The Sword and Laser discussion

Just a general question. What do you think about the new Kindle or ebookss in general?

I don't care for them, but that is just me. I don't feel like they are e-readers anymore...they are tablets now. I own the first generation Kindle and I love it. It is made for reading books and that is it. Period. I just don't see why people need HD or anything fancy like that to read a book. Again...this is just my personal opinion.

Marisa wrote: "I don't care for them, but that is just me. I don't feel like they are e-readers anymore...they are tablets now. I own the first generation Kindle and I love it. It is made for reading books and th..."

Agreed about not needing hd, movies, music etc ... But what about the Paper version with more contrast and an embedded light?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008...

I don't really like the tablet ereaders myself, but the eink ones are simply amazing. I've been reading on my Nook for a couple years now and I never look back. I chose Nook over Kindle because it can read more formats, including EPUB files which are sold in nearly every online ebook store.

The newest eink Nook has a glowlight for nighttime reading: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/nook-...

Im more into the Kobo, I can read Epub on it. We dont get the Nook in the UK. I have been tempted by the new Kobo range, not sure whether to get the Glow or the Arc tablet, I dont really need a tablet to be honest but a lighted ereader would be useful.

I prefer the older push button Kindles just before the touch came out. I had a play with the touch and it got clunky if you had to scroll more than 8 or 9 pages of books. I'm not interested in the colour versions because battery life and the fact that I rarely have to bother with re charging adds to the portability. I have an Ipad if I wanted to read on bigger and more colour but the Kindle's portability and battery life and lack of glare wins in the end.

The light function is pretty cool, but all the other added stuff just doesn't interest me. I also enjoy that I have to charge my first edition Kindle like once a month because the battery lasts forever. As far as Kindle not reading certain formats, I have a program on my computer that will convert just about any ebook file into a Kindle friendly format :)

I have a Kindle 3 (a Kindle Keyboard as they're called now), and I absolutely love it.

However, I'm not sure if I'd buy a Kindle Fire or HD (now that they're finally hitting the UK). I wanted one when they were first announced, but now I'm seeing tablet devices that can do much more than the Fire can offer while still having a Kindle app for my Amazon purchases.

I'm not sure if I want to rush out an upgrade either, as my Kindle still works perfectly.

Lucy wrote: "We dont get the Nook in the UK."

They're on their way over, iirc.

Most posters seem to have my opinion - For me the Kindle Keyboard's battery life is what wins - (I charge maybe every 3 books) and e-ink is really easy to read.
I think I might go for a 3 layer e-ink one that could do colour if that came out - but the fire is just a tablet trying to be a glorified e-reader... and failing to be as good at either.

I love my Kindle Keyboard. It is the best thing I've ever purchased and travels with me everywhere.

I have a Nook Color as well but don't use it very much. I've modified the software and just use it as a web browsing, media watching device. It's handy when I want something bigger than an iPhone without going to the trouble of turning a computer on.

I used to read with it when I first got it (got it before the Kindle) but the touch screen was annoying. So many times skipped chapters by accidentally touching the screen in the wrong spot. It also had a habit of losing where I was in a book when I put it on standby.

I don't recommend these tablets to anyone. All of them are just fancy toys that don't really have a useful purpose. If you want an ereader get a Kindle.

I keep a close watch on the ereader market, and the Kindle Paperwhite looks good, but I'm disappointed they haven't included color eink technology yet. It has existed for several years now, and looks good; I've written it up a few times for GeekBeat.

I have zero interest in the Kindle Fire tablets, both because they aren't eink and because most Amazon services aren't available here in Canada.

The Kindle Paperwhite really appeals to me, but I can't get past the high price of ebooks. The ability to give or sell the book after I'm done reading it is worth a few dollars to me. But many ebooks cost the same or more than the paperbacks! I would need to treat ebooks like movie tickets, but I can't do that until they are cheaper.

I've got a Kindle at the beginning so I'm heavily invested in the Kindle world. I upgraded to the last keyboard model, then switched to using my iPad just for the bigger screen & resolution (also books that had images in them as well). Started using the Kindle again as I wanted something lighter and when the Paperwhite was announced I jumped on it. No keyboard, better resolution, & front light.

