Chitika

Monday 18 April 2011

eReaders.

This weekend Tim and I finally acquired an eReader, mostly for Tim, but also for me.  We decided to go with a Kobo eReader because they are cheaper and because Tim doesn't want to use it for anything other than reading.  They are sold at Chapters/Indigo, and I had used up my Air Miles and putchased enough gift certificates from there to buy the eReader.  Tim is a prolific reader, so it makes sense to cut back on our expenses and also on the environmental implications of such a hobby.  Plus, we have quite literally run out of room for our books.  All of my books are still in their boxes from when we moved as all of Tim's books occupy all of our bookshelves.  So we definitely don't need any more books.

The Kobo seems to be great, particularly if you use it as the manufacturer intended (i.e. set up a Kobo account and pay for your books).  Things get a little more complicated if you want to download books on the internet and then transfer them onto your Kobo, not that I have any experience with that, but the salesperson helpfully mentioned it.  So far, we have set it up and Tim and I both have read a couple chapters of some books on it (the Kobo comes with free access to some of the classics, so I am reading Heart of Darkness right now, strange choice, I know, but it was mentioned in a podcast I was listening to and I realized I have never read it, so I thought I would give it a shot).  The screen is very easy on the eyes compared to a computer screen, iPad, or anything backlit, and the size and weight of the Kobo is perfect for an afternoon of reading. 

All things considered, I would say that the Kobo eReader (I haven't used any of the other options available, so I can't say much about them) is an excellent alternative to purchasing hard copy books, and, as an added bonus, you only pay about 50% or less of the price of the hard copy, so there are additional long-term savings.  If you spend a significant amount of your money on books (more than about $200 total is about where it starts paying for itself), I would say an eReader would be a worthwhile investment.  I'm going to get Tim to do a guest blog on the subject after he's had it for a couple weeks and give a fuller review.

4 comments:

  1. Awesome! I just got a Kindle (it's still in the mail though, so I haven't had a chance to play with it yet). I've heard they're pretty nice though! Looking forward to it.

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  2. Hello Q! Enjoy your Kindle, I've heard lots of great things about it. It has some added functionality in addition to that of the Kobo, which is a great pick if all you're wanting it for is reading books. But if it's important to have web access, the Kindle is the way to go as it has browsing capabilities whereas Kobo does not. Enjoy!

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  3. It's quite fun, but the down side of the Kindle, is it's only available in the US. Not Canada. I want to get a case for it, before I throw it in my bag, and take it to work with me, but you can't buy cases for it on this side of the border. I have to either buy it down south, or buy it online, and have them ship it to me, and pay international shipping fees. That doesn't sound fun either. Grrr..

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  4. I didn't realize that you can't buy them in Canada! I really do get a lot of use out of the Kobo (especially since it was a present for Tim!), so do heartily recommend it, again, only if you're not looking for something with browsing capabilities. Also, with Kindle, apparently it doesn't support any format but the ones available on Amazon.com, so you can't download anything that is free and then load it on, whereas Kindle supports all types. I've actually found a surprising amount of content available online for free (legitimately for free, not just pirated or file-shared), so it's nice to have that option.

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