Time for an e book reader – I wonder!

An avid reader replies (I read for a living, basically):

I used to have at least one pbb along on hikes, but I slowly weaned myself from the "feel" of the book, which was always part of the experience for me.

My family got me a Kindle, but it just weighed to danged much. ;-)

My iPhone will hold ebooks, music, and even vids, and I have to have a cell phone along anyway, JIC.

The screen is small, but the read is very satisfying once you get used to it.

Stargazer

I've been quite happy with my Sony reader — it has pleasant ergonomics and reads PDFs out of the box. Now I just need to find a lighter case for it so that I can take it 'packing. The device itself is pretty light, but the hard leather case with a built in light weighs close to a pound. :-/

I have used old Palm PDA's that use AAA batteries and installed a reader program that also has a text converter so I could download Gutenberg Press classics and read them on the go. The Palm IIIxe and M105 are good candidates. The M105 takes SD cards which is a plus. You get full PDA functions at the same time. About 3.5oz. Battery life is excellent– 30 days with normal use.

$199 makes me choke a little. Nice toys though!

This is going to vary by the individual — my wife was planning to get a Kindle for an upcoming vacation that includes a lot of day hiking (carrying all of our stuff), but in general I'm satisfied with the trade-off of using my smartphone. As Thomas said, the screen is small, but dual (actually, multiple) use is pretty attractive.

I just carry a really small, light set of reading glasses, which helps with the small screen to some degree. Ultimately, if what I'm reading is sufficiently interesting I quickly forget the medium and focus on the story I'm reading.

There's some debate these days about how well the eBook readers are going to compete (long term) against the iPad and forthcoming tablet competitors, and then there's the potential for sort of "in between" devices like the Dell Streak.
http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/desktops/mobile-streak/pd.aspx?refid=mobile-streak&cs=19&s=dhs

If you're okay with reading on an LCD screen (E Ink of the Kindle, Nook etc are supposed to be a better reading experience), then I think that dual use is the way to go for a lot of backpackers.

If you do buy a dedicated eBook reader, I'd be inclined to look at either the Kindle or the Nook, or perhaps the Sony unit, as the current price wars that the iPad has brought on seems likely to drive most or all of the others out of business, or at best into some weird niches.

If it's just a basic reader you are after, the Kobo is one of the lighter and cheaper options. No frills, but decent battery life and an uncluttered look and feel.

I personally like the audiobook. i just got back from our jmt hike and got through 3 books. i brought this (http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/features.html) weighing in at .38oz. I would just leave one earphone in and 'read' away when i was off hiking alone or in my tent. i got a little usb solar charger off ebay for $15(and 1.5oz) that kept it and my iphone charged the whole trip.

Thanks for all the comments. It is hard to know what to do with new products/devices being released all the time. I was convinced I just wanted a simple e reader to take backpacking, but I also do a lot of travelling and other options seem appealing for long bus/train rides and waiting for a lift! Things are never easy are they!

Just apply basic lightweight principles.

1. Do I need the function?
2. If 1 = yes can I get more than 1 useful function out of it?

I used to use an old pda for ebooks, music, and track notes I entered before starting the walk. I also wrote my diary on it but had to carry a separate phone. Now upgraded to a smart phone which adds gps and mapping software to the functions listed above.

I agree that reading the small screen is not the best but the new 480 x 800 screens on some of the android phones and iphone are a great improvement over the older screens.

The new Dell pad might be a nice compromise between smart phone and iPad – bigger screen size and a little more weight but better functionality.

…Go play with an iPad. An ereader is a unitasker. The iPad will do the books and much much more. In fact I'm sure it will replace your home PC for most things you do and will most definitely replace your notebook for 95% of what it does.

I use my HTC G-1 phone for e-books. The great thing is that not only can I read e-books its also my phone, it has maps, and GPS plus music and video. The best thing it only weighs 5.6 oz. There are great apps for taking notes so you can use it as a journal as well.

I debated between carrying a dedicated ebook reader vs an iPhone / iPod Touch. I used my Kindle 2 for several trips, sold it when I preordered a Kindle 3 and have been using an iPod Touch in the meantime. Here are what I see as the advantages and disadvantages of a dedicated ebook reader.

