New Toy...

One thing I've wanted a long time, but couldn't justify the spending of, was an e-reader. Netbooks and laptops have come down in price and one could pick up a decent laptop for the price of an e-reader, and have more capabilities than just read e-books.

Spike had been promising to get me one when we could afford one, but I've been shying away from choosing one because of price. I didn't want an expensive one, I didn't want one I needed to pay for access, and I didn't want one that did everything under the sun. I just wanted an e-reader.

I spent a couple of months debating, comparing capabilities, pricing, etc. Borders sent me an ad for their new Kobo e-reader. It's not available yet, but I could pre-order. It's got 8,000 page turns before needing a recharge, it holds 1,000 books, but more if you use the memory card slot.

Well, I'd have to pre-order through Borders and they've already sold out their first shipment, and the second wouldn't be until July.

We were running some errands and we stopped into Best Buy, up in South Hill, Puyallup. We were looking for a DVD, but I wanted to see what they offered in e-readers. One of the salespeople, by the name of Shannon, was awesome. We must have talked for about 20 minutes. As it turned out, she's an aspiring author. She has a couple of shorts written and one ready for submission. I gave her a few of my cover art cards and we talked writing for a good while. We commiserated together about writers' getting into that "zone" and neglecting everything else, the need for privacy by using pen names, the fear of submission, rejection, and the joy of writing. She's writing paranormal romances as well! LOL.

Anyway, she has a Sony Touch. She didn't just try to sell the Touch, but she gave the pros and cons of the different e-readers. She pointed out that Nooks and Kobos are plastic and flex more easily than the Sony, which are made of metal. This made sense to me. Spike tested a Nook there and agreed later that the flex on the Nook was obvious, the risk to the screen shattering was greater.

So, the temptation was there. I'd been saying i just wanted an e-reader. I didn't need one to play music, I didn't even need a touch screen, but they had the Sony Touch there, marked down from $299 to $249. I hemmed and hawed. It was still a bit pricey to me, but Spike said to go ahead. So I chose a black Sony Touch and picked up a wall charger for it. Took it up to the register and used my business account to pay for it.Who knows, maybe a tax write off? As it turned out, it rang up for $199.

Heck, yeah! Hehehe.

Still, a bit much, but I'm now a proud, new owner of a Sony Touch. As soon as it finished charging, I loaded "Moonlight and Magick",as well as some music on it. Just skimming the pages of my novel on an e-reader is a heady experience.

Now, I'll begin to shop for a few e-books. I have a list I want to look into. *Grin*