600. I especially like how much faster than the 500 it is.

    And yeah, I don't really get the wireless desire. Most eReaders these days have a lot of features I'd never use, but I'm never going to be in a situation where I could read the hundreds of books I can load, and not reach my computer at any point in that process.

    PolloDiablo on
  • SenjutsuSenjutsu thot enthusiast Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I'm not really sure I want a case that looks like a wiccan's dream diary

    Senjutsu on
  • Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2009
    Useless: I traded mine in and got the 600. I especially like how much faster than the 500 it is.

    And yeah, I don't really get the wireless desire. Most eReaders these days have a lot of features I'd never use, but I'm never going to be in a situation where I could read the hundreds of books I can load, and not reach my computer at any point in that process.

    It's a convenience thing, and you probably won't ever understand it until you're in a position to use it. The tipping point for me was on a weekend vacation with my wife. We were headed home, and had a two hour trip ahead of us. I decided I wanted a certain book, and rather than waiting another two hours before we got home, I just loaded up the store there on the road, downloaded it, and 30 seconds later was reading it.

    Additionally, the wireless is a necessity for people that either don't have computers, or would be hopelessly lost when it comes to hooking their reader up to the computer, and dragging the file they just purchased in their browser over into the correct folder on their reader (which is a lot more people than you'd suspect).

    I fully expect wireless access to be a defacto standard on every ereader from here on out.

    Bionic Monkey on
    sig_megas_armed.jpg
  • servbotservbot Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Senjutsu wrote: »
    I'm not really sure I want a case that looks like a wiccan's dream diary

    :^:

    servbot on
  • useless4useless4 Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I don't see people jumping to ebooks who don't have the skills to sync it with a computer.

    People who don't have computers or who don't know how to use them are not the cutting edge of early adapters.

    Impulse buys are why companies include wireless, not to extend battery life or increase the experience. You made an impulse buy, you made Amazon happy. It's why iPhone apps sell like hotcakes, because when you're bored you sit there and surf the apps and since they are like 99 cents you buy it.

    I will also say where ever my ebook is I also have my laptop, so I can purchase so it's not a problem for me.

    useless4 on
  • Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2009
    We're beyond the cutting edge of early adopters though. I know plenty of people that don't have the skills to sync with computers that either have, or are considering a Kindle.

    Bionic Monkey on
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  • DarmakDarmak RAGE vympyvvhyc vyctyvyRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    servbot wrote: »
    Senjutsu wrote: »
    I'm not really sure I want a case that looks like a wiccan's dream diary

    :^:

    If only there were other places on the internet you could go to buy cases. If only...

    :P

    Darmak on
    JtgVX0H.png
  • OremLKOremLK Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    We're beyond the cutting edge of early adopters though. I know plenty of people that don't have the skills to sync with computers that either have, or are considering a Kindle.

    Indeed. And in fact Amazon has been marketing the Kindle hard at non-computer geeks since day one with considerable success.

    OremLK on
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  • SenjutsuSenjutsu thot enthusiast Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I am by all measures extremely computer savvy, and I much like the convenience of whispernet over dicking around with a mounted drive every time I want to put books on it.

    Plus it is a lot of fun to just fire up the store and download samples wherever I happen to be

    Senjutsu on
  • taliosfalcontaliosfalcon Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Senjutsu wrote: »
    I am by all measures extremely computer savvy, and I much like the convenience of whispernet over dicking around with a mounted drive every time I want to put books on it.

    Plus it is a lot of fun to just fire up the store and download samples wherever I happen to be

    See, this is what I don't understand, how often do you want to put books on? I mean the desktop software is faster, easier to use, and it'll auto sync your device when you plug it in to charge, which you need to do with some regularity anyway. Desktop software is generally more convenient o_O

    I dunno, having both in the household (kindles and sonys) the wireless is kinda nice in theory, but it doesn't come in handy enough for me anyway, to even make it on to the list of considerations i'd look at when i want to upgrade mine.

    taliosfalcon on
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  • HoundxHoundx Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I can't imagine not having chosen my next book well before finishing my current one. I mean I usually have a queue of at least four or five. Therefore, I can't imagine being in a situation where I need to be able to download a book while on vacation or during a smoke break. Useless features, for me, are useless, for me.

    Houndx on
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