eReaders - Kindle, Kobo, Bares & Noble, Onyx

[Fluidic Kimbo]

I'm going to a thermal spring in Germany next month and I want to bring a few books. I won't have any checked-in luggage and I can only carry one bag of limited size.

Two days ago I was walking around a book store, and at one point I had 6 books in my hands. One or two of them were hardback, and I was looking for the softback version to try fit it into my very-limited luggage.

Then I had an epiphany -- why not get an eReader? Because I'm going to a thermal spring and will be in a swimming pool reading, I was going to look for a water resistant model (i.e. you can get a splash on it here and there). To my surprise, the standard models are now waterproof. When I say waterproof, I mean you can actually hold them one metre under water for 30 minutes.

So anyway I now have an eReader. Now I just need to download a load of pirate books. I've tried the main torrent websites but there's very few seeders for the archives of books I want (biographies and memoirs). I've managed to download about 20 - 30 books but I want the big archive with hundreds of biographies.

Plus I don't mind buying a book here and there . . . the first eBook I bought was "The Survivor" by Josef Lewkowicz, the guy who was moved from 6 concentration camps.

Anyone else got an eReader and perhaps a mountain of eBooks?

I still feel a little bit fancy sitting in a coffee shop reading from an eReader but I'm hoping that feeling will wear off.

[Honkey_Kong]

I use an iPad with the Kindle app on it. For $12 a month you can subscribe to the Kindle Unlimited which gives you access to millions of books and magazines. Most of the newer books though, are not included with the subscription. But I tend to prefer the older novels and classic literature. Still it's only a few dollars, to buy an e-version of most of the newer books and you can read them with the kindle app.

The actual e-readers have some advantages over tablets though. They typically have longer battery lives and their lcd displays are easier to read for long periods of time than a tablet. But they're slower loading and if you don't get one with a backlit screen you won't be able to read it at night very well.

But a regular iPad works great too in "dark mode"

[Fluidic Kimbo]

I got the paperwhite Kindle new for US$190, and it's waterproof. It has a backlight but I turned it off . . . no need to use battery if I don't need it. They say that it doesn't use any battery when it's displaying a page of text, but I assume there's a trickle from the battery to detect the screen taps to change page. (Plus batteries very slowly lose charge anyway even when not in a circuit).

It turns out that this Kindle has a web browser on it . . . which I would have preferred not to have. Like for instance tomorrow I'm going to spend 4 days at a temple, and the whole point in going there is to turn my phone off and also just to 'switch off' myself, so I'd rather if my Kindle were just a book reader and nothing else.

I'm hoping that nobody will mind me using it at the thermal spring . . . there will be 2,000 people walking around naked so you're not allowed to bring in a phone or any kind of camera, so when I'm relaxing in the pool I hope nobody's paranoid about my e-reader having a camera.

[Fluidic Kimbo]

Also this website has a load of free e-books such as 12 Years A Slave:

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45631

[XnavyHMCS]

I got the paperwhite Kindle new for US$190, and it's waterproof. It has a backlight but I turned it off . . . no need to use battery if I don't need it. They say that it doesn't use any battery when it's displaying a page of text, but I assume there's a trickle from the battery to detect the screen taps to change page. (Plus batteries very slowly lose charge anyway even when not in a circuit).

It turns out that this Kindle has a web browser on it . . . which I would have preferred not to have. Like for instance tomorrow I'm going to spend 4 days at a temple, and the whole point in going there is to turn my phone off and also just to 'switch off' myself, so I'd rather if my Kindle were just a book reader and nothing else.

I'm hoping that nobody will mind me using it at the thermal spring . . . there will be 2,000 people walking around naked so you're not allowed to bring in a phone or any kind of camera, so when I'm relaxing in the pool I hope nobody's paranoid about my e-reader having a camera.

You have a good point here.

I will be surprised if you are not questioned by staff, at the minimum, concerning the capabilities of the e-reader (camera).

Let us know how it goes.

[Fluidic Kimbo]

[/I][/B]
You have a good point here.

I will be surprised if you are not questioned by staff, at the minimum, concerning the capabilities of the e-reader (camera).

Let us know how it goes.

I have the shift manager's number, I met him a few years ago and went out to a restaurant with him and his friend . . . I messaged him to ask if I can bring in an e-reader but nothing back yet. I'm half-thinking now that I should have done "shoot first, ask later".


The back of the Kindle is just plain black with the Amazon tick logo, you can tell that there's no lens on the back of it -- but when it comes to nudity, some people can be hyperparanoid. I'll be disappointed if they tell me to put it away. I'd probably be wise to bring one real book in my luggage as a backup.

[wango]

I got the paperwhite Kindle new for US$190, and it's waterproof. It has a backlight but I turned it off . . . no need to use battery if I don't need it. They say that it doesn't use any battery when it's displaying a page of text, but I assume there's a trickle from the battery to detect the screen taps to change page. (Plus batteries very slowly lose charge anyway even when not in a circuit).

It turns out that this Kindle has a web browser on it . . . which I would have preferred not to have. Like for instance tomorrow I'm going to spend 4 days at a temple, and the whole point in going there is to turn my phone off and also just to 'switch off' myself, so I'd rather if my Kindle were just a book reader and nothing else.

I'm hoping that nobody will mind me using it at the thermal spring . . . there will be 2,000 people walking around naked so you're not allowed to bring in a phone or any kind of camera, so when I'm relaxing in the pool I hope nobody's paranoid about my e-reader having a camera.

I’d have thought at the temple you’d prefer not bringing a book/reader. And I agree, the electronics will worry a lot of folks concerned about their privacy.

That said, enjoy your trips, you certainly have a well rounded existence, congrats!

[Fluidic Kimbo]

I’d have thought at the temple you’d prefer not bringing a book/reader. And I agree, the electronics will worry a lot of folks concerned about their privacy.

That said, enjoy your trips, you certainly have a well rounded existence, congrats!

I too am not keen on electronics in places where you go to wind down . . . If I'm rich in the future I'll buy a small island and have a retreat house without electricity (I'll have oil lamps mounted on the wall, or candle sticks mounted on the wall).

The temple I'm going to this weekend isn't silent . . . people will be sitting around chatting, and there's only 3 meditations per day. So I read books and relax while I'm there.

I'm preparing myself for next month when I fly to Italy to a silent meditation centre to do 10 days without talking, without reading, without phone, and 10 hours of meditation per day. So I think I'll spend the next 4 weekends at my local temple to try slow myself down before I head to Italy.

[Fluidic Kimbo]

At first they let me use the Kindle at the thermal spring for 2 or 3 days, but then they said I can't use it anymore because some people are paranoid that it's a tablet with a camera.