Originally this was titled C is for Cookie… (And for stream of consciousness) -but I was told my subjects/titles need to be more content relevant. Who woulda thunk. So I’m trying to rein in my randomness and be a good girl. There you have it.
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A “friend” described me as “[having the] focus and attention similar to that of a butterfly; memory and clarity of general explanations reminiscent of the movie Memento.” Well first he said gnat, but I wasn’t happy about that- and actually I hate butterflies (I hate all insects) but I know people generally like them so I guess I’ll live with it. I’ve also never seen Memento so I don’t quite know how to feel about this description. |
C also is for an average/good book at TGTBTU. There. I’ve had my broken record moment. I almost titled this post “Give it to Me, Baby.” But then I figured Offspring was best left sprung. Maybe.
MORE IMPORTANTLY. I’m thinking about getting an e-reader. A number of books are in e-format, etc, and well, I hate reading off my computer screen. The back light contributes to my bursting capillaries (gross, I know but it happens so I just can’t let go of the concept and I’m also not thinking too hard about it). And then back pain from car accidents, and so on. And wanting to read upside down and/or in bed.
| So, suggestions? I know everyone loves their Amazon Kindle, but let me be blunt. I’m poor. I’ve got those pesky things called student loans. (But last I heard/checked, Barack Obama does too – so I’m in good company… right?!) I could buy nearly 67 Chipotle burritos (and that’s with the new higher prices) with the money. And considering a burrito is a minimum of 2 meals for me, that could potentially be food for 4.5 months. And if I had to eat the same thing for 4.5 months I’d be so sick of it I’d stop (eating)- so really we’re talking maybe 5-6 months. (Or you know, 4-7 months worth of Subway, assuming I could stomach it daily.) 😛 Not only that, but I’m holding out hope for a 1) lowered price and 2) second generation Kindle. They have to come out with a newer, better, shinier, PRETTIER model at some point, don’t they? Soonish? |  |
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I considered the Sony e-reader, but wasn’t 100% impressed. A friend has one and it’s small and shiny and pretty, but the page lag would annoy me on my bad days. The ones where I want to throw a book across the room. So I’m also waiting/crossing my fingers on that being solved. Also cnet‘s review gave me pause and was slightly confusing.I know a lot of people have talked about this – but see the above butterfly comment. . *I also have to admit – since writing this post, I’ve become quite enamored with the Sony e-reader. A red one. The lag still I think would drive me batty. But it would be so much better than thinking I’ve broken my spine and permanently paralyzed myself while trying to read books on my laptop. [Honestly bad things happen and my body protests vehemently.] |
I do love my print books. LOVE. (E ink might be the selling point really.) I also like keeping all my books new. Pristine. Able to be traded with a new bookstore copy no problem. I experiences flashes of great sorrow when I accidentally crease a cover or… heaven forbid, step on a book. (Which happens a lot, unfortunately.) I suppose an e-reader would prevent such travesties.
| Damn – my computer crashed and lost the last bit. But it was back to cookies. A while back I made 100 (ok so 98) pumpkin cookies. See, that’s what friends or the fridge/freezer are for. I did give away ~75. Or more. And that was the week after I made 2 ginormous pumpkin cheesecakes. Ironic then I had 0 dessert for Thanksgiving. (Sad.) . Obviously I wrote this a while ago. My newest thing is making macaroons from scratch. I also made a trifle…But anyway, in the spirit of the holidays – Anyone have a good cookie recipe to share? Or just a favorite cookie if you’re not a baker? Or a cookie disaster/horror story? Or really any dessert- because I may talk a lot about cookies – but I prefer other things :X. |
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And most importantly – I know a lot of you with e-readers feel very strongly about them. If I’m going to be dropping ~$400.00 I’d like to be sure. Convince me. Cajole me – which one should I buy, and why? Of course – I’m also depending on your superior knowledge and wisdom in guiding me in this large, and very important purchase. Oh – 😉 and marketing reps comments are welcome too – I wouldn’t want to preclude you from doing your jobs. |
Ready? Set? GO!!! … and also – thank you in advance 🙂
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***Ok – so sometimes it can be a good thing for my ponderings to not be posted quickly. In the ~two months since – I’ve finally found the news. This may not be news to you and in fact old hat – but it’s the first “proof” I’ve seen. Finally- finally with all the rumors we’ve been hearing, Amazon has the Kindle 2. Ok so its not available yet. But with the leaked pictures, it should be coming out soon. Everyone remember when the G1 Kindle pics were leaked? (Yeah, my reaction was “eeeuuuwww.”) Sadly, v2 while a bit more appealing looks like a TI graphic calculator on steroids. Honest – I had a bad flashback to Calc AP. And its even larger than the 1st Kindle. What is going on here? The Sony is much prettier. But then they did mess up a bit on the PRS 700BC. I can’t afford that anyway – so I was thinking the Sangria Red 505. But most my ebooks are in Mobipocket. And now G2 Kindle – but it’s uggleee. (Yes, yes I can be coerced into buying things because they’re prettier. And so can you. Just check Apple sales. And hello, Ipod, anyone?) What’s a girl to do?!? |
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I’ve resigned myself to never being able to have “hot” news – but I can’t think of other graphics for that last bit. So – I’ll continue to add on. For those of you who are all mad about having recently purchased a Kindle (but not yet receiving it) – try contacting Amazon. You have a number of options. You could cancel your order. You could hope that the Kindle has been sold out for so long because Amazon has been phasing out the G1 and you’ll get a G2. Or you might get a G1 with a discount or refund. Or you might not. There are a few games tech geeks play with varying degrees of success. But to play it safe – ask Amazon, and otherwise, cancel and wait.
