# Budget friendly ereader recommendations



## Danny McG (Apr 25, 2017)

As stated in the heading, I have been tasked by my wife to get her an ereader.
Myself I use tablet or smartphone but she wants a dedicated ereader.
Specs...
Backlight
6" or over screen
Must be able to read epub (got loads on the tablet I can then transfer for her)
Most importantly, very easy to use (she gets flustered just doing an email)
Most importantly (for me!) Very budget friendly.
UK advice please?
Do you have one or know of one and is it any good?
Thanks


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## Theophania Elliott (Apr 25, 2017)

Until recently, I was a Kobo girl. I still have a Kobo Mini (for the 5" screen) and a Kobo H2O (for the water- and dust-proofness); I also used to have a Kobo Glo HD.

So, I'd recommend Kobos if you want a nice e-reader that reads epubs and is simple to use. I haven't seen their new Kobo Aura Edition 2 in the flesh, but it's a 6" screen, has a backlight, and is going for £99.99. It seems to be the new equivalent of the Glo HD, and I really liked mine when I had it.

(I only got rid of my Kobo Glo HD because I was seduced by the Kindle Oasis. Not because my Kobo was unsatisfactory in any way, but just because the Oasis was _so pretty_.)

(Also, note that you can use Calibre software to convert DRM-free epubs to mobi so that they can be put on a Kindle, if you want to.)


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## Danny McG (Apr 25, 2017)

Ta much.
Will look into it. tbh I was thinking seventy five (ish) pounds or so, however it doesn't seem much more to get a good Kobo.
Are they pretty much fail safe / easy to use? She has a bit of old school technophobia. ( I have to set up all the apps and passwords etc every time she gets a new phone)


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## Theophania Elliott (Apr 25, 2017)

I found all my Kobos nice and simple to use. I actually prefer the Kobo interface to the Kindle. The advantage of the Kobo is that it always shows the book you're currently reading - unlike the Kindle, which will boot your current book off the home screen if you buy more books. 

There's a link to your library, and links to the last several books you read, on the home screen. Controls are also easier than Kindle: on the home screen, there are icons at the top for the light, wifi, battery, and Other Stuff. Touch the light icon, and you get the brightness slider. If you want to adjust the settings (or go back to the home page) when you're reading, just touch the middle of the screen (or the middle-bottom - you can change it in settings) and the top and bottom strips with the controls come up. Turning pages is by swipe, and there are different ways you can set it up.

The only button my Kobos have is the on-off button; it's likely the same on the Aura Edition 2.

The only thing is that when you use the search button, it defaults to searching the Kobo Store, but if you just want to search your device (or your current book), you just have to swap it over with the drop-down list.

Honestly, there's not much you can do wrong with a Kobo - and if you (or your wife) have particular reading tastes when it comes to font, font size, and spacing, the Kobo is your friend. It's much more flexible than the Kindle.

Honestly, the Kobos are very nice pieces of kit (which is why I still have two of them), and the Kobo store isn't bad - not as good as Amazon, but at least it exists (unlike the Nook store in the UK, which vanished a few years ago). I'd certainly recommend shelling out the extra £25 for a Kobo; there's a lot to be said for going with a make that at least _has _a UK bookstore if your wife wants to buy her own books directly on the device.


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## anno (Apr 25, 2017)

Danny I have a Kobo I no longer use and it's full of sci-fi classics already free to a good home!


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## AlexH (Apr 25, 2017)

I have a recent Kobo too - my model doesn't show up on an Amazon search, but Argos have it: Buy Kobo Aura E-Reader - Black at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for Kindle and E-readers, iPad, tablets and E-readers, Technology. - that's £100, but there's a cheaper version.

It's not backlit - I prefer side-lit so it doesn't affect my night-time sleep (as much?), but you couldn't tell it's side-lit. The screen is also great in bright light.

The general browsing of books and page-turning is very straightforward, but I do find it a bit awkward when typing or adjusting settings such as the font-size or brightness - the press/control doesn't always go exactly where you expect it to - though brightness is the only thing I've adjusted more than once as you can set a default font. It's also not brilliant for reading PDFs - I haven't used another e-reader, so I don't know how this compares, but it's not as easy as tablets I've used.

I used to be disappointed when I saw something available on Kindle, that wasn't available as an epub (or one of the other numerous formats the Kobo supports), but I've found it's quite simple to use Calibre (free software) to convert Kindle formats to epub.

