I like to pretend I'm going to read on
my tablet but instead I wind up on
Twitter or YouTube or more likely than
not playing a game and I need to read or
really want to curl up with a good book
I get out my e-reader it might seem like
a superfluous thing a purchase you don't
really need but I disagree I think
everyone should have the thing about
buying an e-reader is you're never just
buying an e-reader you're buying into a
huge ecosystem you're committing to
downloading certain books and not others
certain features and not others you're
committing to downloading certain apps
and not others you really have to pick
right up front of course you don't have
to think about things like battery life
or screen size those are all basically
the same what you do have to think about
is how you'll get the books you want
what other features you want and how and
where you want to read before you even
pick a device you're gonna have to pick
a company Kobo and Amazon are the two
companies that matter here and you're
gonna be buying from one of the two of
them but ultimately it comes down to
ebooks right that's why the Kindle
paperwhite is the best eReader you can
buy actually I should rephrase it's not
the best earier you can buy but it's the
one you should buy the paperweight has
all the features of good e-reader needs
its battery lasts 2 months it has a nice
front light that makes it easy to read
in bed without hurting your eyes and it
has a touchscreen that responds quickly
when you swipe to flip pages it has a
sharp 6 inch e-ink screen and it's small
and light and able to survive anything
you can throw at the paperweight has a
really simple really easy interface for
both reading and buying books plus a lot
of great added features for when you're
reading x-rays the best one just tap on
a name replace and it'll give you all
the context for that character or
location in the book if you've read the
Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones
you know how helpful that is there's
also a Goodreads integration which puts
you right in the middle of the world's
largest book focused social network
Amazon has great apps for every platform
too so you can read on any device you
want but the real reason the paperwhite
wins is the reason Amazon wins it just
has more books I did a survey of both
popular lists and the books my friends
are reading and found that not only did
Amazon have more of
available than Kobo almost every single
one was cheaper now here's the weird
thing about that Amazon is at war with
publishers trying to make ebooks cheaper
while the publishers and authors say
that that's costing them their
livelihood so make moral decisions as
you want to but the objective fact is
that there are more books to read from
Amazon than from Cobra and most of them
will be cheaper period there are a
million different types of Kindle each
with something to offer the voyage is
the best eReader on the planet with a
gorgeous flush screen and adaptive
backlight and page turn buttons that I
actually really like but it's not that
much better than the paperwhite and it's
a lot more expensive the regular Kindle
is the opposite it's really cheap but
has a much worse screen and no backlight
those things do matter and it's actually
worth spending a little bit more on the
paperweight my recommendation is the
Wi-Fi paperwhite with special offers the
ads save you a little money and they're
really not that bad and unless you're
out all day every day downloading ebooks
the 3G upgrade really isn't worth it you
won't spend much with the Wi-Fi
paperwhite and you'll get everything you
need but don't forget about Kobo co-wash
Lee has a lot going for it the aura h2o
is the best one it has a great screen
and best of all it's waterproof so you
can read in the tub or take it to the
beach with you
I also love Cobos pocket integration
which means you can save articles and
webpages and then read them later on
your e-reader Kobo also supports a lot
of other file formats so in general
there are more types of things you can
read on a Kobo than on a Kindle it has
little things like more font options -
if you're really picky about reading you
might really want to try out a Kobo if
you really want a waterproof device by
the or h2o it's great but for every
other use in every other price Kindle
still wins it's just about the book
selection I have really mixed feelings
about the Nook glowlight it's good
hardware and has a good book store but
it's a little outdated now and it's part
of a brand of devices that has never
seemed like it has a certain future I
just steer clear I should also mention
these so-called reading tablets like the
Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 nook but only to
say don't buy them if you want to tablet
buy a tablet you'll get all the
versatility and power a tablet offers
from something like the Nexus 7 or the
iPad reading tablets just tend to be
cheap not very good tablets e-readers
are great because they're single purpose
because they do one thing exceptionally
well and do nothing else a tablet isn't
even supposed to
match that personally I own a tablet and
an e-reader I use them both all the time
and the e-reader I own is the Kindle
paperwhite because it's the best mix of
price and features and it's the best way
to get the most books for the least
money
that's a tough combination to beat and
it's a perfect one for an evening
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