I have a closet full of Betas…not the men, the video tapes. That may have no meaning to you whatsoever, but originally there were two videotape formats – Betamax and VHS. My husband and I went Beta and unfortunately lost in the great videotape wars. Betamax eventually went the way of the Dodo bird. We keep an old Beta player around because of the hundreds of dollars I have invested in old movies, but it’s relegated to the most un-used room in our house.
I’m worrying about that today as I try to decide what kind of device to buy so that I can begin reading e-books, and as I have no intention of reading entire books on my desktop (been there, done that), I’ll be buying something portable. And the more I get into it, the more confusing and difficult my decision becomes – everything you’ll read below is entirely new to me, and unless you’ve got one of these devices, it’s likely new to you too. While PDA’s (personal digital assistants) provide the greatest coverage in terms of the platforms sold by most mainstream publishers and e-bookstores (Adobe, Microsoft Reader, and even Mobipocket), my eyesight is horrendous and I cannot imagine reading a book off a small screen even though others seem to have no trouble doing so – and apparently aren’t annoyed by constant scrolling or whatever it is you have to do to advance the text. At the other end of the spectrum are tablet p.c.’s, but they cost more than many laptop computers. Well, what about a dedicated e-book reader? And this is where things become problematical.
It’s true that not all PDA’s have itsy-bitsy screens, but the larger screens are accompanied by hefty pricetags and even these larger screens are far smaller than the dedicated readers. The iPAQ with the largest screen, for instance, offers view space about 3/4 the size of the largest reasonably priced dedicated reader, and is a $500+ purchase. In my younger days I was very much a Day-Runner person and if I still had a "real" job I’d probably be addicted to a PDA, but not so in my current life style. No PDA, no Blackberry, no laptop – just a cell phone and iPOD.
As for dedicated e-book readers, the Cybook crosses most platforms (but not Adobe…they’ve hopes for Reader), and while its screen size is a whopping 10 inches on the diagonal (not much smaller than a magazine), it also weighs more than two pounds and costs a prohibative $400 – I could buy a refurbished laptop for that amount. The Hiebook, at $250, offers substantial power and memory. With bad hands and wrists as a result of years of computer work, it would be perfect for me in terms of weight ( 8.8 oz.) and screen size (5.6 inches on the diagonal). This Korean invention is slightly less than twice as expensive as a reader with similar dimensions – but the less expensive version weighs twice as much and offers only half the memory. Were I to buy the Hiebook, though, I’m faced with the fact that its technology is unique. While most e-book publishers provide e-books available on this platform, most e-book stores and mainstream publishers do not. That could easily change if more people discover the product and use it, but if they don’t, I’m not only limited in the short run, but, like the Rocket Reader, the product itself may become the next Betamax. And then, that final option – the less expensive but much heavier eBookwise, with a screen size of 5 inches on the diagonal and price tag of $130 – is actually the old Rocket, put out by a new company that I am assured is adding print publishers daily (it too has its own platform) and has no intention of going out of business (although, does anybody in business ever intend to fail?). But the continuing trend in consumer electronics is toward smaller and smaller devices; I wonder whether or not dedicated readers have a real future.
Those of us who love books are constantly stymied by what’s in print and what’s not. I’d hoped the POD concept would solve that, but it seems to be an idea whose time has not (yet) come, while the e-book idea is in the here and now. Will I ever be able to simply download every book – new, old, and never OOP – whenever I want? I don’t know, but I’ve pretty much run out of room to store books, and until our daughter goes off to college in 2010, I may need to take drastic measures and purge lesser keepers to compensate if I want to continue buying books. That’s a frightening prospect, and if, by storing ebooks on my huge hard drive and reading them via a reader I can avoid that, I’d be happier. Sigh…what’s a bookie to do? I’ll let you know when I decide.
Hearing from those of you who read e-books would probably help.
Confoundedly yours, Laurie Likes Books
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I’ve a Sony PDA. Love it.
I read most of my ebooks on it, except when I’m online chatting and reading at the same time on my laptop.
Laurie, my humble opinion is that the EbookMan isn’t a good idea because it doesn’t have a colour screen. Not great for reading at night without disturbing the Significant Other. That’s my take, but I know people who love theirs.
A laptop is possibly a better option, but not any good when you’re on the go. Unless you got Sony’s Vaio U and then that has a 5-inch screen. Better off buying a PDA that costs a fraction of the price.
But if you don’t work, then a laptop would be fine, I think–especially if you don’t think you want to squint at a tiny screen. Get a light laptop–no need to be too fancy–with a nice screen, and maybe a lapdesk to balance it on your lap and voila, you’ve got your ebook reader.
