Manga: Hard copy or Scanlation Download?

[FairyGarland]

Just wondering: Do you prefer to buy your manga and read it in a hard copy format or just download it?
Personally I like my manga in book format right in front of me and looking nice on my bookshelf but I know some people who just download it.

 

[Kirakishou]

Hard copy would be wonderful, but I'm a student who doesn't have money to burn like that. So I tend to download the manga I want to read.

 

[Snivi]

Buy. I own about 500 or so. ^^;

I also read some online - unlicensed or yet to be released.

 

[FairyGarland]

Hard copy would be wonderful, but I'm a student who doesn't have money to burn like that. So I tend to download the manga I want to read.

Fair enough. I'm a student too only I admit I tend to beg lots (maybe too much) for stuff like manga.

 

[Dragonair_Blizzard]

I like to buy the actual thing but I don't have that much money so I tend to download quite a bit.

 

[devilicious]

I prefer buying the books. They make a nice decoration in my room, and I can read them anywhere.

I do read scanlations too, but only of unlicensed manga.

 

[Cherrim]

I've probably got 60-80 manga or so? Rough guess since I'm not home nor do I know exactly what I have. >_<;

I hate reading manga or comics on the computer. It stems from back when I read Death Note. I collected the first 7 but... you all probably know the plot twist and the official licensed manga hadn't come out yet, so I downloaded the rest of the story because I couldn't wait. My screen resolution was 1024x768 and the scanlations were only okay. They didn't look good except at their original size and that was hell to read on a laptop with a low resolution. >:| So ever since I just can't stand it, even if my monitor is big enough to comfortably display a page at full size.

So yeah, I wait and buy manga wherever I can. I'll even buy it in Japanese over downloading scanlations if there's no chance of it coming out in English. I was a lot more into buying manga before, but now with less money for it (student excuse, plus almost all my spare change goes toward my gaming/Pokémon collecting hobby), I don't buy much manga anymore anyway. I just read less as a result.

 

[Decypher]

I like to buy manga and be able to read it in my hands, but Its like an 8 hour drive to the closest place I can buy manga, so I mostly read it online.

 

[Snivi]

I buy most of my manga online and get it in the mail.

 

[Legobricks]

I don't read much but I like to have books around me; so the choice is obvious, but I tend to like what's not popular, so I may download to avoid unnecessary hassle.

 

[Aegis]

Depends on the manga :x I prefer to buy a lot of them, but there's some that I like reading on the computer better. Usually, the ones I read on the computer I don't like as much... or they aren't as appropriate >_>; Really, the only one on the computer I read regularly is "My Balls", and it should be fairly obvious why I don't want a hard copy of it XD;

 

[Yuoaman]

I'd love to buy them, but you can't buy them in this small town, so I have no choice but to download 'em...

 

[Ryoutarou]

I've always preferred to buy them rather than grab scanlations, which I honestly haven't tried out more than a couple of times, but it's never seemed like an appealing way of reading manga to me. I like actually having the book in hand and being able to flip through the pages, it's stupid, but that part of the "experience" is something I look forward to.

 

[digi-kun]

hmmm...i would say books over web browsing it's partially the portability that comes with it, and partially quality. On occasions i'll do online, but usually that's when i either want to get ahead (xxxHolic, HayaCom), have a low series priority (most Jump manga), or it isn't in America (Mirai Nikki, Touhou Bougetsushou)

 

[Phanima]

I'm more of a selective reader. There are only a few series to which I would/could afford to buy the hard copy of. Naturally, I'd love to own every manga I've read to date since I have a collection fetish but since my local bookstore hardly supplies them (not to mention having ridiculously high mark ups per book) and because I'm often strapped for cash, I read the majority of my manga online.

Still, having recently cleared out my shelves, I'm looking to fill the space with some new reading material. Once I save enough of course...

 

[Vanilla Kitsune]

I like to have a hard copy. If I want to read it at say, school, I can take it with me. It's much easier that way.

 

[Roko]

I like to purchase hard copies. One can take them anywhere. If I want to read a manga when I am away from home, I can simply take it with me if it is in the form of a book. Besides, having a book in hand and being able to flip through its pages adds to the experience of reading manga. I know that I certainly enjoy reading manga more when I read books instead of scanlations.

 

[doesn't matter]

Being short on cash as of late and local stores having high mark ups, I've had to read manga on the computer. It's not a bad thing, but I'd always rather have the book so I can read it on the go.

I got some monies, now, so I'll be going on a spree soon enough, haha. it's gonna cost so much, damn long running shounens.

In any case I'll probably still download since I can stay up to date that way and also read many series that don't get released outside of Japan.

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

I always buy hard copies of my manga. I don't buy a whole lot, so money isn't too much of an issue. Hard drive space is, however. Which is why I don't download.

 

[Rena Ryuugu]

I would definitely prefer having the hard copy. But I normally download it, because whenever I go out to get new books I buy too many. xD;