Kindle 2!

**Extinct** · 10-09-2009 07:07 PM

The wireless providers do not like the idea or some bs like that.

**whistler** · 11-29-2009 12:55 PM

Bringing this post back from the dead... I'm really interested in getting a Kindle for myself. Can anyone give me advice on which to get? Do other brands make anything better?

**Acreo Aeneas** · 11-29-2009 01:56 PM

Hmm, I'd probably wait now that Sony has released their $200 ereader. I see a larger price war coming soon. Plus, competition out there is pretty fierce now, so I don't think you should necessarily only look at the Kindle.

For example, ASUS and Gigabtye both have upcoming dual-screen (8 x 11 each screen) readers coming to market within the next few months. Color screens are just hitting the market now. So I'd wait, we might quickly see a drop in prices and a switch over to color e-ink screens. Much like what happened with the PDA market back in the early 2000s.

**Extinct** · 11-29-2009 07:09 PM

It seems the Kindle people worked out a deal with Canada so you can now purchase them at Amazon I believe. Probably more places by now.

**CingularDuality** · 11-29-2009 08:38 PM

Originally Posted by whistler

Bringing this post back from the dead... I'm really interested in getting a Kindle for myself. Can anyone give me advice on which to get? Do other brands make anything better?

Posting this link again, as I think it's a great resource: http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_Reader_Matrix

**Twisted_Firestarter** · 11-30-2009 06:26 PM

I have had 2 Sony Readers which I've used extensively and I've played around with a coworker's Kindle. As long as you aren't overawed by downloading books directly from Amazon the Sony Reader is a better device. It supports more formats, including the open EPUB format (I refuse to buy any book that has DRM or DRM that can't be stripped). In addition, it has native support for PDFs, which Kindle does not--you have to email the PDF to your Amazon account which will then be converted to the Kindle's DRM format. Plus, with the Sony Reader you can use Calibre, which is an open source ebook management system. I use it, it's great. The on-device UI for the Reader is better as well, IMO.

If that is not enough, with the Reader you don't have to worry about your books being deleted from your device without your consent.

**El_Gringo_Grande** · 01-15-2010 11:21 PM

I bought a Kindle for my wife as a Christmas present. I have been using it more than her.

Cool things.

-Can upload pdf's directly to it.
-Can upload mp3's and listen to them while reading.
-The text to speech is pretty good.
-It supports Audible audio books.
-The ability to email books to it is nice. My wife really likes this. She just forwards the word docs she gets from work and reads them in bed.
-Batter life is good. Even better it charges fast. Less than an hour to charge from almost nothing to full.

I have found the device to be very, very useful. I didn't think it was worth the money but I was wrong.

But I still like Cing's idea of a netbook with the added eInk screen best.

**Acreo Aeneas** · 01-16-2010 02:41 AM

I just can't wait any longer. I just purchased the Astak Pocket Pro (aka BeBook Mini / OEM: Hanlin V5). Hoping to have it in hand by next week so I can finish a few ebooks from a few months back and the ones I bought recently. I think the $60 more price tag on the Kindle 2, lack of native PDF support (needs to be sent to the special email for conversion), SD card expansion, and having to fork over another $30 for the cover put me off more.

My choices narrowed down to the Sony PRS-300 and the Astak Pocket Pro. Coming in closely as a 2nd was the SmartQ 5/7. Think that MID will be another future purchase. Would be nice to have a 32-bit color e-ink display in a MID with modern refresh rates.

The Copia brand of eReaders looks promising. They range from $300 to $300 supposedly. Every model has WiFi. Some have Bluetooth and 3G connectivity. Also, the last one on the page has a qwerty thumbboard and WiFi. From what I've read elsewhere, expected release date is Q2 2010. Combines the two devices I want/need the most into one: e-reader and a MID/web surfing portable.

**El_Gringo_Grande** · 01-16-2010 11:01 AM

Originally Posted by Acreo Aeneas

lack of native PDF support (needs to be sent to the special email for conversion)

That isn't true. I have put several PDF's on the kindle just by adding them to the documents folder.

So far I have put PDF and text documents on the Kindle and it displays them.

With PDF you can't zoom in or out so the font size is a bit small depending on the PDF. If you rotate the display the PDF will scale thus zoom a bit. So I end up reading many PDF in horizontal mode.

**Acreo Aeneas** · 01-16-2010 11:06 AM

Originally Posted by El_Gringo_Grande

That isn't true. I have put several PDF's on the kindle just by adding them to the documents folder.

So far I have put PDF and text documents on the Kindle and it displays them.

With PDF you can't zoom in or out so the font size is a bit small depending on the PDF. If you rotate the display the PDF will scale thus zoom a bit. So I end up reading many PDF in horizontal mode.

Hmm, I thought the 6" Kindle 2 doesn't support PDF without conversion? I assume they patch the firmware to support PDFs?

I don't like how there's lack of zooming for PDFs. The Astak has PDF zooming, though PDF zooming itself is sort of a hit-or-miss on these devices since text may become distorted and the layout might go out of whack.

Does it support ePubs now or is that still on the to-do list?

**tau_neutrino** · 01-19-2010 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by Acreo Aeneas

Hmm, I thought the 6" Kindle 2 doesn't support PDF without conversion? I assume they patch the firmware to support PDFs?

I don't like how there's lack of zooming for PDFs. The Astak has PDF zooming, though PDF zooming itself is sort of a hit-or-miss on these devices since text may become distorted and the layout might go out of whack.

Does it support ePubs now or is that still on the to-do list?

I got my Kindle for xmas from my brother who works at Amazon.

Last night I just finished a book in PDF format on my Kindle. Just connect it to your comp and copy over the PDF into the documents folder. I agree, the lack of a zoom feature kind of sucks. Like Gringo, I had to change the display orientation to landscape mode.

**Acreo Aeneas** · 01-21-2010 03:24 PM

Yay, my Astak Pocket Pro is finally here!

Now to finish some coding, a night class, and I'll be free to enjoy countless hours of science fiction and thriller novels!

I'll maybe put up a review of it sometime over the weekend. Some pictures too to woo the undecided.

**tau_neutrino** · 01-21-2010 10:02 PM

Woot another fan of science fiction books!

I just finished Stephen Baxter's Flood / Ark duology. Both were great reads and I cannot recommend them highly enough all the scifi enthusiasts out there.

**Acreo Aeneas** · 01-23-2010 12:55 AM

Originally Posted by tau_neutrino

Woot another fan of science fiction books!

I just finished Stephen Baxter's Flood / Ark duology. Both were great reads and I cannot recommend them highly enough all the scifi enthusiasts out there.

Got a short blurb on it to wet my interests?

(Probably go on my growing list of "to buys" since the PP sucked most of my cash.)

**tau_neutrino** · 01-23-2010 01:54 AM

Flood: Apocalyptic / Near-future setting. Sea levels rise starting in 2010, but the main cause is not global climate change. Within a few decades all land will be submerged.

Ark: Post-apocalyptic / more scifi-ish. Beginning of this book is contemporaneous with the 2nd half of Flood. As part of a last ditch effort to preserve the human species, humanity's first interstellar ship is launched with 80 people to another planet in hopes of colonizing it.

IMO Baxter is excellent at explaining the science involved and making it believable (and he gives a list of a few of his sources after the end of the book). The setting of both books is rather dark with many gut-wrenchingly difficult decisions and situations, yet with a pervading sense of hope. The ending is especially bittersweet.

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