subject: How To Choose An Ebook Reader [print this page] Ebook readers were once derided as a sort of bastard child of technology. Slow, boring, lacking features; many thought they simply didn't have a place. But the key to the world of ebook readers is content: the books, the bestsellers. People still love reading.
Step on any form of public transport these days and you'll probably see someone with a Kindle. While the Amazon Kindle undoubtedly has the highest profile in this family of devices, it isn't the only option out there. So if you want to know what your ebook reader choices are, and what you need to consider before parting with your cash, then read on.
The Basics: Hardware and files
Let's start at the beginning. An ebook reader is a device that will let you read ebooks, that is, books in electronic form. It isn't a tablet, it isn't a games machine, it's the hardware for reading digital books.
Files
There are a number of bespoke file types for ebooks, the most common is epub. There are others, of course, such as the common document format pdf, but epub is, generally speaking, the file you get if you buy a book from an online bookseller like WHSmith or Waterstones. The big exception is Amazon, which uses its own azm format.
When buying a book you'll encounter DRM, or digital rights management, which is essentially copy protection, stopping one person buying a book and then just sharing it. Publishers want to make money, authors want to get paid, so it's understandable that they'll want to protect their work.
Screens
Ebook readers typically come with an E Ink display. This is a screen that works on greyscale, i.e., it's black and white, like a printed novel. The technology is very power efficient, leading to a long battery life, but doesn't have a backlight, so you need external light to read in the dark, as you would with a printed book.
The most recent development is front illumination, or frontlit displays. This sticks to the same E Ink technology on the back-end, but adds illumination in an additional layer from the front. This means you can still read the words on the "page" in the dark, without the need for an external light source. The battery life is still very good and saves you resorting it reading on a tablet.
E Ink also has a fairly slow refresh/update rate, so where your tablet LCD will refresh 60 times a second, an E Ink screen may take a second to completely refresh, meaning things like complex animations aren't as effective.
Does this matter? No. The primary function of an ebook reader is to read books and unless you possess some extraordinary reading skills, you'll only need to refresh the screen every couple of minutes once you've finished the page.
3G, Wi-Fi, touch or not?
Other hardware considerations - no matter which device you choose to buy - include the type of connectivity and the method of control.
With connections, the Kindle 3G Whispersync system is very convenient. Your books are synced, subscription content arrives over the air and you can buy new books whenever you want.
The real question is how much you want to do these things. Do you find yourself needing a new book whilst sitting on a train, unable to wait until you get home or back to your hotel? For us, 3G doesn't offer a huge advantage, but if you spend time reading subscription content, like magazines or newspapers, then you might think differently.
Amazon or not Amazon?
With the Kindle the device on the tip of everybody's tongue, some people probably don't realise that there is another path. The Amazon Kindle is designed to work with Amazon's Kindle Store, with seamless access using your Amazon account.
