What would you keep?

[Russell Phillips]

Kindles run at around the £100 mark, on Evil-Bay you can pick up a 7" tablet (Android) these days for £40, no brainer really, plus you cant play Angry Birds on a Kindle.

The prices of Kindles and 7" Android tablets are roughly comparable. A brand-new Kindle is £69, about the price you'd pay for a brand-new 7" tablet. A second-hand tablet can be had for about £40, but so can a second-hand or refurbished Kindle.

As for which you should buy, it depends what you want. I have a 6" e-ink Kindle and a 7" Android tablet. I like both, for different reasons. If I'm going to read, I pick up my Kindle - the e-ink display is far nicer for reading on. If I want to check my email or browse the web, I pick up the tablet.

[Leman]

I would have died saving my library. Burning books is the end of civilisation!

[Shecky]

I used to have an emotional attachment to books until I started selling them as a side business. After years of packing, hauling, unpacking sorting, etc. the romanticism of them has worn away. I still have my favorites - ones which have been given to me by my grandmother, but for the most part I am willing to let the physical book go.  I now read primarily on a tablet as I can get almost any new book at any time of the day and delivered within seconds. I've only bought one physical book in the past two years and only because it wasn't available in ebook form. The saved shelf space is now better used for more miniatures.

I once had a first edition, signed copy of "His Britannic Majesty's Army in Germany during the Seven Years War" by Savory. It even came with a letter to the original owner from Savory as to why he wrote the book. I had no problem selling it to a friend for a fair price.

I have since ceased selling books as a side business as ereaders have pretty much killed the market.

[Hertsblue]

I recommend the Kobo. Not the cheapest, but back-lit so it can be read in the dark - a not inconsiderable bonus if you spend as much time as I do sitting in station car-parks waiting for the other half to get back from work.

The cheapies are all very well, but when you read some of the feedback from previous owners I sometimes feel that it may be a false economy. 

[Techno]

Yes, yes, yes.......But seeing as the only time I now actually read anything is when I'm lying in the bath (as opposed to listening to audio books when I'm pushing putty about).....How bloomin' waterproof are these 'thingys' that you all keep going on about.

Cheers - Phil 

[Russell Phillips]

Yes, yes, yes.......But seeing as the only time I now actually read anything is when I'm lying in the bath (as opposed to listening to audio books when I'm pushing putty about).....How bloomin' waterproof are these 'thingys' that you all keep going on about.

I've read on my Kindle in the bath plenty of times without any issues. I dare say it'd complain if I dropped it in the bath, but then, last time I dropped a paper book in the bath it didn't like it, either. I've also read plenty of reports of others doing the same. Some people put them in see-through plastic zip-lock bags, some don't bother.

On a related note, the B&N Nook Simple touch is currently on offer at £29 (normally £79)

[Hertsblue]

Yes, yes, yes.......But seeing as the only time I now actually read anything is when I'm lying in the bath (as opposed to listening to audio books when I'm pushing putty about).....How bloomin' waterproof are these 'thingys' that you all keep going on about.

Cheers - Phil 

Don't think they're designed for sub-aqua use, Phil.