Selecting an ebook reader

[jbcohen]

My premise here is that there is no one best reader for all people, some ereaders are better for one segment and another is better for a different segment of ereader customers. Here are some of my conclusions in no particular order:

Apple - Best for people that already own a mac tablet, desktop or laptop. Why by another device when you already own one that can get the job done.

Kobo - best for people that like a wide variety of different models, the last time I looked there were more different kobo models then any other ereader, there was something like eight of them.

Nook - best for those that want tech support from a person standing in front of you. True apple does have apple stores though out the country, however there are more Barns and Nobel's stores and most of the time they seem to have a person at the nook counter ready to answer questions.

Kindle - for those who want a lower price on ebooks, Amazon appears to be making their dollars by under cutting their competion's book prices.

Onyx - Buy this one if you want a color ereader

Android - Use this one if you do not want to cary around a seperate device and you are already carrying a phone. Also good for people that do not want to pay for an ereader, most ebook stores have a free reader available to go on your phone.

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Also each ereader company has a reason not to select them:

Apple - ebooks are sort of a sideline business for them so they realy do not put a lot of time and attention into the ereader software, there are ereader software for macs from the other ebook companies.

Kobo - The devil is where he typically is, in the details. While all those different models might seem like a good idea they have the tendency to make it dificult for customers to select the model that is best for them.

Nook - The company is looking like its going out of business, buy their nooks with caution the company may not be around much longer.

Kindle - Tends to get the latest and greatest technology later than others, Kobo tends to come out with the newest technology first.

Onyx - not a major ereader thus they do not have the clout to get the best deals.

Android - Who wants to read on a screen that small.

[edebill]

Do you want to read in full sun? You need e-ink. Do you want to read in the dark? You need backlight or reading light. Want to hold a drink in one hand while you read? Tablets are probably not the thing for you. Super picky about text display? Kobo will let you tweak more than Kindle. They all handle novels competently. You probably want a tablet if you're reading something like programming books that has larger technical illustrations and color. It's a rare programming book that looks good on the e-ink devices or cell phones.


I'll add some specifics:

Kindle Paperwhite 1: nice screen, beautifully put together. Cannot turn off the backlight. You can just set it really dim. It was able to go as dim as I wanted, though. I never have a reading session where I don't have some trouble getting it to register my touch at some point. This can be really frustrating as I try to turn a page over and over.

Kobo Mini: Small. Really small. I love the size. I can palm it and turn forward and back one handed. The screen seems to be slightly lower resolution than the Kindle Paperwhite. Page turns are sort of slow and it doesn't automatically sync new books. I have to manually hit 'sync'. Touch response is about like the PW1. No backlight means you need a reading light. Kobo sells the best I've seen (used to be sold by Octovo), but they're a bit large and heavy on this tiny reader.

Kobo Aura HD: Noticeably larger than the PW1. Thicker, wider, etc, but not much heavier. Screen resolution is great. I don't see jaggies like I have with every other e-ink device I've owned (this is #5 or 6). You can turn the backlight on and off. It will NOT adjust low enough for me to comfortably read in complete darkness - it's just slightly uncomfortable, but not so much as most tablets. Touch response is really really great. I almost never have trouble getting it to register, but DO sometimes have it jump backwards several pages instead of forward one page.

One thing to note: All of the above can be set to have asymmetric touch areas, where most of the screen is forward and only a smaller part is back. I find this much better than a symmetrical one. I have fairly large hands and this tends to let me find some way to read one handed.

In general Kobo devices and software give you more control of how text is displayed - more fonts, more sizes, more line spacings, etc.

None of the e-readers have had battery life issues - I can go a week or two without recharging and never try going longer than that.

Tablets and phones:

Naturally I've tried both the Kobo and Kindle apps. They're roughly equivalent in most ways. The kindle app has slightly nicer page turn controls. For some reason the mobile reading apps don't do the asymmetric touch areas that the dedicated readers do. This really sucks.

