Kobo, Kindle, Sony Reader?? HELP!!

[dontthrowsand]

I have the iPad with iBooks, Kobo and Kindle apps. I also have a Kobo Touch. I LOVE my kobo. It was a great thing to bring to Cuba with me. It was easy to read in the sun, the prices on the books were relatively good and it was amazing on battery life. I think I read 4 books there before I charged it. It went months on standby. Overall, I am very impressed with it. After having an iPad, there was no way I could use the VOX or Fire. they lag, do not have smooth UIs and battery life is tragic on them.

 

[CerysG]

If you want to get books from your library you can't use the Kindle in Canada for this (you can in the US but don't know when it will happen here). The Kobo is cheaper then the Sony readers and there doesn't seem to be a lot of different between the two. If your just using it for reading then I'd get one without a back light so there isn't the eye strain. I have an older Kobo and love it and the batterie last a long time so that's a plus. You can also read Kobo books on your andrioid phone if you want to though its something I only do when I'm killing time waiting somewhere and don't have my Kobo with me.

 

[sstarke]

I love my iPad for e books except in the sun! I find that unless I use it horizontally (don't ask me why!) it's very difficult to see

 

[Goofy's apprentice]

The Kindle doesn't yet work with Canadian libraries as Amazon doesn't have an agreement with Overdrive yet.

However, you can buy a membership to a large US library and borrow the books that way. I have a membership to the Library of Philadelphia. It has many more books available than my local Canadian library. At $35 annually I think it's a great deal.

I would imagine that Amazon will arrange of international library borrowing eventually.

We are a family of kindles and one kobo. Personally I prefer the kindles but it really is personal preference.

 

[MedicGoofy]

The Kindle doesn't yet work with Canadian libraries as Amazon doesn't have an agreement with Overdrive yet.

However, you can buy a membership to a large US library and borrow the books that way. I have a membership to the Library of Philadelphia. It has many more books available than my local Canadian library. At $35 annually I think it's a great deal.

I would imagine that Amazon will arrange of international library borrowing eventually.

We are a family of kindles and one kobo. Personally I prefer the kindles but it really is personal preference.

So, if I am to understand this correctly, you get the membership through your basic computer or can you actually do this from the Kindle? Then whenever you want to 'borrow' a book you do it from where? the computer or kindle? if its from the computer, you then hook the kindle to the computer and it will upload it for you?

can you buy books from somewhere on the kindle? amazon? or anywhere else? that is my worry?

does the kindle have facebook and browsing ability? i just want to make sure it has what i want on it.

thanks so much for everyone's input.

 

[squirrel]

I'm still waiting for the Nextbook Premium 8 to go on sale. I hope this Friday is the week! I've seen it as low as $179.99, but wasn't sure that was the one I wanted to get for my mom back in March.

I'd like to have a week to get it set-up for my mom.

Called customer service to find out where to get a screen protector and to find out what kind of cover/bag it comes with. The CS person was very helpful and it comes with a drawstring bag to protect it.


It's on sale again starting today! Planning on purchasing tomorrow.

 

[squirrel]

Picked up the Nextbook yesterday and got it charging.

I haven't had much time to play with it yet, but so far I'm really liking it. The 8" screen is big but the whole e-reader/tablet isn't so huge you can't put it in your purse.

I'm heading out to Starbucks for my free coffee and will try connecting to Wi-Fi (don't have it at home). Good news is my parents have Wi-Fi and I didn't even know. So now my mom will be able to check her e-mail from her chair in the living room.

I have a feeling she is going to really like this e-reader/tablet.

I ordered a screen protector and some stylus pens online (so cheap) on Friday and they have already shipped.

Can't wait til next weekend when we give it to her.


Spent about 5 hrs at Starbucks adding apps and trying them out. Battery is still approx. 1/2 full. So far no problems with the Nextbook Premium 8. Played a bit more with it and the battery dropped to 23% so I decided to charge it. Took only 3 hours to charge. Times seem to be much better than they advertise.

 

[squirrel]

We gave my mom her new Nextbook 8 and she likes it. Set up her Wi-Fi so the tablet/e-reader is ready to go.