Advantages of Ebook Readers vs a PDA/phone:

Battery life. If you're doing 8-day trips, the long (30 day claimed for Kindle 3) battery life of an e-ink ebook reader is a must, especially if you're also using it as a replacement for maps or a guidebook.

Screen quality. E-ink screens look great in daylight. If you're only reading at night in your tent then you might prefer a backlit PDA/phone, but for anything but the shortest trips you will have to ration usage and turn the device all the way off between uses, making you wait a minute or two for it to start up whenever you do want to use it. I read during the day and at night and by far prefer the Kindle screen to the iPod Touch's.

Screen size. I find a 6-inch screen more pleasant for reading than a 3-inch one, and more useful if you're using it for maps or a guidebook.

Disadvantages of Ebook Readers vs a PDA/phone:

Weight. Even the Opus weighs more than an iPhone 4. The Kindle 3 is the lightest ebook reader yet with a six-inch screen, but even that is almost twice the weight of an iPhone 4.

No phone. If you're going to carry a phone anyway then this just amounts to an even greater weight penalty. If not, then it amounts to a convenience penalty of not having a free (weight wise) phone with you ebook reader.

I was debating between the Kindle and the Opus and ended up going for the Kindle.

Advantages of Kindle vs Opus:

Screen size and quality. With the new higher contrast and faster refresh rate of the Kindle 3 screens, the Kindle pulls further ahead here. Again, even more of an issue if you're using the reader to double as a guidebook.

Free 3G internet. Less of an issue on the trail, but when passing through towns the Kindle's free cellular internet access is a plus, and should be even more convenient with the Kindle 3's improved web browser.

Selection of books and ease of purchasing new books. The Kindle store has the best selection and being able to purchase new books without a computer makes satisfying specific book desires fast and easy.

Quality of rendering and ease of navigating PDFs. The Kindle's controls for being able to easily read PDFs with small fonts and figures makes it possible to actually read PDFs like the free AT ThruHiker Companion (http://www.aldha.org/comp_pdf.htm).

Text-to-speech. While many people may not want to use this, I love being able to have the Kindle read aloud to me while I setup or tear down camp.

Keyboard for journaling. The Kindle's built in keyboard means that you can use it for writing notes or as a (somewhat inconvenient) journal by adding "notes" to an existing book (can be an empty book that you add for the purpose of adding journal entries to). The Kindle 3 has a microphone, so I hope that a 3rd party app will give it audio recording capabilities for audio journaling.

Disadvantages of Kindle vs Opus:

Weight. There is of course a huge weight penalty, with the Kindle 3 weighing in at 247g vs the Opus's 150g.

As far an an iPad goes, the advantages vs an iPod Touch or iPhone is its screen size, but it comes with such a huge weight penalty that I would personally not consider it a serious option. (The iPhone 4, on the other hand, is a very compelling option and does nearly everything the iPad does.)

If you do go the ebook reader route, the next question is how to store it. Standard cases weigh too much and don't provide any water protection. I kept my Kindle in a clear aLOKSAK at all times, even when reading, and wedged it in between my sleeping pad when in my pack and never had any problems.

Audio books, music, video player, FM radio, video camera, 18 hour battery life.

If you're going to go with an iPod Nano you're best off to wait 3 days until the new ones are announced. They're going to be way smaller/lighter.

I always take out several disposable pocket books with me I find used and burn them thruout a trip. There's nothing quite like burning thru a book and lightening your load at the same time.

My only question with electronic books is whether they can pull 4 hours a day of night time reading when it's 0F or -10F? I hate carrying batteries and I'm already lugging around 3 or 4 spares for my Lumix camera and a couple AA sets for my radio and several AAA for my headlamp. I imagine hard winter use of an e-reader would show its limitations.

I read ~50 novels a year. Since 2001, 90%+ of them have been electronic. I've never owned any sort of dedicated e-book reader, and it isn't likely I will anytime soon. I've always read on a PDA or smartphone- from a Newton 2100 to a Nexus One. Battery life on modern devices is abysmal- no way I'd take an Android phone on the trail as an ebook reader without a solar charger.

That said, the device works fine for reading ebooks otherwise. If I were to buy a device for reading ebooks, I'd prolly buy an iPod Touch and use an app called Good Reader.

I don't buy regular Amazon-style ebooks- it's a racket. I borrow one from the library, leave it at home, and get a plaintext file from #bookwarez.