Nexus 7 (android 7" tablet) is really awesome for the price. Heavier than all the e-readers and also larger. Great DPI on the screen, but can never be set dim enough for me to be 100% comfortable reading in complete darkness (even when app is set to dark background light foreground). Good battery life. Can almost read comfortably in daylight. I can just barely manage to use this one handed, but you really want a stand of some kind.

Nexus 5: Smaller cousin to the Nexus 7. Can't turn the damn brightness down very far. Can't turn it up very far, either. So... super sharp screen that's hard to read in 2/3 of my use cases. I think on paper it has the same diagonal size as the Kobo Mini, but feels a lot more cramped.

iPhone 5: Tiny by comparison. Better screen - can go dimmer and brighter, but still not great in full sun. I feel like I'm reading through a keyhole or something. Not as bad as the days of palm pilots and the iPhone 4, but still. I can't remember if it went as dim as I'd like.

iPad Air: Ditto on the screen. Better brightness range than Nexus 7, but still not really good in full sun. This is 100% a 2 handed device. You need a stand or 2 hands to read on it. Pages are almost too big unless I'm reading a technical book. Then the larger screen and full color display really make a big difference.

Android devices tend to run out of battery sooner than iOS devices. Neither is going to get you through a weekend without recharging and some android phones won't even make it through a single day.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by edebill

Android devices tend to run out of battery sooner than iOS devices. Neither is going to get you through a weekend without recharging and some android phones won't even make it through a single day.

Leaving to one side the fact that "Android" is an operating system, not a device type, and that there are both eInk and LCD devices which run Android, I would note that I can typically go about 4 days between charging my iPad Mini, using it for about 3h a day.

[Smartie]

for non dedicated ereader(Ipad), My problem is I always want to check email after read 10 minutes, so I need a dedicate one.

[owly]

There is also the weight factor, at least for me. Ereaders are still generally lighter than tablets, though tablets are getting there. For ex. Nexus is 290-299g, a Kobo Aura HD is 240 g.

[delph]

Originally Posted by owly

There is also the weight factor, at least for me. Ereaders are still generally lighter than tablets, though tablets are getting there. For ex. Nexus is 290-299g, a Kobo Aura HD is 240 g.

I was really noticing this last night while reading some manga on my Nexus 7 (2012). I've gotten used to the funky back on the Aura HD, and it definitely helps when holding it for one-handed use. I could not come up with a way to comfortably hold my Nexus 7 one-handed. With the extra weight, I really needed a place to grip.

[Tarana]

If you have vision issues, that may also eliminate some options. While I can still read with an e-ink reader, I am finding that I need text-to-speech if I want to read more than a half hour at a time. I do not think that there is an reader that currently has TTS. The kindle keyboard has been discontinued. I can say that the new kindle HDX I just bought is pretty seamless for TTS. While you can do it with a Nook HD using the Moon Reader app, which would work on any android device, the ease of the HDX is making it a winner for me. The ipad actually has an app that has even better speech.

Weight remains an issue. Both tablets are heavier than the kindle keyboard.

[jersysman]

One factor is ease of use. It is almost seamless for my mom to use her Kindle to buy a book from Amazon. Also CS is also a place where Amazon is very good.

[cromag]

My tablets aren't my first choice for reading in most circumstances -- unless I'm reading PDFs.

[rollei]

In Canada, Kobo is a major player, rather than Kindle. One can hardly find a kindle at the stores these days. All on the display shelf are Kobo.

[edebill]

Originally Posted by jersysman

One factor is ease of use. It is almost seamless for my mom to use her Kindle to buy a book from Amazon. Also CS is also a place where Amazon is very good.

+1 on this. Amazon is a lot slicker and better integrated than Kobo. Plus the Kobo website in general is not as good - you can't see ratings and reviews of books! New books get announced for preorder when they're available on Amazon but not Kobo, some books are never available on Kobo, etc.

That said, I switched because Kobo gives a kickback to my local indie book store so I don't feel like I'm killing BookPeople even though I no longer buy dead trees.

[speakingtohe]

I still prefer Sony even if it seems they are probably going out of the reader business.

