Budget friendly ereader recommendations

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Danny McG

"Anything can happen in the next half hour!"
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Sep 9, 2016
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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
 
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.)
 
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)
 
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.
 
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!
 
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.
 
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.
Click to expand...

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
 
dannymcg said:
UK tech always costs more than USA
Click to expand...

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).
 
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.
 
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).
 
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).
Click to expand...
:: 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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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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