E-readers??

[DaveTN]

My Mom (80 years old) only uses the computer to play card games and use email. She sent me an email asking about finding a cheap old laptop to play cards on. I assume she wants something portable to carry in the living room or kitchen.

I wondered about E-readers. I have been looking at IPAD competitors, but they are more money than she would probably want to spend. But I’m thinking with more of these coming on the market the price will drop.

Can you play cards games on these? Are there any cheap ones on the market now?

I can probably find her a cheap old laptop for way less than these things cost, but was just curious about what e-readers you guys are using and their capabilities. For myself I need something with internet WiFi.

[seez52]

bought my wife a Nook for Xmas. She is always reading books and brings a tote full from the library all the time. She loves the Nook. I don't think I've seen her without it since she opened it. It supports free books from the library. I don't think it will do card games, it does have sudoku built in. It's only black and white screen. You'll probably want something in color for card games. Some of the tablets support Andriod and there are probably a bunch of card game apps out there for it.

It might be easier for her to have something she is familiar with rather than something new like a tablet. Might get by with a net book, and they are usually smaller and more portable.

[1gewehr]

After comparing all the competitors, we bought my mother a Kindle. The Nook is OK, but the Kindle is easier to use, has a better screen, and has more books available to it. Also, you can synchronize your books across many different devices, not just the Kindle reader device. For $139, it's hard to beat!

[jcj]

+1 on the netbook idea. I'm not a fan of Dell products in particular, but I got a Dell netbook (refurbished) from the Dell Outlet (Dell.com/outlet) for a dang good price.

If you Google around or follow the Dell Outlet Twitter account, they post 15-25% off Outlet coupon codes quite regularly.

[Guest nicemac]

Got my 70-ish Mom a Nook for Christmas. She returned it after a couple of days. She does read on her iMac a lot, but did not care for the Nook. She has seen my iPad - she really didn't like that either.

[Erik88]

I wonder if she would like a Kindle? I'm not sure if you can play games on those though.

[jcj]

I wonder if she would like a Kindle? I'm not sure if you can play games on those though.

Kindle is great for books, but that's about it.

[Verne]

Yes you can play games on a kindle. I have used a friends and it has solitaire and black jack on it but don't know what else you can get.

[tnhawk]

I got my wife a Sony reader in 2009 and its seen extensive use.

[Jonnin]

Ive got a kindle, it had a free blackjack game that I play now and then. They are quite capable of playing card games and other turn based games, but do not allow for animated/real-time/arcade games due to the slow screen refresh. Some games cost money, some are free.

[Guest 1010011010]

I also have a kindle. I do like it and would recommend it. I use it mainly for books and occasionally browsing the web, so I have no real comment on its suitability for games. The way the display works seems like it would be terrible for anything involving motion, but card games should be fine.

[Guest db99wj]

My mom loves her Kindel, the screen doesn't look real. It's strange to me. Didn't know you could play games on it.

[Guest mustangdave]

My 2 TECHNO-GEEK sons swear by the KINDLE E-reader....

[LngRngShtr]

I own a Kindle 2 and have blackjack,poker, word shuffle and Chess and about 75 books.. Oberon makes some killer covers

Folks, if you go E-reader you can get into "Calibre" which is a neat free program for managing and converting e-books to your e-readers format lots of free old books and PDF files out there....sort of looks like I-Tunes

John

[Jonnin]

I own a Kindle 2 and have blackjack,poker, word shuffle and Chess and about 75 books.. Oberon makes some killer covers

Folks, if you go E-reader you can get into "Calibre" which is a neat free program for managing and converting e-books to your e-readers format lots of free old books and PDF files out there....sort of looks like I-Tunes

John

The kindle can handle basic text files without conversion, so if you can convert whatever to text (and you usually can, unless its image based pdf (imaged scanned books), which needs an OCR program to convert) you do not need anything else. I even read my own documents from work on it sometimes.

[Guest mosinon]

Ah, the ipad 2 will come out in a few months and last year's model will have a nice price drop. Those things are great

[SithL0rd]

I would not call a ipad an e-reader. I have a ipod touch and attempted to read books with the kindle app and after 15mins your eyes will cross. To read for long periods you need an e-ink display. Then theres the glare.

I'm a voracious reader 2books a week if I'm rolling or the book is particularly good and my kindle is one of the best purchases I've ever made. I know someone with a Nook and they love it.

[LagerHead]

The simple answer is don't get an ereader for games. The screens are made specifically to read on them so they are easy on your eyes, unlike a computer screen. If she wants something to play games on there are tons of options from netbooks, to the iPad, to the Droid powered iPad competitors, to the iPod touch, etc. But ereaders are pretty specialized devices that are pretty darn good at doing their one little thing.

[E4 No More]

Amazon.com: games: Kindle Store

[Guest friesepferd]

E-readers are great for reading. They are not great for anything else. I LOVE my sony touch for reading books, but this isnt what your mom needs.

If all she wants to do is play card games, get her a cheap light portable laptop. You can probably find a netbook for the same price as an e-reader.

If you really want the touch screen like the ipad but not spend as much, just get a cheap tablet.

There is NO reason for you to be buying something new and spiffy to play card games on.

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