We own a Kobo touch (Mrs Acoustic) and a Kobo Glo (7 yo lil'Acoustic). Both are really nice and the battery lasts for weeks considering over 1h a day reading. I bought the sleep cover which puts the Kobo to sleep and disable wifi / touch / backlight when you close the cover. It supports epub aswell as Adobe DRM and is well supported by Calibre. I'm personaly waiting for an affordable A4 e-reader as I'd need it for schematics and technical books.
Bother more positive opinions of alternatives I'll have a looksie. Also forgot to mention I've got £70 worth of Amazon vouchers which I'm looking to use sooner rather than later (as I often end up forgetting to use vouchers).
The display in the Nook actually has several update modes. Unlike first-gen electronic paper, which had to do a full refresh on every update, the unit in the Nook only does a full refresh every four or so page turns. Better still, you can switch it into a one-bit (black and white only) mode which allows for rapid screen updates without any full refresh - allowing for full-motion video, as seen in the PlayStation emulation example. Last I heard Barnes & Noble, the creators of the Nook, were getting out of the eReader game in favour of doing apps only. So no, I wouldn't hold your breath for an updated model. Not that I reckon you need one: the resolution is plenty high enough to make for a paper-like reading experience. YES. Sony do one in the US with a 13.3" high-res E-Ink display capable of showing a US Letter page at 1:1 scale without cropping. I want it for reading magazine scans from Archive.org, but it's $1,000 ('cos they've aimed it at the professional market as a replacement for paper documentation, complete with features I'd never need like cryptographic signatures and central server connectivity.) Bah.
I had a Kindle and loved it, but I found the Kindle app on a decent tablet to be just as good for long reading sessions - I just invert the text so it's white on black, and don't suffer from any glare problems or eye strain.
Fair enough, pretty cool. Pity, since I intend an e-reader to be a one time purchase type dealio I think I may as well go for something 'decent' (considering there are already 2 kindle devices along with others with higher dpi which reviews seem to suggest improve the experience) Hmm, may have to try that out on my PC to see how I feel, I know I can't read long things on the computer/tablet normally. Then again decent tablets tend to be more pricey than e-readers and since I've no desire for a tablet it may not affect me at all.
I've used both the high-res Kindles and the previous-gen Nook, and have not noticed a different to the reading experience. (Although, that said, I do wear glasses - but they work very well, honestly!) Remember that Amazon customer reviews are from people who have paid money to buy the item, so there's an element of bias and cognitive dissonance there. "I paid to upgrade," they think, "so the screen must be better!" (This is also why people will passionately defend £5,000 optical interconnects or £10,000 kettle leads, claiming they make a "night and day" difference to audio quality - 'cos it's that or admit they've been had.) 'Course, I paid for my Nook, so there's bias at play there, too. "I bought the Nook instead of the Kindle," I think, "so the Nook must be better, 'cos I isn't stoopid." Long story short: your best bet is to get some hands-on time with the models your interested in before parting with your cash. (In either respect, though, don't expect a device that'll last a lifetime: they're all a bit fragile and with typically non-user-replaceable batteries unless you're willing to do a bit of soldering.)
Scan are doing the Gen1 Nexus 7 32GB refurbs for <£85 If I use auto-brightness in the display and airplane mode every time I don't specifically need wifi access, my Nexus 7 lasts me up to 4/5 days as an e-reader or very light general use. I put it on charge this morning - 37% battery left and had been on battery for 2 days 21 hours
I hadn't really looked at user reviews, just whatever comparisons I could find from various sites, they could be bias as well of course but ah well Fair enough if you didn't really notice a difference, don't think I know anyone with a nook but I'll ask around. Any recommendations for a case? Since don't really like the look, and from a couple of reviews the build quality is a bit meh so I'll be getting a case for it if I were to buy one. Fair enough, I'll see how I find reading using the app, can't imagine how it would make reading anything like a book but maybe I'll be blown away
Remember when I said they wouldn't release a new model? Well, it looks like they have done. My Nook is a 'Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight,' but the model on the site now (at £89, which is more than I paid) is a 'Nook GlowLight' with higher specifications - including the same E-Ink display as the Kindle Paperwhite, resolution and all. They have, however, removed the SD-card slot, so I shan't be running out to upgrade. I bought the official Lautner Cover Ink from Nook direct when they were selling 'em off for a fiver. A bit thick, perhaps, but very protective, nice and plain, and includes a magnetic clasp to hold it shut (or, indeed, open.) EDIT: Here you are, this is the one I've got. At £49 delivered from Argos, I'd say you can't really go wrong: it's £40 cheaper than the new Nook and £60(!) cheaper than the Kindle Paperwhite.
Oh I actually thought you were talking about the newer one I've just realised, assumed they were the same model haha. Lack of sd card slot doesn't really bother me, as I don't need lots on there at once, and since I only intend on reading, then a couple of gb should be more than enough! I'l'l check them out. Seems a pretty good deal, means I'd use the vouchers for books I guess.
Don't currently intend on using it for anything other than plain old books but having the option is always good I guess. Thought of another question over the weekend, would I be able to put the books my mum has already bought on my Nook or whatever? If I get a Kindle I can through the family sharing thing as far as I'm aware, but I'm not sure about the Nook, I guess if I run the Kindle software on it I can? (if I can run it?)
Yes and no to the question you have above. My wife and I can share books on our Kindles as they're both actually on her account (which means when I buy books the money comes out of her bank account ) I don't think you can have your Mum's books on your account if you have the Kindle (or the Kindle app on the Nook which does run btw but only after some fiddling - follow Gareth's guide on how to do it) associated with your Amazon account.
It may not be implemented yet but I was referring to this: http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/17/6357241/amazons-new-family-library-feature-explained
Oooh - that's interesting - I hadn't heard of that... I don't suppose that we'll change the way that we do things now but that would make what you want to do possible
Well, since I've bought various books for her recently that I also enjoy, figured it would be nice if I didn't have to borrow her Kindle to read them/buy them twice or whatever.
So, still haven't actually picked one up due to being busy with uni work etc but my mum is now making me choose as she wants to get me something for birthday/christmas (birthday was back in September). So, I think I've come to the conclusion I'm happy spending £100 on one, and would rather spend more and get a higher quality piece of kit, so I'm wondering if I'm happy spending a decent amount on one whether the opinions would remain the same? On the non-Kindle side there seem to be a couple, the Kobo Aura, Aura HD, Aura H2O, the new nook glowlight, the paperwhite and voyage. Any other contenders I'm not aware of?
I previously has a sony touch that felt nice but was a bit heavy. When battery life went down I upgraded to the new kindle paperwhite. Now that kindle has gone black and done away with the keyboard they are pretty decent. I use calibre for the software. Pay carefull attention to weight. Memory doesn't really matter and neither does performance to be honest. I care about weight and feel but I chose the kindle for the backlight. Likewise I wouldn't bother with 3G.