The usual eink features, very fast and easy collection handling, always sorts right and doesn't skip pages or reset often (twice for me with over 1000 books read), pretty solid firmware right out of the box and superb support from calibre. Sony has never made it difficult to load books or demanded registration or even seemed to care much where you bought your books from. Plus it is very easy to download from public libraries.

No frontlight, which I rarely use and they don't have the great support of Amazon.

The T3 is quite delightful while it gets a bit odd when deleting books if you put 10,000+ plus on it, seems rock solid with 4,000. (I don't need that many books on it, but was curious as to how it would handle them)

I think if I couldn't buy another Sony, either new or second hand I would go with a kindle as I prefer eink.

Helen

[Kai Winters]

Interesting topic though rather limited and perhaps not a full accounting of what is available and perhaps just a bit one sided.
I've used several Sony ereaders and two Kindle devices...I found them lacking when reading at night in bed because they are not back lit. Reading during the day was fine. They worked well but were/are limited as an "ereader".

I purchased the Samsung Galaxy Player 5 maybe two years ago and enjoyed this device since day one. It's too bad Samsung dropped this device but you can buy their 7" model or larger which has a much better OS, faster, better imaging, etc. for a very reasonable price IMO. I just prefer the 5" screen as I have smallish hands and prefer to hold it in one hand as well as the portability of the device to slip into my slack's pocket.

I use Mantano paid reader and find this reader to be far superior to any reader app out there regardless of device.
I am able to change the background to whatever color/shade I desire, same with font type, size, etc.
I have a "day" reading mode as well as a "night" reading mode. The screen brightness is easily adjustable with just a swipe of a finger.
It is also a web device that I can web surf with and a large enough screen to be more comfortable than my iphone's screes.
With the added SD card I have ample room for photo storage, files, etc.

A comparably sized device is the Note and its' compatriots but unless you're going to use them as a telly and get a discount for a "contract" they are insanely expensive though awesome to hold and use.

Do not ignore or pass by the tablet type devices for reading as they too have much to offer.

This is the digital age and more so as time passes. I felt this thread was a bit one sided and seeming to "poo poo" the tablets thus I felt I needed to add my two cents.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Kai Winters

Interesting topic though rather limited and perhaps not a full accounting of what is available and perhaps just a bit one sided.
I've used several Sony ereaders and two Kindle devices...I found them lacking when reading at night in bed because they are not back lit. Reading during the day was fine.

Hence, frontlit e-ink readers. Tablets are good at what tablets do, and as far as e-reading go are superior to e-ink readers for PDFs and graphic novels - and in these forums, when people mention these as their reading needs and ask about e-ink readers, the chorus saying "NO, GET A TABLET" is deafening! Tablets are also currently the way to go if you need text-to-speech. (And for web browsing/email/etc, but this is an ebook forum, so that's an aside.) However, frontlit e-ink readers continue to be markedly superior in battery life, lighter, and easier to read in the full variety of light conditions, making them ideal for most people for novel-reading, and a lot of non-fiction also.

[cfrizz]

Nice post Kai, I agree with you. While my 6 inch Sony T-1 is indeed superior with regards to reading outdoors and battery life, in order to use it I have to dig it out of my backpack since it can't fit in my pocket.

Whereas with my Note 2, all I have to do is pull it out of my pocket and I'm reading. If I put the screen brightness all the way, I'm able to read just fine outdoors. The battery life on my Note is outstanding as far as I'm concerned.

I don't have a problem with plugging it in to the charger either at work or at home when I feel it needs a charge, but I can easily read for 3 days before needing to. Why people act like it is such a major inconvenience to plug in a tablet/phone overnight if needed is a mystery to me.

As for the cost of the phone itself, I bought mine outright for 400.00, put a pay as you go T-Mobile simcard in it and loaded up all of my music and 987 books onto it. That right there paid for the phone since I paid considerably more for those and can now take them with me EVERYWHERE I go!

What I find ridiculous is people frown about supposedly straining to read a back lit screen outside, but have no problem doing the same thing in a dark room with a front lit ereader when we aren't designed to read/see clearly in the dark.

As far as I'm concerned its two sides of the same coin, it just comes down to a matter of preference, there is no right or wrong way.