Best of all, you’d have a near-dedicated hard disk for your ebooks, and if you are willing to go to the trouble of downloading them into a CD–you’d need to back it up anyway–or some other storage device before transferring them to the laptop, it should stay free of viruses and stuff.
Oops! I see you’ve not heard about the eBookman.
It supports various ebook reader software–more like a PDA really–but has an analog screen.
Cheaper, but you might as well get a Palm Zire series.
I don’t read e-books yet, but I want to, so I’m looking forward to more education on this!
I use a Sony Clie for reading e-books, but it’s one of those small PDAs. I also have a very small laptop now, which makes it much easier to read from a larger screen. I’m really looking forward to something coming out that will handle every format, is slim and portable, has a large enough backlit screen, and will be around for a long time. One of these days it’s going to be like Star Trek the Next Generation and we’ll all be reading books on electronic devices.
When I started really hating reading my ebooks on the computer—that’s where I work, who wants to read there?—I looked at the prices of ebook readers and despaired. I’m a stay-at-home-mom, so I feel guilty if I even have to buy new underwear for myself. Spending that kind of money so I could read books when I have leaning towers of paperbacks all over wasn’t really an option.
So I looked at PDA’s to get an idea of the most bang for my buck. This past Christmas, Santa bought me the one I decided on—the iPAQ rz 1715. In the iPAQ world, it’s not impressive at all. But I have Word so I can edit on the go (I have an Alphasmart for writing on the go), Excel, calendar, the all-important solitaire, and more. (I won’t add the myriad of things necessary for wireless online stuff—it’s bad enough my cell phone follows me around, never mind my email.) Microsoft Reader was a free download that took seconds to add, and I added an SD card because the stock memory’s pretty pathetic.
The downside—trying to read PDF on there’s a nightmare, but I download my ebooks in Reader, anyway, so it’s not really an issue. The screen is pretty small, so if you set it to a large font, it gets a See Dick Run quality, but you still just click the button and it hits the next page.
But the screen’s nicely lit, and I can read an ebook, listen to music, share pictures or write/edit my manuscript from this tiny little box, and all that for…I think it was $220 on sale from Staples.
Eventually I’d like to get a dedicated ebook reader with a bigger screen and such, but for now this does what I want/need for a price my mommy-guilt could live with.
I’ve got a Sony TH55 PDA (and like Destruction Angel, I love it! And yes a Palm Zire is a good idea, though I don’t know about the battery life.) and have been using it for the e-books I read. I use the eReader programme which is free but if you purchase (of course) the “Pro” version you can get additional fonts which really help. I use the smallest font to fit in as many words as possible on the tiny screen (So far my eyesigt is ok…) because I hate scrolling too often, after a few sentences. A colour screen is best and I can change font and background colours.
What I love about reading on my PDA is that I can do it at night with the lights off without disturbing my husband. The battery life on the TH55 is excellent. And I can carry tons of books with me everywhere I go.
Of course there are some downsides but the major one is that not many romance books are offered on e-reader format. The first e-booksI purchases where all Liz Carlyle’s books. Of course I’d love to have a “hardcopy” of them but space is a commodity here in Hong Kong!
About a month ago my husband bought me a Palm Tungsen [sp?] T5 to encourage me to buy ebooks. Like you, I was concerned about the size of print on a PDA.
] and, to my surprise, I didn’t have any problem reading it. It did take a couple of minutes to get used to it, but after all, it’s like reading a paperback, in terms of getting involved with the story.
I tried a free ebook on it [The Collected Sherlock Holmes stories
The problem I do have is the bloody maze of ebook formats. DMR [or DRM]? Locked format? I’m at a loss. Since many ebooks are eye-wateringly expensive [IMO, this is the highest barrier to embracing the ebook format as another means to read books], it makes me wary of buying ebooks.
The real bonus, IMO, is reading a story on PDA in bed. It has great backlight, which doesn’t affect my sleeping hubby at all. Anyway, I’m still on the very edge of the ebook world. FWIW.
P.S. I have a BlackBerry and I didn’t realise one can read ebooks on BlackBerry. Is this possible?
I’m waiting for the reader which will do everything. The way technology is working at the speed of light, I’m thinking we’ll have an all-purpose reader before the year is up. *fingers crossed*
I’ve only moved from Windows 95 to Windows XP this year.
So I’m really not UP on all the technical goodies. And I’m sure not paying an arm, leg, and a couple of toes for something which will be obsolete within a year.
