I use a refurb Palm Zire 31. It was about $90 and has a color backlit
screen. It's not perfect, but is perfectly usable, at least for me.
Each "page" is about the chunk of text I'd scan in a book, so each
push of the button is right in rhythm with my reading style. I use it
waiting in line at the bank or grocery and especially love it for
long night time car trips. It is also a useful anti-boredom measure
for those long waits outside the dressing room when accompanying a
loved one clothes shopping. It's cheap enough that I won't be
heartbroken if I lose or destroy it. It fits in a pant's pocket. It
can be used under many lighting conditions. An hour or a month later
it is still at the paragraph where you left off and you will never
run out of reading material.
David Newhall
Falls Church, VA
On Mar 6, 2008, at 12:00 AM, COMPUTERGUYS-L automatic digest system
wrote:
Re: ebook readers
I'm thinking of giving an ebook reader to someone who loves reading
books and takes Metro to work. I'm trying to choose between the
Sony Reader, Amazon's Kindle, or waiting. Any experiences, concerns,
or suggestions to share? TIA.
I hate ebooks.
I travel a lot. I carry paperback books. They drop. They get wet. They
fall in mud, dirt, get lost under the seat in cars, buses, planes,
trains. When I finish reading my book, I give it to someone else, and
pick up another. Many small hotels, inns, apartments outside the US
have
a library where you leave your finished books and pick up one you
like.
Our local public library [Cecil County, MD] has a free magazine
exchange
and used paperback books for 10-25 cents.
Wet paperbacks can dry out. Wet ebooks die. I trade paperback books
with
other readers. I'd have to refill an ebook and couldn't share it and
have something to read at the same time. I've never had an ebook on
the
beach, but I suspect they're hard to read in the sun, and don't do
well
in sand [?].
Be sure that the person who will potentially receive the ebook really
wants one and realizes its features and limitations. Otherwise the
ebook
will end up spending more time on a shelf or in a drawer, or
broken. For
electronic books, I prefer unabridged audiobooks on my iPod.
My 2 cents.
Betty
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