Kindle or E Book

kenkin

Looking for something like these for a present. Is there a charge for downloading books. Can anyone advise the best one to buy

Basq

Not a Bargain Alert.

Moved to Gadgets..

Walter White

I would highly recommend the new Sony PRS-T1, i have been researching for the last week and it came down to the new Kindle or Sony, the main reasons i went for the Sony are, the touch screen with pinch zoom, you can listen to music while you read, browse the Internet with WiFi and the micro sd slot, up to 32gb extra memory. Also the Sony looks a lot a better.. I bought it in Power City for 150 euro, they are also 150 in the Sony Centre and Peats, The kindle is about 115 euro in Tesco and PC World...

Jopari87

Don't know much about the new Sony reader but you can't go wrong with a Kindle.

As for downloading books, you can get some books off Amazon for free, but have to pay for most of them. There are also websites like Project Gutenberg where you can download ebooks for free.

Biggins

Free ebooks?

* http://www.mobipocket.com/en/eBooks/default.asp?Language=EN
* http://www.feedbooks.com/
* http://oreilly.com/ebooks/
* http://www.manybooks.net/
* http://www.baen.com/library/books.asp
* http://www.free-ebooks.net/
* http://www.munseys.com/
* http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/freebooks.htm
* http://www.smashwords.com/

...There is loads more.

I have the Kindle and the Sony - and by far I use the Kindle the most 90% of the time.

angel01

Kindle, anything else isn't worth the time.

Antar Bolaeisk

Haven't used the Sony but I can tell you that the Kindle is a fantastic device. You forget that you're reading off an electronic device when using it.

confusedquark

I've been reading up on them for the past few weeks and would favour the Sony PRS-T1. It is a little bit more pricey, but has a touchscreen, can be used for surfing the net (as pointed out above) as well as for scribbling notes on (it comes with a stylus).

Also, as the sony runs android, it can (and has been successfully been) hacked to run the Kindle android app (and will probably have more apps available in time with further hacks), so if only amazon has the book you want, you can still download it from them. Would've been nice if they just left it completely open and it essentially worked as an E-Ink android tablet, but I wouldn't know how technically feasible that is!

Eoin

I think that Calibre (nice free eBook management program) can convert to and from Kindle format, so you might not need a hacked device. Also remember that there are loads of other sites as well other than Amazon. Booksonboard.com is a great site.

That Sony looks pretty nice, but I prefer having as few smudges and finger prints as possible on something like that.

Walter White

As i said above I bought the new Sony and and love it, have not left it down...
Also it has buttons so you don't have to have smudges...

Just like to know what is it about the kindle that people love ?

Ludo

I have the Sony touch. There are no smudges on the screen. It is not a very smooth surface like a mobile which smudges easily...slightly rough so no smudges.

Biggins

Walter White wrote: »

As i said above I bought the new Sony and and love it, have not left it down...
Also it has buttons so you don't have to have smudges...

Just like to know what is it about the kindle that people love ?

The speed, the weight, the many functions, the buttons and their easy usability,
the fact that the software on it can be upgraded (this is important), the easier to read screen than the Sony (My opinion. I have both as I have said previously), the wireless ability to link to sites, the audio reading of books by internal software, and other reasons to begin with.

SnoopyGunner

I got a Kindle as a present and I have to say it's one of the best gifts I've ever received. I love books so I thought I wouldn't like an electronic device but when I use it, I become totally immersed in the book as usual.

The storage is great, the battery life is fab and it's so fast to download books to it.

It can play music too while you read.

Eoin

Biggins wrote: »

The speed, the weight, the many functions, the buttons and their easy usability,
the fact that the software on it can be upgraded (this is important), the easier to read screen than the Sony (My opinion. I have both as I have said previously), the wireless ability to link to sites, the audio reading of books by internal software, and other reasons to begin with.

Not sure that all of that is unique to the Kindle.

Biggins

Eoin wrote: »

Not sure that all of that is unique to the Kindle.

Maybe so but not all those features are specific to some Sony models as prior mentioned.
Also the Kindle (in my opinion) does them better.