Another thing I love about the Kobo - in conjunction with the Pocket app, which I have installed on my PC & laptop's web browser - I can save web pages and then read them at a later date on the Kobo (after it's synced of course).

anno's offer sounds great!


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## Danny McG (Apr 25, 2017)

anno said:


> Danny I have a Kobo I no longer use and it's full of sci-fi classics already free to a good home!



Wahay! PM'ed you


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## dask (Apr 26, 2017)

Amazon's Fire Tablet, 7" screen. Goes for $49 but have seen them on sale for $39. Have mine jammed packed with sf megapacks for 99¢ and whatever freebies I can get my key pads on, such as Astoundings from the 1930s, Sax Rohmer Fu Manchu stuff.


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## Danny McG (Apr 26, 2017)

dask said:


> Amazon's Fire Tablet, 7" screen. Goes for $49 but have seen them on sale for $39. Have mine jammed packed with sf megapacks for 99¢ and whatever freebies I can get my key pads on, such as Astoundings from the 1930s, Sax Rohmer Fu Manchu stuff.



I was looking at these today in a shop but they were a good bit pricier than you say on here.

UK tech always costs more than USA


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## Brian G Turner (Apr 26, 2017)

dannymcg said:


> UK tech always costs more than USA



Amazon's Kindle Fire usually retails for just under £50. However, they periodically drop the price to £35. They just did that for Mother's Day. They usually do a big promotion before Christmas well.

Also worth bearing in mind US prices are always before sales tax (varies according to state), whereas UK prices are always after sales tax has been add (VAT).


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## Paul_C (Apr 26, 2017)

I've got a Kindle ver. 2.0 and a Kindle Fire ver. 1.0, both of which I like, though I mostly use the Kindle Fire for playing free games (Amazon Underground). 

£50 isn't bad for all the other things it can do.


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## Brian G Turner (May 3, 2017)

The Amazon Fire is currently on offer again at £34.99, if of interest @dannymcg :
Fire tablet - Amazon.co.uk


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## Danny McG (May 3, 2017)

Brian G Turner said:


> The Amazon Fire is currently on offer again at £34.99, if of interest @dannymcg :
> Fire tablet - Amazon.co.uk



Cheers Brian

I got a massive pile of epubs on my smartphone memory card and I don' t think a Fire can read 'em.
Unless someone knows different


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## Overread (May 3, 2017)

Just remember that a Kindle Fire is NOT an e-reader. It's a tablet

As a result you don't get e-ink which is very different to LCD screen displays. LCD screens are far brighter and more glaring than e-ink which is basically identical to print (even back-lit e-ink).


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## tinkerdan (May 3, 2017)

Could anyone detail the exact difference this creates::


Overread said:


> Just remember that a Kindle Fire is NOT an e-reader. It's a tablet
> 
> As a result you don't get e-ink which is very different to LCD screen displays. LCD screens are far brighter and more glaring than e-ink which is basically identical to print (even back-lit e-ink).


:: I've never had an e-ink device nor looked into them[searched for demo to test]
So It makes me wonder, since my wife suggests that the Kindle fire lighting might keep someone awake if they read just before bed.

Oddly I keep going to sleep with the blasted thing in my hand (not a great review for those particular books).

Is there another benefit to be had from and e-ink device?

Maybe like it would keep me awake while I'm trying to read.


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## Danny McG (May 3, 2017)

Good Question tinkerdan.
Answers eagerly awaited...


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## Overread (May 3, 2017)

e-ink, without a backlight is nearly identical to reading from a normal paper book. When I got my kindle years ago (one with a keyboard its that old) it had a start-up display on the front for how to turn it on the first time. I spent 5 mins trying to peel it of thinking it was one of those see through stick on covers as often found on electronics - it wasn't it was the actual e-ink display. 

It really is as good as print. 


Now LCD screens are much more like your average computer monitor. Some of the tablets have fancy auto-dimming features that lower the intensity of the screen in a darkened room to help reduce glare when reading in an otherwise dark room. The difference though is that its more wearing on the eyes due to the glare which is different to a paper page in a book.

Now as to keeping people awake between an e-ink with backlight (which I don't own) and an LCD I've honestly no idea. I would surmise that the e-ink would be like a book with a little light behind and thus less glaring; less intense than an LCD screen. 



Personally I t hink that for black text on a white background e-readers are the way to go. I do use a tablet for reading, but I read comics with that where the glossy bright nature of an LCD (and colour) makes all the difference.


