I’m intending to get a Kindle, primarily for use while in Nepal for 3 months (I know, jammy 🙂 ) inclusing a decent trek.

Is there anything that’s going to compete with the Kindle Paperwhite? The Kobo models seem ok and might have a few factors in their favour (cusimtisable fonts, epubs don’t need converting) but also are apparently a bit buggier.

I’ve not used an e-book reader before so don’t know everything I need to make a decision 😛

I’m not going to stop buying paper books but will fill the kindle with out of copyright and cheap stuff I hope!

Happy with my paperwhite here. Prefer it to Mrs Coolhandlukes standard kindle although I am a bit jealous of her page turning button and her fonts seem a bit nicer but, I can read in the dark.

General consensus when I asked a similar question was papwerwhite for the win.

The Kobo Aura is a bit smaller than a standard Kindle which means it is just about possible to put in a pocket.
Kobo 150x114x8.1 mm
Paperwhite 169x117x9.7 mm

I have the Kobo and it works well, I haven’t had any issues with bugs, but the Kobo store is nowhere near as comprehensive as Amazon. I bought it because I have had a Sony E-reader for years and all my books are in epub or pdf format. The Sony was great but the battery finally gave up and it isn’t easy to replace.

I’d say get a kindle, the amazon ebook store is the best out there and the device itself is great.

Even my wife (who didn’t like e-readers) likes her paperwhite.
( not used a kobo though so can’t comment on the comparison)

Thanks to HUKD, Argos is doing the 3g paperwhite for £83.95 if you can find one. 2012 version but still a good price

I have an old style Kindle 3G with keyboard. I have looked at replacing it with a Kobo or Nook but came to the conclusion that any savings on the device would be lost on more expensive books from the respective stores.

I still have not managed to talk myself into buying the 3G version of the Kindle Voyager which looks great but is very spendy.

One good thing about 3G Kindles is that the Whispernet works in lots of foreign countries although I do not think Nepal is included. It includes a very basic browser which can be used for checking email etc. in a pinch.

I wouldn’t ever worry about what format any reader uses or what’s available in any particular store. Use calibre to manage your library and it’ll convert any format to any other. Fantastic bit of free software.

I have a Kindle Touch and a Kobo Glo. The Kobo is smaller, has much better font choices (I like the OpenDyslexia font), cheaper and you get to escape from under the all consuming (and tax dodging) Amazon hegemony. Also the Epub format allows you to read books from public libraries too. However the Kindle is much smoother to use- the pages turn quicker and the touch screen interface works much better, meaning that the page turns every time as opposed to the Kobo which can be a little annoying at times. Also the dictionary that came with the Kindle is waaayyy better- the one on the Kobo is very basic, although there may be a way to change that, I haven’t looked into it yet.

I’ve had 4 kobos and they are OK generally but they do break fairly often

Picked up a kobo simple touch from asda last year for £20 ,bargain

I also have a current kindle paperwhite and so far it’s much more stable than kobos, it’s also quicker and the mail to kindle feature is great

I manage my epubs using calibre which is fantastic

Happy with a Paper White

I’ll be amazed if you don’t keep using it after your back

Only real down side is the slight tax guilt thing

Basic old kindle here. Had it years. Battery lasts weeks, has been carried all over. Basically, anywhere I might be queuing the kindle comes out. 🙂
I’ve run out of cycling books to read. 😕

If you just want to read books, original kindle. The battery lasts a very, very long time, nice big screen. Really, weeks it lasts.

The new paperwhite is very nice though.

My wife has a Nook and it’s been absolutely fine for a year or so. No complaints and it was only 30 quid

I have a kobo touch. Get the kindle.
I was drawn to it for the multiple formats it supports, but calibre is so easy to use that’s kind of irrelevant.
It’s not quite as slick as a kindle, and I still occasionally buy from Amazon and convert to another format (don’t tell them that though 😉

I have a Nook Glowlight and Lady White has a non-glowlight.

Great bits of kit, will accept any format (inc PDFs) and the battery lasts forever.

x2 for Calibre.

Just got a Kindle paperwhite, nice bit of kit. Not a big fan of the standard fonts, though they do the job, and for some reason Amazon have seen fit to remove the ability to add your own. Don’t see why they wouldn’t allow this. Also just discovered Calibre and it eliminates the format issues.

I also like the fact you get a kindle email address. I now save web pages as PDF and email them to my kindle address – a couple of minutes later the PDF has been converted to kindle format and is on my Paperwhite. Slick.

I also like the fact you get a kindle email address. I now save web pages as PDF and email them to my kindle address – a couple of minutes later the PDF has been converted to kindle format and is on my Paperwhite. Slick.

Do you have to pay per megabyte for that? My impression was that you do, but could well be wrong.

Not as far as I’m aware… completely free (but I’ll go check).

[comes back]
Oh yeah…. there is. Not a biggy though.

For Kindle device users living in the United Kingdom: Kindle Personal Documents Service fee via Whispernet is £ .20 per megabyte

Kobo Aura H2O is waterproof and about the same price.