e-Readers and some recs

[ein_myria]

e-Readers
My PDA's battery just died and I've recently been looking into dedicated e-reader devices more seriously to see if there's a comparable replacement. My PDA cost me about $120 in its heyday, and I was perfectly happy to use it to read e-books (non-DRMed, where I used an SD card to read and hold the files). I bought it about 4 years ago, when I went overseas for about 5 weeks and didn't want to lug a whole library along with me. I was very happy with the purchase and the only thing that would have made it even better was PDF functionality, although I bet trying to read PDF's on a screen that small would have been a bitch. Anyway, I'd probably consider buying a new device if the new gadget was around that $120 price tag.

However, after looking around, the e-reader technology and pricing still isn't up to par--it's way too expensive for what they are able to do. I want to read PDF's on it; I like to read for a long time so I'd like really long battery life; I want colored e-ink with fast refresh rates, intuitive and bug-less functionality, and most importantly, all of the features, at a decent price. Yet I'm faced with issues such as the lack of international support, DRM, propietary file formats, lack of expandable memory slots, lack of color, the expensive price tags...well, the list goes on. I don't need wi-fi or 3G--I usually tether when transferring materials; I know from experience wi-fi and 3G just eats into the battery life and it's not something that an e-reader really needs. I don't need other kinds of functionalities either; video or audio replay, although bookmarks and the dictionary would be awesome. Bookstore tie-ins should be an opt-in functionality, not something that these e-readers should be limited to.

I realize that the Kindles and iPad's of today are attempting to approximate the Star Trek PADDS of yesteryear, but they're obviously not quite there yet. *sigh* I'll keep reading the Good Reader (which updates on the latest gadgets), Mobile Read (which has a very active and good forum), Mobile Tech Review (which has nice video comparisons), and the user reviews at Smart Bitches Trashy Books (as a large chunk of e-book sales are in the romance genre). Maybe one day I'll actually get what I want. lol

Pimping
list50--"Multifandom fanfiction recommendation."
"Here, instead of writing well-considered, thorough recommendations for 50 stories over a period of months [which is what rec50 does], we list 50 stories all in one go. It's much faster, but (unless someone gets to feeling particularly conscientious) the reader gets much less information about a particular story. Of course, depending on the specificity of a list's theme, a reader may not need many particulars. Themes like 'incest fic' or 'threesomes' aren't exactly vague." They've even got an index, and it looks like there's some femslash, but not much! I urge all femslash rec'ers to contribute a 50 fic rec list sometime. :)

DWP
A Day of E by nowt_movealong (Andy/Miranda) (humor)
"A day through the eyes of today's technological (mis)communication."

It's often difficult to pull off fanfic that involves communication relays, but here, the banter is refreshing.

Sick Day, The Righteous Dead, Hooked by chilly_flame (Andy/Miranda)
A series that starts with Miranda getting sick.

A cute series that pulled me back into the sphere of reading and rec'ing DWP. It's difficult to keep the narrative fresh, particularly after so many permutations of what is essentially the same dynamic.

Woo, Lockyer, Priestly, Sachs by thelastgoodname (Miranda/Andy)
Andy hears about the verdict for California and decides to share it with Miranda.

This one is an old one that I missed out for some reason; it's good with the tug and pull of emotions, and has some fine character writing.

HP
Hermione Granger and the Amazing Outfits of Luna Lovegood by likeadeuce (HG/LL) (kudos to crossedwires)

Warning: Het ahead!

Since the latest SS/HG exchange master list came out I'm taking the opportunity to highlight some good ones.

A Mournful Rustling in the Dark by elise_wanderer (SS/HG)

Attention to Detail by florahart (SS/HG)

Bound and Shagged by mundungus42 (SS/HG, SS/HG/LM)

The Scent of Magic by juno_magic (SS/HG)

R&I
No Man's Land by sunsetwriter (Jane/Maura)
Jane ends up on Maura's doorstep after her date with Agent Dean.

Leather Jacket and Tease by author18 (Jane/Maura)
The sequels to Glasses.

True Blood
Neverland by redgreendress (Hadley/Queen Sophie-Ann)
"How Hadley meets her maker."