We like E-Readers aboard...

Delezynski · December 08, 2009, 10:12:00 PM

Aboard Guenevere. Living on a 27 foot boat limits the number of hard books we can carry. ;) The E-Book readers allow us to carry thousands of books! We love it.

I just took delivery of a Barns & Noble Nook E-Reader. I just posted a short video of the un-boxing of it on YouTube. You can see it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjbV4h1orzo

We have a short comparison on our web site (in Guenevere's Reading Room), but as soon as we get a chance to use it for a few days, we will post a side by side comparison with our Sony 505 E-Reader.

Greg

Oldrig · December 13, 2009, 12:42:39 PM

Keep us posted on your impressions of the Nook.

It got a decidedly negative review from David Pogue in Thursday's New York Times:

www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/technology/personaltech/10pogue.html?ref=technology

He mainly compared it with Amazon's Kindle.

--Joe

Delezynski · December 14, 2009, 03:49:58 PM

Joe,

I am liking the Nook better each day. I have posted some of my thoughts on our web site at:
http://www.svguenevere.com/grr/ereader/readers.html
and compared it with our Sony. I have not used the Kendle, but the page turns on our readers are about the same. Also, a big plus is the op system for the Nook is open source, so I expect to see apps coming for it soon, unlike the Kendle that is closed.

We have been reading e-books as far back as 1990 or 91. We have about 1,500 now. Most of them are the classics, but the classics are fine floating at anchor!

Greg

CapnK · December 17, 2009, 08:51:56 AM

I know that many geeks were slathering over the Nook, saying that B&N had done what Amazon should have done, WRT the Kindle. :)

Nook webpage doesn't say how exactly expandable the storage of the Nook is, just that they have a SD slot. So I imagine with your netbook you could wget all of Project Gutenburg, and download Wikipedia, and probably never really run out of something to be reading... ;D

Delezynski · December 17, 2009, 11:05:41 AM

Hi CapnK,

So far, I have 1,025 books on the 2GB MicroSD card I put in. I have about 1.7 GB still open! Jill asked if we had the time left to read it all??? That's a lot of anchoring out. ;)

Oh yes, I still have over a GB of internal (not SD) memory to use for purchased books.

The Nook is a nice device. I have not used a Kindle so can't compare it. But we do compare it to our Sony reader. It's different, not better or worse, just different. I am VERY happy with the support board put up by B&N. They are taking inputs from all of the users and planning on an update soon. I have already seen one ?hack? that shows it will run other programs, so I expect an ?apps? store to open soon.

Bottom line, as I use it, I am liking it more and more. BUT, like boats, not every one will like any single unit.

I think I am about to start the complete Shurlock Homes series.......

Greg

Oldrig · December 19, 2009, 05:56:44 PM

As a long-time print guy (heck, I even owned a failing printing business in Maine more than 30 years ago), I find it difficult to move into the age of e-readers. But if I were ever to make the move to long-distance cruising or living aboard, these gadgets sure beat running out of space or getting your books mildewed.

Good luck and keep us posted.

--Joe

Delezynski · December 19, 2009, 06:40:12 PM

New photos of our Nook. You can put your own photos on it.

One for under way, ready to read..... one for sleep mode.

Greg

CapnK · December 28, 2009, 06:36:09 PM

Interesting device here: http://ces.cnet.com/8301-31051_1-10418091-268.html

Dual-screen combination netbook/e-reader. Price ~$500.

Delezynski · December 29, 2009, 10:41:05 AM

CapnK,

I saw that info on the Edge also. BUT, it looks like it will first be shown at this coming CES. To me, that means it might be a year away before us mortals can lay hands on it.

We are heading back to our boat in March (or so) and I wanted one to take with us. So, this was a time issue.

I have also seen some talk about color E-Ink. I think for a reader that will be a good item unless they decide to make it the size of a normal newspaper! TO BIG for us small boat people.

The thing I think most people don't understand is that the e-ink is NOT a fast refresh. I constantly hear people talk about how slow it is to change pages. They are used to LCD or CRT displays. This is like the difference between a sailboat and a power boat. Bot have advantages.

Greg

newt · January 02, 2010, 06:50:49 AM

Greg- thinking about getting one, but I have a question. How hard is it to download basic reading material from the web? Lets say I wanted to download all my email, or all the new posts on this site- could I do it? Or even a rigging document or a manual from the web- doable?
Finally, how many books that you read do you pay for, and how many out there do you find for free? What percentage of your books to you pay for?

