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Chez
Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 15023
Location: Quantock Hills, Somerset
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 Posted: Thu Nov 12, 09 8:03 pm Post subject: e reader or mini pc? |
 
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I want to buy myself a present. I have recently (thanks to a throw-away comment Bebo made) found out that e readers exist. I read a *lot* and you can get loads of books for them that take up no space at all.
Anyone know anything about them? And would it make sense to get a mini pc instead?
I am googling ... but just thought I'd ask  |
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Bebo
Joined: 21 May 2007
Posts: 6016
Location: East Sussex
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| Posted: Thu Nov 12, 09 8:06 pm Post subject: |
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I've got a Sony ebook reader. It's much lighter than a mini-pc and lighter than some paperbacks. No backlight so the screen doesn;t make your eyes ache the way a PC screen can. The battery also lasts for ages (I charge mine up every couple of weeks and probably get through around 800 pages between charges).
Not as versatile as a mini-pc though (and bloody pricey for what it is). |
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vegplot
Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 11045
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| Posted: Thu Nov 12, 09 8:07 pm Post subject: |
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Don't know about ereaders but my Dell 10 is very good. Probably doesn't make a good ereader due to the screen proportions though. |
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Nick
Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 17411
Location: Hereford
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| Posted: Thu Nov 12, 09 8:09 pm Post subject: |
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I can also do this on my Blackberry, although it's far from a pleasant experience. It's much better on the iPhone, and possibly with a bigger Blackberry screen it would be better. HOWEVER, you'll never be able to take them into the bath.
Waterstones has them in store so you can go play.
Buy real books, and blow the cash on something else.  |
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Chez
Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 15023
Location: Quantock Hills, Somerset
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| Posted: Thu Nov 12, 09 8:11 pm Post subject: |
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Hmm. I might go and have a look in Waterstones in Taunton. Thank you, Nick. |
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bagpuss
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 7054
Location: cambridge
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Emyr
Joined: 05 Sep 2009
Posts: 103
Location: Down some dark dark stairs.
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| Posted: Fri Nov 13, 09 12:28 pm Post subject: |
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The thing about books is you spend a long time looking at the same stuff, so eBook reader beats netbook due to the ePaper screen, which only needs juice to change what's on the screen. If I had time to read a book a month, I might consider it. |
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Bebo
Joined: 21 May 2007
Posts: 6016
Location: East Sussex
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| Posted: Fri Nov 13, 09 12:36 pm Post subject: |
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I normally read two books a week (I spend a lot of time on trains). For me it is worthwhile - I was running out of shelf space for all the books. |
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Louisdog
Joined: 22 Mar 2005
Posts: 623
Location: South Wales
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| Posted: Fri Nov 13, 09 12:37 pm Post subject: |
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I have seen the kindle and the screen is awesome, really readable with no glare. The device is so thin and lightweight it would be great to be able to have loads of books all in one tiny package like that.
I didn't like the little lag when you turned the page though and the screen felt a lot smaller than a paperback page. It felt really odd holding the flat tablet rather than a proper book but I guess I'd get used to that.
Like someone else said, I would miss being able to take my books into the bath!
Edit: forgot to say, I also realised that I borrow and lend a lot of the books I read between friends and family, which would not be possible with an e-reader... |
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Gervase
Joined: 17 Nov 2004
Posts: 6991
Location: Ceredigion, West Wales
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| Posted: Fri Nov 13, 09 1:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Nick wrote: |
| Buy real books, and blow the cash on something else. |
Too bloody right. A gizmo to read ebooks will last how long? Seven years tops. then what? Landfill, together with all the mercury, cadmium, plastic, mromides and other gunk used in its making. It uses electricity to charge it up while it's still working, and if you drop it in the bath or off the side of the bed it's likely to get knackered sooner.
It's an obsession with gadgetry just for the sake of it. In that sense it's no different from the selfish indulgence of buying a huge, gas-guzzling 4x4 if you live in Knightsbridge.
Ask yourself - do you actually need it because you have eyesight problems? Don't do it. |
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Bebo
Joined: 21 May 2007
Posts: 6016
Location: East Sussex
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| Posted: Fri Nov 13, 09 1:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Gervase wrote: |
| In that sense it's no different from the selfish indulgence of buying a huge, gas-guzzling 4x4 if you live in Knightsbridge. |
Except it fits more neatly into a parking space. |
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Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 19572
Location: In the pond with the frogs
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| Posted: Fri Nov 13, 09 1:12 pm Post subject: |
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I expect there's a reasonable chance an E-reader might be more environmentally friendly if it's recycled at the end of its life and you would otherwise buy a lot of books.
I don't know much about them but are there e-libraries about which you can legally download books from?
If not, wouldn't a normally library be the best bet? |
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Gervase
Joined: 17 Nov 2004
Posts: 6991
Location: Ceredigion, West Wales
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| Posted: Fri Nov 13, 09 1:22 pm Post subject: |
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At the moment I would imagine that pulp from sustainable softwood plantations augmented with recycled cellulose which can then be passed on as an intact artefact some years later is still rather more in keeping with the downsizing ethos than an electronic toy with a very limited life that will eventually be disassembled by children in Indian sweatshops.
But maybe I've got this reduce, reuse and recyle malarky all a bit skewed. |
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Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 19572
Location: In the pond with the frogs
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| Posted: Fri Nov 13, 09 1:27 pm Post subject: |
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Perhaps you have. I'd be just a bit curious to know the environmental impact on one such device compared to say the printing, transport and storage of say 2000 books. |
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jema
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 23586
Location: Still in Swindon
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| Posted: Fri Nov 13, 09 1:31 pm Post subject: |
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I see them as a "one day" gadget, we have endless shelves of dusty books and much as I like them, the idea of them being in electronic form *will* appeal.
But only when the tech has matured to a point where it is a really good reading experience and has the longevity of books.
If it is as good a s book as a reading experience, then it will catch on, probably particularly with people like me who have a perpetual bookshelf crisis. |
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