Try turning off your comp backlight when you read on the laptop. Well, lower it. Go to Control Panel – Hardware and Sound – Power Options.
I don’t have any of my cookie recipes with me. *sigh*
Thanks for the tip, Liv – I play with my backlight all the time 🙂 … especially in class… not… haha. It’s still bulky and not good for upside down reading though. [Doesn’t your notebook have the shortcut keys?]
But… maybe I’ll wait a few years on an ereader and by then they’ll be $50 a pop. (And maybe we’ll have flying cars too?) 😛 Nice to be able to make fun of oneself….
hi ms. limecello. i can only give my opinion on the sony 700. i am not a gadgety-love person, but this is a very pretty and sleek toy. i don’t have anything else to compare it to, except reading ebooks on adobe/laptop. i didn’t have the option to get the kindle as i am in canada. the 700 does seem harder to read than i would expect. turning on the backlight helps a lot, but really sucks the battery life, i find. the touch screen is very fancy, but the way the touch commands work don’t seem very user-friendly to me. eg. turning the page requires a stroke/line across the screen: too much work in my opinion. would have preferred needed to just tap the bottom corner or something. i cannot re-name/edit the title of books directly on the reader… apparently have to do it from the computer which downloads the files…. again: too much work for me!!! lastly, the font size selections are too limited. you can choose s/m/l/xl, but there is no fine-tuning in between, if that makes sense. some files i find the medium font is bigger than i’d like, but the small font is too small. make sense? sounds like you’re steering away from the 700 anyways. just my 2 cents (1.5 cents us 🙂
Allison – Hm, ok so you have the 700. I really appreciate you telling me your thoughts on the 700. I’d like to know how people really feel about the product. Actually, I had been looking at it, but its a bit too pricey for me – and I did read about some of the text issues, which made me go with the 505, which is at least G2. I didn’t know you could only turn pages through a touch screen – that seems silly, and like something set to fail for making it a “book reading experience.”
I’ve called around to a few stores – a number of places have the 505, but I’d have to drive about an hour to see the 700. (And fussing for like 5 minutes with a salesclerk breathing down your neck isn’t really the same thing as trying one out…) I wish I could see a kindle.
😛 And… in defense of the USD – what currency converter are you using? People keep saying the Canadian dollar is stronger than the USD, but at last check (1 second ago) 1 USD = 1.2341 CAD (yahoo), or from the Canadian consulate, 1 US Dollar = 1.23003 Canadian Dollar for Monday, February 2, 2009. [Honestly I’m not trying to be bratty -but… I’ve been seeing this a lot. Maybe this warrants its own blog post? Because… I’ll check multiple sites – so where are others getting their information?]
I recently posted on this, too. I bought the Kindle a couple of weeks ago, and am waiting to get it. Based on what I have heard personally from Customer Service at Amazon, and also based on obsessive research on line, customers currently in line for a Kindle will be offered the chance to upgrade to a Kindle 2.0 for some smallish additional fee (I have heard $30).
All of this is rumor, of course. No one knows for sure about Kindle 2.0 until the conference February 9.
If page turn is an issue, I strongly suggest you wait until we see what February 9 brings, because all of the tech geeks are saying that the new Kindle will have the fastest page turn.
I went over and over and over it. I don’t care about looks and I have a Mac. So, for me, it was the Kindle. Also, the return policy on the Kindle is excellent. Returning is Sony at Borders is a no go, not sure about Target or Best Buy, and at Sony Style you have to jump through a million hoops and get a 15% restocking fee, etc. I figured if I don’t like the Kindle, I can easily return it and get the SOny, but the reverse is not true.
It is a hell of a lot of money for a single purpose device, so I completely sympathize with taking your time making the decision.
Good luck whatever you decide!
I wasn’t sure, but I’m not completely sold on eink, or the price of them. If I were to buy one, I’d probably go for the open source Cybook, but I’ve heard the technology is ongoing and better ones will be available soon (in colour, yay!)
So I have two devices – the Ipaq 4700, which I can also use to record stuff like notes, lists, my calendar and reminders (I mainly use mobi reader on that) and the ebookwise, which also has a backlight and is much cheaper than the eink devices. Love them both.
