First: I never used an eReader before in my life! Because i’m going back to school and need to read a lot I’m thinking about buying one.
One thing I noticed is how hard it is to find an eReader that offers every book ever written. When it comes to audiobooks it’s even worse. (very region restricted and lots of copyright nonsense).
Top on my list now is the Kindle Paperwhite 2021 (with an American amazon account so I can use audible). I’ve also checked Kobo eReaders but read a lot of horror stories with their readers breaking down within a few months.
Which eReader do you use? Do you love or hate it and why?
Go with the Paperwhite. Don’t bother with other brands. I’ve never used other brands but the Paperwhite is fantastic for what it is, though I massively prefer real books for studying – something about the physicality of it, how you know you read something in the bottom third of this page which was about a third of the way through because the pages don’t change layout and you can see and feel which part of a book you are in while reading. Books help with memorising.
I just replaced my 1st Gen Oasis with the newest, more waterproof one. I was skeptical of the loss of the physical keyboard, but the newer eInk screens refresh quickly, so work for virtual keyboards.
I’ve had Kindles since the original Wedge - the library of available books continues to expand and no other eBook company seems to come close to Amazon’s breadth.
For novels and literature, Kindle has no competition. For technical docs, an iPad or one of the large format eReaders will probably be better. Kindle has always “supported” PDF, but color LCD tablets will always be better for PDF.
This! The Paperwhite is my favorite “gadget,” I own - it truly does not get better than having my entire library with me at once and without the potential distractions of reading on a phone or tablet. For school, however, I preferred physical books I could highlight and markup to heck as I’m a pretty visual learner (could replicate my notes/highlighting in my head) - your leaning/retention style may vary, though.
I’ve got a Kindle Voyage (now discontinued) but the Kindle Keyboard was my favorite. The side buttons on both sides made it the easiest to use of all the Kindles when commuting by subway (train).
The voyage is not as easy to change pages and the Oasis has the button on one side only, which is inconvenient if you have to change hands in a crowded train.
I recently switched to Kobo after years and years on Kindle. Much better typography, nicer software, and it has built-in Pocket for saving articles off the web to read later.
It’s also not Amazon, which doesn’t treat authors or publishers well. Not that Kobo is perfect, probably, but you know.
I just use my iPad. Kindle seems to have a lot of textbooks in particular. All the texts I assign in my courses can be had on Kindle. I don’t find I need the “easier to read” screens on some of the eReaders. (Hell, honestly, I read a ton on my iPhone mini these days). I do notice frequent, small errors in Kindle books, however.
I’ve tried using the iPad for reading but I’m too easily distracted. Can put it in ‘Focus mode’ nowadays but it’s all enabled again with just one press. Great for pdf’s, manuals etc, but not so much for reading a full book imo. It’s also 3 times as expensive and more than twice the weight.
I used a Kindle for about eight years (first a keyboard then a Paperwhite) but have settled on an iPad mini with Voice Dream Reader so I can read or be read to.
for studying purposes you probably will need to read pdfs. if so, you’ll need a big screen ebook. I got an old Kindle DX for that, I believe it is a cheapest option nowadays. 2nd generation (black) has a better contrast. aand I think copying books to it is only possible via usb (not sure about that). This is my first ebook too and my eyeballs find it much easier for long read compared to lcd
I use a 2014 Kindle Paperwhite with the associated leather cover. I don’t like Amazon mining my page turns so I keep it on airplane mode and put library books on it with USB. One upside is that they don’t disappear from the device when the loan expires (not that I do as much re-reading as I did in my youth). It isn’t any good for PDFs, and some weightier books just don’t work well reformatted. It’s great for casual reading. I don’t expect it will be very good for studying; for that I’d use an iPad, or a physical book.
No-ad Kindle Oasis for my wife. It is very, very good. I’ve read several books on it and plan to get another one for myself. I have a ton of epubs that I change to Kindle format with the free Calibre Book software.
Calibre is a must.
You then can load any old books from a century+
As much as I enjoy reading real books, I have not much room for them anymore and really like the eReader.
We have 4 at home, each their own ^^
I regret having taken a Kindle just because Amazon is behind. I thought it could be cool to share our book collections, with my wife, but in reality we don’t read each other’s books much…
Great Kindle companion software.