Kindle or Actual Book?

danny069

I know this question has probably been asked before but do you guys prefer a kindle edition of a book or actual tangible book? I don't have a kindle or ipad or anything, just a laptop. I was thinking about getting this book to study for the C|EH v8 exam later on.

Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) Cert Guide: Michael Gregg: 9780789751270: Amazon.com: Books

Bryzey

Depends on the book for me.

Lots of diagrams and I prefer real book. But if it's mostly text I prefer kindle.

In most cases if I'm not reading for long periods of time I just use my tablet.

rockstar81

If it's a technical book I like the real thing. Otherwise kindle.

Bokeh

I tend to agree here. Sometimes I will actually get both, if there is a deal or if the DTB (dead tree book) comes with an electronic version as well that I can put on the iPad.

5ekurity

I hate reading books on a screen, so I opt for the physical copy.

Chitownjedi

I get the Kindle version out of convenience. When on the train I can pop it on and visit any of my 20+ technical books from programming, sccm, and cisco. I Can't lug around 20 physical books, especially with the size of IT books. Some folks prefer real books, the feel, the touch. So it depends on if you have that kind of preference. We live in a digital age, and I went to school for writing/Fiction back before Ipads existed. So I've touched and held maybe 500+ books, just by way of my Major, (I still have a crate stack full of music books, everytime I move it is a pain in the tush trying to move them all... ) but I know efficiency when I see it. So I choose that over anything that having a hard copy can bring.

I like books, but they eat up space, so I go with convenience, even if it means I lose out on the nostalgia. If you lose the book or its damaged you also have to do a little more to get it replaced/fixed. And you can set up cloud reader to have access to all your books from anywhere you can access the internet, so during downtime at work I would pop a technical book up on my second monitor, and kill two birds with one stone. But that's just me.

I do plan on getting hardcopies in the future for those I treasure, just incase the EMP comes down, at least I can read with candle light then.

networkjutsu

Ebook for me. Though, I'll buy physical as well if it is actually worth keeping. Example: Routing TCP/IP Vol 1 & 2. The CCIE Library v5.0 maybe worth keeping as well so I'll most likely buy both ebook and the actual book. If my Narbik 12-day bootcamp gets approved then I'll have him sign it too!

Qord

Bryzey wrote: »

Depends on the book for me...

This exactly. If it's mostly words, kindle.

--chris--

I use/tried both, prefer books. For my learning/reading style, with lots of paging flicking and surfing around I need the book. The kindle is very convenient, which is the big reason I keep getting books on it...but most of my learning is done in the physical medium.

FloOz

I have always been a fan of using a physical copy of a book.

filkenjitsu

Digital copy as I like to read a page or two at a time when I get a free moment on my day. This happens at work, when my wife is shopping, the rest room, when TV commercials come on, etc.

The only thing you miss out on is resale, but the good books you never really want to sell.

Also, when troubleshooting or in a design meeting, you cannot beat word search in an ebook!

[Deleted User]

Physical copies of books is what I like to use. Kindle books are great if you would like to have them for a quick reference before the exam.

daceto

I do almost all digital. Since I chop up the book to make study notes having the ability to copy paste is great. For instance I just distilled my ITIL book from 400 pages down to about 43 worth of actual study material. This helps a lot.

abramsgunner

I'm old school.... well, because I'm relatively old (1967 model)... paper all the way. With paper, I can jump back and forth between pages very easily when referring back to diagrams or a paragraph on something I need to reread. 30-40 years of paper book experience is hard to unlearn. On the other hand... searching a pdf version rocks when I need to find something fast. BTW, Latest Sonicwall admin guide is over 1700 pages.. haven't convinced myself to print that one yet.

Asif Dasl

I subscribe to Safari Books Online... for the price of 1 book you get 2 or 3 months subscription to 37,271 books? And the CEH book you are linking to is listed there too... I'll never go back to a real book unless I am forced to, now that I use my Nexus 7 tablet. If I want to have it read out to me, I use Ivona Reader on my PC (although I rarely do that)...

filkenjitsu

I have Safari Books online free through my local library using my library card number to login. I love it.