Delezynski · January 02, 2010, 06:41:54 PM

Newt,

The readers are no good for email or web sites. They just don't work like a netbook or laptop. They use eink that is very readable, but have no back light so they read just like a paper book. Great in the sun, but you need a light to read at night.

If you find a document on the web that comes in the .PDF format, most readers will let you load and read them, to some degree. I have a Yanmar manual, along with other manuals for gear we have aboard on ours and they read well.

Our ereader library currently has 1, 050 books in it and has cost me $ 0.00. Nada, nothing, zero. Of course, most, if not all of the books are considered classic. Like we have ALL of the Shurlock Holmes series. So, between what we pick up at the cruisers lending library in paper, and what we have electronically, we have a LOT of reading available.

You can see a number of sites on our ?Guenevere's Reading Room? pages of our web site.

Hope this helps.

Greg

newt · January 03, 2010, 04:59:34 PM

Thanks Greg, its nice to see you guys as regulars on this site.

Delezynski · January 03, 2010, 08:53:06 PM

Newt,

Nice meeting you also. We try to be around a lot. This is one of our favorite boards! NICE people here! And not a lot of fighting about stuff that makes no difference! ;D

Greg

tomwatt · January 03, 2010, 10:26:57 PM

Greg, I also wanted to thank you for posting up your comments/info on the e-reader. I've been seriously looking at a Kindle... still not certain whether I like it better than the other versions, but I'm leaning towards it... partly because I found and downloaded the synch package for the PC so one can synchronize a laptop/PC and a Kindle. Handy to have because, like you, I have a large stack of classical reading to keep me entertained (all free, I love the Internet!). Funny how Mark Twain seems never to be completely out of style!
At any rate, I'll make a noise about my synch results as soon as that works out. If it's fairly painless, it would make things a little better for a Kindle user.

Delezynski · January 03, 2010, 10:43:16 PM

Tom,

Good luck on your reader search. I was not happy with the way the Kindle worked. I am not a fan of closed systems. Like you said, LOVE the Internet.

For ease of using an Ebook reader, check out the calibre! It's a free and open source e-book library management application. See it at: http://calibre-ebook.com/

No matter which reader you decide on, this works GREAT!!!!! AND, it will even convert formats so that no matter what reader you have, you can get the book you want on it. And it's easy to use.

Greg

tomwatt · January 05, 2010, 09:21:57 AM

I'm not too keen on closed systems either... so was looking forward to cracking open the mix of things with the Kindle synch. I like the looks of Calbre even better. The biggest plus for the Kindle is a more-or-less worldwide download access... but I don't know how really 'worldwide' that is. It would be nice to have access to something while in the middle of a cruise, especially the news (San Jose Mercury News is among the oldest net-enabled of newspapers).
Now I have more stuff to consider. Thanks.

Quote from: Delezynski on January 03, 2010, 10:43:16 PM
Tom,

Good luck on your reader search. I was not happy with the way the Kindle worked. I am not a fan of closed systems. Like you said, LOVE the Internet.

For ease of using an Ebook reader, check out the calibre! It's a free and open source e-book library management application. See it at: http://calibre-ebook.com/

No matter which reader you decide on, this works GREAT!!!!! AND, it will even convert formats so that no matter what reader you have, you can get the book you want on it. And it's easy to use.

Greg

Delezynski · January 05, 2010, 10:39:16 AM

Tom,

Just a quick note, Calibre has a news feeds built in. I just looked and it has the San Jose Mercury news in it. So, if you use it, and have an Internet connection, you have access to SJMN, and 152 other sources.

Greg

Delezynski · January 09, 2010, 03:07:46 PM

Link to 25 photos of NEW E-Readers coming out this year. At:
http://ces.cnet.com/2300-31045_1-10002129.html?tag=mncol;txt

Greg

tomwatt · January 09, 2010, 08:37:46 PM

Thanks Greg, Calibre seems to work fine, although I just found and started using the Adobe ereader on my laptop, and that seems to suit where I'm at right now... when I finally go aboard, that will have to be modified to something with built-in access (Nook or Kindle, we'll see). But for now, Project Gutenberg and my laptop are happily working together!

News:

We like E-Readers aboard...