<p>Hi</p>
<p>I'm a spanish and psychology major and I've been overwhelmed by the quantity of books I am forced to carry. Is there a way to know if I will benefit from having an eBook? Would I benefit greatly from having to carry just one electronic device for all my books? Also, does the kindle/nook support most of the books published to this date (well, not the very obscure ones)</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>The textbook industry hasn’t completely embraced the ebook technology yet, but from the influx of tablets and ebook readers coming onto the market it won’t be long. That was a major selling point for the iPad early on for college students and it still is. I presently have an iPad and I really love it, but as far as getting all your books on it, I’d really doubt it at this moment. Give it a year or so and they’ll start rolling out the textbooks no problem. They’d have to with the amount of $ spent on those things every year and with the extent college kids will go to save money. If your already an avid reader, a simple nook or kindle is a nice pickup with how relatively cheap they are, but an iPad would be a bit harder to justify even with the 16gb wifi refurb models now down to $350. you can do more with the iPad, but it won’t replace a laptop so that extra cash goes more for the entertainment value than anything.</p>
<p>Don’t carry your books around. You don’t need them for class (unless you specifically do but I doubt it), they are mostly for reference and doing homework out of. If you want an ebbok reader for whatever reason, fine. But don’t get it for the purpose of replacing your textbooks, because it’s not going to happen, at least while you’re in school. The textbook racket is quick to put out new editions and charge full price, but slow to change in any other respect.</p>
<p>There is this site called coursesmart. they have a huge selection of books in electronic version. You can get the electronic version of the book and have it on almost any device.<br>
Laptop
iPod touch/iPhone/iPad
Kindle</p>
<p>^Wow, thanks for the reference. Thats where i’ll be looking next fall lol.</p>
<p>If you get one, get the Kindle since it has eInk and won’t hurt your eyes after hours of reading. Don’t get the colored ones or the old generation eReaders.</p>
<p>Personally, I prefer physical books. Hard to explain but… you know how you can remember certain facts/details by remembering what the pages looked like? Sometimes you can remember the material relative to other material. Well, reading an actual book can help you remember the material for a test. That’s just my way of studying. Heh :)</p>
<p>^ I have the same feelings about it. I love the new technology and I really feel like its going to pick up pretty soon, but it is going to take some time to get used to. I would certainly like to get rid of the whole backpack full of books problem, but the quick accessibility of a physical book is hard to beat (right now at least).
The new e-ink screens are called e-ink pearl, so yeah there is a difference between the older kindles and the newer kindle 3 and nook which have the pearl screen. It has a much darker contrast on the text so it makes it a bit easier to read. I’ve tested out the kindle personally with this new screen and it works wonderfully. Really nice for casual reading and it doesn’t cost a ton either, $139, which is pretty reasonable for what you’d use it for.</p>
<p>Most of my readings are PDF files of psych experiments and essays/papers</p>
<p>Get the Kindle DX. Good size, won’t strain your eyes too much, and well it’s like real paper. Awesome for reading over the iPad. But personally, I prefer the iPad. You get so sleepy when you read off real paper. The iPad will keep you awake because of it’s backlit display. Hormones. :D</p>
<p>You only need a reader device if you prefer to carry it around. There are “apps” for all modern ereaders available on Windows and Mac. Just read them on your laptop, unless you want a reader.</p>
<p>^I think an ipad might also be helpful. You can download the ibooks app for free. I mean, the ipad screen is probably not as suited for reading as kindle is but I feel like ipad offers many more useful features.</p>
<p>^
Agree GoldOwl. I have a kindle, that I use on an airplane, but now that wifi is becoming available on flights, I’d rather have a multifunction device like an Android table or iPad.</p>
<p>Some people prefer the Kindle for academic readings because there are fewer distractions. It is easier to concentrate on your work when you can’t use it for facebook, games, etc. </p>
<p>The Kindle also is ideal for reading on mass transit or in sunlight. </p>
<p>Also, a Kindle is much less likely to be stolen than an Ipod.</p>