Tired of carting around piles of old books and magazines? eBook readers are intended to replace your home library by converting books and periodicals into a digital format.
If you want to join the eBook revolution, you’ll have to pick an eBook reader device to display your new digital books. There’s plenty of devices on the market that read eBooks, from inexpensive dedicated eBook readers to more elaborate laptop-like devices. The two biggest names in eBooks are Apple’s iPad and Amazon’s Kindle. So which should you buy?
The iPad is Apple’s latest must-own gadget. Part laptop, part tablet, part eBook reader, the iPad has had a little trouble finding its niche. The biggest downside with the iPad is the price. Apple’s iPad is meant to replace your Internet-enabled PDA or laptop and is full of features that most eBook readers don’t have. That’s why it costs so much more than the Kindle. iPads retail for between $499 and $829. Buy the iPad if you are after a huge screen–the iPad’s 9.7 inch screen is the biggest on the market.
The Kindle is Amazon’s mega-popular eBook reader. The biggest benefit of buying a Kindle instead of an iPad is the money you’ll save. Even the top of the line Kindle (with 3G wireless) costs just under $200, making it about a quarter of the price of the top of the line iPad. If your main concern is price, go for the Kindle. Unfortunately, Kindle doesn’t come with the fancy gadgets that the iPad has, like the use of the Apple app store. If you just want a device to read eBooks on, you can’t get much more affordable and functional than the 3G Kindle.
If you have to make a choice between buying an iPad or a Kindle, figure out what functions you want. The Kindle is much less expensive than the iPad and it is super easy to use. The iPad has more features to justify the much higher price.