Ebook Readers -- take a look

I bought an ebook reader, and I'm getting used to it. In fact, I like it. The one I bought, for $140, is the eBookwise-1150 with a 64 MB memory card.
Here is some information I found in Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine (August 2008). Author is Jeff Bertolucci.
The top two sellers in this technology of "wireless reading devices" are the Kindle and the Sony Reader.
Both feature a 6" screen with high contrast. Both are easy to read, even in sunlight. Neither is backlighted.
Through Kindle, owned by Amazon, readers have access to 125,000 digital books. Price is $359. The exterior is white plastic which Bertolucci said slipped out of its leather case. It has a mini keyboard that makes it easy to search while browsing online. (That would be a great feature, in my opinion.)
Sony has a metal case and stays securely in its attractive leather holder. Price for the Sony PRS-505 is $300. You can charge it through your PC with a USB cable, but if you want a separate AC charger you'll have to pay another $30. "Chintzy, considering the Reader's high price," says Bertolucci.
Sony's ebook store has 20,000 titles.
Sony does have one huge advantage, though. There's a headphone jack for listening to MP3s.
Sony requires you to download to a computer from the web and then transfer to the reader. Kindle uses a wireless Sprint connection to download books from Amazon.com, thus eliminating the PC in the middle.
Kiplinger's opinion is that 1) these two devices cost too much for the limited advantages you receive, and 2) buying digital books through Amazon and Sony is expensive. (Featured titles on Sony are $5 to $19 and most digital bestsellers on Amazon are $10.)
Bertolucci says, "A portable reader in the $100 to $150 ballpark would persuade us to overlook a lot of drawbacks."
I hope he finds the eBookwise Reader. I think it offers the best option in portable reader devices.
The AC charger came with my eBookwise, and downloading books through my PC is fairly easy.
I'd love to hear about others' experiences with these devices.
Lynnette

Farewell, faithful friend

Laddie died on June 16, '08, at age 13. He was part collie, part retriever, part who-knows-what. Sweet-natured, loving. He lived a darn good life, walks nearly every day. Camping trips in our motorhome. He was finding it harder to jump into the car, and generally harder to get up from lying down, hard to get his back feet under him. At the end, and very suddenly, that's what did him in. He was walking on a beach with the whole family, and his hindquarters collapsed. He couldn't move at all. We kept him as comfortable as possible, but we had to make the heart-rending decision. A very tender, loving veterinarian put him down.
I took this picture of him by our rhododendrons in late May, about three weeks before he collapsed.
We cried so much I couldn't write about it until now, nearly a month later.

What a gorgeous day!

Here's a picture of my favorite mountain. Mt. Baker, which we can see looking east-northeast from our deck. It's about 140 miles north of Mt. Rainier. In the foreground is Whidbey Island.

My favorite holiday - the Fourth of July

We had a splendid Fourth of July. My husband and I sang in a big church program at one o'clock and at three we went to a community band concert. After an easy supper, we watched the Annual Fourth of July Celebration at the U. S. Capitol. It was a terrific show. Jerry Lee Lewis still has it! And a Broadway singer, I think it was Bryan Stokes Mitchell, wow! They did a salute to the upcoming Summer Olympics by playing John Willliams "Olympic Fanfare." In addition to the National Symphony Orchestra, they had the U.S. Army's Herald Trumpets.
It's my favorite holiday. No presents to buy, no expectations to live up to (or fail to live up to!). It's a BE THERE day.
Today -- we picked fresh strawberries at a nearby farm. What a blessing.
Strawberries are sweet kisses from God.
Lynnette Baughman
www.RainshadowRomance.com
coming Sept. 19 from The Wild Rose Press: "Love with a Welcome Stranger"