Kindle or E-Reader?

rawn

Hi guys, tired of carrying books to and from work with me! Can anyone recommend which would be better, a Kindle or another brand e-reader, and if there are any pros/cons to either? Thanks!

gerard2210

If you have a tablet already you can download the kindle app, see how it works out for you before you buy a reader.

rawn

I don't have a tablet unfortunately, I have an android phone that I read on the odd time but it's so small!

I've had every iteration of Kindle, plus a Kobo and Sony reader. The current generation Kindle paperwhite is vastly superior to any other ereader on the market, in terms of battery life, screen clarity, user friendliness and value for money. I also use the Kindle app on a tablet, but it's much harder on the eyes than the dedicated ereader for more than a few minutes reading.

Hitchens

rawn wrote: »

Hi guys, tired of carrying books to and from work with me! Can anyone recommend which would be better, a Kindle or another brand e-reader, and if there are any pros/cons to either? Thanks!

Kindle Paperwhite 2015 ...........brilliant piece of kit

wintear

I would say the kobo is a very user friendly e-reader. I've found it far superior to the kindle.

The screen doesn't compete with the Kindle. The kobo glow is the one I have, and it's nothing like as crisp as the Kindle Paperwhite.

dolallyoh

Paperwhite for me. Can read in bright sunlight by pool or dark bedroom with ease.

Custardpi

What's the Kindle like for stuff apart from reading? Was thinking of getting either a Kindle or an Android tablet & I know the Kindle would be better on the eyes for reading books but not sure about its wider functionality. Does being locked within the Amazon infrastructure (I think they have their own version of the Play Store) create any problems?

dolallyoh

The kindle tablet (eg fire) is not a proper e-reader. Basically its either a paperwhite/nook or its a tablet.

acon2119

I have a Kindle Voyage a year now. Brilliant, makes reading even more pleasant, easy to hold, can read even in bright sunlight. Highly recommend it

shootermacg

I've had a lot of ebook readers, I used to always go with sony, which are great but don't have a lit screen.

Kobo aura, kobo aura HD or kobo glo all of these are head and shoulders better than any kindle. Are you sure you only want to read amazon sold books?


So here's the main featrures of the Kobos above and Paperwhite:

Paperwhite is tied to a single format, kobo will work with any.
Paperwhite has a single light which you can't turn off!

Kobo has a slider to decrease the emmitted light and you can turn it off.
Kobo will turn itself off automatically, if you close the cover.
Kobo has 12 default fonts with a lot lot more downloadable, kindle has 6 only.
The entire layout of the Kobo screen is custisable, the paper white has none of this.
both have dictionaries, the Kobo has more.
Kobo has a better keyboard.
Kobo takes an sd card, Kobo doesn't.
Kindle has not got enough ram, so it crashes a lot with bigger books (pdfs etc).
People say the kindle has a better screen, not true really, if you turn on the kobo light you get that same colour white as the kindle. Take a look at the video, and you can see this "Screen quality" difference for yourself ^ ^.

Custardpi

Custardpi wrote: »

What's the Kindle like for stuff apart from reading? Was thinking of getting either a Kindle or an Android tablet & I know the Kindle would be better on the eyes for reading books but not sure about its wider functionality. Does being locked within the Amazon infrastructure (I think they have their own version of the Play Store) create any problems?

Another android brand would be a better tablet purchase, the Fire tablets are basically Amazon shopfronts and they're not great quality compared to, say, a Nexus 7. The Amazon app store isn't great either.

I assume you're talking about Fire tablets, and not the Kindle itself. The kindle has a basic web browser but it's not comparable to a tablets functionality.

For reading, the Kindle paperwhite. For wider use, any other brand of Android tablet.

shootermacg

shootermacg wrote: »

Kobo aura, kobo aura HD or kobo glo all of these are head and shoulders better than any kindle. Are you sure you only want to read amazon sold books?

I have to disagree with you there, I've a Kobo glo hd and a new generation Paperwhite and the Kobo, even with the light up full, isn't as crisp or bright as the Paperwhite with the light up full.

It's on a par with the previous generation, but it doesn't compare to the new release.

Custardpi

Candie wrote: »

Another android brand would be a better tablet purchase, the Fire tablets are basically Amazon shopfronts and they're not great quality compared to, say, a Nexus 7. The Amazon app store isn't great either.

