Posted on 11/03/2009 2:49:20 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
2010 is supposed to be the year of many things. I’ve heard it called the year of Android and more recently, the year of the ebook reader.
I used to read a lot when I was a kid at the behest of my parents. My mom always tried to enforce a balance between video games and books. That unfortunately stopped as AnandTech took off. Most of my recreational reading turned into trying to understand datasheets or reading other reviews, the rest of the time was spent writing.
My first and only ebook reader was Amazon’s Kindle 2, and while it didn’t reinvigorate my passion for reading, it did a lot better than expected.**************************************snip*********************************
A couple of weeks ago Marvell announced its ARMADA line of ARM-based SoCs, among them was the ARMADA 166E. Based on Marvell’s PJ1 ARM CPU core, the 166E is designed for applications with low performance requirements like digital photo frames and ebook readers. The 166E is also the world’s first application processor with an integrated EPD controller. Not only does the integrated EPD controller reduce board size (you integrate one more controller), but it also reduces cost: you don’t need another package with an integrated NAND flash and you don’t need another DRAM.
(Excerpt) Read more at anandtech.com ...
I had one of those book reader apps on a palm pilot and it was junk - why? b/c the user interface was not easy for reading long text documents like books. Kindle has a great UI for reading - easy on the eyes. Price point is not there for me yet, but I love the idea.
So many new things coming out. One of these days I may take some time to see just how many types of devices for different forms of communication have come to be. I can see the use of this particular device for those say on a long vacation, not wanting to haul heavy books half way around the world. Neat.
Whoa! I take mine on cruises a lot, but don’t think I want to drop it in water!
You can download the freebooks directly to the Kindle through ethernet, but I think that I download the Gutenberg through the computer.
Kindle is sturdy, however I have a cover that is especially made for Kindle and it protects it.
My husband is an early adopter. So we paid a lot for the Kindle 1 and less for the Kindle 2. The prices are coming down and hopefully more so with so many new brands coming on the market.
The kindle one cover that comes with it doesn’t hold it in well,,my husband has the kindle one. THe kindle 2 cover is better but you have to pay for it.
What cover do you have and which kindle? The cole haan cover is tempting me.
THe 2 is better than the 1 I think,,the kindle that is. HOlds more books, has text to speech if you like that and the wireless is faster.
The new kindle, don’t know the number, can download while abroad. My kindle 2 doesn’t do that but I don’t really need it.
It is sturdy, very sturdy. The sonry ereader is pretty sturdy but they update the program and it always glitches. The battery on the sony lasts a long time as does the kindle 2 battery.
Free classics have me busy,,practically all the good literature is free. Sony gives it to you free, 100 books. With amazon you pay about a buck per classic and it is formatted right. Gutenberg gives it free.
Library has online ebooks but not a great selection and they go to computer. Husvband has figured out how to “steal” them and put them on his kindle. I disapprove but it is his only fault, I think.
Thanks so much!!
“I had one of those book reader apps on a palm pilot and it was junk - why? b/c the user interface was not easy for reading long text documents like books”
I have “played” with a bunch of the apps as well. With most, I was unimpressed, but Stanza seemed to be quite an improvement over the others (bookmark being one of the advantages). I would not say that Stanza turns my Touch into a Kindle, but I am too cheap to purchase a Kindle today. Tomorrow? We’ll see. It depends on what I find out on this thread.
So, to you folks that use the Kindle with Gutenberg, is there any fee for downloading the free texts? I just wouldn’t want to buy it and find that there was some sort of fee for US domestic connections, like the $1.99 that you pay overseas to access the public wireless network.
I have an wireless network in my house (b/g/n). There’s plenty access there. Being something of a yokel, I live out in the boondocks so I may not have 3G access. Just curious if the “new” Kindle would work with my home wireless network, or if it is only equipped for the 3G public network.
I hope I’m not being a pest, but I was unable to find this info on the Amazon site.
I agree with you about the Kindle 1 cover. I didn’t like it, but when I got the Kindle 2, I bought the plain black one that goes with it. This cover has a “hook” that attaches to the Kindle 2 and the Kindle won’t fall out. I like the Cole Haan cover you mentioned, but I am content with the one I have. I would like for it to have a pocket on the front cover to store items. I could put ideas for books to read in the future, etc.
I like the Kindle 2 better too, but I did like having the memory cards that I could put music on. I haven’t downloaded any music to mine and now my husband has my card with my music on it. I only listened to it on the airplane and when I was reading and there was a lot of distracting noise anyway. I haven’t used the text to speech yet, except to play with it.
