Christmas Is Coming, I Want An Ebook Reader

I have decided this year that for Christmas I am going to buy myself the best ebook reader available. Despite what you may think there are not that many ebook readers on the market, not ones that fit into the perception of an ebook reader anyway.

To fit an ebook reader into a niche you would have to set some specifications. These would have to center on the display and the size. For example the Kindle DX is a little too big to be an ebook reader,ve more suited for newspaper and comics really. Despite anything Steve Jobs might say, the iPad is a multimedia device and would be totally wasted if it was just used for reading ebooks.

Other factors involved in the buying decision are the formats that the ebook reader can handle, what type of connection is available to download ebooks and what extras are there over other ebook readers. Also there is the matter of cost, the cheapest isn't always the best but then neither is the most expensive.

The display has got to be the grayscale e-ink technology. An ebook reader with a color screen has got to be backlit, which takes away the whole point of an ebook reader in the first place. It has to be easy on the eye like a normal hard copy book.

It can't be too heavy, preferably around eight ounces or less. Any heavier than that and it starts to make my arm ache after an hour or so. I have to think of the extra weight as well when I'm travelling by plane.

I would prefer it to be able to read PDF and ePub formats. Most of the online bookstores seem to favor these and the public domain is filled with PDF ebooks. I would also like it to be able to read other formats so I could use it to read any notes I have written.

Some of the available ebook readers have some interesting extras. The Sony Touch screen has a virtual keyboard for taking notes while the Kindle has built in speakers. The Nook can boast both of these extras and also allows you to change the battery yourself.

While Wi Fi is a good way to download books it isn't really necessary. My computer is always on hand and I would only need to connect to it once or twice a month to download some books. It has to be much easier to download books in bulk than just one at a time.

So finally we come to cost. The average price for an ebook reader seems to be around the $150 to $200 mark. Most ebooks are around 20 - 30% cheaper than real books, and because I read a lot, I would expect my ebook reader to pay for itself within 6 - 8 months.

I'm still looking and checking all the ebook reader reviews and will make my decision very soon. It's a bit frightening to think that once I have an ebook reader I will wonder how I could have lived without it before.