Laurie: Best of luck. May you find the perfect reader. And when you do…let the rest of us know.
Grins*
One thing those who are looking at PDAs should note.
Microsoft Reader doesn’t have a Palm format. So if you get a Palm, you can’t use Microsoft Reader.
Maili, locked format would be secure format. Depending on where you buy from, I believe it either means just one download, or that you choose one reader and stick with that.
Expensive? Why do you say that? It’s usually cheaper than buying the print version, especially if you take advantage of specials, rebates and all that.
I looked at the EBookman first off the bat, but nobody I know had anything good about it to say. My husband wanted to push me toward a Tablet P.C., which is probably most like those Star Trek: TNG thingies, and that’s my fantasy reader too. BUT the Tablet P.C. is hugely expensive and incredibly heavy.
The whole PDA thing is something I just can’t get into. When my husband went from his first to his second he gave me his first and I tried it for like two weeks. I think they will be indispensible for those who are growing up now – like my daughter – because they’re going to be used to text messaging and all those things I think it’s stupid to use a cell phone for. But the PDA thing is also a problem because if you get one to read one platform it won’t read the other.
In the end it’s the platform issue that’s the real bugaboo about this. I really hate Adobe – even on my desktop – but if you buy a Palm that’s what you get. And Palms seem to be more common than Windows-based PDA’s (I think), so that’s a problem. The ereader software/platform, whatever you want to call it, solves some of that as it can be used on a Palm as well as Windows-based PDA, but I don’t really understand what it does. It doesn’t seem to translate Adobe files into Reader files or vice versa – so I imagine it’s yet another platform. And yet at most of the ebookstores it’s Adobe, Reader, and possibly Mobipocket downloads that are available.
I really hate this, you know? I just want to make a frigging decision!
TTFN, LLB
Tablet PCs?
Nah. They aren’t that expensive, or my dad wouldn’t have offered to get me one. I said no because they haven’t made one that can read my handwriting yet.
Well, they aren’t expensive here leastways.
With a PDA, assuming you don’t have too many heavy duty softwares on it, you can run 2 or 3 readers no problem. Store your books on a CF card, or whatever memory card your PDA accepts.
Pocket PCs, the Windows based PDAs, are catching up. Even if you choose to get a Pocket PC, you can still use Ereader or Mobipocket.
You only can’t use Microsoft Reader if you have a Palm–though you can read them on your computer–because there’s no software for that.
I use Mobipocket reader, mostly because I buy from Fictionwise and all of their books come in Mobipocket, whereas Ereader seems to be only available on their secure downloads.
You could, of course, buy HTML versions–read them in your browser. Or get Mobipocket creator and convert them to Mobipocket.
Laurie, and anybody else, feel free to email me if you have any specific questions.
Laurie, my dh and I both read LOTS of ebooks on our Palms. We use a software program called eReader which I like far, far better than PDF. You download your ebook onto the desktop, pull the RTF into eReader, make it into a book, and synch the Palm. Ebook is ready to go! We both love the portability and convenience, especially since we always have a book in hand everywhere we go and with all the other crap we haul around these days, trimming the load is a huge benefit. And as others have mentioned, the bright backlight is great for reading in bed without disturbing anybody!
My eyes really can’t take sitting and reading a whole book on my screen. I have done it, but I usually end up paying for it with a headache later. I’m still more of the traditionalist and love to read my books in print. I like to hold the actual book in my hands, crease the cover, be able to close it for a few minutes when something strikes me. Maybe someday that will change, but for now give me my books.
Shannon, I have an iPaq and I might be able to walk you through how to read pdfs well on it. It requires downloading Adobe 7.0 and redownloading and installing adobe for ppc on your iPaq (and you might have to do some fixing of the registry since it likes to leave registry keys behind when you uninstall), but once you do it, it works great. Adobe is my reader of choice on my iPaq, since I like that you have the choice of going full screen so there are more lines on the screen.
I honestly love this thing. I love that I can have so many formats on it so I don’t have to worry about converting things into another format just to read it, as well as up the font if it’s too small and read in bed with the lights out. With a large SD card, I carry around all my ebooks on it. And solitaire is great. Mine also has a wireless card, so I can look up those bits of trivia while on vacation to prove my husband wrong. *g*
But it IS expensive for some people, so that’s a drawback.
The tablet p.c.’s I priced were between $1400 and $2200 – which is the price of a pretty impressive laptop. I priced refurbished laptops and could pick one up for $400 – $500.
