Do you have an ereader?

[badger]

I was speaking to a co-worker who has a Kindle, and he said that it's a bit of a pain for us as we live in Canada, and some books you can't download. Didn't think of that...

[CyborgQueen]

I'm a Nook user. When someone asks about which eReader to get...I give them all a list of pros and cons for Kindle/Nook and sometimes others.

Badger - since you live in Canada, you'll be better off getting a Kindle.

The reason why books cannot be downloaded is because of America copyright laws and publishing rights. Some are country restricted. Each country has costs when it comes to publishing/copyrights. Not much you can do about that. I'm sure there's a lot of books that are available in Europe (for example), that are not available in Americas. Same idea.

If you like the Nook, just find someone that you know and trust with America address. That's one way to get around the loop (I think if you Google search threads, you can find information on how to use a Nook other than America).

Since I've gotten my Nook, I've downloaded over 300 books (many are freebies), and it's way better than hauling them and having them added to my already 500 books collection. It was EXPENSIVE to move, just because of those books....they weigh more than my big screen TV!!

Good luck on your eReader search!! You'll love it no matter what you buy!!

[MomOnBike]

Yet another e-reader convert here. DH bought me a Kindle when I was undergoing chemo. It was nice having (at that point) dozens of books to read during chemo. I wasn't able to concentrate on any one thing for long, so having lots of choices was nice. My elder daughter helped by suggesting titles that would be OK to read, but would be easy to discard when I developed an aversion to them.

Now I use the Kindle for any situation when I will be sitting and waiting. Doctor's visits, for example.

The Kindle has also proven itself on bike overnights. It is small, light and easy to carry. I could use the Kindle function on my smarty-pants phone, but there is the battery life issue.

Yep, the Kindle is one of the best gifts DH ever gave me.

[badger]

I'm a Nook user. When someone asks about which eReader to get...I give them all a list of pros and cons for Kindle/Nook and sometimes others.

Badger - since you live in Canada, you'll be better off getting a Kindle.

The reason why books cannot be downloaded is because of America copyright laws and publishing rights. Some are country restricted. Each country has costs when it comes to publishing/copyrights. Not much you can do about that. I'm sure there's a lot of books that are available in Europe (for example), that are not available in Americas. Same idea.

If you like the Nook, just find someone that you know and trust with America address. That's one way to get around the loop (I think if you Google search threads, you can find information on how to use a Nook other than America).

Since I've gotten my Nook, I've downloaded over 300 books (many are freebies), and it's way better than hauling them and having them added to my already 500 books collection. It was EXPENSIVE to move, just because of those books....they weigh more than my big screen TV!!

Good luck on your eReader search!! You'll love it no matter what you buy!!

thanks for the input. I met another person with a Kindle yesterday and she said she LOVED it, so I'm convinced now. I'll get one next pay day, which is Friday!!

[Catrin]

I have a Sony Reader, the Daily edition. Expensive but it has been worth it. The Kindle would have been less expensive but I like the design of the Sony much better.

[chryss]

My partner got me a Nook when I went to the hospital to have surgery a month ago. While I'll always have paper books (and friends of mine run bookstores, which are lovely places and I want to do my share to keep them in business), there are things that I really like the Nook for:

• Ease of downloading samples. I'm often hearing about a good book, look it up on the B&N site, get a free sample, and read through 15-50 pages for free getting a good feel for it before buying.
• Small form factor. Very handy, easy to hold and to operate (I have the touch-screen B&W one).
• Very pleasant to use and easy on the eyes.
• Free ePub books and PDFs render reasonably well. Project Gutenberg ePub are very nice. PDFs can be a mess, but often are quite usable.

As another poster said, if you're outside the US, the Kindle is the better choice. I wanted to go with something that is a tiny bit more open to non-DRM books and a tiny bit less dominant market-wise, and the Nook's a nice device.

There are also other reasons to dislike ebook readers in general, such as the difficulty sharing books within one's family, copying/pasting quotes (both of these should be *easy* with electronic resources but the DRM is in the way), leafing forward/back a few pages, knowing how many pages are left in a chapter etc. Overall, I enjoy the experience as something that gets me to read in situations where I wouldn't have.

[Roadtrip]

I have a kindle... But now also have my iPad... With the Kindle app so rarely use the Kindle now. Also have the Nook app and the Overdrive app where I can borrow e-books from my iPad, which is available here I the US at certain libraries... But only on the Nook (for now.) Yes, iPad is much more expensive.

Shannon

[Catrin]

I can also borrow library books on my Sony Reader, which is quite nice.

[Irulan]

My partner got me a Nook when I went to the hospital to have surgery a month ago. While I'll always have paper books (and friends of mine run bookstores, which are lovely places and I want to do my share to keep them in business), there are things that I really like the Nook for:

• Ease of downloading samples. I'm often hearing about a good book, look it up on the B&N site, get a free sample, and read through 15-50 pages for free getting a good feel for it before buying.
• Small form factor. Very handy, easy to hold and to operate (I have the touch-screen B&W one).
• Very pleasant to use and easy on the eyes.
• Free ePub books and PDFs render reasonably well. Project Gutenberg ePub are very nice. PDFs can be a mess, but often are quite usable.

As another poster said, if you're outside the US, the Kindle is the better choice. I wanted to go with something that is a tiny bit more open to non-DRM books and a tiny bit less dominant market-wise, and the Nook's a nice device.

There are also other reasons to dislike ebook readers in general, such as the difficulty sharing books within one's family, copying/pasting quotes (both of these should be *easy* with electronic resources but the DRM is in the way), leafing forward/back a few pages, knowing how many pages are left in a chapter etc. Overall, I enjoy the experience as something that gets me to read in situations where I wouldn't have.

You can use Stanza software (free) to clean up or reformat PDFs.

[badger]

oh, I would LOVE an iPad, however, I don't have an extra $600 in my budget for anything at the moment. My neighbours gave their 4 year old in iPad for Xmas...