E-Reader

[zebedee]

We are looking a purchasing an e-reader as a gift, our only concern is that it appears that readers such the Kindle needs to have access to the internet, and the person it is for don’t have this. Is internet access a compulsory requirement all readers to operate, we were looking at getting free books and the odd occasional purchased book on our account, to be read and transferring them via our laptop.
Any help would be most appreciated.

[hc4361]

Free books are usually very old books out of copyright. You can transfer books from your hard drive to the eReader without problem - I currently have 300 books on my eReader.
More modern ebooks can cost more that the paperback version, but this is improving.
Some libraries have eBooks that can be downloaded free of charge and expire after 14 or 28 days, check with your local library.
So, if you are prepared to deal with the downloading and uploading of ebooks, your friend will not need to access a pc himself.

[zebedee]

We are looking at the iRiver Cover Story/Story at the moment but did at first consider the Kindle

[pingu748]

the £149 Amazon Kindle comes with a Sim card ( like a mobile phone) .. this means you can download books from Amazon without needing any other internet. There are no other costs apart from the cost of the book/s you buy .. ie no data charge for the sim. Hope this helps.