Jason
Col. Panic
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| E-book readers.. Which one?
Hello, hello.
Well, got my tax return. Been looking to get an e-book reader for some time.. I read a standard novel every night or two, figured an e-book reader might be a worthy investment. The real question is: which one?
I have Linux computers, so *nix support is a huge plus.
Sony has a backlight, and touchscreen, Kindle2 has wireless.
Im most interested in format support. I know Sony has a reputation for clinging to proprietary formats, but this early on in the ebook game, is there an emerging e-book "standard" format? With either the Kindle, or sony, will I be locking myself into a format that may die off in the next year or two?
What about "unsupported" books? Works I download from friends (torrents, et. al) Who has the better support?
Finally, what are the opinions of anyone that has one or the other?
I have tons of gadgets, but this e-book thing is totally new to me, so Im not even sure what criteria are important, Heh.
Any input is greatly appreciated.. thanks!
-Jason
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ryang
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join:2001-04-01
Chicago, IL
| I ordered a K2 for my GF, I'll let you know how it goes.
What attracted me to the Kindle was the wireless, book pricing, and overall design. I have access to all the e-books I want through usenet so I'll test that as well.
With Linux, you won't even need a PC to retrieve books through Amazon. It gets sent like a giant MMS to your Kindle over EVDO.
From Amazon's site, it can import most file formats (PDF/Word). I don't know what the Sony unit does or doesn't do. |
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kkkk40us
join:2001-09-20
Astoria, NY | reply to Jason
check out the eslick from foxit, generic hardware and its own software for pdfs |
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Jason
Col. Panic
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clubs: | That is a very interesting reader.. Do you have one? If so, any comments on how well you like it?
-Jason
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A sucking chest wound is just nature's way of telling you to slow down. |
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kkkk40us
join:2001-09-20
Astoria, NY
| reply to Jason
dont have one , it just came out so reading all the reviews about it , check them out at there forum, sounds good but might wait till they update to the next version of software. also not in the shops so can not check it out before buying. videos although nice, really dont cut it for that price, but i am very hopeful about it. |
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Jason
Col. Panic
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| reply to Jason
well, i ended up getting a K2. the wireless support plus the overall aesthetics of the device seemed about right for me.
I opened an amazon credit acct. and saved $30. (plan to pay it off on the first bill, then tuck it in a drawer, Heh..
First impressions are overall good.. But, if the Kindle 2 represents the current "Status quo" of handheld e-readers, then the tech as a whole has some maturing to do before it "blows up like the iPod"
Its a clean, light, slim (and in a word, Cool) device. The novelty of the e-ink display adds a lot of appeal.
As far as the E-ink, its actually quite noce. Text is clear, and sharp. The reduced contrast some mention, I dont even notice.
the display is somewhat smaller than a single paperback page, but once you get into reading a couple pages, its size is not noticeable.
Response for accessing books / turning pages is pretty snappy, but you do still feel delays.. Perhaps Im just spoiled by iPod / Cellphone touch screen instant execution and feedback.
Memory is pretty impressive (About 1.4GB free to the end user) With standard novels at 700k - 1.6Mb ea, the kindle should be able to hold a thousand books internally easily.
The wireless service (Provided by sprint) is free, and you have acces to the internet through it. Wikipedia actually reads pretty well on the Kindle..
As far as delivering books, I don't know about amazons claim of 60 seconds. I purchased Maddox "The alphabet of Manliness" from amazon (using the kindle) and immediately downloaded it.. With 4 out of 5 bars on the signal meter, the download still took a smidge over 10 minutes.
Fortunately, you can read, and do other things on the kindle while its downloading.
Buttons seem well placed, byt the 5-way controller is low for my tastes.. I have to re-position my right hand each time I go back and forth from navigating with the 5-way, and reading / advancing pages. Perhaps I will get used to this layout over time.
Its picky about file types it can read natively. You can e-mail pdfs to amazon, and they will email them back to you in kindle format free of charge, (or optionally, send them wirelessly to your kindle for 10 cents a file) This is nice, but still a tedious step. Id much rther see native pdf file support.
When plugged into a computer, the kindle shows up as a removable storage device, no software required.. Worked great out of the box on my linux computer. (Good call, Kindle!)
Overall, I really like this new gizmo, but think it has a few teething pains to suffer yet before its ready for mainstream.. Namely, More robust document type support (Just pay adobe, and incorporate .pdf support, will ya?) Larger screen, and lower price.. Lets face it, $359 will buy a LOOOT of books.
Like the first Creative Nomad (first HD based .mp3 player) the kindle seems like a great idea, and does well so far, but I expect it to get much better, much cheaper as further generations are refined, and other manufacturers throw their hats into the e-book reader market.
Should you get one?
Well, thats up to you.. I read 2-5 novels a week, so It was kind of a no-brainer for me. If the cost of the reader doesnt frighten you, then great deals can be had on plenty of literature, and who knows, if you read enough you could even eventually recover the cost of the kindle on the money you save on new releases / current best sellers.
Heh Look.. Its got E-ink!
