UKC

I had a Kindle fire for about 10 years, it died while I was out on tour, depriving me of much needed reading material, and sending me back to dead tree books.

I found reading dead tree books very pleasant again, but living in a van means we keep storage space at a premium, and I was charity shop buying them on a one-in-one-out, basis.

I'm one of those who prefers to keep books.

So I bought a "paperwhite", and hated it. I'm returning it today, as I found it loathsome. The menus were awful, the browser crap, the reading experience very poor, navigation a nightmare. Oh, and this "with special offers" idead is truly terrible, non stop nagging to buy stuff.

So I'll probably invest in a decent  Kindle Fire. What is your experience with e-readers, are there any good buys out there?

I wouldn't touch a fire for reading... its a tablet and will screw your eyes up as much as reading on a ipad.

I'm surprised you struggled with a paper white, my 76 your old mother seems to get on fine... maybe give it a bit longer?

If you have a laptop or tablet already, you could just get the Kindle app. (Not trying to teach you to suck eggs)

Thanks both.

I use kindle touch. Monochrome* kindles are very good for reading books. Terrible for anything else.

*dull, non reflective

Kindles are designed to sell you stuff from Amazon. They don't work with normal e-books, ie epubs and instead only work with Amazon's proprietary format. This means there's a ton of books out there that Kindle's cannot work with. It's like the equivalent of a web browser that's designed not to work with HTML or an email program that can only receive emails from hotmail. In short they're a scam.

It is possible to convert other books to Amazon's sub par format but personally why bother? Better just to get a book reader that can read normal e-books and works with, rather than against, open standards.

I've had two Kobo's. The first one I had for quite a few years before the screen broke. The second one, a Kobo Aura, has a bigger screen (7.8 inches) which I really like. It's also completely waterproof which is dead handy if you want to read books whilst scuba diving. (Actually the idea is to read books in the bath without fear of dropping it in). It mostly works OK. Selecting text is sometimes a bit tricky. It can't work with PDF's. I've not used the a web browser, browsing the web will be much better with a tablet PC. But for book reading it's pretty good with a really nice clear screen that is much easier to read outside than a screen on a tablet.

I got a normal Kindle recently (not the light-up Paperwhite one, anyway...not sure what model it is). Although I deliberately chose the standard format over the bright screen to save my eyes, it is a bit annoying not being able to read in low light or darkness on the device...but then I remember that I'd need a light to read a proper book anyway! 

I’ve got a paper white one, which I think is great. I love reading with the light out, as it makes it easier to zone-out everything but the book. When I read books now, I’m distracted by my surroundings for a while!

I've had a paperwhite for years and love it despite my initial scepticism. Much less strain on the eyes than a tablet and I've hardly ever had trouble finding a book on kindle. My only gripe is that they're crap at reproducing maps, diagrams and photographs.

How long did you give it before deciding that you hated it?

I agree that kindles dont exactly support a wide range of formats, but they're certainly not locked in to amazons format. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle#Format_support_by_device Just last week I copied a collection of .mobi files from my kindle to my girlfriends kindle.

Not true. I use Calibre to manage my Kindle, and it will take any format.

https://calibre-ebook.com/

My Kids got me a standard Kindle for my 50th (so seven years ago) and they also shelled out for a nifty cover that has a pull out reading light powered from the kindle itself.  Still works perfectly and the cover makes it feel like I'm holding a book.  Which is nice  

I'll have to look into that! I have a cover but no light unfortunately.

The mobi format is owned by Amazon.

Yeah I use Calibre too. A great program but nothing to do with Amazon. You can use it to convert non Amazon formats to Amazon and vice versa. So not impossible to do now but no thanks to Amazon and it's still an extra hurdle.

It seems clear to me that Amazon are trying to get a monopoly on ebook sales by creating their own format and then making devices that only work with that format.