Are Portable E-Readers A Good Investment?
Serious Readers living in undersized houses, rejoice! The E-readers are in the house, and currently we enjoy enough unique brands available to support some measure of competition and creativity. Obviously, no unit is ever an ideal choice for everyone, so below we have some simple descriptions of each contender. Another great model is Fujitsu S1500 Scansnap Scanner.
Amazon’s Kindle provides a substantial selection of books and periodicals which are obtainable by way of their wireless data network. The Kindle can keep about 1,500 e-books, which is useful, as it offers no expansion slot for added memory. The Kindle may play MP3 and AAC audio and can talk to Windows and Mac programs.
The battery is permanently part of the device and is not replaceable, however the battery life is considered “good”, which could or could not be acceptable to you. However, it won’t work with checked out e-books via your public library which use the ePub format. Additionally, even as the wireless service works overseas, you will be charged additional fees for uploading books there.
Barnes & Noble’s Nook has access to about the same number of books and magazines as the Kindle, plus it is ePub compatible and will allow you to loan selected e-books for as many as 14 days. The Nook won’t permit you to download books overseas, however. The Nook is comparable to the Kindle concerning system compatibility and has the additional benefit of an expansion slot for additional memory, and also a replaceable battery. The Nook doesn’t enable word or text files, however, and the technology is still rather buggy. Another nice option is Fujitsu S1500 Scansnap Scanner.
The Sony Reader is the granddaddy of e-readers, and subsequently comes with the benefit of having worked out most of its bugs. The Reader has also undergone a couple of updates, therefore it has been in a position to reply to marketplace forces along with advancements in technology. Sony’s Reader is able to carry thousands of electronic books, and additional publications may be accomodated with the supplement of an optional memory card. There isn’t a book or publisher’s format which the Reader won’t support, which includes ePub and PDF files. Curiously, one upgrade the Reader has yet to offer is wireless capability, therefore everything must be transferred from a PC.
The iPad remains new enough to be a comparative unknown, in spite of its super-hyped and fashionably late entrance to this particular celebration. According to the majority of reviews, it works extremely well as a reader, working with all of the formats which could be used with the other e-readers, and offers a few gaming applications as well. Curiously enough, Apple elected to pitch this machine as a business tool, even though it is bested in this application by most netbooks and Apple’s own iPhone. Another good item to look into is Fujitsu S1500 Scansnap Scanner. This is the fastest scanner on the market, a businessman’s best friend. This will not conserve time but also space on the desk or at home.
