e-books and e-readers: post here

haven

Expedition Leader
General purpose tablets (iPad, Nexus 7, etc) have pretty much squeezed the life out of traditional e-readers. But a dedicated e-reader at the right price can be a worthwhile addition to an overlanding kit. An e-reader can store scans of all sorts of maps, technical manuals, guide books, foreign language dictionaries, music, and other materials.

Here's one example: Geeks.com is selling the Aluratek Libre Pro e-reader for $30.
Libre Pro features:
5 inch (diagonal) LCD screen
slot for an SD card up to 32 GB in capacity.
support for file formats:
...eBook: EPUB, PDF, TXT, FB2, MOBI, PRC, RTF
...Audio: MP3
...Photo: JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG
lithium battery that plays for 20 hours

You can't have everything for $30. For example,
The Libre Pro does not show movies.
The LCD screen has no illumination (i.e., no backlighting) so it depends on strong external illumination. (Works great in direct sunlight.)
The Libre Pro does not have a touch screen. You navigate using a 4 way cursor control, similar to that found on inexpensive cameras.
The Libre Pro has no WiFi radio. You move files to the e-reader by using your computer to copy files onto an SD card, and inserting the card into the Libre Pro.

Here are links that talk about the Libre Pro
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=AEBK01FS
http://aluratek.com/libre-ebook-reader-pro-black
 

nwoods

Expedition Leader
General purpose tablets (iPad, Nexus 7, etc) have pretty much squeezed the life out of traditional e-readers....

Wow I don't agree with this statement at all! Traditional Nooks and Kindles still sell by the millions. It is a much more pleasurable reading format than an LCD screen. Perhaps it is safe to say if you are NOT looking for a dedicated e-reader, the following multi-functional devices are popular (fill in the blank here______). But if you are a Reader, with a capitol R, a dedicated e-ink (or e-paper) screen is still the way to go.

Having said that, the Aluratek Libre AEBK01FS eBook Reader PRO looks pretty interesting, and I love the fact that is is preloaded with some pretty good reading material. Looks clunkier than the Kindle or Nook, but can't argue with the enhanced feature list. Is it compelling enough to buy as an existing ebook user, No, not in my case.
 
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cnynrat

Expedition Leader
General purpose tablets (iPad, Nexus 7, etc) have pretty much squeezed the life out of traditional e-readers.

I'm with Nathan on this one. Amazon steadfastly refuses to release sales figures on the Kindle, but they claim they set a one day record this past cyber Monday. Of course, that probably includes the Fire, which isn't really a dedicated e-reader.

In any event, as a dedicated reader myself, I would long rue the day when I can no longer buy a dedicated e-reader. They offer a far superior reading experience compared to a general purpose tablet. Super high contrast ratio, light weight, comfortable single handed reading, glare free screen, and so on. You can't beat them for reading.
 

jim65wagon

TundraBird1
. They offer a far superior reading experience.......... You can't beat them for reading.
That's what everyone said about real books too. I still love my now ancient Kindle, I've got more books in it than I do my actual library at home.....
 

justfred

Adventurer
FWIW (as discussed on another thread http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/89476-Convert-books-to-pdf ) I've started converting my paper books to e-books (pdf) with 1dollarscan.com - and I started with a pile of expedition-related books that I'd rather have with me on my iPad (or even my iPhone) than leave at home. The quality is decent, the price is reasonable, they're searchable, they come in full and device-optimized versions, and getting rid of the paper versions (which they don't send back) is a benefit!
 

cnynrat

Expedition Leader
That's what everyone said about real books too. I still love my now ancient Kindle, I've got more books in it than I do my actual library at home.....

Everyone but me perhaps ;). Once I bought a Kindle I never looked back. There are books I've not read simply because they are not available on Kindle. If I really want to read something and it's only available on paper I'll read it, but if it's a book I don't have a strong feeling about reading I'll pass.
 

dwh

Tail-End Charlie
Still diggin on my Nook SimpleTouch hacked to an Android tablet. I did have some issues getting adb to work, but finally found a driver for Win7 that let me get it working. Been playing with Aldiko reader (so far - meh) and Calibre ebook converter. Haven't spent much time with Calibre yet, but so far I'm impressed.

And yea, for reading ebooks, I'm really loving the e-ink screen. Not so hot for browsing the net, but then I don't really use the Nook for that 99% of the time anyway.
 

haven

Expedition Leader
Barnes and Noble is trying to boost sales of the Nook e-reader line. First, the company announced that the Nook HD and HD+ models would gain access to the Google Play app store. This makes the HD models into attractive general purpose Android tablets, not just e-readers.

Next, news has leaked that B&N plans to add an email client and web browser to the Simple Touch models. The software update is expected in June.

The standard Simple Touch includes a 6 inch e-Ink daylight readable screen, and costs as little as $60. The Simple Nook with Glowlight adds backlighting so you can see the screen in low light conditions. Both models ship with 2 GB internal storage and a microSD slot capable of adding 32 GB more.

The Simple Touch is a great way to take along reference materials, such as city guides and repair manuals, while traveling. The Simple Touch has a battery rated to provide up to a month of use without recharge if you read for an hour a day. The addition of email and web clients makes the Simple Touch even more useful for the traveler.

Rumors are flying that Microsoft, which owns 17% of B&N's Nook Media business, is interested in buying the remaining 83%. Microsoft would then migrate the Nook e-reader business to the Microsoft Surface tablet. Today's Android-based Nook would subsequently be discontinued. Maybe B&N wants to open today's Nook to the full Android marketplace so owners will have a continuing source of apps and OS upgrades.
 

haven

Expedition Leader
Barnes and Noble continues its summer sales event. This week it's the Nook HD and HD+ models (7 and 9 inch screens, respectively). Pick up an 8GB Nook HD for as little as $129 (regularly $199) or a 16GB Nook HD+ for $149 (regular price $269). Find these prices at Barnes and Noble, Walmart, Best Buy and Target through Father's Day.

Neither of these tablets includes a GPS receiver, although the ability to simulate GPS by proximity to known public WiFi hotspots is included. A quick Google search did not turn up instructions to attach an external GPS receiver by Bluetooth.
 

haven

Expedition Leader
Well, now we know why B&N was offering deep discounts. The company just announced that they are stopping production of the Nook HD and HD+ models. The company will sell out existing inventory while it looks for a tablet manufacturer to partner with. B&N will continue to sell the smaller, less expensive Simple Touch and Glowlight e-readers.
 

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