Jessica – Ooo – thanks. True, amazon does have a great return policy, and I’m also hesitant about buying from Sony because I know trying to get help from their customer service is grueling and I already have enough bad luck with cs. I plan on going to Target and spending some quality time with a Sony reader soon – but also, Feb 9th isn’t that far off, and I’m sure (hoping?) the net will explode with info. A $30 upgrade would so be worth it.
Lynne – I wasn’t sure about eink until I looked at one of my friend’s Sony readers. I’m definitely sold – and I also don’t want something back lit – otherwise I could just use my laptop. It’s got a 12″ screen and is about… ~5lbs? So it’s small – but still… bulky and not what I’m looking for in an ereader. The prices are killer though, and I know a number of companies are developing readers with eink. Maybe if I wait even longer, competition will drive down prices. [Then again, the whole eye thing.]
Decisions, decisions!
I read the reviews of the Sony 700, and ended up choosing the 505. I would assume Allison’s issues with difficulty reading on the 700 are related to glare–which was one thing nearly every reviewer criticized about the 700. The 505 doesn’t have that problem. It doesn’t have a back light, either, but I can live with that. If I don’t want to spring for the $60 cover with integrated front light, I can fork over $2 on a book light at my bargain store. It may take a moment for the page to refresh, but it takes a moment to turn the page of a print book. Not a big deal for me.
I live in Canada, but even if I was in the States, I don’t think I would go for the Kindle. Proprietary format aside, there is NO REASON they couldn’t make the Kindle as esthetically pleasing as the Sony. I have no qualms about preferring something pretty–especially if I’m going to be looking at it for hours on end.
The battery life for the 505 is phenomenal. It takes 30 min for mine to charge from 1/4 to full. I can read for a week–and show it off to at least ten curious people–on one charge.
Kirsten saell – Thanks for your comments! That’s exactly what made me lean towards the 505. I think the kindle is ugly as sin. And think the G2 is ugly as well. Maybe all those leaked photos are fakes 😛 One can only hope.
The Sony is gorgeous. Page turns … bother me for waiting. We’ll see – but good point on the 505 – and the glare (or lack thereof).
“People keep saying the Canadian dollar is stronger than the USD, but at last check (1 second ago) 1 USD = 1.2341 CAD (yahoo), or from the Canadian consulate, 1 US Dollar = 1.23003 Canadian Dollar”
— huh? i think I am saying the us dollar is worth more… but i guess i super-over-rounded the exchange…?? i was trying to be funny, guess it didn’t work 😉
Ohhh Allison – lol no, I knew you were trying to be funny -and sorry – you were right. If you hang around the pond at all you know I’m always out of it, and you personally witnessed yet another reason why I shouldn’t respond to comments at 3:19 am. I apologize.
As I said, you’re right. But I’ve been hearing from a lot of people – Canadian and otherwise, that the Canadian dollar is worth more than the USD. (And as I said I misread your comment, so I thought you were saying the same thing.) And … I want to know where they’re getting their information!
. . . why are you trying to read on your laptop upside down?
Liv- why do I do a number of things? 😛
(Nobody knows.)
I’m holding out for a price drop and more market settling. Ipodization, I guess. $300 is a lot of groceries (and not just burritos).
cuz she is odd
here is something for you to read later lime… tell us if it says anything nifty or you can lynne… I want cliff notes LOL
http://arstechnica.com/features/2009/02/the-once-and-future-e-book.ars
Jody – Haha, yes, food in general – I was just thinking cheap fast food 😛 I am hoping for lowered prices/a sale. I mean… all the high end designers have been slashing prices madly… why not gadgets and toys?!
Sybil … meh. p.s. – Haha, no Letters to Kelly still! >.< D’oh! Or some of the others…
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Hi All, I have the kindle 2 and I love it! Technology is changing so fast I will not be suprised a newer more advance version will be out before the year is over. I love to read so I thought will be a good investment since I’m running out of book shelfs. What I love about the kindle: is easy on the eyes when reading, no glare, easy and quick dowloads from anywhere (AWESOME)! the book prices are great no more than $9.99 I don’t have anything to compare with but one thing for sure there are always differences in any technology. So just do it! buy the kindle 2 or buy the sony reader who cares which one is better. They are expensive as hell but a good investment for us bookworms. 🙂
I THINK THE SONY READER HAS A FEW PRLEMS AND THAT OF ALL EBOOKS THE NOOK WILL BE THE BEST ALTHOUGH I DONT SEE WHY ANYONE WHO LOVES BOOKS REALLY CARE THEY ALL ALLOW YOU TO READ BOOKS WITHOUT BEING WORRIED ABOUT RIPPING A PAGE OR BENDING THE COVER I LOVE MY BOOKS SO THE NOOK KINDLE HELL THE SONY READER WOULD BE A GREAT HELP
i got a sony reader