Kindle To Nook – What Makes a Great eReader?

There are plenty of eReader reviews out there on the Internet. From Kindle to Nook, you name it and you’ll find it. The problem is however, that most Kindle to Nook reviews aren’t honest and made by an actual user of these products, but rather someone who has written a bogus review looking to make a quick buck.

What I have provided for you in this article are some guidelines of what to look for when looking for a new eReader. What are some important features that every eReader should have and which ones can you live without?. To make is easier for you I have listed each feature individually in order of priority so you can go through them one by one.

SCREEN

Let’s face it. If the screen of your eReader is no good then all the other features does not matter. If the screen gives you a headache after 30 minutes of reading, its speed and sleek design are irrelevant. There are a few things to look for when searching for a good screen. First of all, the screen has to look like a real book. Amazon did a really good job when they created the screen on their Kindle WiFi as not only does it look like real ink, it is real ink, or eInk that is. The eInk makes it look pretty much as if you are staring into the pages of a brand new paperback and you can go for hours with no problems.

Another important feature of the screen is the contrast. If the letters appear slightly blurry it may result in squinting followed by a headache. The letters have to look clear both up close and further away. One last thing to look for when evaluating the screen quality is glare. You want the glare to be as minimal as possible. Comparing the Kindle to Nook, the Kindle has in my opinion the best anti-glare screen on the market today, with the Nook coming second. I can take mine to the beach on sunny day and read without any trouble. Watch out for eReaders with an LCD screen, such as the iPad 2) which has a tendency of becoming quite hard to read in sunlight.

USER-FRIENDLINESS

Few things are more annoying that sitting down with a cup of something warm, ready to enjoy a good book, only to be halted by freezing screens, hopeless menus and unresponsive buttons. For many eReaders on the market, that is what you are getting. Because this is a fairly new type of technology this happens to be the case on many of the models. Out of all the eReaders on the market today I like the newest Kindle, Kindle DX and Kindle Touch best for user friendliness.

CONTENT PRICING AND AVAILABILTY

What I mean by this is how many books are available for purchase once you’ve got your eReader in your hand. How much does the average book cost and how easy is it to get a hold of?

When comparing the two giants Amazon to Barnes & Noble, or more specifically their eReaders Kindle to Nook, they both have a wide selection of books of any eReader. If it was ever published, chances are you can get it on your eReader with these two companies. These two eReaders also give you access to newspapers/magazines and blogs. Amazon currently has over 850000 various books, newspapers and magazines ready for purchase and download within 60 seconds.

SPEED

When you push a button on your device, you want stuff to happen. With some eReaders it feels like an eternity from the push of a button to the action appears. This goes for both navigation around the page and page flips. The fastest eReader I have used is the Kindle WiFi. If you compare Kindle to Nook, you’ll find a slight difference. The Kindle is lightening quick and the speed is similar to what you would experience on an iPad 2 or iPhone.

WEIGHT

To me, weight is a very important feature of an eReader. It will determine how comfortable it is to hold when reading for hours and how portable it is. The most popular 6-7 inch eReaders today range from 7.5 to 16 ounces. On the lighter end of the scale we find Kindle at less than 6 ounces. The heavyweights include Nook Colour (15.8 ounces) and Nook Original (12.1 ounces).

There is a huge difference between holding a 6 ounce and a 12 ounce eReader in your hands for extended periods of time, so I would opt-in for a lighter one if it had the features I required.

BATTERY LIFE

Most eReaders will allow you to read for a couple of weeks without a re-charge, but some can last you as long as two months (newest Nook
) without plugging in the charger. This can be very convenient when going on holidays as you can leave the charger at home and not worry about flat-lining. I think the least you would expect from you eReader is a month with the WiFi off. Both the Nook
and the Kindle achieves these times.

A couple of things determine how long a battery will last. Obviously the quality of the battery matters, but most eReaders these days use the same type, so it comes down to how many battery draining features it has. LCD screen drains the battery very quickly, whereas a eInk screen will last you a lot longer. The eReader on the market with the longest battery capacity is the Nook which will last you up to two months with the WiFi off.

E-PUB

ePub is a widely used open format which means that you have the ability to “borrow” eBooks in this format from many digital libraries. ePub is used by most eReaders today, however Amazon uses their own format for the Kindle, which means that you are unable to read ePub on it. Tips: Using a free and legal program called Calibre you can translate between various formats.

PRICE

Some of you might be surprised to see the price listed so far down on the list. Well, there’s a reason for it. The thing is, in the world of eReaders it is not a “you get what you pay for” policy. As a matter of fact, some of the best eReaders, such as the Kindle, start at $79, and are way better than the more expensive models (BeBook Neo $249 and Sony PRS-650BC $229). So don’t get trapped into thinking you have to fork out $200+ for a good one.

In conclusion, these are I my opinion the main features that make up a good eReader. As you may have noticed I have reviewed eReaders, not LCD tablets. iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy are in a different category all together and are not suited for eReading, but more for browsing the web or watching movies. If you are after an eReader which does a good job of browsing the Internet, don’t get the Kindle WiFi. It does one job and one job only, reads books, and it does it extremely well. However, feel free to check out Amazons new tablet, the Kindle Fire. Starting at only $199, you are getting performace close to the iPad, for about a quarter of the price.

So, if you can find an eReader that is 6 inches or bigger with high quality eInk screen with minimal glare, is quick and user-friendly, weights less than 10 ounces, has a battery life of more than three weeks, supports ePub and cost less than $140, get it!

Still need more? Check out my extensive review on the Amazon Kindle here.