I am an avid book reader, been since I was 5 or so years old and I've never thrown, given or sold a book I've bought. However, there is one small setback to buying and keeping books - they need bookshelves, and bookshelves take space in your home.
I recently faced a dilemma, I had a choice to buy a new bookshelf but because I don't have space for it, I would have had to find a bigger place to live as well, or I can buy an e-reader. Although nothing beats a real, printed book, for practical reasons I finally succumbed and bought myself a Sony PRS-650. To my surprise, I rather like it and reading from it feels so natural that there has been occasions I've almost flipped the reader over to turn to next page!
Although it can never completely replace real books, and I have no intention to stop buying real books either, I merely decided to be more selective which ones I want to buy and which ones I can merrily read on my reader, I am positively surprised about the device and convenience it offers. Its ability to read PDF files, and Calibre's ability to convert them, makes it a good choice to read O'Reilly's Bookshelf books stored on my server and availability of free books is amazing thus I haven't had a need to buy single DRM'ed book yet.
The main reasons I went for Sony reader were:
1) No vendor lock-in (epub)
2) Ability to loan e-books from local library
3) Quality build (aluminium not plastic)
4) Touch screen - can do everything the way I feel like (page turns, options etc)
5) MP3 player - just in case
6) 2 add-on card slots (can put some tunes for those moments when I want to listen music and read on the road)
7) No wi-fi - I bought the reader for reading books, not surfing the Net
If you got reader, which one you have and what you think of it?
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