Best ebook reader?

[skylinersi]

Jayne wants an ebook reader but is reluctant to buy Amazon kindle due to cost and having prime?

Any suggestions please are most welcome........

 

[Boringfrog]

Kindles are cheap, what do you mean about Prime?

 

[Fraggle 22]

Why not just read on your tablet? You can borrow loads of ebooks from the library plus put Kindle app or any of the others available plus if like me you like to read in the middle of a sleepless night it can be set to night time reading mode.

 

[Jev88]

I bought a KOBO, cheaper than Amazon at the time. Just for reading, download on WiFi only, very basic internet if needed. Uses a very clever screen that drawers tiny amount of power.

 

[Coolcats]

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[Mikeco]

My wife users the Kindle with the built in light so is handy at night, we also have Amazon Prime but find it quite useful as it includes Prime Video and music as well as the books. Also handy for free delivery off Amazon

 

[Coolcats]

Jayne wants an ebook reader but is reluctant to buy Amazon kindle due to cost and having prime?

Any suggestions please are most welcome........

Have to say I try and stay away from Amazon, Google etc so Adobe may have a solution to help, Waterstones partnered with Kobo, from memory Kobo took on / took over some of the earlier reader platforms.

Here are a couple of links

https://www.adobe.com/uk/solutions/ebook/digital-editions.html

Rakuten Kobo

Open up to over 6 million eBooks and audiobooks on award-winning eReaders and the free Rakuten Kobo App. Find Daily Deals, read previews & reviews and get book recommendations.

www.kobo.com

 

[skylinersi]

Kindles are cheap, what do you mean about Prime?

I thought u needed Amazon prime to get the ebooks?

 

[Destination Unknown]

We have the Amazon Kindle App on our Samsung Tablets. All you need is a account with Amazon, and you can load the many free books listed in these strange times.

 

[Coolcats]

We have the Amazon Kindle App on our Samsung Tablets. All you need is a account with Amazon, and you can load the many free books listed in these strange times.

indeed there is free content but there is a saying that there is no such thing as a free lunch. We are wither giving something (data so we can be profiled) or the author is not getting paid. So yes it is strange times.

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[Peter & Elaine]

Kindle unlimited is very good value if you read more than 3 books a month works well on iPad or android
I do like paper white readers fantastic on sunny days
when we are away or like now on lock down I can do a book a day
so I consider I get more than my money’s worth
you do not need prime membership
kindle unlimited is far better value so many free books

 

[Manic]

We’ve got kindles Paperwhite’s , these are like reading a normal book, even in the sun and don’t have Prime. We have the 3G versions and there’s plenty of cheap and free books available and you can download them free.

 

[DBK]

I thought u needed Amazon prime to get the ebooks?

No, you just need to create an Amazon account, which is free. There are some books which are free but most are either rubbish or are the first of a series which they want to lure you into. The first is free but the others won't be.
You can buy books individually, many are around £2.99 but they do a daily deals list of 99p books.

The other way is Kindle Unlimited where for a monthly fee you can "borrow" up to ten books at a time from memory with additional costs. However, not all books are on Kindle Unlimited as the author has to grant Amazon exclusive sales rights. The authors are paid on how many pages are read.

 

[Interceptor]

Hi all
I have a kindle and it very good.
But I tend not to use it now for years.
I like being able to listen to my music on my iPhone/ipad while reading.
But that's just me.
If you purely just want to read books the kindle is a great bit of kit.
Both day and night.
And given its cheap if you are at the side of the pool on holiday not worth stealing.
Not that that will be a problem for a couple of months?
And you can swop books between each other.

 

[Lenny HB]

We both have Kindle Paperwhite's far easier to read than a colour screen.
I read about 3 books a week rarely ever have pay for them. Thousands of free e-books avalible. Sign up to BookBub and you get a weekly email with bargains and free books geared to your tast.

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[skylinersi]

So can you download any books not just Amazon ones if you have the kindle reader?

 

[Boringfrog]

So can you download any books not just Amazon ones if you have the kindle reader?

So long as they're in a format that the Kindle can read, some other readers have different file types.
LINK

 

[WillH]

Kindle, not Kindle Fire, just plain Kindle. Brilliant.

 

[Innkeeper]

Why not goggle books for phone or tablet.
You get a preview of the book before you buy

 

[DBK]

So can you download any books not just Amazon ones if you have the kindle reader?

Virtually all books published recently are available as an eBook. Classics like Dickens are also available, often for next to nothing. I don't think the format is perfect for all types of book, cookbooks don't seem to work well as you can't easily flip through them and the devices don't take well to being covered in flour or milk.

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[skylinersi]

Looks like we are going with the kobo h20

Many thanks for all the help and replies folks
This is why I love this place....

 

[DBK]

Looks like we are going with the kobo h20

Many thanks for all the help and replies folks
This is why I love this place....

I would check what books you can get on a kobo. If it is limited to only those available on their platform you may find it a bit limiting. They are not mainstream in the UK. I had my first book on Kobo for a while and sold zilch. All my sales now are through Amazon.

 

[kevenh]

A 2017 write up on free ebooks

After missing out on the kindle that had free cellular data I jus use an app on iOS devices.
Mrskevenh is on her 2nd Kindle Fire & we can share our library.

 

[Mr Chrysalis]

My wife

 

[davidbaldam]

I use Kindle on my iPad, very handy when traveling.

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[Mr porky]

Had a Sony reader for 2 years. Then a kindle. Now on my second kindle (upgrade) paper white so easy to read at night as it’s back lit also splash proof,
totally recommend

 

[MyrtleGuru]

I can see the advantage of the Paperwhite technology if you do your reading outdoors (on the beach, etc.), otherwise I can't see the point these days of having a separate device for reading e-books.

You can use a tablet (either Android or Apple) to read just about any format of e-book with the appropriate app installed. Screen sizes of 7 to 10 inches are great for this and there are some very cheap Android ones. Given that these can double up as satnavs, web-browsers, music-players, etc. why bother with an e-reader. Even phone screens are getting big enough to use as an e-reader these days.

We were early adopters of e-readers (Sony and Nook) but we don't bother with them now. Most try to tie you into their services, so you purchase from them -- Kindle being a case in point with cheap prices for the device, as they make their money from the sale of books for the device. As far as the Nook goes, they discontinued the service and transferred people to Kobo (not without issues for purchased content).

I am now wary of any service that employs DRM (digital rights management), meaning access to the content that you purchased can potentially disappear overnight.

Calibre is a very useful tool for managing your e-books: https://calibre-ebook.com/

If you want to read classic out-of-copyright books there are a number of apps you can use. Recently I have been checking out an Android app called Oodles which boasts 50,000 free books (not all in English) and looks pretty good.

 

[Mark McG]

Depending on how computer savvy you are then have a look at https://calibre-ebook.com/. I use this with a kobo reader. Works well for me.

 

[Lenny HB]

With Calibre ebook management program you can download and upload books to most types of e readers and convert the format.

 

[Burstnerite]

If you're a library member, use the LIBBY app to access over 10k books for free. Any tablet or laptop will do.
Why pay for books and a dedicated computer ?

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