I assume you're talking about Fire tablets, and not the Kindle itself. The kindle has a basic web browser but it's not comparable to a tablets functionality.

For reading, the Kindle paperwhite. For wider use, any other brand of Android tablet.

Does the Fire not have the same reader friendly technology as other Kindles just with more functionality or is it just the same as other tablets in that respect? Looking to get something that will balance between not being too taxing on the eyes for reading ebooks like the Paperwhite & the general stuff I know can be got from Android tablets like the Nexus.

Custardpi

Custardpi wrote: »

Does the Fire not have the same reader friendly technology as other Kindles just with more functionality or is it just the same as other tablets in that respect? Looking to get something that will balance between not being too taxing on the eyes for reading ebooks like the Paperwhite & the general stuff I know can be got from Android tablets like the Nexus.

The Fire is just another tablet. It's got nothing over any other tablet in terms of reading. The Kindle app on any android tablet would be a better option for general use than being locked into the Amazon ecosystem.

It's an either/or situation I'm afraid.

Custardpi

Ah right so, assumed because it was Amazon made that it would automatically have the Paperwhite technology as standard. Thanks for clearing that confusion up.

bagofweasels

I swore I'd never get an E reader - I'm a bit of a Luddite. Was given a paper white at Christmas and I'm in love with it. The brightness settings are very user friendly and easy on the eyes. Adjustable font sizes and line spacing are handy and the whole thing is light & a great size for carrying around and dipping in and out of. The battery life is quite good - i'm a fast reader - 2 books a day if I get the chance so I recharge daily. The ads (after subscribing to Kindle Unlimited) are a pain in the ass. Kindle Unlimited is quite limited in my opinion so I won't renew after the free trial period (I guess it depends on reading tastes).

writerful

I'd go with a kindle simply because Amazon dominate the book market (65% share) and with that comes a much bigger choice of ebooks as well as integration with goodreads if you are so inclined to get social with your reading preferences.

rawn

Thanks guys, definitely leaning towards the paperwhite!

adox

That YouTube video comparison is of the previous version paperwhite.

Although it does only support one format - mobi, it is simple to transcode other formats you may have- ePub etc to mobi with free software.

shootermacg

adox wrote: »

That YouTube video comparison is of the previous version paperwhite.

Although it does only support one format - mobi, it is simple to transcode other formats you may have- ePub etc to mobi with free software.

Yeah but why bother? Really why bother.

shootermacg

writerful wrote: »

I'd go with a kindle simply because Amazon dominate the book market (65% share) and with that comes a much bigger choice of ebooks as well as integration with goodreads if you are so inclined to get social with your reading preferences.

So you can read mobi books on a Kobo. So you really want to support a monopoly which will in turn cause book prices to climb.

Forget about screen resolution, you will not notice! What you will notice is, the lack of a SD expansion, ram freezing up on bigger books and an always-on-light draining your battery, font shortage, very basic layout control..I really could go on.

Disclaimer: I don't work for Kobo. But I've outlined the differences between the limo and the fiat, enjoy your fiat ^ ^!

http://www.cnet.com/uk/products/amazon-kindle-paperwhite-2015/

Kindle:

4
Stars
CNET EDITORS' RATING
3
Stars
2 USER REVIEWS
THE GOOD Amazon has improved on last year's excellent Paperwhite e-reader with the sharper, higher resolution screen found in the step-up Kindle Voyage. A smattering of new features enhance Amazon's already best-in-class content ecosystem. The built-in light isn't quite as good as the Voyage's, but it works well.

THE BAD The HD screen is an upgrade but doesn't make a huge difference; an AC adapter isn't included (just a Micro-USB cable for charging). The ad-free version costs $20 more.

adox

adox wrote: »

That YouTube video comparison is of the previous version paperwhite.

Although it does only support one format - mobi, it is simple to transcode other formats you may have- ePub etc to mobi with free software.

Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively;

HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion

From the Kindle paperwhite page on Amazon.co.uk
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00KDRUCJY/ref=sv_kinc_0

So not just Mobi format.