I'll still use the iPad for stuff that has images in it, but for text only stuff I'll use the Paperwhite.

My 2nd gen Kindle died earlier this year (actually I suspect it was partially my fault). I had planned to hold off on replacing it until new items were announced but then spent most of July and August traveling for work so bought the low-end (non-Touch, non-keyboard) Kindle...mostly because I love reading on the Kindle.

I'm going to see how the Paperwhite holds up when people have had it for 6 months or so then probably end up picking it up (assuming the reception is mostly positive).

I've pre-ordered the Paperwhite, upgrading from a Kindle Keyboard. The improved screen resolution and contrast sold it for me. The built in light sounds very interesting as well.

Amazon is advertising 2 months battery life on the Paperwhite even with light use. (However they calculate the average daily usage...)

If i didn't use a phone or iPad to read I would be very attracted to the paperwhite. The price is more reasonable these days and I like the hardware.

I love my Kindle 3, but I would get a Paperwhite(seriously? wtf is with that dumb name) in a heartbeat just so I can read at night and not bother my wife with the light on and not have to worry about spending the money on a light/batteries for it.

I also love my Kindle Keyboard for reading because of the battery life. I use my Kindle Fire more as a tablet and have to charge it daily. I also read on the Fire at night on my deck because the light out there is inadequate. The Paperwhite looks cool, but I'm not in the market for a new ereader right now.

I am ready for it. After using the Kindle Keyboard with the bright LED light built into the case, it will be nice to have an e-reader to use when I read at night. And my nose will thank me for it since I usually fall asleep while reading and drop the Kindle on my face.

I'm always dropping my Kindle and books on my face.

I'm more of a Kobo Touch fanboy - Amazon would have to lure me back with something like a new e-Ink technology, plus a much better user interface AND epub compatibility.

Aaron wrote: "I'm more of a Kobo Touch fanboy - Amazon would have to lure me back with something like a new e-Ink technology, plus a much better user interface AND epub compatibility."

I've been waiting forever for Amazon to update their Kindle UI. It's so outdated and ugly :( The Paperwhite has a "cover mode" which is nice and all, but I'm assuming the rest of the UI is the same as always.

My father has a Nook and I'm extremely jealous of his UI and the hardware design in general. I originally choose Kindle over Nook because I hated the little screen at the bottom of the first Nook. If I were buying an e-reader for the first time now, I'd probably go with the Nook instead.

Does anyone use text to speech? I've have been using it ever since my 1st Kindle 2. I don't use it a lot but I do use it. Mostly when I need my hands and eyes for something else.

The only current selling Kindle that has text to speech is the one with the keyboard and the Kindle DX (maybe). No other current Kindle has that function. And the Kindle Paperwhite has no audio at all. So no listening to mp3 or audio books.

I want a Kindle Paperwhite with audio, text to speech and i would be happy. I think the next set of new Kindles will have even less functionality that I want. :(

Tasha wrote: "I'm always dropping my Kindle and books on my face."

Me too! In bed, falling asleep. That's one of the things I like about my Kindle, though. Much lighter than the current hardback I'm reading. That thing might break my nose. Last hardcover I read I hope...

I'm all over this new Kindle PW. I mean I don't NEED it. My Kindle Keyboard with the lighted cover works fine, but I'd rather have a touchscreen and built in light. Oh, yeah. I'm not pre-ordering it, though. I'm putting it on my Xmas list and letting my family give it to me. I can wait that long, can't I?

Tasha wrote: "I'm always dropping my Kindle and books on my face."

lol that when I switch to text to speech :)

I can't stand the text to speech...the voice and cadence is annoying, and I rarely use the mp3 feature. my biggest annoyance with the headphone jack is where it's at...why put it on the bottom..otherwise I would probably use the mp3 feature on my K3 more.

I think the reason why the Kindle PW doesn't have the features is due to lack of space...though why they don't have an SD slot (or micro SD) is beyond me

Thurman wrote: "Does anyone use text to speech? I've have been using it ever since my 1st Kindle 2. I don't use it a lot but I do use it. Mostly when I need my hands and eyes for something else.

The only current..."

