kindle/nook economics

[cjnix29]

Ok, I'm sure if I did a search, I would find the answer, but not interested in sorting through a million threads. My mom just suggested an e reader may be a great gift for my dad. He reads a LOT. But wondered what the best/most economical way to do this is. I just did a quick amazon search with the kindle, and noticed that the books are still about $10 a piece. Is there a netflix type site for e readers? (hey...maybe I just came up with a great business idea!). Or can you get discount codes/etc for books? Or is the Nook the better choice? Wondered how it all works.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Both have lots of free books.
Consumer Reports rates the Kindle over the Nook, and both over any other e-reader they reviewed (sorry, the magazine's at work or I'd give you more information).
Major viewing advantage to Kindle is ease of reading. The screen actually looks like a (paperback) book page.
Minimal cost advantage to Nook is you can borrow books from some libraries. Disadvantage is long waiting lists.

 

[cjnix29]

Now my dad does not have internet. He would either have to be at my house, a neighbor's or whatever to download his books. Would this be a real pain in the butt? and as for books, which has the better selection?

 

[3boymthr]

The Nook and the Kindle are both great devices. I may muddy the water here but maybe this will help.

The Kindle will read books purchased from Amazon and free books that you can download from various sites such as the Gutenburg experience. It is the most popular e-reader out there and they have a great history of customer service on the product. It only reads books in their proprietary amz format or pdf documents. For the most part, Amazon currently has the best prices on e-books. So yup, you will still pay about $10 for a current best seller, but this is cheaper than you'd pay for the hardcover. However; don't use the price as a deciding factor. For years Amazon's prices on ebooks have been a loss leader for publishers (Amazon is making their cut of the pie but the publishers and writers are loosing/not making money) and as the market for ebooks expands and the loss leader contracts with publishers expire Amazon may have to charge higher prices on their e-books as publishers are demanding a bigger cut on these books.

The Nook reads books in pdb, epub and pdf format as well as a couple of other much less common formats. You can buy books for the Nook from just about any ebook seller, except Amazon. Amazon has them beat on price for the most part but since the Nook accepts books from other booksellers you can sometimes use coupon codes, etc. to save money. For example, I got $10 in Border's buck recently and bought three books with it and loaded the books onto my Nook. Another benefit of the Nook is that if your library system has e-books you can download library books for free or almost free and read them on the Nook (there are other brands of ereader devices that will do this as well such as Sony). Other advantages of this e-reader over the Kindle are things like an ability to expand the memory and the ability to change the battery yourself.

 

[3boymthr]

Now my dad does not have internet. He would either have to be at my house, a neighbor's or whatever to download his books. Would this be a real pain in the butt? and as for books, which has the better selection?

There are two types of connectivity for both the Kindle and Nook. Wifi only and wifi/3G (cell phone - both via AT&T). If you dad does not have the internet then I would recommend getting a 3G version of either the Kindle or the Nook. More pricey upfront, but he'd be able to get books wirelessly without internet connectivity at his own home.

Once purchased the 3G coverage is for the life of the device - there are no monthly maintenance fees. There is a shop option on both devices that will allow him to browse and purchase a book without ever using a computer.

However; you may need to help him set up an account with Amazon or B&N on your computer, adding the cc, etc. is much easier on the internet, but once set up you don't have to do anything again except update the cc info when the expiration of the cc is reached.

 

[delmar411]

I don't know a lot about the e-readers but I know some of them come with their own internet service. I believe the Kindle does. You don't need to be in a hotspot to download books. So your dad could download books anywhere he was including his home.

DH just got the Kindle and he already has about 1000 free books downloaded. He reads 5-10 books a week and he is in book shopping heaven since he can shop all he wants and he's not spending any money. LOL He has also found a lot of good deals on books he wants to read, some for under $1 and lots under $5.

 

[cjnix29]

wow...such great advice. Next question...how is it for your eyes? Dad's in his 60's, so I wonder about that.

 

[mapmakerj]

Both the Kindle and Nook are e-paper readers and they both look like you are reading an actual paper book. I know the Nook has the ability to change the font size, so I assume the Kindle can as well. Because they are the e-paper screens, they do not have backlighting so if you are not in a well lit area you would need a book light to read.