I was able to add Nook so she can add books from Barnes and Noble. I also found that Chapters/Indigo has some more free Kobo books available. I wasn't able to add the Kindle app to the Nextbook as you need a US credit card.

I was at the $1 store (Dollar Giant) today and found a neoprene bag for it. It does come with a drawstring bag, but this seems like it will protect it better.

I ordered screen protectors and some stylus pens from Amazon and the screen protector wasn't too hard to cut down and put on. Stylus pens haven't arrived yet as they are coming from Hong Kong.


I hope the OP decided on an e-reader/tablet. I had a lot of fun setting the Nextbook up for my mom. If I had it much longer I might not have been able to give it to her.

 

[Disney Addicted]

Are there any other e-reader choices out there besides the Kobo, Kindle, Sony and Nextbook? I really enjoyed how easy it was to "read" the text with my Kobo Touch, but I had issues with it and honestly am not sure I want to purchase another.

The first one was brought back to Wal-mart and they replaced it. The second one stopped working for no apparent reason. Until I found the receipt with date of purchase I was not getting any help. Ironically last week I found the receipt and my Kobo started working again before I phoned for help.

Now however, a week later, the Kobo works but the computer refuses to acknowledge it. I think it is a hardware issue as when I plug the cable into it, it's loose and should not be... I will see what happens with CS but I doubt they will actually repair or replace it.

My mom had purchased two different Kobos. I forget the first, but she returned & replaced it with the Touch. Then returned it and purchased a Sony e-reader. That one she likes.

Can someone tell me with the Kindle --> can you drag & drop ebooks into it, or do you use a software program? Is it true that I can only use/add books fromAmazon on it? I already have a bunch of EPUB e-books on my computer. Can I add them easily or will it be a hassle? Will the EPUB format need to be converted?

Squirrel -->> Why can you not add the Kindle app to Nextbook? I realize you said you need a US credit card for it, but I'm confused. I have an iPad and was able to download the Kindle app without needing any credit card information let alone an US card. It said the app was free.

How is the Nextbook working for your mom?

 

[Goofy's apprentice]

Re Kindle and ePub - kindle doesn't read ePub books. It reads mobi format and some others. You don't have to buy from amazon. There are many other places as well. Amazon prices are very good, though. I often find them to be cheaper.

If you are buying from amazon you can do that directly on the kindle. You can also drag and drop directly on your pc.

 

[squirrel]

Disney Addicted

I didn't actually try installing Kindle on the Nextbook. It said it was for US customers only. I might just have to try next time I'm over at my mom & dad's.

I found it super easy to add books to the Nextbook-no need to connect it to the computer. Just select the books from either the Nextbook or your computer. Then when you go into Kobo, from the nextbook and have Wi-Fi it downloads the books you added to your account.

My mom took the Nextbook to work to read during her break. I don't think she has had much time to do much with it yet. She was out working in the garden on Sunday after we left and then at work all day today. I think she is working all week. I know she was having fun playing the slot game I added.

The Nextbook is a bit of an odd size compared to most e-readers and tablets. It's got an 8" screen. Most e-readers are 6-7" and most tablets start at 9". I knew the larger tablets would be too big for her to want to take anywhere and I felt the e-readers were still on the small size at 7". I did find a hard case for it, but you have to order it from Amazon.com. It's a HDM (TM) 8" Tablet Hard Case. Forgot to write down the price. Might get it for her later. We are heading to DL this year and I can most likely have it shipped to BWPPI.

 

[Nicki828]

I work in a public library - so I can give you my $0.02. From what I've heard from many people, the favorite seems to be the Kindle. The only problem is you can't download books from the library (in Canada) on the Kindle - yet. At some point you will be able to, they've figured it out in the US, but so far nothing here. You can dowload books through the libraries using the kobo and the sony - and various other ereaders. If you go to your local library website they should have a faq that tells you which ereaders work. Now your other option is to get a tablet and download the applications to make it an ereader. I use my ipad as my ereader and have downloaded kindle, kobo and overdrive in addition to ibooks. You can dowload these apps (not sure about ibooks though) on any tablet. The only issue with the tablets is that there is a bit of a glare when you read outside in the sun. For me this isn't an issue though. Hope that helps.