The explosion in wireless reading devices, or eReaders, has opened up a whole new world of pleasure for folks who love to read. If you are a book lover, you will absolutely find these sleek, handy, and versatile electronic devices a tantalizing temptation.
Imagine being away from home and able to hold your favorite 3,500 books in your hand, or in your back pants pocket or hand bag! Real books are great, don't get me wrong. I have spent many a happy hour scouring the shelves and tables of local book sales, accumulating a huge collection of tomes. But I admit they can be awkward to carry, hold, and read at times, especially if you are traveling or outdoors.
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Ever try keeping a paperback from snapping shut like a tripped snare trap while simultaneously negotiating a sub sandwich and page 432 of the latest Ken Follett novel? The sad fact is that for many of us, lunch time is the only time of day we can sneak in a few pages of reading pleasure, and it's not always pretty.
That's where these nifty electronic devices come in. Electronic book readers, or eBook Readers, don't snap shut without warning. They do, however, store the electronic versions of your favorite books, magazines, newspapers, and blogs in a device that can be the size of a small paperback, and the thickness of an average magazine.
If you read a lot, or if you are someone who does research and writing either for your job, or for school, you owe it to yourself to learn more about eReaders.
Here's a list of some of the top features you should look for in any eReader you are considering for yourself or as a gift for a friend or loved one:
Ease of use - you don't want to spend all day configuring your gadget to work with this or that software or hardware. You don't have to. Make sure your eReader is either ready to go right out of the box, or requires only minimal fidgeting on your part.
Convenience - look for light weight, easy to carry, effortless to hold while reading, easily accessed controls for page turning, ability to download books in less than a minute, doesn't get hot when used for hours.
Clarity and display size- the clearer the better. No reason not to get the 16 grayscale, which provides excellent contrast, and virtually eliminates eye strain and fatigue. Look for no glare also. With this clarity, even the new, smaller display size, such as the 6" diagonal display, allows for comfortable reading.
Built-in Wi-Fi - the ability to download your favorite eBooks (either free or purchased) to your eReader wirelessly from any Wi-Fi hotspot location; that is, anywhere there is wireless Internet connectivity that you can use (e.g., your home, libraries, hotels, airports, bars, etc.). Optional built-in 3G for those who do a lot of traveling or cannot always rely on Wi-Fi.
Storage space - how many books are enough to hold in the palm of your hand? The Amazon Kindle 3 holds up to 3,500 eBooks, which is an enormous number. The Barnes and Noble Nook holds less than half that but more storage can be added to accommodate more eBooks.
Access to eBooks - you want to be able to access the books that interest you the most, of course. Amazon knows the art of selling books. They've used that experience to develop their Kindle Store, which offers up to 750,000 of the most sought-after books to hungry readers. Amazon uses a proprietary eBook format, which may rub some people the wrong way. The Barnes and Noble Nook collection is nowhere near as large, nor as current, but they do use the ePub eBook format which is an open format used by libraries and also by the Sony eReader, and may be preferred by some readers.
Battery life - all other things being equal, the longer the better. Battery life of some eReaders can range from a few days to a full month before recharging. Keeping the wireless turned off when not in use will extend the time required to fully charge the battery.
Extras - there are a lot of extra features that you might enjoy, or require. These would include but are not limited to the following: free sampling of eBooks, built-in dictionary and encyclopedia, powerful search tool, MP3 player, annotate and bookmark capability, syncing capability (read eBooks on different types of devices, continue reading from one to another where you left off), web browsing, text-to-speech, PDF reader, archiving, and built-in Twitter and Facebook.
You can pay a little or a lot for en eReader. That depends on what features you want. If you just want an eReader that affords you a comfortable, easy-on-the-eyes reading experience, an immense selection of books that you can download to your device, and ease of use for under 0.00, the Amazon Kindle 3 and the Barnes and Noble Nook are both excellent choices.
Top EReader Features Book Lovers Should Desire
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