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## tinkerdan (May 3, 2017)

One I can try to almost sorta  answer that one factor is the less glare in the sun.
It may be true.
I've never tested.
Never seen side by side photo in sunlight.
That would possibly be less than ideal as photos tend to be a bit different than in person especially when refresh rates are so divergent.


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## tinkerdan (May 3, 2017)

Is there a great difference between the Amazon e-ink devices and other e-ink devices?
I used to have a paperwhite (which I might be able to resurrect and test).
I don't recall it being any more helpful in sunlight's glare.

Somewhere there is mention that e-ink are less costly but that doesn't seem to be the case when I price them.


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## Overread (May 3, 2017)

By glare I mean more from the screen itself being generated rather than from reflection of another light source. 

I would guess that glare from something like the sun is going to be fairly even since its reflecting off a plastic screen surface in both cases. e-ink might be a little less as the screen is different, but honestly even off a book you can get a surprising amount of sun-glare


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## mosaix (May 3, 2017)

I bought Mrs Mosaix a Kobo for Christmas. She can't speak too highly of it.


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## Paul_C (May 3, 2017)

dannymcg said:


> Cheers Brian
> 
> I got a massive pile of epubs on my smartphone memory card and I don' t think a Fire can read 'em.
> Unless someone knows different



I just copied a couple of mobi books over to my kindle Fire and it had no problem with them, I would assume that any epub books converted to mobi would be ok.

I'll see if I've got an epub file and try that too. (It didn't recognise it as a book, so no, it doesn't like epub files).


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## tinkerdan (May 4, 2017)

Looking at my kindle touch I'd say that there is something to do with the screen surface since the kindle fire is a lot more reflective. also the screen on the touch is inside a beveled frame at least an eighth of an inch deep where the fire screen surface seems flush with the top..
There is a lot to say for the refresh rate on the e-ink  being slower.

However what is noteworthy is the way the text appears on the e-ink appears richer or darker than the Fire. 

I would still like to compare the lighted paperwhite to the kindle touch. 

I do think that the kindle touch does allow for a possibility of less eye strain.

For overall reading experience I think that for me the Touch and the Fire are equal though the fire allows color graphics.


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## AlexH (May 6, 2017)

I don't think there's any glare with e-ink? At least there isn't with my Kobo. It's perfectly readable in bright sun. Another benefit of e-readers over tablets is they use less battery. If you're reading in daylight, you can turn the brightness of an e-reader down to 0. It really is like paper. Mine is also side-lit (you couldn't tell), which is apparently better for night-reading than back-lit.


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## Vertigo (May 6, 2017)

Re the formats. I'm not sure about the Fire as it's a tablet, but I suspect you would therefore be able to get a reading app for any format including epub. Mobi incidentally is just the original format that Amazons AZW was derived from. On the other hand a Kindle will definitely not read an epub book and typically any other reader such as a Kobo will not read an AZW book.

Converting between the formats is relatively easy using something like Calibre; a brilliant database program for managing all your books stored on your PC* that can also convert them between just about any format including PDF, RTF etc. The only problem is DRM; to do the conversion any DRM'd books must have that DRM stripped and whilst not overly difficult many do not want the hassle. Personally I do because it means I can buy my books from any vendor no matter what format they are selling.

I'm afraid I can't give any advice on the best current readers as my reader is an ancient Sony which still works so I've not looked that closely at other options. I would like to replace it as I do have problems with some more recent books doing fancy formatting and I was looking at the Kobo Glo but that was a while back so I'm a little out of date.



*Let me stress, I strongly recommend you keep your ebook collection on you PC rather than trusting in your vendors to store them for you and let you re-download. Personally if I've bought something I don't generally leave it in the hands of the person who sold it to me.


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## tinkerdan (May 7, 2017)

When referring to e-readers and glare. When I talk about glare I talk about how sunlight hits the glass and causes a glare.
This is seen in both and led and a e-ink. The e-ink is much more read-able under these conditions but it is not immune to glare.

Inside there really isn't much glare to worry about but more of the problem of reflective-(ness). The e-ink has much less to almost zero reflection whereas the led has a rather limited range of view angle before reflection becomes a factor to interfere with your reading pleasure. However I think this is less of a problem for some; who put the reader as close to their face as they can stand. I usually keep it at arms length or resting on a surface at almost that distance. 

