Newbie e-book question...

[jakobkraft]

My wife has gone back to school recently and I was thinking of getting her an e-book. Since there doesn't seem to be too great a selection of these things, I've been looking at this one so far:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...oduct&id=1190676990769

My question is: are you only able to read ebooks that are downloaded through the manufacturer's (in this case, Sony) website?
The few other e-book reviews I've read take into account ease with which downloading from manufacturer's website could be done and their selection of books.

I don't want her to be limited to any one website or service. I want a device that will read an e-book that came from anywhere, so long as it was in the right format -- I would think .doc and .pdf would be at the top of that list.

Is this possible with this, or any olther e-book?
Thanks in advance...!

 

[Roguestar]

Couldn't you get something like an Eee PC for almost the same price?

 

[JackMDS]

Buying an e-book for such price is total waste of money.

The flexibility of these thingies is "Zilch".

For additional $100 you can find an humble Laptop that can read almost any format of ebook, and server for other purposes too.

 

[mpilchfamily]

I agree ebook is a waste. Most often they are locked into there own formats. Not to metion you'd have to make sure that the books she wants are even availible in that format. Right now the popularity of the ebooks is such that not manu publishers are offering there portfolios of books to the format.

 

[jakobkraft]

She already has a laptop, a Dell XPS red edition which she loves but doesn't want to walk around all day with it. Given she's going to be bouncing between work and school in the evening, I can't say I blame her.

And not to sound snobbish, but $300 isn't going to break my bank. For some, the form factor is just as important (maybe even a teeny bit more) as the functionality. Try whipping out a laptop on a crowded NYC subway during rush hour. It's doable but not altogether pleasant. And the amount of flexibility needed is Zilch, as she just wants to be able to read a LOT of books without carrying a LOT of books.

Originally posted by: mpilchfamily
Most often they are locked into there own formats. Not to metion you'd have to make sure that the books she wants are even availible in that format. Right now the popularity of the ebooks is such that not manu publishers are offering there portfolios of books to the format.

Ok, that's helpful to know, at least.

Re: the EEE PC. It looks to be about the right size but how dependable are these things? I'd read somewhere that they were part of an initiative to provide PCs to developing nations...but no one I know has given them a chance yet. Are they solid?

 

[MadAmos]

Have a look at the Amazon Kindle I have had mine for 6-7 months and it is great to have several weeks before i need to charge and it can be read in full sun...just try that with a laptop. You will get lots of opinions that it isn't worth it but usually from people that #1 don't own one and #2 probably don't read for recreation the way I do at this time I have not found a better display for reading extended periods of time than the e-ink displays. There are a few negative,s like DRM, not being able to resell your books and the availability is not yet what I would like. The positives are I can store hundreds of books in one easy to carry device loong battery life and for me it just works. Besides if you look around on the net you will find 10's of thousands of Free books at places like the Gutenberg project and others. OK to PM me if you want more info.

Amos

 

[jakobkraft]

Originally posted by: MadAmos
Have a look at the Amazon Kindle I have had mine for 6-7 months and it is great to have several weeks before i need to charge and it can be read in full sun...just try that with a laptop. You will get lots of opinions that it isn't worth it but usually from people that #1 don't own one and #2 probably don't read for recreation the way I do at this time I have not found a better display for reading extended periods of time than the e-ink displays. There are a few negative,s like DRM, not being able to resell your books and the availability is not yet what I would like. The positives are I can store hundreds of books in one easy to carry device loong battery life and for me it just works. Besides if you look around on the net you will find 10's of thousands of Free books at places like the Gutenberg project and others. OK to PM me if you want more info.

Amos

Thank you for the info, that looks like that might do the trick...and app. 70% of the books she's looking for are on Gutenberg -- very cool

 

[Roguestar]

And still, compare it to the flexibility of a laptop that can open, read, edit practically every file and loads more besides.

The Eee PC is not the XO, the "one laptop per child" PC but was developed with the potential for competing with it. It's an ultra-portable laptop (now increasingly referred to as a "netbook").

 

[jakobkraft]

Originally posted by: Roguestar
And still, compare it to the flexibility of a laptop that can open, read, edit practically every file and loads more besides.

Sigh...again with the 'flexibility.' Unless you people have found a laptop that weighs around 10 ounces that you can hold with one hand while holding on to a subway support beam, you're really missing the point. This is about having many many books at the ready with a device whose form-factor resembles - you guessed it - a book.
My wife, probably like most other Ph.D English lit. students, doesn't really care at all about being able to perform a host of uber-cool tasks at any given moment. IF such an occasion were to occur, she DOES have a laptop which she could carry around if necessary. But for her, right now and most days, it's about being able to absorb massive amounts of literature at any available moment without carrying around massive amounts of literature.

Originally posted by: MadAmos
You will get lots of opinions that it isn't worth it but usually from people that #1 don't own one and #2 probably don't read for recreation
Amos

You weren't kidding, were you...

 

[Skott]

I'd say either get the Kindle or that French made Cybook Gen 3 made by Bookeen. The Cybook is the more expensive but its supposedly the best in quality and features. If you like shopping Amazon the Kindle would be good enough I'd say.

 

[JackMDS]

jakobkraft given the info past your op, I would suggest that your wife should make a list of what she is going to read in the near future. Schools give the syllabus at the beginning of the semester.

Then find an application for her laptop that can read and write eBooks files of the formats available. Then get a reader that you for sure can read one of the formats that the application can handle.

If needed she can use the laptop to convert whatever she needs for the reader, and load it to the reader from the Laptop when needed.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'd get the Kindle in your shoes.

For DRM-infested books you're limited to buying Amazon's format not from other e-book stores.

For format conversion of unprotected books & docs you can
a) email short documents to an Amazon server that converts them and lets the Kindle download them wirelessly (5 cents / doc)
-or-
b) convert them yourself with the free "mobipocket" tools.

.txt files don't require conversion.

 

[jakobkraft]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
I'd get the Kindle in your shoes.

For DRM-infested books you're limited to buying Amazon's format not from other e-book stores.

For format conversion of unprotected books & docs you can
a) email short documents to an Amazon server that converts them and lets the Kindle download them wirelessly (5 cents / doc)
-or-
b) convert them yourself with the free "mobipocket" tools.

.txt files don't require conversion.

Sweet, I actually already have (though I'd forgotten) mobipocket on my Dell Axim pocketpc.
And since she found several more books on Gutenberg, the Kindle it is - thanks guys