I'm with you. I'm not a huge TTS user, but it's handy when I'm on the short drive to school. The new Kindle Paperwhite doesn't even have a headphone jack which I think will be a big detriment for people you liked to read and listen to music on their previous Kindle.

Peter wrote: " can't stand the text to speech...the voice and cadence is annoying,....

I think the reason why the Kindle PW doesn't have the features is due to lack of space...though why they don't have an SD slot (or micro SD) is beyond me"

The TTS speech voice is not audio book quality, but for me it works fine. I got used to it after a while, I just can't listen to it for too long. That's why it's convenient for drivingv but not for general reading.

I agree about the SD card slot! I have a Kindle Touch which has 4GB on device, which I haven't filled up just yet. The Kindle PW only has 2GB, which means I would have to rely on the Kindle Cloud a lot more for archiving my kindle store purchases. I have about 2GB of books on my device not from the kindle store.

Madison wrote: "Peter wrote: " can't stand the text to speech...the voice and cadence is annoying,....

I think the reason why the Kindle PW doesn't have the features is due to lack of space...though why they don'..."

Agreed but how many books can you read at a time? I have 20,000+ books on my computer and on Amazon. I used to copy just about everything to my kindle. Now I just copy things I want to read in the near future to the kindle. I still have 1,000 books on my kindle though. Amazon is just forcing us to change the way we do things.

I use to put a TON of stuff on there, (I side load most of my content) but lately I've cut it down to around 150 items. Though I would like a bit more room to put other stuff on there, such as audio as long as the headphone jack was in an intelligent spot (on the top). I'd probably use it more often if that was the case.

They look great. I can't see upgrading my current kindle though unless it breaks. In the end I am an e-paper person because I want a Kindle just to read ebooks. I really think the x-ray feature could be super handy, especially on books like Game of Thrones where you cannot easily access an appendix like with paper.

It isn't a deal breaker though.

The only one that has any appeal is the paperwhite. And that isn't available in the UK (bloody typical!)

The Fire seems okay, and the price looks good, but we only get the 7" models in the UK, and it's still hobbled by lack of content (why would I want a subscription to LoveFilm when I already have Netflix?), which again knocks it back to being a less useful version of the Nexus 7.

Frankly though, if they just added support for Collections and Voice Narration to their iPad and Android apps, and improved the cataloguing aspects of them, they could ditch their own hardware completely, and just concentrate on what they [should be] good at.

Tim A wrote: "The only one that has any appeal is the paperwhite. And that isn't available in the UK (bloody typical!)

Ditto'd.

Tablets are not really my thing but this does take my fancy. Better not have to wait too long to get our hands on it over here.

Thurman wrote: "Agreed but how many books can you read at a time? I have 20,000+ books on my computer and on Amazon. I used to copy just about everything to my kindle. Now I just copy things I want to read in the near future to the kindle. I still have 1,000 books on my kindle though. Amazon is just forcing us to change the way we do things. "

Well since I haven't filled up my current kindle, ALL of my ebooks are on there. If I were to get more ebooks than my Kindle can hold, I would just leave them all on my computer as you do and keep my favorites/current reading on my Kindle. In addition, I do a lot of ebook borrowing for my library which is temporary space usage.

I don't know if it's them forcing us to change the way we do things. I mean it sounds to me that you can just keep your current approach but of course with the Paperwhite you can only fit 2GB of current reading books on the device. For me that would be sufficient, but it depends on how many books you individually want access to. I just meant that with the smaller on-device storage, the archiving in the Kindle cloud may be more necessary. You could still access them with appropriate 3G or Wifi connection. However, for non-Amazon books you can't access them using the Kindle cloud. Sure if you have access to your external storage drive with the books, no problem, but if you are on vacation with no access to your computer maybe not.

The storage thing is my least concern with the Paperwhite, I would adjust. I just think an SD card in any ebook reader would be great.

I initially got the Kindle touch because I only wanted an ereader. Unfortunately, over the last 6 months or so, I've realized that I use my kindle for more than just reading. I use the wiki search, web browser, games and various other non-reading functions. The slowness, lack of color and, frankly, non-user friendliness (is that a proper phrase?) has made me realize that I really want a tablet.

