In the past two decades, electronic media has evolved from heavy desktops to credit card-sized systems that boast more power and performance, but can easily get lost in the pocket of your favorite jeans. E-book readers have, to some extent, escaped the ongoing shrinkage associated with electronic media. Most have a reasonable screen size of five to nine inches. Consumers who buy e-book readers are interested in reading, so while my teenage son is happy that he can read the encyclopedia on his Dick Tracy phone, which he’s been missing since he dropped it in his room, me and the The rest of the world who are struggling with the third line in their eye exam are relying on science to produce a reasonable alternative. So the best eBook readers all have one thing in common: They’re all big enough to do the job they’re supposed to do.

The differences that confuse everyone.

You would imagine that the best ebook reader would be easy to choose, that there would be a determining factor to make it simple, but the industry has managed to confuse the issue to the point that unless you are interested in taking a course on what text formats will satisfy your individual needs, you trust what each company tells you their reader will and won’t do. In a nutshell, each company uses different formats in their reader. It means you will buy your books from them. It protects the rights of authors and publishers to get paid. There are many books that are available for free and use the epub format, which is the standard for the digital publishing industry. Your local library lends e-books in this format and almost all readers support it. It’s all about deciding who offers the best selection of books, and that pretty much narrows your search down to the two biggest bookstores in the industry, Barnes and Nobles and Amazon.

The differences that keep us buying.

Prices vary on black and white e-readers that use the e-ink screen, which is currently the most readable. Screen size is important as most of us want something we can watch, but don’t need a luggage bag to carry in the car. The seven-inch screen seems to be the most popular. It’s hard to take down any of the main players. Nook, Kindle, Sony, Google, Aluratek, Archos, Ectaco all provide readers that will serve their purpose for as little as ninety bucks. Extra storage, built-in wifi for downloading, and the price is starting to go up.

When prices are this low, there is only one option.

If you like me, you probably won’t be averse to spending a little more if it means getting a lot more than a basic e-book reader. Color readers offer features that leave black and white readers in the dark. Magazines and newspapers are available by issue and children’s books have never looked better. The Kindle is in the dark. The Barnes and Nobles Nook eBook Reader colors the modern literary world the way it’s meant to be. So Nook is a great option. It also comes with Wi-Fi, a web browser, games, apps, Pandora radio, expandable storage, and has over two million books to download. You get all of this for less than seventy cents a day for a year. No other reader offers the features and availability of the books, so get those quarters off the couch and go shopping today.

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