Fictionwise sells the ebookwise, so they also sell a lot of books that can be read on the ebookwise, which is an OEBFF format. Lots of the ebook publishers sell OEBFF formatted books, but the big ebookstores don’t.
My husband likes multi-tasking, but if I’m never going to use a PDA for anything else other than reading ebooks, about the only reason to get one as opposed to one of the ebookreaders is that, right now more books are available on that format. I can only hope, if I go w/a dedicated reader, that their formats catch on.
TTFN, LLB
I love reading my ebooks. I’ve discovered so many new authors. My laptop blew up in February so I had to spend my savings on a new computer instead of an ebook reader. The one I had researched to get was a Palm Tungsten E. I’m a SAHM so I can’t afford the top of the line, but this one seemed to have everything I needed to read my ebooks, plus you can buy an extra memory card to store a whole lot more books on.
Good Luck,
Laurie, I have been reading e-books for a while, although on my desktop computer (and now my brother’s). I used to download on Adobe Acrobat, but now download mostly in Mobipocket. Most of my books are now from http://www.fictionwise.com which allows multiple downloads from your account (very useful if you want to keep books in more than one format).
I also buy from http://www.awestruck.com, and in the past have bought from http://www.belgravehouse.com and other publishers. Since I read on my desktop computer, I cannot speak to the issues that affect others (in terms of reading in bed, etc). I do find Mobipocket a very nice medium, and Microsoft Reader a close second (my brother prefers it, so I download my science fiction and other reads so that he can read those in MS Reader).
I used to like Adobe Acrobat, but those DRMs are a pain in the neck (had to redownload and revalidate a bunch of books).
I think fictionwise will be around for a while; I signed up initially to buy a very few books and then used up my Paypal balance to buy a lot of e-books (some good, some not so good). Based on that, their e-reader might be a good buy. There are deals around via eBay, or specials that you might want to check out. I wish I had an ebook reader, to read my very large collection in bed, instead of sitting at my computer desk. I would probably get the eBookwise, simply because it would allow me access to nearly all my ebooks (other than those which are Adobe editions). For me, the price and the convenience would both be in its favor, but for now, I will wait until some of the features improve.
Hope this helps.
Shinjinee
Gaah, the awestruck publishing site is at
http://www.awe-struck.net/
I like their 3-chapter preview policy.
Laurie, I had to laugh. I loved my Beta machine. It lasted so long to the point I couldn’t get tapes to play. I mainly used it to record programs. I still have Betas in the cabinet. But then I have a Mac computer so I don’t get what is most popular.
Oh my gosh! I do remember those Beta video tapes. (Drats, I’m old!) When I bought my first videotape recorder, back in 1983, I’d the hardest time deciding between a Beta one or VHS. I settled for a Panasonic VHS videotape recorder, which cost me $595. *lol*
As for reading my ebooks, I’ve got an HP iPaq 2215. It has drivers for both CF and SD cards, so I can carry more ebooks in it. *chuckles* I bought a foldable keyboard, so I can write whenever inspiration hits me.
I have a different sort of dillema. I listen to audio tapes while I travel or walk on my treadmill. The tapes just don’t last. If you listen to them four or five times one of them will break. So the whole set is ruined. I tried a cheap (which could be my problem)hand held DVD player but when you had to stop the player you couldn’t pick back up where you left off, it would only start back at the begining of the DVD that you were on. Very aggravating if you were at the last fifteen minutes of the disc. So would an expensive one do better? I would hate to buy it and find out no. I like head phones and a portable playere so I am the only one listening to torrid love scenes:shock: Or on the other hand should I go for a MP3 player that I know absolutely nothing about. I have a huge library of keeper books and audios so room is becoming a problem. I don’t have children to ask these tech questions to and I am 49 and holding so I didn’t grow up with computers. But I would like to move away from the audio tapes because of the room and the breaking of the tapes problem. P S I also bought a beta…
Thanks, everyone! To all Betamax users, I’m trying to think where else I chose wrong…I know there have been many instances. But here’s a national “wrong.” The biggest frozen yogurt chain in the U.S. has some of the worst frozen yogurt around. I’ve seen two other chains – both national – practically disappear as the “bad” yogurt chain has grown. I won’t even get into my bitterness over M.J. Designs and Michael’s, but that’s a Dallas story.
TTFN, LLB
I’m apparently still in the Dark Ages, reading e-books on my laptop. I think I’m holding out for just a little longer to see where the technology goes before I invest in a dedicated ebook reader. But I will invest. Eventually.
Laura – I so miss MJ Designs! Not *just* a Dallas story, we had ‘em here in Atlanta, too.
best site of its kind