The new kindle hds, however, don't appeal to me. For the price range of the top of the line version, I might as well get an Ipad.

The few ebooks I've read, I've done on my Nexus 7. Comparable price to a Kindle, with better options for "infinite" non-reading functions. The kindle app on there is pretty good (I assume it's the same/similar to what the Fire runs).

I like the 7 inch vs say an Ipad (or the larger 10 inch android tablets) because it's easier to hold with 1 hand when using, which is especially nice when reading.

I have a Nook Color. I use it quite often as I usually find books I need for school or research on it, but I might try to get one of the Kindles as well, since there have been books I've needed for class that I've found in the Kindle listing of books that weren't in the Nook Bookstore. Better to have two devices that are comparable in size than it is to need to get anywhere from 5-12 books per class per semester of varying sizes and lengths.

Im happy with my kindle touch. I do wish I could read it in low lighting so for that I would like the paperwhite but... some one posted that the paperwhite does not have sound/speakers and I do like the fact that I can listen to music on my kindle touch. If I were to get a new ereader I would probably go ahead and get the kindle fire HD 7 inch. There are programs that you can download to your computer that allow you to change the format from epub to mobi so thats not a big issue for me.

I haven't bought one yet (I have the 2nd gen one right now), but apparently the new Audible/Ebook sync will work on the Kindle apps too. That's a pretty cool feature.

EDIT: Holy crap it works! I'm a little worried about how it syncs back to audio though. It's easy to find your place on page of printed words, but how does it know where to start the audiobook?

Michael wrote: "I have a Kindle 2. I will probably upgrade next year to a Paperwhite, but I hate touchscreens. I don't care for the Fire or HD because I want the Kindle for reading. All the other stuff will either..."

I trying not to loose or break my kindle. The Paper white would be perfect with and and text to speech. I would pay 100 for that device.

Looks promising, I just hope that the screen is more resilient than the kindle I had. It just lasted 1 month before breaking, then I had it replaced and it broke again. I just use my kindle for Blackberry now.

Jesús wrote: "Looks promising, I just hope that the screen is more resilient than the kindle I had. It just lasted 1 month before breaking, then I had it replaced and it broke again. I just use my kindle for Bla..."

did you mean a crack in the Kindle screen or just the screen not refreshing. if its the screen refresh they usually fix that for free. I've had them replace 5 by them for no charge.

I got my housemate an ipad for her birthday awhile back and she immediately put the kindle and the nook apps on it so ereaders are kind of one function ponies.

I bought a kindle used that I read many books on and I can sync between that and the kindle app on my android phone. However they are really handy when traveling because you can carry many books on it without the weight even paperbacks would accrue.

Having said that I still have more books in my house than anything else.

I'm enjoying the paper white. Just finished foundations on it. The screen is so much better than my Kindle keyboard. It's also a lot lighter since I don't need the cover with the light.

The OS feels a lot smoother and easier to use. It also feels much more responsive.

The time left to read feature is great. It's nice to know how much longer you have in a hook.

I like the Paperwhite as well even though the reading of Cloud Atlas is being a little challenging.

The screen indeed is very nice and responsive. Front light is pretty awesome. Still getting used to have the touchscreen on it as previous Kindle's had buttons. Just hard habits to break as my mind is conditioned to using them. Funny how that is as I've used the Kindle app on the iPhone/iPad and not run into these issues. Go figure.

I don't need to hear these things! I really would like the PaperWhite but have absolutely no need for it.

terpkristin wrote: "I don't need to hear these things! I really would like the PaperWhite but have absolutely no need for it."

Well you got 4-6 weeks to fight the temptation. I wish I had the willpower to stop buying things I don't "need" but I always seem to find a reason. Always. Just one.

I would love the Paperwhite to replace the Gen3 model I currently have.

Have to wait on a UK release though.

Bummed that there is no audio support in the device and that immersion reading is only on the tablets though.

I work in IT for a college and we have lots of iPad integration. I wanted something smaller and extensively tested the nexus 7. I recently compared it to a new fire HD and found the video and audio superb but still hated the lack of a full tablet experience. however I still think it is great for my wife and kid.

Paperwhite gets UK launch 25th October.

It's sooo ordered.