Whats the best e-reader?

I like to take one book on holiday with me. I will 'audition' a few over coffees before the holiday starts and take the one that (a)  'grabs' me the most (b) has some relevance to where we are going. I also love buying the 2« inches to 1 mile OS Explorer maps of all the UK areas we holiday in (even if only a fraction of each map gets used). I have always loved OS maps.

I will often buy another book whilst we are away. (And more maps.)

Last time we rented a cottage in Dorset, for instance, I took this one with me and bought this one during the holiday.

Magazines only last 10 minutes. I don't bother with 'em. (Whereas an OS Explorer map will keep me entertained for ages!)

As far as I am concerned, the best e-readers are the ones people shove in a drawer and forget about after the novelty and 'gadget' bragging rights have faded 

chebby:

As far as I am concerned, the best e-readers are the ones people shove in a drawer and forget about after the novelty and 'gadget' bragging rights have faded 

Who said anything about novelty and bragging rights?  As mentioned earlier, theres a lot of reasons why I am considering eReader.  Not having to carry books around with me, or indeed store those books afterwards being some of the main points.  And getting a paper digitally delivered every morning.  

Have had both a sony e-reader and a kindle and much prefer the latter.  Mainly use mine for downloading the independent newspaper every morning which saves the trip to the shops in the rain.

chelstondave:

Have had both a sony e-reader and a kindle and much prefer the latter.  Mainly use mine for downloading the independent newspaper every morning which saves the trip to the shops in the rain.

Whats it like ChelstonDave?  The Independent on Kindle I mean.  Ive read some reviews of people who say its not worth the money.  Do you get pictures or just the text?  Is it severely cut down?

Well, my GF has bought a Kindle, and now had it for 3 days.  First impressions are very positive.  Compared with her Sony eReader the contrast on the screen is much better, and the text much clearer.  She opted for the 3G version which is reasonably quick, and downloading books is extremely simple.  Compare the download with the Sony eReader and this is a clearly much simpler and easier.  You access the Amazon site from the kindle and download straight to it, rather than the faff you have to go through with the Sony (plug in USB and then use the clunky Sony software to buy and transfer). 

I tried a copy of the Independent on there, and I am not sure about this as yet.  I think I may just like to have the paper in front of me, but for reading books its excellent.  Reckon I may just buy one for myself.  

Reviving this thread as The Wife's Sony ereader no longer holds a charge despite being on charge for days..... Annoying, as I'm halfway through Lee Child's 'Killing Floor'.

Is the Kindle still the default choice? What about Kindle Fire/ Kindle Fire HD? Or even the Nexus 7 tab? Not looking at spending a fortune, but extra functionalty wouldn't hurt.

And for what it's worth, I read many hardback/paperback books, but the problem for me is I don't like to throw any away as I can happily go back and re-read them after a couple of years and storing them is becoming a right P.I.T.A.

I have the original Kindle and much prefer it over the new ones with backlight. Looks much more like real paper. I also have a Nexus 7 but don't like reading novels on it. Its excellent for reading pdf's though especially the textbooks which I use for reference at work.

I bought a kindle 13 months ago, second-hand on ebay.  I had it in my back pocket and then sat on a fence.  Screen ruptured. Phoned amazon, they sent me a new one.  They didn't query what had happened to it - I just said the screen was broken.  Wonderful customer service.  I've had that one for 12 months with no problems at all.  Have a replacement now and it's working fine.  Brilliant product.

Edit-  and forgot to mention, new Kindle automatically had all books pre-loaded to the archive.  I re-loaded A Dance of Dragons (was 78% through Part 1 & 2 combi book) and it automatically opened at the point the last read.  Ace.

I have Kindle & Nexus 7. Value & versatilty Nezus wins hands down. Reasing in good light the K. Suggest u consider yr needs carwfully.

Cheers

I got the wife a kindle paperwhite £110,she loves it,battery life is good too.

The backlight is superb,and useability is fantastic,she worked how to book mark pages with ease(a computor phobia )

I think reviving threads should be banned! - I've just read a whole page thinking, "have John and Claire lost the plot or what? it's not like them to be so sceptical" then realised it was written TWO YEARS AGO

Anyhow, for purely eReader functionality, I still reckon the Kindle is the best out there. It still amazes me how the screen can be so good in all kinds of lighting conditions

That said, I wouldn't swap my Nexus 7 for anything. I have various eReader apps on there and can read any kind of ebook format I like now on the one device.

But if nobody searches and revives old threads we end up with multiple new posts about the same thing..... Damned if you do......

With ref to the Sony e-reader, exactly the same problem has happened with my GF's.  It now holds no charge at all and you have to use it plugged in (she doesnt, the Kindle is far better).

I guess you need to work out whether you purely want to read books in the electronic paper format, or whether you need a tablet type of device.  She has the standard kindle (a couple of years old obviously) and its really good.  Never let her down.

I love reading and I love real books but I do have one of the original Kindles and I use it every day.  For my 40 minutes (each way) rail commute the Kindle is ideal, particularly when reading a weightier book such as Ken Follett's 'Winter of The World', which is my current indulgence.  Using the Kindle has nothing to do with bragging rights or showmanship - it is genuinely convenient.  It will never completely replace books for me and only today I was browsing Waterstones thinking I should committ to buying at least the paperback of every third book I read as I'd hate to see good bookshops go the same way as good record shops.

I have my favourite novels in beautiful hard-backed Folio editions where available and I love the tactile experience of reading these when relaxing at home.

The Nexus beats the Kindle or Nook for versatility and the iPad (original size, can't speak for the Mini) for portability and handling, but sometimes I wish I had a Kindle just to take advantage of my Prime subscription and use the Kindle lending library.