Guide to electronic books
Kobo
Kobo eReader
Screen: 15 cm, e-ink
Storage: 1,000 books (plus a memory-card slot)
Weight: 211 g
Price: $149
Perfect for: A book lover on a budget who wants the convenience
and (relative) affordability of digital reading.
Pros: Light and comfortable to hold (there’s a ‘quilted’ backing), the Kobo comes pre-loaded with 100 free e-books, all public-domain classics. Black and white e-ink technology mimics traditional page printing, with a choice of five display font sizes. Its reader app can be installed on any smartphone, tablet or desktop, so your e-books can travel with you. The Kobo comes closest to the real thing: The overall size, screen size and display combine well to best approximate the page of a typical mass-market paperback.
Cons: You can’t flip directly to a specific page; you can only scroll through the book via the clunky D-pad navigation button. Charging the battery requires a computer (a wall-plug charger can be purchased separately). Kobo can’t support audiobook or music files.
Amazon Kindle 3G
Screen: 15 cm, e-ink
Storage: 3,500 books
Weight: 241 g
Price: $195
Perfect for: A commuter, frequent traveller or multi-tasker for whom avid reading means not only e-books but also magazines, newspapers and news feeds.
Pros: The Kindle’s crisp black and white e-ink display is easy to read and comes in a choice of eight fonts. Through the Whispernet 3G wireless connection, the Kindle store gives free and fast access to a million public-domain books and, with subscriptions, you can keep up on news blogs, periodicals and daily newspapers. You can also upload PDF documents and annotate what you’re reading.
Cons: The Kindle mostly supports only its own e-book formats. The unique text-to-speech feature that reads books, newspapers, blogs and documents aloud sounds tinny and robotic. The keypad, essential for the many value-added features that require typing, calls for nimble fingers.
Sony Reader Touch Edition PRS-650
Screen: 15 cm e-ink, reactive
high-contrast touch screen
Storage: 1,200 e-books
(plus memory-card slots)
Weight: 215 g
Price: $250
Perfect for: A student or a student of life — especially one that’s an ardent bestseller- list follower.
Pros: The Sony Reader’s black and white e-ink display was the easiest on the eyes out of all units tested. Pages can be annotated either using a virtual keyboard or by writing on the touch-screen with the provided stylus. The reader supports multiple e-book file formats, including industry standards PDF and ePub. That means more books, including over a million public domain titles via Google and free e-book downloads from your local library using Sony Library Finder. It’s also the only unit that comes with its own protective sleeve.
Cons: While we generally like the screen, the contrast is not strong enough for reading in dim lighting. Turning a page causes a distracting flicker.
Apple iPad iBooks
Screen: 25 cm,
full-colour, backlit
Storage: 16 GB and up
Weight: 680 g
Price: From $549
Perfect For: An internet junkie or gaming and computer geek who occasionally reads, rather than a dedicated bookworm.
Pros: The iPad has a fully backlit, highcontrast colour display that’s terrific for illustrated works. The iPad’s app for reading, iBooks, supports the ePub format. Touchscreen navigation makes flipping pages a breeze. You can select whatever type and size of font you fancy. Words and passages can be highlighted and annotated, and an instant pop-up dictionary is a click away. The landscape orientation provides two side-byside pages, simulating a real book.
Cons: The iPad’s size and weight can make reading cumbersome. Carrying it around all but demands a protective and generously proportioned purse or tote. The Apple’s iBookstore pricing per book is higher than other e-readers, and you’ll need an additional monthly paid wireless connection (or to rely on WiFi) to download data, whether it’s a book or the latest viral YouTube cat video.
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