Electric bibliophiles, unite!

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Anyone else use a dedicated ebook-reader? Not a surfing tablet that can read .pdfs, but a dedicated one, with an e-ink screen? I have a Kobo Aura HD, and I absolutely love it. Barring some rather dramatic turn of events, I'm not likely to ever afford to own and maintain a private, personal library, but with an armchair and a reading lamp, I have the next best thing right here. Right now, I have in my hand just short of 4000 books, any my 64 gb memory card is less than half full. Bibliophile bliss!

Nope, a surfing one which can do web pages, forums, email and other reference things too... I don't need a lamp either!

However, your battery life may be better than mine but I don't have any refresh / flicker issues giving me eye tiredness.

I have one of the original kindles that has a keyboard and is unable to do anything else (although 'dedicated' sounds so much better than 'unable to do anything else). It has the matte screen and the not-fully-white background that mimics the look of a book so no eyestrain. I have it in one of those book-ish covers so that reading it really does feeling like reading a book. It's a book with no smell and a keyboard but still pretty much a hardcover book.


I love it! I don't want a kindle fire or any other e-reader that does a bunch of other things. I want it to just simulate books and that it does very well. It exceeds a book in portability in that the book can be 7 volumes of 600 pages each and it is still small. It also exceeds a book in durability in that the spine doesn't break and I have gotten it a little wet a few times and (probably thanks to the sturdy cover) it was unchanged where a book would swell up and stain. The only thing missing is the smell But I think that's a fair trade for being able to carry a bajillion books in my purse. Also, the number of books that are in public domain and therefore free on Amazon in kindle form is just staggering. I have the complete works of every author I did not appreciate in Freshman English because I was too stressed for time or had to write a paper on them. It turns out Anna Karenina is way more fun to read when there isn't a term paper hanging over my head about themes. And all free.

Yes, I could get equally free at the library but then I'd have to return them or pay a fine. So this really is better.

The Kobo actually has a backlit screen with a very, very soft adjustable light, so as to not tire your eyes. I can read in complete darkness, and the screen just looks like an ordinary page in ordinary light. And as for references, the Kobo has a function for highligthing words and looking them up in dictionary for you, as well as a "go to reference/back to text" function, so looking up words and expressions you don't understand in older works is nearly effortless




Very probably. Reading daily, I still last weeks on one charge. I'm glad your screen works, but comparing reading on a regular screen, such as an Ipad, and reading on my device, mine is almost exactly like a book page; entirely static until changing page.



It's all in the phrasing. ^^

Though, in its defence, it does do what it does better than most devices that can do "that, too". My device can actually go online and so some basic things, but the e-ink screen means it's kinda crap at it.

It also has avery Hi-res screen, so it also handles comics reasonably well, if you can get over the lack of colour.


I have a similar thing. When I bought it online, the picture looked like it was styled as aged leather (with actual leather), but the reality was a pretty boring plastic-y cover thing that was way overpriced. But a book should have a cover, so as not to be judged by it.

It still feels somewhat like a computery device rather than a book, but then again, If there was an equivalent device with dual e-ink screens and styled as a big fat wizard tome, I would probably get that just for style...




Whole-heartedly agreed. Wonder if there is "old book smell" for sale anywhere...

As for book availability...yes, public domain is great. Let's totally stick to that. Because the alternative is piracy. And that would be wrong...

you've got amazon, have you checked out project Gutenberg? It's a continuous project that makes works available as their trademarks expire. It's a great resource. I'm partial to the .epub format, but they have a few others as well.
https://www.gutenberg.org/

my goodness
I'd best get downloading

Well, That'll teach me to understimate the internet...

http://ebookfriendly.com/book-smell-perfumes-candles/

I could spray book perfume on the kindle cover case. Perfect