Douglas Adams Continuum (DAC)

I sort of got my eyes on a Sony PRS 650, but I then I throught that I should ask you guys if you can think of a better alternative.

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Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

-H.L. Mencken


[url]http://www.madmanoz.blogspot.com[/url]

iPad.



Dr. S.

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Imagine a ball of iron, the size of the sun. And once a year a tiny sparrow brushes its surface with the tip of its wing. And when that ball of iron, the size of the sun, is worn away to nothing, your punishment will barely have begun.

www.sinisterincorporated.co.uk

www.tabletown.co.uk

For the kind of money an iPad would set me back, I could get 2 Sony Readers and fill them both with books. My laptop cost as much as an iPad. As nifty as it might be, I am not spending 4000-6500 kr. on an laptop without a keyboard*.


*I also considered calling it an oversized iPhone without the phone or a Preppy PDA, but only one could win.

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Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

-H.L. Mencken


[url]http://www.madmanoz.blogspot.com[/url]

I have a first generation Kindle and my wife just went through the "review process" to select an eBook reader. I was hoping she would choose the Nook (Barnes & Noble, maybe not available in your area?) but long story short- she chose a Kindle.

Shrinking the "review process" to the essentials, we found all the devices with digital ink (no backlight) seem to have the same screen quality. Battery life was also comparable across the board. Other physical features (how do you turn the pages, are the buttons 'comfortable', etc) all seem to be so subjective and personal there's no point in going in depth on them. Rest assured all the 'big players' in the eBook arena have worked to make sure their physical layout doesn't suck.

Which leaves books and how you get them on the device. The nook and kindle make this seamless, search on the device, view book descriptions and reviews, buy books. I believe the Sony devices still go through a computer (do the search and buying on a computer, download book, copy to device).

One final thought on getting books. In the US, libraries are getting into the eBook game. The Adobe ePub format seems to be the big player, allowing a book to be "checked out" and expire after some predetermined period of time (3 weeks at the libraries in our area). If you are considering getting books at the library, you may want to check there first to find out which formats are supported and make sure your device also fits into the scheme.

While I don't disagree with the Doc that the iPad is a great device, its not great as purely an e-reader (a great tablet/media device that is an OK reader maybe)
I've played with the new style Kindle and it is really nice. Personally I don't like having the keyboard but others do. The screen is clear and very easily readable, the thing is light and easy to hold and it has an astonishing battery life.

I think you could probably get a Nook imported (either on e-Bay or have someone in the US buy). It gets good write-ups and can be turned into a cheap tablet if you don't mind a bit of hacking and selling your soul to Google.

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D.
The Thirteenth Triskaidekaphobe
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Yeah, the Kindle doesn't do ePub, I believe. And B&N doesn't want to ship the Nook to Denmark.

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Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

-H.L. Mencken


[url]http://www.madmanoz.blogspot.com[/url]

I've played with a couple of Kindles, and they are very nice indeed. However I have never bought one as they released Kindle software for the iPhone and later the iPad, and that suits me fine.

I have four different reader apps installed on both. Handy to have on the 'phone as you can read it anywhere, although I recommend keeping an eye on the road if you are driving.

Dr. S.

_________________
Imagine a ball of iron, the size of the sun. And once a year a tiny sparrow brushes its surface with the tip of its wing. And when that ball of iron, the size of the sun, is worn away to nothing, your punishment will barely have begun.

www.sinisterincorporated.co.uk

www.tabletown.co.uk

Yeah, the Kindle is nice. It would be my first choice, if it supported ePub.

_________________
Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

-H.L. Mencken


[url]http://www.madmanoz.blogspot.com[/url]

*raises hand*
(but I will ...)

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(... don't piss us off)

Be careful about customs charges. Mark it as a gift perhaps?

Dr. S.

_________________
Imagine a ball of iron, the size of the sun. And once a year a tiny sparrow brushes its surface with the tip of its wing. And when that ball of iron, the size of the sun, is worn away to nothing, your punishment will barely have begun.

www.sinisterincorporated.co.uk

www.tabletown.co.uk

I have been reading up on it, and I am kind of fond of the Kindle offering free 3-G connecticity internationally, and reasonable price. And there are programs to convert ePub, even if I think I shouldn't have to. And MG, I may take you up on your offer, though I want to research how much it would cost to ship to Denmark, first, and generally do a bit more research. This thread was the first I had heard of the Nook.

_________________
Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

-H.L. Mencken


[url]http://www.madmanoz.blogspot.com[/url]

Two things are almost keeping me from getting a Kindle: The lack of ePub support, and the lack of an SD slot to upgrade memory. It does have free 3G and wifi, though, which is a major plus, and can be modded to play unprotected ePub.

With the Nook, I can't use it to buy books on the go outside the US, which, had I been able to do so, would be the only reason to get a Nook over the others.

Sony reader is more expensive, even after tax and customs on the others, and doesn't have wifi or 3G, much less free. Just about the only thing it does got going is ePub support and an SD-slot.


I am almost tempted to just buy a Kindle and use savory to read ePub, until the inevitable update when Amazon gives up fighting it. And as it would turn out, the danish libraries, when they lend out E-books, there are usually PDF-files, so no worries there.

_________________
Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

-H.L. Mencken


[url]http://www.madmanoz.blogspot.com[/url]

I have pretty much decided to buy a Kindle, though I have to order it from the US. For some reason, Amazon.co.uk refuses to deal with foreign scum like me.

I wanted to get a cover for it, but Amazon literally refuses to let me buy any that doesn't cost 60 dollars. They say they cannot be shipped, for some reason.

_________________
Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

-H.L. Mencken


[url]http://www.madmanoz.blogspot.com[/url]