Educational Toys Guide
Things To Watch Out For When Buying Your First E-Book Reader
In Educational Games of Advisor (March 31, 2010 7:11 pm)
There are lots of reviews of e-book readers available on the web currently. You will also find them in magazines and newspapers every now and again. It’s a reflection of the fact that e-book readers have really become hot gadgets – driven to a massive extent by the launch of the Amazon Kindle 2.0 in February of 2009. Right now there’s a big range of e-book readers to select from and numerous people are looking for help in order to make a buying decision.
The Majority of reviews, quite naturally perhaps, concentrate heavily on the hardware itself – the Kindle’s screen is this size, the Sony Daily Edition screen is that size, this one includes touch screen controls, that one weighs 10 oz.etc. Which is all well and good, but if you’re choosing your first e-book reader then you will probably be making a mental comparison not between different e-book readers but between e-book readers and “real” books.
Firstly, and just to put your mind at ease, a recent survey of e-book reader owners in the USA found that four out of five of them actually preferred using an e-book reader to reading on a traditional paper book. Based on this type of feedback it doesn’t look like those who have made the jump from conventional to e-books are pining for the feel of a paper bound volume. It looks as if manhandling huge, paper volumes is an unattractive prospect for those who have experienced e-book readers.
One of the main things that you should consider when deciding upon your e-book reader is the display. Assuming that the primary function of your e-book reader is to read books as opposed to surfing the web or watching video, you will definitely want to go for a reader which has an e-ink technology display. These are, very genuinely, much more like reading text printed on paper than the experience you get from a backlit LCD monitor. They also consumeallows you to go for long periods between charges. The screen will instantaneously go black when you turn the page. This isn’t a major problem, you’ll notice it at first but, after a very short time, you will be unaware of it.
Another important aspect which you should think about is the controls and the usability. The Amazon Kindle controls for example, are well laid out and pretty intuitive to use. It’s very easy to read on the Kindle with only one hand, which makes it perfect if you’re sitting propped up in bed or on a crowded plane or train. The Sony reader has touch screen controls - but this comes at the expense of a slightly lower quality display as currenttouch screen technology is not entirely transparent and also requires a slightly more reflective screen.
Finally, don’t jump to the conclusion that e-book prices are the same for different readers. A current survey, carried out by the New York Times, found significant differences in book prices across different e-book reader platforms. The difference in some cases was so huge that picking the right reader could save you enough money to pay for the reader itself within a year and you would still be left with a few dollars to buy some books! Clearly book pricing is changeable – so be certain to check on the current price of e-books for the reader that you are thinking of buying.
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