-Jason
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A sucking chest wound is just nature's way of telling you to slow down. |
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commigy
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join:2001-01-11
Douglasville, GA | If you have an IPhone or Ipod Touch, you should get the Amazon Kindle app. It's a great extension of the Kindle and you're able to keep the two devices in sync. |
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Jason
Col. Panic
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join:2001-01-24
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| I have a Nano 3rd Gen, bought the wife a 4G nano, but other than those two devices, we are an entirely Apple free household (with pride)
The iPhone, and iTouch do look slick, and hopefully will encourage other manufacturers to bring multi-touch tech to the masses. However, for music, there are much cheaper solutions out there with much better sound quality (to an audiophile like myself) than the apple offerings. Don't get me wrong! The nanos I've bought are clean, well thought-out, well designed, and super snazzy, in form, function, and operation. Very cool packaging as well. But, they are pricy, and apple seems to be hesitant to embrace a high quality amp in their devices relegating sound quality to the realm of mediocre. For the premium price, I would have wished the pre and final amps would be of better quality.
All that said, I have seen a plethora of apps for the iphone ranging from the bizarre to the sublime, and the kindle e-reader app was one of those.
I love books, but am seriously curious as to how well I could actually get into a book, if I was forced to read it off a 3" screen.
Great idea, maybe useful in a pinch, but for me, IMHO, being able to read e-books on an iPhone seems like a good way to damage your eyesight 
-Jason
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TKJunkMail
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Avalon, NJ
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said by Jason  :As far as the E-ink, its actually quite noce. Text is clear, and sharp. The reduced contrast some mention, I dont even notice. In the last 2 days Amazon has been pushing out an update for the Kindle 2 to version 2.0.3
Amazon never puts out a "what's changed" announcement, but it looks to me that the contrast issue was improved somewhat with this new version. Especially with web sites where the "shades of gray" issue shows lighter shades to better effect.
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Jason
Col. Panic
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| Hmmm.. I'll have to check that out.
I have noticed a bit of ghosting on my Kindle, For lack of a better explanation, it looks a bit like the previous screen "burned in" over the next screen, but its *very* faint, not even an annoyance.
I wonder if the update will help. Ill turn on the wireless function, and see if the kindle auto-updates, or if I have to do something with my amazon account.
Thanks for the heads up!
-Jason
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TKJunkMail
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| said by Jason :I have noticed a bit of ghosting on my Kindle, For lack of a better explanation, it looks a bit like the previous screen "burned in" over the next screen, but its *very* faint, not even an annoyance. For the ghosting issue, try typing Alt/G on the keyboard. That refreshes the screen and washes away any remnants of the e-ink that may be out of sync.
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Jason
Col. Panic
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| May I ask, where did you come by that information? I'd like to see what other "hidden" commands this device is capable of.
Mainly as I'm just curious.
As far as the update, I tried putting the .bin file on the kindles root (as per the instructions on Amazon.com to update it manually) but it didnt work, I didnt see the update menu I should have according to their online instructions. But, I left the wireless on and the kindle updated itself after a few minutes. It showed a screen saying not to turn it off, etc.. that it was receiving an update.. After it was finished, and re-booted itself, I checked, and the firmware was 2.0.3...
...I don't see a difference in the ghosting tho. Ill have to check out some book covers, and images to see if theres much difference there.
Thanks again!
-Jason
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TKJunkMail
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| said by Jason :May I ask, where did you come by that information? I'd like to see what other "hidden" commands this device is capable of. Mainly as I'm just curious. Here a couple web sites showing some keyboard shortcuts you can use:
»sites.google.com/site/kindle2ui/···hortcuts
»www.geektonic.com/2009/03/kindle···uts.html
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TKJunkMail
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Amazon coming out with larger Kindle Wednesday
»mediamemo.allthingsd.com/2009050···dnesday/
The last time Amazon held a press conference in New York City was in February, when it introduced the Kindle 2.0. Now it is scheduling one for Wednesday morning at Pace University in lower Manhattan.
Expect a new, large format device that’s optimized for reading newspapers and magazines.
Amazon showed off Kindle 2.0 at the Morgan Library. And Pace University, located just next to the Brooklyn Bridge, sits on the site of the New York Times (NYT)’s 19th century headquarters. The Times, according to the Times, is partnering with Amazon on the new gadget.
Amazon is one of several players with plans for a new, large-format device that’s supposedly optimized for newspapers and magazines. News Corp. (NWS), which owns this Web site, has said it’s interested, and fellow publisher Hearst is already working on its own. And here’s a list of entrants you haven’t heard of.
For all those who want something bigger for newspapers, magazines, and textbooks.
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TKJunkMail
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Biggest KIndle announced - Kindle DX
»www.amazon.com/Kindle-DX-Amazons···33141011
»tech.yahoo.com/news/afp/20090506···onkindle
And like the iPhone & iPod Touch, you can turn it on its side to see pages in landscape mode as well as portrait mode.
Also has a native PDF reader built in, unlike Kindle 1&2 where PDF's have to be converted.
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TVisitor
join:2000-10-07
Dumont, NJ | reply to Jason
Re: E-book readers.. Which one?
Any way to get a CHM file converted for usage on a Kindle? I have a few help files (reference guides) that would be great to read away from the computer.
Great that they are incorporating PDF! |
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