 

[3boymthr]

wow...such great advice. Next question...how is it for your eyes? Dad's in his 60's, so I wonder about that.

The beauty of these devices is that you can adjust the size of the type. On the Nook the choice are extra small, small, medium, large, extra large . And all can be chose with just the flick of a finger. And size can be adjusted by the book, as can the font.

Otherwise reading is just like a regular book. If you would read with a light at home for a paperback or magazine then you would do the same with an e-reader. They can be read indoors or out and because the screen is not backlit there is no eyestrain and an excess of light does affect your ability to read.

 

[cjnix29]

Great. Ok, another question. Can you do anything else with the 3G? Dad loves to check his retirement account at my house. Would he be able to do that with the 3G or can you only download the books with it?

 

[3boymthr]

Great. Ok, another question. Can you do anything else with the 3G? Dad loves to check his retirement account at my house. Would he be able to do that with the 3G or can you only download the books with it?

On the Nook 3G you can only buy books. The Nook has a web browser that only works with wifi.

The Kindle has a 3G web browser, but it's described as "experimental" and the amazon site offers no guarantees on how well it works or for how long it will be offered.

The problem I found with the Nooks web browser is it's slow and cantankerous; isn't compatible with most websites and it doesn't manipulate easily because there's no mouse.

IMO if you also want to give him 3G access to the web I'd go with an apple iPad. MUCH more pricey but it will have all the web features you want and then some. The only big differences are it's backlit so it's not as easy on the eyes and it's much bigger in size.

 

[cjnix29]

I am not going to buy him an ipad. That would be a waste of money for him. The only thing he would ever check online is his retirement account. If he could do that, it would be great.

 

[Conway733]

Can an e reader be used for textbooks for college?

 

[Marionnette]

Can an e reader be used for textbooks for college?

Depends on the publisher. Not all textbooks are in ebook format. Plus you cannot resell an ebook. So once you buy an ebook textbook its yours forever.

 

[racechick8293]

Can an e reader be used for textbooks for college?

Yes- I had a number of students this term using iPads for their texts. Aside from the iPad, I believe that only the Kindle DX (more expensive version than Kindle) allows for etexts. Typically, the price to purchase the electronic version expires in 3 to 6 months (some publishers allow the students to choose at varying prices), and costs about 40-70% of purchasing the new printed textbook. Another bonus is that some texts allow the purchase of chapters, which can also reduce the total spent on a textbook.

 

[3boymthr]

Can an e reader be used for textbooks for college?

Barnes and Noble sells textbooks specifically designed to be read on the Nook. I imagine that Amazon does too.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I've ordered a Pandigital eNovel from QVC *I went with the 9" but it doesn't seem to be available anymore ~ I also found the 7" version at www.Walgreens.com - Ahhh ~ here "mine" is *it's now wait list only. You could watch the video to see what it is.... *This* is the 7" one.

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

Once purchased the 3G coverage is for the life of the device - there are no monthly maintenance fees. There is a shop option on both devices that will allow him to browse and purchase a book without ever using a computer.

Is there a monthly fee to have the regular $139 version of the Kindle? I was thinking of getting that but I don't want to have to pay monthly fees.

 

[scrapquitler]

Ok, I'm sure if I did a search, I would find the answer, but not interested in sorting through a million threads. My mom just suggested an e reader may be a great gift for my dad. He reads a LOT. But wondered what the best/most economical way to do this is. I just did a quick amazon search with the kindle, and noticed that the books are still about $10 a piece. Is there a netflix type site for e readers? (hey...maybe I just came up with a great business idea!). Or can you get discount codes/etc for books? Or is the Nook the better choice? Wondered how it all works.

There are a lot of free books for all of them, but check with your local public library, some of them offer Ebooks as part of their lending programs, my local library does, but the format they use only works on the Nook and the Sony EReader.

 

[jmb120]

Is there a monthly fee to have the regular $139 version of the Kindle? I was thinking of getting that but I don't want to have to pay monthly fees. [/QUOTE

There are no fees with either of the wifi only or the wifi/3g kindles.