We travel a lot and I would like to be able to download abroad. We will have our computer with us so I guess I can just download that way, but the wireless is so convenient.
I don’t know anything about the Sony. My husband bought my Kindle for me when they first came out and I never really checked the others out. When the Kindle 2 came out he took mine and bought me the new one.
I get the classics from freebooks.com. You can get them wireless, but it is a little harder to search for the books. Probably easier to download direct from computer, but I have done it many times wireless. Freebooks set it up to do that. I have loved reading classics that I always wanted to read, but never did.
I am not familiar with library. I will have to investigate that. Some guys are just great at getting these gadgets to do extra things. The Kindle handbooks, etc usually tell you things you can do that these clever guys figure out. I just have to depend on them to spread the word.
Dang,,are you my sister? We say the sasme things!!
Hubby kept his kindle one and swears by it and uses his magic stick to get books from the computer to kindle. But I love the 2 and last year got one for my daughters and sons in law and my grandson. Now we are all geeks together and all love ours.
I took the London Times and am so hooked on it,,read it every day and enjoy the heck out of it. Mags take up time,,I got the Econhomist and Atlantic but stopped them. All I have time for is the Times.
THe classics have been my friends,,Faulkner, Dickens, Henry James, one James Joyce, all seven volumes of Proust in the last year.
I love my kindle and would part with my computer before I lost it.
Never did music,,it just distracts me too.
And I too want a pocket in front to hold my nicorette!!
Plus we travel constantly and in first class they hardly ever make you turn it off.
Damn,,best money I ever spent.
http://ireaderreview.com/2008/01/18/getting-project-gutenberg-books-on-your-kindle/
According to the above article, every single book on Gutenberg can be downloaded free. They will take donations.
The Kindle Whispernet comes through Sprint, so if you are near a Sprint tower you will be OK. When we travel on the interstate, I can usually get on the internet and read freerepublic. Once in a while I will lose the connection, like a dropped cell phone call in the mountains.
I haven’t tried using my wireless to download books. I think I should try that. I really haven’t had a need to, but it would be interesting to try.
LOL... I would love a lost sister. My sister would love it too.
There were some things about the Kindle one that I would like on the Kindle 2, but I am like you. I carry mine with me everywhere. I dread sitting and waiting somewhere and not be able to open it and read. It is in my purse all the time.
WOW what a wonderful mom you are to buy those for your family. I would love to do that. AND they would love it too.
I have not subscribed to a newspaper or magazine yet. I think I would if I had that large Kindle. (I don’t want that one because of slipping it into my purse.)
I have been reading dumas, Pride and Prejudice, Gone with the Wind, The Woman in White, The Virginian etc.
We cruise a lot and I am beginning to see more people using them. It is like a little fraternity. I love showing them to people that have a vague knowledge of them. I am pretty avid.
Thanks for your detailed conversation. I’ve been drooling over a Kindle for a while now, but afraid to make the purchase in case I hated it. I just love the idea of having books at the ready. I’m usually in the middle of 6 or 7 books at once, 4 or 5 in paper, and 2 or 3 audiobooks. It would be great to always have the books handy in my purse.
Christmas is coming....maybe I can ask my husband really nicely (he thinks I have too many books and he doesn’t want to encourage my habit - maybe Kindle will make peace between us).
I had a Rocket eBook. It was genuinely useful, but before I invest in another e-book technology, it must support color and allow me to download my own content to the device without restrictions. If I can’t load my own content, then it will not get my hard earned $$$. I don’t mind if the color drains the battery quicker, I rarely do marathon reading sessions so I don’t need exorbitant battery life.
Any hints that color is coming anytime soon?
Thanks for the great commentary....nothing like hearing from someone that has tried some of the latest tech gadgets....there is so much out there and more coming.
I thought I was the only person who read three books at once. I read a “heavy book” like Faulkner which is too rich to take in a constant read or Proust which you can only do 20 pages at a time it is so intense and 7 volumes for the big read. And I have a Bible, working thru and started at Genesis and now in Psalms, haven’t even gotten to NT. And an exciting read like Lee Childs and a girlie book to sneakily read along with the Times. My mmod strikes and I decide. Hubby does the same thing.
I thought that was crazy so am glad to know you do it too!!
You read exactly like I do!
A heavy, a history, Lee Childs, Baldacci, Archer or Flynn, a girly book and Bible/theology.
I wish there were more hours in the day (that’s why I have audiobooks too, so I can “read” while I clean, garden, pick up the kids, grocery shop, etc.) Nothing like vacuuming while listening to economic history!
Definitely will have to get a Kindle!
The tech world marches on.
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