But when I put the two side by side outside they both glare in the sun and the e-ink is easier to read because it is both less reflection and stronger letters that look like quality ink print. The led screen has both glare and reflection that make the experience hideous at best and the letters are more like what would be on a page using the draft mode in most printers or perhaps even less in print quality than even that.

You can tweak the fire to sepia with low light and almost come close to the appearance of the letters on the kindle (still not as strong[dark]letters). However you can't make the reflective quality go away without some filtering over the screen. 

This is my personal take on what I mean when I say glare as opposed to reflection.


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## pambaddeley (May 8, 2017)

Someone asked about affecting sleep at night - this was in the news recently and they said that ereaders with a light would have the same effect as a PC screen etc. and would affect melatonin levels. Whereas if the ereader doesn't have a light, and you are just reading it by normal electric light, it is meant to be equivalent to reading a paper book. Also, you can adjust the font and make it bigger if you need.


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## tinkerdan (May 9, 2017)

I work all day in front of two led displays::


pambaddeley said:


> Someone asked about affecting sleep at night - this was in the news recently and they said that ereaders with a light would have the same effect as a PC screen etc. and would affect melatonin levels. Whereas if the ereader doesn't have a light, and you are just reading it by normal electric light, it is meant to be equivalent to reading a paper book. Also, you can adjust the font and make it bigger if you need.


::Then go home to two more and the tv and my kindle fire.
I have a devil of a time keeping awake and keep wanting to doze off.

Anyway when I try to volunteer for those studies about the PC screen effect and its affects on sleep; they act like I'm not there.
Oh...wait...I'm not there; it's just one of the dreams I have when I nod off.


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## SilentRoamer (May 9, 2017)

dannymcg said:


> Cheers Brian
> 
> I got a massive pile of epubs on my smartphone memory card and I don' t think a Fire can read 'em.
> Unless someone knows different




I have a kindle Fire and I always convert all of mine to .mobi and I change the covers in the metadata so all my covers are in a matching set and I tag them all with series, genre etc which makes them easier to find. 

If you do go for a kindle be warned the in built book manager is bloody awful, you are much better advised getting Caliber (for free) installed and using this to manage the kindle books, the inbuilt one is unwieldy and has too many restrictions. Caliber also supports .epub > .mobi conversion and vice versa so you can convert books very easily. (You can batch convert a folder so you don't have to do them individually, it shouldn't take long.)

If you want any specific tech advice just give me a PM.


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## SilentRoamer (May 9, 2017)

The Kindle Fire has the added benefit that it isn't really an ereader but a tablet with a built in reading app although it is very easy on the eyes compared to other backlit devices and the screen brightness lowers to a very light fuzz.

It's also a reasonably useful device in terms of processing power and the HD version has a lovely screen for watching things on the go.


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## Brian G Turner (May 9, 2017)

I have both the Kindle eReader and Fire tablet, but I always end up using the Fire because it's so much more versatile and user friendly, for example, looking up things while reading. Additionally, I can listen to my music through the Fire while reading on it. I have the brightness right down so I don't ever feel like I'm getting eye-strain. Books are also in a scrolling list of covers so its easy to surf them, whereas on the Kindle eReader it's a text list that needs to be flicked through page by page. The Kindle eReader is nice, but limited, and frankly I only use it if I want to read outside in the sun, ie, on holiday.


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## kythe (Apr 4, 2018)

I've had the Kindle app on my smartphone for years and have been reading books that way.  I considered it cost effective since the app is free, and I'm only buying e-books.

But lately I've become frustrated while reading and find myself adjusting the lighting, size, and coloring, and taking my glasses on and off trying to "see" the screen for longer periods at a time.  

So I gave in and ordered a Kindle device on amazon.com, the best seller - Kindle Paperwhite E-reader - which is $119 now.  I'm hoping it really reduces glare and eyestrain like people say it does.  If so, I expect it will be a worthy investment that will last years.


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## Overread (Apr 4, 2018)

Kythe if you can read a book without strain then the e-reader will be great for you! E-ink is honestly nothing like an LCD screen; the e-ink (esp if you turn the light in the paperwhite all the way down) is very much like paper, so it puts far less strain on your eyes. Plus you can adjust the text and still have a meaningful amount of text on the page so you might even get away reading with your glasses off.


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## dask (Apr 5, 2018)

Good information. Didn't know this. If I had it might have gotten a kindle rather than a new 10 inch tablet.


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