With baggage allowances being as they are these days thank the lord for eReaders. If, like me you get through a book a day while you are lazing on your sun lounger then an eReader is an essential travel item, unless you want to pay hundreds in excess baggage just for your books! eReaders are no longer a new concept and there are more and more different makes and models appearing on the market so here is our guide to the Top 5 eReaders to help you choose the right one for you.
Kindle Paperwhite, RRP £109
Kindle is without doubt the best known make of eReader on the market. The latest Paperwhite model was released in November 2013 and it has loads of great features like a built in light, a no glare screen and dark text against a white page which makes the text much crisper and clearer if your eyesight isn’t fantastic. The Kindle Paperwhite also has an integrated dictionary and Wikipedia so you can look for word definitions while you read. The battery life is an incredible 8 weeks if you read for half an hour each day. Pretty impressive stuff.
Sony PRS-T3, RRP £127
The Sony PRS-T3 was launched at the same time as the Amazon Paperwhite and it has many of the same features. It is exactly the same size as the Paperwhite but it also has the added bonus of an inbuilt cover so you don’t have to buy one at extra cost. It also comes in a choice of three colours; red white or black for the style conscious amongst us. The Sony PRS-T3 is great if you don’t want an eReader to take up baggage weight allowance, it only weighs 198g whereas the Paperwhite weighs over 300g with the recommended leather cover. The big problem with the PRS-T3 is that it has no light so if you like reading in bed this is a big no no as the text against grey screen is not clear enough.
Kobo Aura HD, RRP £130
The Kobo Aura HD is the premium eReader made for those who like the finer things in life. This elegant eReader has an advanced, an extra large screen with the highest resolution screen of any eReader currently on the market. You can even select your favourite font style and size using the TypeGenius tool. The battery life is much the same as the Kindle and Sony models but the Kobo has an impressive 4GB of built in memory compared to their 2GB which means you can pack up to 3000 books on the Kobo. The Kobo eBookstore has a great range of books and magazines on offer and you can even synch your Kobo Aura with your smartphone or tablet so you can read your purchases on there too.
NOOK Simple Touch Glowlight eReader, RRP £49
If you want an occasional eReader for use on holiday or when you travel then the Nook Simple Touch is perfect. At less than half the price of most other eReaders this still offers a very decent reading experience. The screen is clear with an adjustable light for reading in any conditions and an impressive 2GB of inbuilt memory that can hold up to 1000 books. The NOOK may not be quite as sleek as its counterparts and it is pretty small if you prefer something with a bit more reading space, but for less than £50 it’s a great little eReader.
Apple iPad Mini, RRP £249
The iPad Mini isn’t officially an eReader, it does much more than simply acting like an electronic book. However, it cannot be ignored as a serious contender for the best way to read things electronically. The iPad Mini is light, it has Retina display, which is a million times clearer than an HDTV and with 16GB of memory you can fit a whole load of books and magazines on there. iBooks is included as standard in the new iPad mini so you have thousands of books and magazines you can choose from. Thanks to iCloud you can also pick up where you left off reading on your iPhone. The big downfall with the iPad is the battery life which is 10 hours, rather than weeks that eReaders can go on for without charging. The lack of an anti-glare screen can also be problematic if you want to read outside. The cost of an iPad Mini is also significantly greater but then again, it does twice as many tricks as the average eReader… Which one will you go for?
So there you have our guide to the Top 5 eReaders in the market. Once you have chosen the right one for you and downloaded your favourite novel, all that is left to do is book a holiday so you can try out that anti-glare screen from your sun lounger. Visit Panoramic Villas today and book your perfect holiday home.
