What are the pros and cons of using ebooks for college textbooks?

Question

I'm about to start school as a first time college student and I don't have a lot of money to spend on books, so I'm trying to decide if going the ebook route is a good idea for me. If any one has experience with this I would love to hear your idea. Thanks!

Answer 1

I say stay away from it. Books are much easier and it's easier to concentrate on them. With a computer, it's hard to avoid all of the programs running and internet. You can buy all books this semester, and 1 ebook and try it for yourself. I would never do it. However, I remember in one class, we had an ebook, and we all printed it in the pc lab.

Answer 2

Printed material is much, much, easier to write notes into the margins.  This makes for effective study skills, which will help get you better grades.  Some ebooks forbid you the right to print it out, or even if you can, it comes out ugly B&W non-binded on your home printer.  You can take it to a pro printshop for full color and binding but then you end up paying as much as a real textbook costs.  

Why bother being in school at all if you're not striving to do your best?  Take advantage of every little thing that's going to help you.  It's rather amusing people want to save a few bucks on a textbook when you're already paying thousands of dollars in tuition, plus the opportunity cost of not working when you're in class.

Answer 3

I prefer the real things because (If you live on campus) it will cost just as much to print off pages then to buy the book. The ebooks strain my eyes so I had to print mine. I did get the ebook of my math classes solution manual and that worked out well so I think it depends on if you'll be using the book a lot or not

Answer 4

eBooks could be an excellent choice. Here's why (in my opinion):

a. You can usually save $$$. Many ebook sites for textbooks save a lot of money (sometimes 50% off the cost of a printed textbook)

b. It's greener! e-books save on environmental impact (no "dead trees", no ink or processing being done that would negatively impact the environment).

c. E-books don't decrease in value when a new edition comes out. Granted, you can't re-sell them to someone else or sell back to the bookstore, but e-books level the playing field. So you won't be paying through the nose just because you are the first one to buy a new edition. (Right now, if you are the first person to buy a printed text, it might cost you $100-200... but future students who buy your used book might pay $50. Why not just spend less to begin with?)

d. You can increase the font size or zoom in on the screen, if you are having a hard time reading the small print in a textbook.

e. You can *search* an e-book. So if you were in an Economics class, for example, and looking for the section on "elasticity", you could just type that term into the Search box of your e-book and jump right to that chapter and topic.

f. Some e-books will let you access them from any computer with Internet access.

g. Some e-books will let you print out a chapter *in addition* to viewing the chapter online... so you could technically keep the e-book for yourself and "loan" your friend the printed chapter... which would mean you'd only need to buy 1 e-book copy between the two of you... saving even more money!

h. You can read an e-book in a dark room (on your laptop). Try reading a printed textbook in the dark.

Answer 5

I would say it depends on a number of factors:

1. Can you read from a computer screen for an extended period of time?

2. Are your study habits flexible enough to incorporate computer time?

3. How important is the money factor?

To elaborate...

1. It's not good for your eyes to read from a computer screen for extended periods of time. If you do choose the e-book route, you'll have to be disciplined about your study schedule to save your eyes! Also make sure to read in well-lit spaces.

2. You will be limited as to where you can do your reading if it's exclusively online. If you have your own computer, sitting at a desktop can be boring and uncomfortable. Having a laptop would at least give you the freedom to move around and hopefully stay comfortable.  You're also limited in your notes - unless you print things, you can't necessarily highlight, reference the material during class, or take margin notes.

3. You save money on e-books, but you can't sell them back at the end of the term. Buying used textbooks is a good way to save money and you can still get money back for those books at the end of the term.

So obviously I have a bit of a bias, but if you're willing to put up with the cons... it can be worth the money, the hassle of dealing with books, and the environmental savings by not printing. The choice is up to you!

Good luck!

Answer 6

I used eBokks Freshman year and higly regret it.

I just hate reading off a sreen, I couldn't consentrate.

Answer 7

I'm not a fan of ebooks because when you need to have the textbook in class you have to print out lots of pages or bring your laptop to class.  Instead, to save money, I use chegg.com, which rents books.  It's about 30-45 bucks per semester.  I only use this for books I know I won't be keeping after the semester.  I would recommend checking it out!