Incidently, I use Calibre to manage my ebook collection, and you can convert and send virtually any format straight from your laptop to your kindle, with cloud backup, via your send-to-kindle address. It's extremely simple.

tylercheribini

Download Calibre software for your computer to convert any ebook format to any other. One does not have to worry about format capabilities of device then.

http://calibre-ebook.com/

Hitchens

shootermacg wrote: »

So you can read mobi books on a Kobo. So you really want to support a monopoly which will in turn cause book prices to climb.

Forget about screen resolution, you will not notice! What you will notice is, the lack of a SD expansion, ram freezing up on bigger books and an always-on-light draining your battery, font shortage, very basic layout control..I really could go on.

Disclaimer: I don't work for Kobo. But I've outlined the differences between the limo and the fiat, enjoy your fiat ^ ^!

http://www.cnet.com/uk/products/amazon-kindle-paperwhite-2015/

Kindle:

4
Stars
CNET EDITORS' RATING
3
Stars
2 USER REVIEWS
THE GOOD Amazon has improved on last year's excellent Paperwhite e-reader with the sharper, higher resolution screen found in the step-up Kindle Voyage. A smattering of new features enhance Amazon's already best-in-class content ecosystem. The built-in light isn't quite as good as the Voyage's, but it works well.

THE BAD The HD screen is an upgrade but doesn't make a huge difference; an AC adapter isn't included (just a Micro-USB cable for charging). The ad-free version costs $20 more.

You'll notice the resolution if you look at the others.

The light is the business, battery charge lasts forever.

Everyone has multiple micro usb's lying about nowadays.

Buy the one with the ads, wait about a month, contact the online support and ask them to remove the ads and they will without any problem.

The lack of an SD card makes no difference whatsoever.

Go with the PW and enjoy your reading in full sunlight or black darkness! :cool:

Wally Runs

Hi OP

I have a simple Nook and my wife a Kindle Paper white, we also have tablets with the kindle app. Now which is better, well it really does depend on what you need it for.

1. The Nook and I guess many non-Amazon brands are more flexible in that you can load books from other sources. Yes you can do this with the Kindle too, but it takes a bit more effort.

2. With the Nook, you can also easily load pdf and other formats, so you could carry around work reports on them too etc. It might take a bit of messing around with them to get the look right, but you can do it. So how technically competent are you?

3. The kindle is very user friendly if all you want to do read it books. Once you have wifi you can buy books on the move, no need to load them from your PC, you can see what others are reading and what if any comments they may have made on what you are reading. A sort of book club. If you have the Kindle app on your PC or tablet and set up, so can read your book on any of the devices and it will know where you are in the book.

4. Both types are better than a tablet in that the battery life is longer, I find easier them easier to read and just the weight and feel.

5. I also think that most non-amazon readers have room to expand the memory. Now just how many books you need on your reader is questionable, but it is useful if using it for large work reports etc. You can have card with work items etc.

Either way you will not regret getting one, unless you are a person who like the feel of paper and looking up now and again at your bookshelf and thinking (or having people think) how well read your are.

Wally

rawn

Thanks Wally, very concise! It will mostly be for reading in work and in bed, i work night shifts in customer service and it can be very slow so i always have a book handy, am sick of carrying them though! I work at a computer so am not worried about battery so much. I definitely would like one with a backlight as i sometimes read in bed too. I'm liking the sounds of the paperwhite so far, it seems to have the better reviews

super_furry

Couldn't say enough good things about the Kobo Glo HD. I've had four Kindles - from the original to the Paperwhite and all four have died on me, three from a broken screen and one that just stopped powering one. Might be down to me being clumsy and careless, but I throw the Kobo in my backpack in the same way and it's never given me a problem.

Wally Runs

rawn wrote: »

I'm liking the sounds of the paperwhite so far, it seems to have the better reviews

Fair enough, the other issue with the Amazon product is that it is rare enough to get one cheap, as the prices are fairly fixed. If you can wait you might get one in Argos when they have their spend over €100.00 and get €10-20 back as a voucher.

I am not sure when the next is due, but I expect soon enough, maybe you can use against a nice cover or something.

adox

shootermacg wrote: »

Yeah but why bother? Really why bother.

It takes seconds to do so its not as if its a bother. You can email the book to your kindle so you dont even have to connect the kindle to your computer.