Amazon Kindle E-Reader

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

I have a question just saw this black friday deal for kindle 2 for 89. Is this a good price for one? Also it says it has global 3g so it shouldn't be a problem using in canada right?

Amazon Black Friday deal – Kindle 2 for only $89

That's a great deal. The Kindle 2 isn't quite as nice as the 3, but it's still very good and the 3G is awesome. I was buying new books over the 3G Wireless anywhere while I was on vacation.

[Slava]

I have the kindle 2 as well (I think?) and I'll second what mazrim says above. The 3g is awesome....best part is that its free!

[fundmark19]

Well that sucked! Waited for deal to start click add to cart boom website overload and crashes now it appears to be sold out

[First Lady]

Might be a silly question, but do you have to be in a coverage area to read the books? Or is it downloaded and you can read it anywhere?

[Mazrim]

Once the book is downloaded I turn off the network connection to save the battery. I only turn the connection on to buy the books, so yeah, you can read it anywhere without coverage.

[Yamer]

Just got back from Chapters to check out the Kobo. I don't have anything to compare it to (maybe an advantage) and I was really impressed. The screen is just like reading a piece of paper, there are a lot of useful features, and it certainly didn't have the delayed response time that has been mentioned. It had a simplistic design that was easy to use, and it was quite compact. Chapters also had a good deal of accessories for it.

I haven't made my decision on anything, but I thought I would let the board know my experience on a display model. Looks and feels good.

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by Yamer

Just got back from Chapters to check out the Kobo. I don't have anything to compare it to (maybe an advantage) and I was really impressed. The screen is just like reading a piece of paper, there are a lot of useful features, and it certainly didn't have the delayed response time that has been mentioned. It had a simplistic design that was easy to use, and it was quite compact. Chapters also had a good deal of accessories for it.

I haven't made my decision on anything, but I thought I would let the board know my experience on a display model. Looks and feels good.

From what I've read the 2nd generation Kobo is a big improvement on the first. It doesn't have as many features as the Kindle or Sony reader, but if you don't need fancy features it's an option. It's actually what I'm leaning towards right now - I'd rather be able to read ePub books than tie myself to Amazon, and the extra features on the Sony (touch screen, reading Word files, etc.) aren't worth the cost to me.

[babs]

Does anyone happen to know how the Sony eReaders compare? Looking into an eReader as a Christmas present for someone, and with the shipping delays on the Kindles, I'm wondering how folks like Sony eReaders. Thank you in advance for your feedback.

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by babs

Does anyone happen to know how the Sony eReaders compare? Looking into an eReader as a Christmas present for someone, and with the shipping delays on the Kindles, I'm wondering how folks like Sony eReaders. Thank you in advance for your feedback.

From the research I've done (I don't actually own one), the Sony seems to be considered the best of the non-Kindle eReaders (i.e. those that can read ePub books as opposed to the Amazon/Kindle format). However, it is also more expensive than the other ereaders. For the extra money you get a slightly better display, touch screen, faster page turns than some of the cheaper models, and the ability to read Word and text files (in addition to ePub and PDF). They can read books from Chapters/Indigo as well as the Sony bookstore and many independent publishers - I think they can also read books from Borders and Barnes & Noble, both of which also use ePub, but I'm not totally sure about whether there are any restrictions ordering from the US chains in Canada.

If you aren't going with a Kindle, the choice of whether to order the Sony vs. one of the other readers (e.g. Kobo) probably comes down to whether the extra features and faster page turning are worth paying an extra $80.

[Mazrim]

The touch screen reader suffers from glare problems, so if you don't really need the touch screen, go with the Sony Reader without it.

[Ashartus]

I came across a nice summary of which formats each online bookstore uses and what each eReader can use: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=130591

I guess the Sony and Kobo can't read Barnes & Noble books (at least without breaking the DRM) even though they are ePub, because they use a unique DRM that only works with the Nook.

All these proprietary formats that can only be read on 1 device are annoying.

[sureLoss]

Amazon is knocking $25 off the price off the Kindle... the drawback? it has some advertisements:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004HFS6Z0/...AC0YYFGWVB0WEX

Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers
New, Lower Price
When you buy Kindle with Special Offers, you are getting the same bestselling Kindle for $25 less—only $114. Special offers and sponsored screensavers display on the Kindle screensaver and on the bottom of the home screen—they don't interrupt reading.
Special Offers
You'll receive special offers directly on your Kindle. Examples include:

• $10 for $20 Amazon.com Gift Card
• $6 for 6 Audible Books (normally $68)
• $1 for an album in the Amazon MP3 Store (choose from over 1 million albums)
• $10 for $30 of products in the Amazon Denim Shop or Amazon Swim Shop

Sponsored Screensavers
Our goal is to display sponsored screensavers that you want to see. That's why we've created a free Kindle app and website (coming soon) called AdMash. Anyone who's interested can download AdMash and help pick future screensavers. Two prospective screensavers show up side-by-side, and you pick the one you find most attractive. The ones preferred most by customers qualify to become sponsored screensavers.

