eReader

[astridv]

I'm toying with the thought of getting an eReader primarily for fanfic. Can anyone tell me which would be better suited for fic, Kindle or Kobo? (I read on AO3, LJ/DW and ffn. Matte display is essential for me. Buying ebooks from Amazon or other places is more of an afterthought.)

I figure in the long run this will save me a bunchload of money for toner, and it's more environmentally friendly as well...

Comments

[amaliedageek]

I use a Nook (1st generation; I'll be upgrading to the Simple Touch when the budget allows -- not the one with a light, as there are unresolved issues with the screen) and sideload fic with Calibre, which is ridiculously easy.

[meinterrupted]

I have the Nook Simple Touch, and I also use Calibre. It's fab and seamless, though the on-board organization system is less than ideal.

[astridv]

Nook doesn't seem to sell in Germany. But it seens like all the other eReaders would be suitable for my purposes.

[astridv]

Definitely gonna look into the Calibre thing.

[malkingrey]

Another Nook user here. It uses the Epub format, which is cross-platform (unlike the Kindle format), and you can download fics in Epub from AO3.

Calibre will convert Kindle-formatted books to Epub with no problem provided you strip off the DRM first. There are programs that will do this, and other programs that can remove DRM from Epub and PDF files as well -- a quick google on "DRM removal Kindle" or "DRM removal Epub" should find them with no problem.

[astridv]

Ah. Good to know just in case. ATM I don't think I'll buy an ebook when the paper version is available and the same price but who knows, maybe I'll get used to reading on it.

[amalthia]

Have you considered a Sony PRS? The main advantage it has over the other options is that Calibre is designed with the Sony collection management system in mind. Also the sheer organizational abilities on the Sony far exceed those of the Kindle and Kobo.

Any of the devices will work for fan fiction. I use Calibre's Fanfiction Downloader plugin to download fic into Calibre and then transfer them to my device. Here is a tutorial I made to give you an idea of how it works:

[astridv]

I read on some forum that the Sony doesn't come with a matte screen which I need. May have been about the older models though.

Thank you for the link, that should come in very handy.

[amalthia]

The newest Sony has the exact same screen as the newest Kindle/Kobo/Nook. Sony was also the first ebook reader that had a workable good touchscreen and it's up there with the Kindle in adding the newest technology to their devices.

[astridv]

Ah, good to know. Man, that's really a lot to choose from.

[amalthia]

Yeah, it was somewhat easier back when there were only two options. The Kindle or the Sony. Having said that competition has been good in terms of bringing out better quality devices with more features.

The key part is figuring out what you want to do with the device.

P.S.

[amalthia]

This comparison matrix may help? It's what I used to get an idea of what is out there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_readers

This comparison website may be easier to read and has fewer devices listed: http://www.the-ebook-reader.com/ebook-reader-comparison.html

[zing_och]

I used to read a lot of fic on my Kindle before it died, and I'll probably get another one soon. Reading on there is really comfortable, and getting fic on it is easy, too - you can download directly from the AO3 (and places like gutenberg.org), and FLAG can give you .mobi output for the Kindle, too.

What's not so great is organizing stuff, especially if you want to put a lot of fic on it - you can make collections, but that's pretty much it. (My Kindle was an old 3G Keyboard one, I don't know about the newer models. My parents will get a Paperwhite in a few days so I'll test that then.)

I never tried the Kobo, so I can't compare. For me Amazon is the better choice because I buy a lot of ebooks there, so I never looked into it. The Nook is not available in Germany, as far as I know.

[astridv]

Hmm. Thanks, that's useful info.

[miera_c]

I have a Google Nexus 7. I don't know if that comes with what you want, but I got it rather than a Kindle or Nook because the web surfing is much better on the Nexus and it runs on the Android OS which provides a lot more flexibility, not to mention since it's Google's OS you know it'll be updated and you can download a lot of things for it. It runs the Kindle app for Android as well. They are coming out with the Nexus 10 or just came out with it, which is an upgrade from the 7. I would recommend looking into that if the finish is an option.

[astridv]

Cool, thanks for the info.

[sqweakie]

Caliber is a definite must, I have a nook and love working with it. I know a lot of people love kindle but it isn't as user friendly as others. My sister has had occasional trouble reading fics she's downloaded from AO3 with the MOBI format. Whatever you go with I second Caliber, makes sorting and sending stuff to my nook a breeze.