I read a lot of books, and being in the military I travel occasionally Last time I changed duty stations (from Okinawa to California), I had more books in my carry on/checked luggage than clothes or anything else for that matter. So when I see things like Sony's ebook reader, I get excited, because that means I can carry more books and I don't have to sacrifice other essential items (such as clothes for instance) However, I want to read OSC books, but thus far the selection I've seen on the Sony ebook sites as well as some of the other e-ink readers are less than nominal. I was curious if anyone knew if I am just missing the good readers or missing the sites that contain his works (as well as Arthur C. Clarke, Eric Nylund, and many other of my favorites)
That's basically what my decision is resting on. I'll by the reader that lets me read OSC books. Can anyone provide any input?
Posted by Joldo (Member # 6991) on :
I own a Sony Reader. Got it for graduation. So far, I absolutely love it (by the way, you can add reading music to it as well). I've found a lot of good books to put on it through their store, and also a few others. Gutenberg works too, of course.
As long as the file is in Adobe, .txt, or MS Word format, the Reader will read it.
In the Sony online store, for OSC I found: Enchantment Magic Street Hart's Hope Shadow Puppets
For Clarke: Death and the Senator Sunstorm Time's Eye
For Nylund: Halo: the Fall of Reach
They're also always adding more. When I got mine two weeks ago, they only had one OSC book on there. It's just starting up, so the selection grows by the day.
Another site I use is ebookmall.com. In addition to those mentioned above for those authors--in the Sony compatible format--I found:
OSC: Shadow of the Hegemon Masterpieces
So far, I've found a lot of things I like, and if you look around online, I'm sure you can find many other ebook stores with excellent selections. If you do decide to get a Sony Reader, best to do it soon. Right now they have a promotion on: if you buy a Reader and register it with the online store by the end of June, they give you fifty dollars worth of store credit and fifty free books from their "Classics" collection (which, despite its lack of Lady Chatterley, is surprisingly good). So far, my experience has been that the ebooks cost AT LEAST 50% less than their paper-and-ink counterparts. I've been doing almost all my reading on the Sony Reader for the past two weeks (and I read a lot) and the battery has yet to be recharged.
Posted by cduke23 (Member # 10571) on :
Thank you, I'll check it out. The only thing that I don't like the $300 price tag. I took a look at the iRex Illiad and it costs $700 BUT you can write, draw, make notes on what you're reading, and it has a search function. I kinda like that ,but alas it costs twice as much as the Sony Reader.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
I still prefer my $300 Palm T|X. Reads e-books, and plays movies, shows photos, has a ton of available software, fits nicely in my pocket, etc.
Currently ereader.com has Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, Enchantment, Hart's Hope, Legends II: New Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy, Magic Street, and Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the 20th Century.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Chris Bridges: I still prefer my $300 Palm T|X. Reads e-books, and plays movies, shows photos, has a ton of available software, fits nicely in my pocket, etc.
*nods vigorously*
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
Hey Joldo, could you talk more about your experience with the sony reader. I have thought about getting one...but some of the reviews have been mixed.
The two main sticking points 1) How annoying is the page turning? Some reviews said it if slow and distracting.
2) How well do pdf files work on it. The specs (and your post) said that it can read them, but I have seen some reviews that said the formatting can be iffy. My main interest is whether books from project Gutenberg look good on it. If they do, it would be well worth buying.
[ June 18, 2007, 01:45 AM: Message edited by: Lupus ]
Posted by Joldo (Member # 6991) on :
Ok, Gutenberg no longer has pdf books. They have pbf books. The Reader does not support pbf. However, you can just download the txt zip file and it works fine 'n' dandy.
The reviews are dumb. I read a review on Consumer Report just the other day, and I disagreed on every negative point. The page turning controls are quick and simple. Very quick, in fact.
Another thing the CR review addressed was the joystick. The Reader has a nub joystick that you can use to navigate the Table of Contents, your list of books, whatever. CR claims it's too sensitive and difficult to use; for anyone who's ever used an iPod, it's ridiculously easy.
Besides, the nub joystick is totally unnecessary, and it uses up battery life. Remember, with e-ink, your battery is measured by the number of times the screen changes, not how long it's on. See, when you go to a menu screen, it has each item in a numbered format--like so:
The Sirens of Titan Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 1 Sons and Lovers D. H. Lawrence 2 Stardust Neil Gaiman 3 A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens 4 The Tempest William Shakespeare 5 Thus Spake Zarathustra Friedrich Nietzsche 6 The Time Machine H. G. Wells 7 Tooth and Claw T. Coraghessan Boyle 8 Titus Andronicus William Shakespeare 9 The Turn of the Screw Henry James 0
See those handy-dandy numbers? There are a matching set of numbered buttons at the base of the screen. You can use the nub joystick to make a menu choice, or just press the number. Tres simple.
Look, the reviews are all right for someone unfamiliar with electronics. But if you have even any marginal experience with iPods, cell phones, laptops, heck, almost anything, this will be very simple and efficient to use. I'm not just speaking for myself. I've lent this to a lot of my friends to check it out--and these are more literary people than computer people--and they all thought it was fantastic.
(By the way, the above list is actually ten of the fifty-odd books on my Reader right now. So yes, I just took the time to copy that out. I really need more to do in the summer)
Also, the above list is much better formatted on the Reader than I can do on Hatrack.
Posted by cduke23 (Member # 10571) on :
Hey Chris, can you get GPS on the T/X? How is the WiFi on it? I have been looking at one of those since you talked about it and it looks niiice. My only concern is my eyeballs breaking if I actually try and sit down and read a book like I normally would on it. Is eyestrain a problem for you? Thanks, Chase
Posted by Joldo (Member # 6991) on :
It's e-ink, duke. It looks just like paperback book pages. No eyestrain whatsoever.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
You can get GPS, I believe. I'll check.
WiFi works just fine and comes included.
The text is about the same size as the text in a paperback (and it can be bumped up if you need to), there's just less of it available. Maybe a third the width of a paperback page? You just keep scrolling. I'll see if I can get a picture to show you.
Posted by Joldo (Member # 6991) on :
Ok, on my ebook The Canterville Ghost is 65 pages.
In my book of The Works of Oscar Wilde, it's 29.
So . . . factor of two?
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
Here we go... not really clear, but I'm using a camera phone in less-than-ideal conditions. If you'd like a better comparison I can get sharper pictures when I get home.
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