You can also set your personal Kindle Screensaver Preferences to give us hints on the style and types of sponsored screensavers you'd like to see on your Kindle. For example, you can indicate that you'd like to see more or fewer screensavers that include elements such as landscapes and scenery, architecture, travel images, photography, and illustrations. Together, AdMash voting and Kindle Screensaver Preferences help us select the most attractive and engaging sponsored screensavers to display on your Kindle.

[Coys1882]

I have a Kindle and my wife has a Kobo - she wishes she had the kindle. It's more user friendly having a keyboard, the charge lasts longer, more accessories for the kindle and most importantly the kindle is silent. In a quiet room when we're both reading, the kobo 'next page' button is like someone stepping on a twig.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Amazon is knocking $25 off the price off the Kindle... the drawback? it has some advertisements:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004HFS6Z0/...AC0YYFGWVB0WEX

Interesting...since it doesn't get in the way of the most important part (reading), then it's not a big deal at all. I barely even remember what the generic screen savers on the kindle are anyway.

[Burninator]

BUMP

Am I crazy or have Kindle ebook prices sky rocketed? It seems like everything is $14-16 now. A book that I am looking at right now is $16.20 on Kindle and $10.88 paperback. Before the Kindle books were almost always cheaper than the paperback, now it's the opposite.

[Mazrim]

Publishers are getting stupid. "Hardcover new releases cost $25-30 so we need to price digital new releases accordingly" my ass. I've stopped using my Kindle exclusively and buy softcover books if the Kindle price doesn't drop after a softcover release.

[Fire]

Originally Posted by Burninator

BUMP

Am I crazy or have Kindle ebook prices sky rocketed? It seems like everything is $14-16 now. A book that I am looking at right now is $16.20 on Kindle and $10.88 paperback. Before the Kindle books were almost always cheaper than the paperback, now it's the opposite.

Sounds like a really stupid thing for Amazon to do. All it will do is increase pirating of the books. You can get basically any book through torrents.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Originally Posted by Fire

Sounds like a really stupid thing for Amazon to do. All it will do is increase pirating of the books. You can get basically any book through torrents.

It's not Amazon's fault.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...SAT_story.html

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by Handsome B. Wonderful

It's not Amazon's fault.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...SAT_story.html

The whole ebook industry is a mess right now. I think the fault lies mostly with the publishers, but also partly with Amazon and Apple - all have been using some pretty hard-line tactics to maximize their own profits, with readers being the ones suffering. Some of the things that have gone on:

- Amazon was deliberately selling bestsellers at a large loss to get people to buy Kindles in an effort to get a monopoly. While I'm not an Amazon fan I don't think there was anything inherently wrong with this, but that cut into publisher's profits quite a bit (since it was reducing hardcover sales) which is what started a lot of this mess.

- When Apple wanted to break into the ebook industry, they made a deal with the big publishers where they'd sell using an "agency" model. Previously, sellers like Amazon, Kobo, etc. would buy ebooks from the publishers at a wholesale price and sell it for whatever they wanted; under the agency model the publisher sets the selling price and the seller gets 30% of that price. The publishers then turned around and imposed this same model on all of the other sellers. This is why Amazon, Kobo etc. can no longer offer discounts or deals on most books.

- Amazon have been signing some relatively well-known authors to special deals where they get higher royalties if they sell their books exclusively through Amazon. Since Amazon has about 70% of the US ebook market and about 50% globally, the deal works out well for the authors. Unfortunately Amazon ebooks use a proprietary format that can't be read on any other reader (at least without removing DRM and converting the format, which is illegal in the US), meaning anyone who doesn't have a Kindle basically can't legally read these ebooks (and the hard copies are also only available through Amazon). I've heard one of the reasons this deal is so appealing to authors is because the big publishers have basically been screwing them over on royalties on ebooks (particularly when compared to hardcovers).

- On top of that there are all the geographic restrictions which mean you often can't buy an ebook because of the country where you live, even though you could order the hard copy overseas. I find Penguin to be really bad for this in Canada - lots of books that they hold the Canadian rights for are available here as paperbacks but not ebooks, even though they are available as ebooks in the US.

Overall the readers are the ones suffering right now - hopefully this DOJ lawsuit will help things a bit.

[Kybosh]

I just got a kindle touch last week as my first foray into e-reading. Everyone told me how much cheaper the books were compared to buying physical copies but that does not seem to be the case at all. I've found a bunch of books that I would like (paperback or hardcover) which cost more on kindle than the physical versions. That does not make any sense whatsoever.

I've enjoyed reading on the device so far, but I feel like there is some serious price gouging going on right now.