The market is inundated with different types of eBook readers, so selecting the best and the right one for you will be a difficult task. If you are skeptic, high quality eBook reader reviews will be a great help in this regard.
Obviously, eBook readers are used for reading electronic books. Though this device is not indispensable for reading, it is very popular because it enables you to read eBooks like paper books. If you use an eReader, you can bookmark pages, save selected texts, highlight passages, and make note. Besides all these possibilities, eBook readers also come with some additional features, such as alterable font styles and sizes, built-in dictionaries, etc. Typically, this is a hand-held device and it weighs from around 22 ounces to 3-4 pounds. It is also capable to accommodate 4 thousand to more than half a million pages of texts and graphics. The most popular feature of eBook reader is its back lit screen, which enables the readers to read eBook even in darkness.
You can download some eBooks at a reduced cost or for completely free, but the prices for many of them, especially the bestsellers, are similar to or higher than those of hardcover books. Evaluation of various eBook reader reviews also helps you to take the right decision.
Kindle Fire
Kindle Fire
This is a 7-inch tablet, which connects the impressive collections of Amazons, such as digital music, book services, magazines, and video in an easy to use package. The Fire is highly affordable and its screen quality is excellent.
However, the Kindle Fire lacks some premium features, such as 3G wireless, location services, GPS, microphone, and cameras. Limited parental controls, lack of Blutooth, and limited storage (8GB) are the other drawbacks of Kindle Fire. Nevertheless, it is an outstanding entertainment device for its value.
Kindle Touch
Kindle Touch
Amazon announced the introduction of its flagship eBook reader, Kindle Touch on 28th June, 2011. IT based multi-touch screen and a keyboard less design are the peculiarities of Kindle Touch. This allows you to navigate the screen with a single touch and can use gestures for flicking through pages. The same technology is also available in other eBook readers like Kobo readers and B&N Nook Touch. The e-ink technology enables you to read easily without glaze.
New Kindle (aka Kindle 4)
Amazon introduced Kindle 4 as a side note to the touch enabled Kindle Touch and color Kindle Fire. However, it is the best among the three because it is highly affordable at $79 (Free Shipping). It has a 6-inch e-link screen and the resolution is 800×600. It also allows you to access 750,000 books through the Kindle store of Amazon.
Nook Touch
Nook Touch is the very basic ereader and it lacks the features of other models, such as web browsing, color, and the other fun features. The Nook Touch is introduced for those who do not like to carry a huge paper library. You can download more than 2.5 million books from Barnes and Noble from anywhere with a WiFi connection. It is small, light, and lighter than a single paperback.
Ways to Select the Best eBook Reader
The popularity of eBook readers are increasing very fast due to the rapid transition to digital books. Amazon makes a big impact in the minds of eBook lovers with the introduction of its first Kindle in 2007. Today, people are downloading and buying digital books beyond your imaginations. The prices of these devices are also reduced considerably. Today, you can get a high quality eBook reader for $100 or less. However, if you are planning to buy an eBook reader, you must consider certain other factors as well except price. While checking the eBook reader reviews, consider the following factors as well.
* Type and Size of screen
* Kind of your wireless connection
* Types of Books
* Ebook apps
* Your budget
Type and Size of Screen
In order to display texts, the basic ebook readers use E Ink or monochrome screens. E Ink has lots of similarity with paper and it is easy for your eyes as well. It will not affect your eyes even if you read it for hours. It lacks backlit, so you need to use light to see text. However, you can read it very easily in the bright sunlight. Therefore, E Ink is a great option, but color tablet touch screens bring you myriad other benefits.
Kind of Wireless Connection
The original Kindle of Amazon integrates an always on cellular radio, which is helpful for downloading or buying books from anywhere for free. Today, most devices offer WiFi with an affordable rate with 3G cellular data.
Types of Books
Though this is a complex subject, you cannot find a single universal ebook format. You can enjoy some flexibility of you select some public domain books, but is more complicated. Today, Amazon offers you a public library lending tie-in, and Kindle Owners’ lending Library. So, you can buy around 5,000 titles per month, but with an additional cost of $79 per year.
Ebook File Format
Adobe Pdf file format is the most popular electronic book format. It’s supported on most of ebook readers. ePub is another popular standard out there. It’s natively support on B&N Nook and Tablets. Amazon has its own AZW proprietary ebook file format that is only available and support with Kindle.
Nowadays, these common electronic doc and picture formats are well supported too: DOC, DOCX, HTML, TXT, JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP etc.
Ebook Apps Across Platforms
A number of major ebook reader vendors developed an entire ecosystem of apps as per the format. The outstanding one is Kindle. You could purchase and download a Kindle book on your Kindle eReader. It syncs across and you could read where you left off on your smartphone, PC, and Mac. Also you could access the bookmarks and notes which is awesome!
Your Budget
Price of ebook readers is the other major determining factor of selecting an ideal ebook reader for you. The base model Kindle costs you $79, but it will not have the necessary features you are searching in a Kindle. If you want to buy a high quality ebook reader with all the features, you need to spend around $200.
You can take a decision by evaluating carefully the various ebook reader reviews.
